High Definition TVs - Conflicting Advice

HarriettPotter

Hi, I hope I have picked the right board for this.

Last night me and the boyf went looking at TVs. We are pretty undecided about which one we want and to be honest were quite phased by the amount of models on offer. We will definately do our research before parting with the money as we are aware there are many great deals to be had online etc but I wondered if someone could help me out with the conflicting advice we received before we decide.

We spotted a 26" widescreen we liked and a 30" - one was HD and one was not. So we are just browsing about Comet and, as expected in these places, a nice friendly sales guy approaches us and asks what we are looking for. We talked about the ones we have been looking at and he was very helpful, explaining that we should feel in no rush to buy an HD ready TV as if we do; the BBC won't be doing HD until they get rid of analogue in 2012, we won't be able to view Sky unless we get an HD Sky box which he reckons will cost about £400, and most of our other stuff won't be compatible for some time.

Oh, thats useful to know, we thought. So we thanked him and wandered next door to Curry's. Once again we were approached by a nice friendly sales guy - ok, maybe he wasnt so friendly, but anyway - he bombarded us with questions about what size, budget, specification we are interested in and we outlined exactly the same things as we had to the guy in Comet. This time our Curry's friend said that if we are going to spend between £600 and £800 on a new TV we should buy HD. If we don't, none of our stuff will work with the normal telly - Sky, DVD players and apparently the PS3 won't work. Along with all this he kindly told us that we are 'going to look pretty silly' when we are the only ones who have bought a new TV and it isn't HD ready.

I managed to offload our new friend and get the boyf out of the shop before he got a bit cross but then we were a bit confused to be honest. We spent a large part of the journey home trying to work out what they had said and what we were going to do about it.

Can anyone here clarify what the hell is going on with these HD TVs? They are really lovely and the picture was very clear but if other things linked to my TV won't get the benefit of it, is there any point? Conversely, if we spend on a non HD TV will other new things, such as PS3 not be compatible?

Someone help me!

By the way, I am so tempted to write to Comet and Curry's to enlighten them on the advice their staff are giving!

Thanks in advance for any help....

HP

Woby_Tide

HarriettPotter wrote:

Along with all this he kindly told us that we are 'going to look pretty silly' when we are the only ones who have bought a new TV and it isn't HD ready.

Doesn't the sales'boy' look even sillier then that probably 80% of the TV's on display in his store are not HD ready?

lestamunda

crap!!!! I have friend who is in the industry and PS3 will be compatible, as will DVD/SKY - with all normal TVs!!!!

This just seems to be a hard sell by a cocky prat at Currys. Whilst HDTV is the way forward, transmissions/players etc etc are yet to come - so why fork out the extra?

By the time they are mainstream, these TVs will be much cheaper - just look at DVD players and even recorders compared to 3 years ago?

Johnnypanic_2

Take a look at avforums.com for all the advice and help you'll ever need.

Johnnypanic

HarriettPotter

Thank you jaghir - We did think the guy at Comet was making more sense but thought I would ask about just in case.

And I will check out the other forum, many thanks johnnypanic

arealhighlander

You should go back to the Comets and ask to speak to the Manager and congratulate him for employing such a salesman that gives CORRECT advice and not just to try and make a buck out of you.

Currys plooky youth was just after a sale, HD TVs wil not become the norm for a long time yet and you would waste your money getting one now.

raino144

arealhighlander wrote:

You should go back to the Comets and ask to speak to the Manager and congratulate him for employing such a salesman that gives CORRECT advice and not just to try and make a buck out of you.

Currys plooky youth was just after a sale, HD TVs wil not become the norm for a long time yet and you would waste your money getting one now.

Currys salesmen always seem to be on 'the push' for commission... not sure how good the Comet people are these days (i left 3 yrs ago but they were ok then) but independent advice seems to be the way forward!

HDTV is 'nice' but I can't see it getting mainstream appeal within the next 5 years due to the cost of the TVs, cost of the sky (and satellite bandwidth), and people being happy with the current TV offering (I don't want to pay any more than £42 a month for TV!)

On top of that... im not sure how many people keep their TV for 5yrs plus but my last 3 TVs have lasted 7, 6, and 6 yrs before they gave up the ghost... and they were all 'branded' sets...