Cranfield Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 I intend to buy a 20" flat screen TV with freeview for our guest bedroom (and to give my wife a better choice to watch TV when Sky has the football on). As it will not be used constantly, I am looking at the cheaper options and even considered one of the "refurbs" off eBay. This seemed quite a simple purchase, until a chap mentioned to me to beware of flat screen cheap TVs which show the people on the screen as short and fat (a bit like ours does when playing a videoed programme). Does anyone know what technical reference I should be looking for in the TV specification, to make sure this doesn't happen ? Any recommendations of makes and models would also be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr W Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 I was looking for one one of these for my bedroom and did a fair amount of research. Basically people said don't bother with the cheap ones the sound and picture are ****. I ended up getting a Sony Bravia KDL-20S3000 for £270 from Amazon, while a bit more expensive than some the quality shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc-munsters Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 If you do decide to buy brand new, best tip is to buy from John Lewis's They do an unadvertised "price match". Find the TV you want and print off the details. Take it into John Lewis's and they will match it. Why buy from John Lewis's? You always get a 5yr guarantee for free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunganick Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Samsung the le19r88 or 87/6 if you buy it from non DSG groups. Check your happy with volume the samsung can produce before buying. Samsung has been remarkably reliabile for the number of units sold. The sony 20s3000 is very nice, but only recently a reasonable price. Ontop of which its due to be replaced with a 4000 model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosd Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Cranfield, it's like anything mate, you really get what you pay for. Why not set a budget and get the best for your money... So how many ££££££'s do you wanna shell out? I work at Dixons head office and I could look around to see if I can assist..... before I get inundated with "can I help out" I don't work in the shops...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winchester Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 I dont think that anyof these new tvs are up to scratch yet, I have heard a lot of bad thing about them so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosd Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 One more thing carnfield, being that it will probably be a budget TV, if you can get 100hz tv that will make the picture clearer if you are feeding it with just an RF cable. Richer Sounds usually have some good deals, they often have end of line stuff too which is fine for a spare room (or the missus ) Have a look here http://www.richersounds.com/productlist.ph...amp;sgroup=LCD2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 I was advised not to buy a TV with an integrated Freeview. The rationale was that the screen will outlast the receiver, a relatively fragile component with a seemingly finite life. I have had three separate Freeview boxes die in the last 2 years. Now I just have a Humax PVR alongside my Philips LCD, and the two complement each other well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droid Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Samsung the le19r88 or 87/6 if you buy it from non DSG groups. Check your happy with volume the samsung can produce before buying. Samsung has been remarkably reliabile for the number of units sold. The sony 20s3000 is very nice, but only recently a reasonable price. Ontop of which its due to be replaced with a 4000 model. Got to agree. Just got myself one of their LCD's, picture quality the best on offer at Comet. I reccommend you don't buy mail-order unless you've seen the model 'live' because not all picture qualities are equal..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
30-6 Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 My brother has not long bought a Panasonic Viera with freeview, auto set up so it's easy, and honestly the best picture I have ever seen on a TV, my friend who works for Sony has a Bravia and says they are ****. I've got a Comet own brand Proline make and find it OK. One thing I would not have on a TV is a gloss finish to the outside rim of the screen, make sure it's matt as the room lights reflect back terrible off it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted October 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Loads of good advice and much appreciated, especially the links. I am thinking now that integrated freeview may not be a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunganick Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 I think you will find it hard to not get. My experience with built in freeview is that they are fine. Enfact 99% of the freeview boxes i see returned are miss-diagnosed, given the rubbish digital reception in my area (and alot of kent for that matter) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr W Posted October 29, 2008 Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 (edited) my friend who works for Sony has a Bravia and says they are ****. Your friend is very very wrong! Unless your stars spell 'good' (or some other 4 letter word meaning excellent which I can't think of at the moment) Edited October 29, 2008 by Dr W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosd Posted October 29, 2008 Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 Loads of good advice and much appreciated, especially the links. I am thinking now that integrated freeview may not be a good idea. Cranfield, I am going to disagree, I would opt for inbuilt freeview every time. The picture quality is so much better when it is in built due to the fact that there is no signal loss between the freeview unit and the TV. If you use a separate box and a scart lead, the signal is converted from digital to analogue, then back to digital again, this will ALWAYS equate in signal or picture quality loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted October 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 OK I am convinced, a integrated freeview system it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marine1980 Posted October 29, 2008 Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 Why not buy a flat screen without the freeview which you can pickup cheap and then pay the extra 10 a month to sky for another box. That way the misses or you can watch every single channel on sky in either room. at the same time. Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosd Posted October 29, 2008 Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 OK I am convinced, a integrated freeview system it is. Good choice, now that part's sorted, all you have to do is choose a make and model...only 3,000,000 to choose from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Che_Nottm Posted October 30, 2008 Report Share Posted October 30, 2008 This is a good deal, 22inch samsung series 4 for £229 http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronic...&P36=AGQRWQ Nice tv at a great price Che Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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