Recommend a TV?

biebiebie

Hoping the guys in RS can advise on a suitable TV from your Belfast store!

I've an ailing 10-year-old 28" Grundig TV that needs replacing (yikes I hear you say!).

Basic analog NTL signal in Dublin being used. Would like new TV to be compatible with forthcoming Irish Freeview / DTT (is that Mpeg 4 or something?). Full HD for "future proofing". I've read about full HD and distance etc but want full HD regardless!

Budget is tight!

Would the Toshiba 32XV555 be suitable? Or any other Full HD TV in a similar price range?

Also where's the best place to get a TV stand?

Biro

Full HD doesn't future proof any more than HD ready. Either will give you high definition pictures as long as the other. One model with Full HD isnt necessarily better than another without. You need to bear that in mind. Where the arguement should only come in to play is if Brand A has a model 1 and model 2, model 1 is HD ready, model 2 is Full HD, everything else the same, then you can calculate the difference versus the need.
Having said all that, what is the budget? Tight for one mightn't be tight for someone else.

biebiebie

Budget is circa €500-€600.

Richersounds.ie: Ashley

Hi Biebiebie

Ash here from The Philips Shop.

I should have limited stock of the 32PFL5403 in later next week
It's a top notch 32" TV but isnt Full HD nor does it have the MPEG 4 tuner but it will sell for €479.99

BUT....

This ticks all your boxes for Full HD, MPEG4 etc, check it out below

www.p4c.philips.com/files/3/32pfl5604h_12/32pfl5604h_12_pss_aen.pdf

I don't have a price yet but it is due to be released May 2009.
My advice would be to hold on for this if you need Full HD - it looks like it will be a pretty cool TV!

Tempting??

atb
Ash

biebiebie

Cheers Ash for the info.

I seem to have a disinterest in Philips in general. Probably due to an old set that was nothing but problems. Not saying that the new ones are anything like that, I suppose the experience just left a sour taste I guess.

Esel

Just for info - the basic NTL digital package is cheaper that the analogue one! You can get a PVR (personal video recorder) hard disk unit for an extra €5 per month, which is about what you'll be saving over the cost of the analogue service.

Richersounds.ie: Ashley

Hi Biebiebie

I'm Sorry to hear that.

Now as a sales person AND someone who works in a shop that only sells Philips products, I don't expect you to believe me when i say i'm actually not biased!!

But you really should look into the Philips brand again.
We have some VERY top notch TV's available - actually a good few which a stunning - I get to see and play with them on a daily basis and certain sets still stop me in my tracks.
All of our TV's on display running from our DVD and Blu-Ray players so the quality of image is what you can expect at home, oh we now have a Freesat HD box up and running on one of our TV walls (via HDMI - no RF feed here!!)

As my team and I only sell Philips TV's on a daily basis I have to say that we see very few TV's back (not bad considering anyone with a Philips related issue tends to phone or call into us for help/advise - even those who've bought from the elsewhere)

Philips have streamlined their service procedures no end over the last year, especially with TV's, now offering in house collection and return meaning you don't have to drag the TV back to place of purchase + they aim to have them turned around in a short space of time.

If your local to the shop please call in and have a chat and a look around.

We may just swing you back!

Cheers
Ash

eddiem74

AshMiller wrote: »

Hi Biebiebie

Ash here from The Philips Shop.

I should have limited stock of the 32PFL5403 in later next week
It's a top notch 32" TV but isnt Full HD nor does it have the MPEG 4 tuner but it will sell for €479.99

BUT....

This ticks all your boxes for Full HD, MPEG4 etc, check it out below

www.p4c.philips.com/files/3/32pfl5604h_12/32pfl5604h_12_pss_aen.pdf

I don't have a price yet but it is due to be released May 2009.
My advice would be to hold on for this if you need Full HD - it looks like it will be a pretty cool TV!

Tempting??

atb
Ash

Hi Ash,

I've seen some reviews where the 32PFL5403D is not that great with SD apparently? HD seems to score well though.

What do you think?

Eddie

biebiebie

esel wrote: »

Just for info - the basic NTL digital package is cheaper that the analogue one! You can get a PVR (personal video recorder) hard disk unit for an extra €5 per month, which is about what you'll be saving over the cost of the analogue service.

But what about multi-room multi-channel viewing? With analog we can watch different stations at the same time. I don't think digital offers this?

Also I'm considering dumping NTL and going FTA. I assume thats all SD too??

Esel

With digital, you need a separate box for every room. About €8 per month extra per box, afaik.

There is a small amount of HD on FTA - some BBC and ITV I think. You need a HD FTA receiver of course. The amount of HD content will increase with time, I'm sure!

[edit]Forgot to add - you can get 20Mb broadband from UPC/NTL too!

Richersounds.ie: John

Biebiebie,

thanks for the posts and apologies for the delay in getting back to you and thanks Ash for trying to poke in there with a 32PFL5604 (it is a really nice TV though - I saw it recently at a launch I think it will be about €549-599 when it launches next month and it is excellent on SD and HD and the movement on screen is really superb for a mid-range tv).

