Amazon now shipping big TVs to Ireland - free.

dowtchaboy

Spotted this over on Bargain Alerts forum:

Apparently Amazon are now prepared to ship large TVs to Ireland - free of charge.... should make thing interesting.....!
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056219126

Trevord

Ya I noticed the other day that you could go all the way to the final screen at check out

This 42 inch isnt at all bad for 420 euro (only a tenner dearer than the 37 inch version)/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-42LD450-42-inch-Widescreen-Freeview/dp/B003H1048C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301088715&sr=8-1


(Its 500 euro in Powercity) and its Saorview friendly

watty

Very compatible. Same picture quality and better sound than skinnier €700 LED back lit LCDs.

http://www.techtir.ie/howto/hdmi-via-cat5-cable
http://www.techtir.ie/howto/enable-42ld450-video-playback

We got it €460 in Currys, but it's gone up a lot since January.

Trevord

Just when i thought I understood what was needed for Saorview compatibility, this morning I'm now more confused than ever.

This TV which I mention earlier in this thread

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-42LD450-42-inch-Widescreen-Freeview/dp/B003H1048C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301088715&sr=8-1

is listed on Amazon as a "Full HD TV with Freeview" whereas some other TVs on Amazon are listed as as "Full HD with Freeview HD"

My understanding was that a "Freeview" STB won't do for Saorview and you need a "Freeview HD" STB. So how then can a TV with "Freeview" (not "Freeview HD") like the one in the link above be compatible with Saorview ?

watty

Some TVs are for multiple Markets. Thus they can be Freeview in UK and MPEG4 inc HD elsewhere.

Freeview doesn't use MPEG4 or HD, ever. So a Freeview *ONLY* "Full HD" set likely will not work in Ireland.

But some Multi-Country TVs do have MPEG4 and HD, but can be "HD Ready" or "Full HD". Without a DVB-T2 tuner they can never ever work on "Freeview HD", only "Freeview" (e.g. LG xxLD450 series and similar xxLE series with LED backlights).

All "Freeview HD" sets must have DVB-T2 (which includes DVB-T operation), MHEG5, MPEG4, MPEG2, SD and HD, no matter if "HD Ready" or "Full HD". Some like LG xxLD490 series are ONLY UK, thus work on Irish Digital, yet be LESS compatible than the Freeview LG 42LD450 and LE families for Saorview.

So if a TV is

1. "Freeview" only no matter if "Full HD" or "HD Ready", likely doesn't work.
2. "Freeview HD" only no matter if "Full HD" or "HD Ready", likely does work, but not quite compatible.
3. "Freeview" and "Full HD" or "HD Ready" and has Multiple Countries, it might work, esp. if TNT HD. But most older ones won't. This is because maybe up to 20 European Countries have MPEG4 and possibly HD on DVB-T
4. "Freeview HD" and "Full HD" or "HD Ready", and has Multiple Countries, likely does work with virtually 100% compatible.

ALL "Freeview" and "Freeview HD" have MHEG5, but some only on UK country setting. Panasonic often disable MPEG4 if you select UK or Ireland, even if the "Freeview" model has the hardware.

This is why there is a Certification scheme! Saorview Certified models are guaranteed to work!

I had considerable research to establish that the "Freeview" LG xxLD450 was as compatible as is possible without certification.


Setboxes
"Freeview" Setboxes are for TVs with no Digital. None have ever had the extra cost of HD and MPEG4. They are only for the UK MPEG2 DVB-T MHEG5 "Freeview" SD only system. None at all will work on Saorview.

"Freeview HD" Setboxes are for TVs with no Digital, or for Freeview Tvs. All do SCART, HDMI, DVB-T, DVB-T2, MPEG2, MPEG4, SD and HD.

"Freeview HD" Generally (TVs and Boxes).
Some(Most? All?) will not do EBU Teletext (Maybe ends in 2012/2013)
Some will put all Irish channels in the 800s, but some have Favourites that can be used
None will respond to Saorview OTA firmware updates.
TVs with alternate Countries (such as Ireland) may fix the 800 issue and be more compatible than UK only models.

