37" LCD HDTV £370 delivered (720p/1080i)

Former_MSE_Lawrence

What's the deal?

The price of big tellies has plummeted. A 37" LCD High Definition TV for £369.99 delivered was unthinkable even a year ago. Better still, this one's got quite a few good techie reviews. So for those looking for a big new TV it's a cracking deal.

Of course the fact it is in the weekly email means it may sell out quickly, but luckily there are a few suppliers.

Where from?

The TV's a Hannspree XV JT02-37E2-000G (not to be confused with the slightly inferior YT02 model) and it's available cheapest at ebuyer for £369.99.

Of course you only get the High Definition picture (more dense meaning much higher quality) if you've got an HD signal (from Xbox 360, PS3, Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player, Sky/Virgin HD). The programme itself must be recorded in HD too.

What's it got?

• 'HD Ready' capability - 720p/1080i. The screen's hardware offers 720 horizontal lines of picture, giving it about twice the picture quality of a regular TV. This gives it the 'HD-Ready' seal, but not 'Full HD', as the latter requires 1080 horizontal lines via screen hardware.

• Digital Inputs: 2x HDMI, 1 Composite. These are the inputs which'll accept a high definition signal. They offer far higher potential quality than SCART.

• Analogue Inputs: 2x SCART, 1 S-Video, 1 PC (vga). These are for non-HD equipment, and depend on the TV's in-built 'upscaler' to make the picture look good.

And also: Piano Black Finish, Fastext 1000 Page Memory, Remote Control, Dimensions (WxHxD) : 941 x 726 x 295mm, 31.2kg, 2 year collect & return warranty.

What's it lacking?

• 'Full HD' 1080p: It doesn't support the 1080p 'true HD' standard seen on pricier sets. If you're looking for this you'll have to spend a bit more.

• Freeview: Many modern LCD TV's come with a freeview tuner built-in. This one only includes an analogue one, which'll be obselete in a few years. That said, you can pick up a freeview box for around £15 so this is no biggie.

A final thought before you buy

This isn't a must have object. It's a big luxury TV, therefore before you lay down your cash, remember Martin's Money Mantras:

If you’re skint:
Do I need it?
Can I afford it?
Have I checked if it’s cheaper anywhere else?

If you’re not skint:
Will I use it?
Is it worth it?
Have I checked if it’s cheaper anywhere else?

If any answer is no, don’t buy it!

Since TV/display technology is still progressing at unnerving speed, it's unlikely we've seen the last of the big TV bargains. Dabs recently featured a 37" 1080p set for £400 (it sold out very quickly), and it's possible there'll be more offers like this in the coming months.

Thanks to Noddle for originally spotting this.

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frmarcus

is that audio-visual goods, like brown goods, vary considerably in performance given similar price, so you should always check the likes of Which? and Good Housekeeping (free online best buys). This is no-one's 'best buy' as afar as I know...

BenL

Although its no magazines best buy, this TV has had excellent reviews within user forums tested by real people in real situations with an interest in AV/Home Cinema.

There are long threads on avforums.com, reviews on ebuyer.com plus other websites all remarking on the TV.

I bought one about 9 months ago, a JT02 but the previous model with only 1 HDMI socket and the TV is excellent.

I had a quick look at goodhousekeeping and the review they did from May 2007 only compares 10 "branded" models.

As ever do your own research but the quality of this TV is excellent. Better looking than a lot with its piano black finish and any quality worries you may have are covered by a standard 24 month warranty.

PC input as well incase you have any other video files to plays from a pc rather than a dvd player or just to show your holiday snaps over 37inches.

I have a PS3, and Sky HD connected to this and is excellent handling of HD pictures.

Lower quality freeview boxes and analogue terrestrial are not the greatest picture but the technology doesn't have the resolution to fill a screen this big to a great standard.

Standard Sky boxes are ok via Scart but again the TV shows up the flaws in the signal.

Ben

Skint_Catt

Low contrast at 1200:1 though - I was told less than 5000:1 isn't worth it for clarity.

sootyvrs

Does anyone know what this TV is like using a SD source e.g. Freeview or cable (Virgin)?

I'm considering this set but heard that LCD's are much worse than a CRT when it comes to Standard Definition TV.

UK007BullDog

I thought HD was being stopped as Blu-ray is now the flavour?

I would like a cheap tv to put in the bedroom and it will need freeview and I would need a powerful antennae.

maffyb

UK007BullDog wrote: »

I thought HD was being stopped as Blu-ray is now the flavour?

I would like a cheap tv to put in the bedroom and it will need freeview and I would need a powerful antennae.

No, thats HD-DVD, which was one of the replacements for DVD, but it looks as if bluray is going to be the favoured replacement for it.

HD just means High Definition, so a HD TV is fine!

MajorR

Of course you only get the High Definition picture (more dense meaning much higher quality) if you've got an HD signal (from Xbox 360, PS3, Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player, Sky/Virgin HD). The programme itself must be recorded in HD too.

Or you can buy a DVD player that upscales an ordinary DVD to near perfect HD quality for as little as £45. This is moneysavingexpert after all! :money:

http://www.asda-electricals.co.uk/shop/product/toshiba/sd370.html?

nickygee

Dabs have this one out of stock currently http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4YJ1&CategorySelectedId=11229&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11229,48050000,4294954178,4294954139,49870000,15
full HD, freeview included, just £399.99 bet it will sell out as soon as they are in stock again. only problem is they are silver and i think the black looks better on the LCD tv's

timmo44

MajorR wrote: »

near perfect HD quality

I think 'near perfect' is slightly too strong. You cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear (although you can maybe upscale a sow's ear to a pigskin wallet!)

andiR1

In answer to the post by sootyvrs, this tv has a fantastic picture through the freeview, the dvd and even the vcr. I am not at all techie, but we bought a 32" Freeview Goodmans TV, and the voices through the Freeview were out of sync, so we took it back at the beginning of December and ordered one of the Hanspree 37", which was £360 at the time, and it is 100% better than the Goodmans. Also, the screen on the Goodmans used to get very warm and the Hanspree doesn't do it, so maybe it was just a fault!