Anyway, back to the original query, the Toshiba 555
is a really good TV and it's currently reduced to just £399.95 / €469.95 - however it does not have the MPEG4 tuner which the 5604 has - which (soon) will give you your multi channel option via free to air MPEG4 broadcasts. The Toshiba is also 30000:1 Dynamic contrast ratio against the 50000:1 for the 5604H - however as many of you will know I hate this DC numbers war and I think looking at the screens is the only way to tell if it has a good picture or not!

Other screens to have a look at include the really excellent LG 32LH4000 at £499.95 / €559.99 see details here:http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=LG-32LH40STARSTAR this is one of the new range of LG just released which has genuinely impressed me recently.

If you want to have a look at the 5604 specs see here: http://www.p4c.philips.com/files/3/32pfl5604h_12/32pfl5604h_12_pss_aen.pdf

Apologies for rambling on a bit and I hope I have not confused you further - I don't want to get involved in the NTL issue however safe to say that sales of Humax freesat and freesat PVR Set top boxes are booming into the South at the moment!

Thanks again for the post and please drop me a line if we can assist in any way

ATB,

John Mc

biebiebie

Thanks for taking the time out to reply John.

Is that LG MPEG4? What are your thoughts on MPEG4 TV's? Do you carry many of them? Would I be better waiting for more MPEG4 models to become available? Will you actually stock more MPEG4 TV's in the future? I suppose I can hang on for several more months if it'll ensure a better choice.

Do you have any recommendations on the Freesat PVR boxes (I'm clueless!)?

I think I need to overhaul our TV entertainment setup, and my knowledge also!!

What would you recommend for a new enhanced setup then? Thinking TV (MPEG4, 1080, 32-40" LCD), Freesat box (PVR) etc. I don't need ultimate top of the range, but some future proofing and reliability are important. If I could compare a car brand, it'd be Toyota or Honda

Richersounds.ie: John

Biebiebie,

No the LG is not MPEG4 - and yes I'm sure we will stock more MPEG4 models in the future - at present the only MPEG4 models we have are from Philips and Sony (and Sony and Panasonic - but at higher price points!) - however more manufacturers I'm sure will integrate MPEG2 & MPEG4 into single units as the year goes on.

I know some Irish TV dealers are delighted about the advent of MPEG4 (and to be fair the technology is superior to MPEG2) however unless manufacturers incorporate MPEG2 & 4 into TV's it will end up costing the Irish consumer lots more as the will be unable to source TV's via the UK which traditionally is our closest neighbour and easiest source of cheap electrical kit!...any way that's enough of my ranting and there are excellent forum on boards about MPEG4 already that is more informative than any Boxer consortium or Dept of Communications source regarding the basics and practicalities of MPEG4 in Ireland - find it here: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=56

However if you are on basic NTL analogue - it is not MPEG4 compliant and you can continue to receive your TV in exactly the same way as you are now with ANY of the TV's we sell (except some Panasonics, but I won't complicate things) - Also if you are using NTL digital or Sky you can use ANY TV that we sell and you can continue to watch TV - again if you get a freesat Set top box and a dish then you can watch TV (but beware you want get RTE on Freesat!!(is that a bad thing :rolleyes:)

Freesat is becoming so popular - The Humax Freesat HDR box was our best selling product in March and after the budget today I think it may yet become more popular!

So back to the knitting - if you are after the Honda TV with MPEG4 - either the Philips 32PFL5604H or the Sony KDL32W5500 at £550 if you are looking for the Toyota 32" without MPEG4 the excellent LG 32LG5020 at £379.95 is neat but the 32LG5700 full HD is mucho nicer! but it's £449.95 finally if you want to splash out and can go to a larger screen we have the Philips 42PL5603d full 1080P at just £649.95 or the Samsung LE40B530 at 799.95.

Sorrry to be so long winded but drop me a line if you are not too confused!

ATB,

John Mc
[QUOTE=biebiebie;597
15229]Thanks for taking the time out to reply John.

Is that LG MPEG4? What are your thoughts on MPEG4 TV's? Do you carry many of them? Would I be better waiting for more MPEG4 models to become available? Will you actually stock more MPEG4 TV's in the future? I suppose I can hang on for several more months if it'll ensure a better choice.

Do you have any recommendations on the Freesat PVR boxes (I'm clueless!)?

I think I need to overhaul our TV entertainment setup, and my knowledge also!!

What would you recommend for a new enhanced setup then? Thinking TV (MPEG4, 1080, 32-40" LCD), Freesat box (PVR) etc. I don't need ultimate top of the range, but some future proofing and reliability are important. If I could compare a car brand, it'd be Toyota or Honda [/QUOTE]

biebiebie

Thanks John, the info is perfect, exactly what I need to know!

I like the look of the Sony KDL32W5500, and it appears to tick all the boxes. Is the price really £550 though? Website says £649 / £714 with 5 year guarantee (my preferred option, though probably a little too pricey :rolleyes:).

http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=SONY-KDL32W5500