BFassassin

Sorry for dragging up this old thread but its on the same topic.

Has anyone ordered a large tv from amazon recently. I tried a 40" and they accepted the order but then later cancelled it saying they cant deliver anything bigger than a 32" to Ireland.
Im not sure where I can get the tv I want now at a reasonable price.

Wiggy

BFassassin wrote: »

Sorry for dragging up this old thread but its on the same topic.

Has anyone ordered a large tv from amazon recently. I tried a 40" and they accepted the order but then later cancelled it saying they cant deliver anything bigger than a 32" to Ireland.
Im not sure where I can get the tv I want now at a reasonable price.

Try parcelmotel perhaps?

It'll be an oversize package, so you'll have to pay €14 plus €7.00 for every 10kgs (over an allowed 25kgs) to get it delivered to you.

Alternatively, you can collect it yourself from Finglas for €3.50 plus €3.50 for every 10kgs (over an allowed 25kgs.)

Haven't used them myself yet, but I've signed up.

BFassassin

Wiggy wrote: »

Try parcelmotel perhaps?

It'll be an oversize package, so you'll have to pay €14 plus €7.00 for every 10kgs (over an allowed 25kgs) to get it delivered to you.

Alternatively, you can collect it yourself from Finglas for €3.50 plus €3.50 for every 10kgs (over an allowed 25kgs.)

Haven't used them myself yet, but I've signed up.

Thanks for the suggestion wiggy. I sent them an email yesterday alright to see if it could be done that way. Still waiting on a response.

winston_1

watty wrote: »

Some(Most? All?) will not do EBU Teletext (Maybe ends in 2012/2013)
.

Icecrypt and Sagem seem to do EBU teletext though it is not mentioned in the spec.

MAJJ

I post this so often I am going to be accussed of shilling, I'm not, I am just a happy repeat customer.

I suggest you try richersounds.ie they have a made a lot of boardsies happy, they deliver from Belfast, very reasonable prices and excellent to deal with. They have a presence here but I find it quicker to ring.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1105

JonathonS

Be careful of buying electronics from Amazon. They offer a very good one year guarantee on everything they sell, after that they refer you to the manufacturer. So you you have issues with a set that is out of guarantee you can either pay for it to be repaired, or contact your legal advisor. The EU small claims procedure is also available (does it work?).

Wiggy

JonathonS wrote: »

Be careful of buying electronics from Amazon. They offer a very good one year guarantee on everything they sell, after that they refer you to the manufacturer. So you you have issues with a set that is out of guarantee you can either pay for it to be repaired, or contact your legal advisor. The EU small claims procedure is also available (does it work?).

I don't think that this should be a concern.

Some years ago I bought a large Samsung TV from Richer Sounds in Belfast (€500 cheaper than Currys or Power City.)

After 3 years a fault developed. I contacted Samsung who gave me the number of their repairs agent in the Republic. The fault was repaired free of charge as it was down to a design flaw in the model, despite the fact that the set was out of warranty.

My point is that any reputable manufacturer will honor their own warranty (and often exceed the terms of the warranty.) I don't think that you'd necessarily get (or even reasonably expect) that level of service from any retailer.

JonathonS

You were fortunate that your fault was a known one. Otherwise you would have had a fight on your hands. As a consumer your contract is with the retailer, and these forums are full of stories of products that went faulty out of warranty, where the retailer refused to repair it free of charge, and the manufacturer also refused to offer a remedy.

Although this thread is not about Amazon http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=61578218 you can see that the TV manufacturer refused to help and there was no comeback.

Some of the bigger TV brands might offer a repair on a goodwill basis, but in electronics Amazon sell a lot more than just TVs, and if you buy from them and the product is faulty outside warranty they will not help. Guaranteed!:)

BFassassin

Forgot about this thread. Richersounds was an option but didnt have any stock of the tv I want. I have ended up going with currys though as the price isn't much higher than what the amazon one would work out at.
Thanks anyway guys.