Buying a TV in the UK

Widescreen

A friend of mine is going on holiday to England next week and his main telly has recently packed in so he was half thinking of buying a new one over there if he sees a good deal. He asked me was there any problem doing that. -i.e. compatability etc.

I told him that through a decoder there should be no problem but I was not sure if the analogue aerial here would work on it.

Would someone mind providing clarification on this please?

Thanks

LordSutch

From memory, there might be a problem re the analogue UHF/VHF signals!

All UK TV's are only fitted with one or t'other tuners (UHF or VHF), I brought my VCR over from England a few years ago and several of the analogue channels were missing due to the UHF/VHF issue ..............

John mac

you could have a look here

watty

Not a good idea.

May not have Analogue at all, or no VHF.

Unlikely to support the Irish DTT format.

What if it breaks? Warrenty?

Mike 1972

May not have Analogue at all, or no VHF

Bar a couple of handheld models Ive yet to see a TV that doesnt recieve analouge signals and while one has to be check carefully sets with VHF tuners can be got in the UK (In any case the lack of VHF is only an issue in some parts of the country or in cabled areas)

The point RE: DTT is to an extent valid but then again most TV sets on sale in the Republic are not MPEG4 DTT ready either

lawhec

The case of a VHF analogue tuner - These days most TV's sold in the UK have VHF tuners but because the UK doesn't use this band for TV broadcasting (I or III) it is rarely if ever advertised. If you were to buy a TV north of the border (especially in somewhere like Omagh or Enniskillen) they would probably have a good idea if you asked them about it. Anywhere else and they'll think you're either on about FM radio or that they think you have two heads on you.

Best idea would be to have a look through manufacturers websites for the specs of certain models beforehand.

watty

A case of Buyer beware. If you know EXACTLY what the model does... (The shop often won't).

Tesco manager actually seemed nearly in tears once...
"They ship in these boxes" he said
"There is no training, no literature" he pointed at box. "All we know is what is printed on the box"

GerardKeating

watty wrote: »

"All we know is what is printed on the box"

A some of them cannot even read that....

lawhec

watty wrote: »

A case of Buyer beware. If you know EXACTLY what the model does... (The shop often won't).

Tesco manager actually seemed nearly in tears once...
"They ship in these boxes" he said
"There is no training, no literature" he pointed at box. "All we know is what is printed on the box"

That's why I don't think going over to England to buy a television is a great idea.

At least if you went up north, even if the shop assistant you ask first doesn't know, someone there should know, though since the days of in-store technicians are now long gone, you might not get an immediate answer. Plus if that f**ks up, the worst that can happen is going back up north to send it back.

In saying all of this, the OP is from Limerick. If his friend is currently receiving RTÉ from Woodcock Hill, then the VHF question is one that doesn't really need to be considered.

watty

The Analogue range is poor. In the City, yes Woodcock is possible everywhere with a roof aerial

Plenty of people using VHF. Esp. in the County.

Widescreen

thanks for all replies. Hes going on family holiday,Wales,to be precise and he just thinks buying a tv over there cud save him some cash. He said he'll gamble on the warranty etc. I've told him Irish DTT needs MPEG 4 but most people dont even have a telly with this functionality anyway and will use a decoder.

Basically, can i tell him

1. Make sure its vhf (for his terrestrial)?

2. All sky/chorus stuff should work ok through their decoders irrespective of the spec of the tv he buys?

thanks!

Mike 1972

lawhec wrote: »

If his friend is currently receiving RTÉ from Woodcock Hill, then the VHF question is one that doesn't really need to be considered.

Some people in Limerick are still using Mullaghanish or even Maghera for RTE

Oh and theres (an attempt at) a cable network there

All sky/chorus stuff should work ok through their decoders irrespective of the spec of the tv he buys?

Might still want VHF for analouge cable channels

byte

Any Sony's or Samsung's, even if bought in UK, would be OK over here wrt VHF. Generally not the case with Panasonic or Toshiba.

Even many no-brand tellies have VHF tuners.

All new Samsung B models (eg LE32Bxxxx) have MPEG4 tuners.

watty

There is still unbeliveabley Analogue MMDS here too, down converted to VHF. At least according to my spectrum analyser pointed at Keeper/Roxboro direction from west of the City.

byte

watty wrote: »

There is still unbeliveabley Analogue MMDS here too, down converted to VHF. At least according to my spectrum analyser pointed at Keeper/Roxboro direction from west of the City.

In Donegal, it's all upper end UHF, so they can add a VHF aerial for RTE1 and 2 with U/V diplexer.

Of course, MTV goes out on E60 which usually will interfere with TV3 offair.

marclt

Hi

Many of the LG variety have VHF and they also have MPEG4. I saw a 22" LCD LG cheaper than it's 19" version which had a TNT sticker on it the other day in Tesco (Pembroke Dock).

If you can get the serial number or model number and cross ref it on the net for the spec then you should be fine...

Marc

slegs

marclt wrote: »

Hi

Many of the LG variety have VHF and they also have MPEG4. I saw a 22" LCD LG cheaper than it's 19" version which had a TNT sticker on it the other day in Tesco (Pembroke Dock).

If you can get the serial number or model number and cross ref it on the net for the spec then you should be fine...

Marc

Remember TNT is MPEG2, it is the TNT HD sticker you need to look out for which is MPEG4