Not all TV's are created equal! What do I need?

kah22

Hi guys it seems that not all TV's are created equal!

I had hoped to buy a new TV on Black Friday but none of the ones I was interested in were on sale which, perhaps, wasn't a bad thing as I was talking to a friend the other day and he reminded me that not all TV's on sale are capable of picking up broadcasts from the Republic

My TV is about done so I will be buying sometime in January. What do I need to check to ensure the TV is capable of receiving broadcasts from the Republic? This is important as I will probably be buying from John Lewis as I have credit sitting with them.

Recommendations would be appreciated. Budget £700 max

Kevin

Digifriendly

kah22 wrote: »

Hi guys it seems that not all TV's are created equal!

I had hoped to buy a new TV on Black Friday but none of the ones I was interested in were on sale which, perhaps, wasn't a bad thing as I was talking to a friend the other day and he reminded me that not all TV's on sale are capable of picking up broadcasts from the Republic

My TV is about done so I will be buying sometime in January. What do I need to check to ensure the TV is capable of receiving broadcasts from the Republic? This is important as I will probably be buying from John Lewis as I have credit sitting with them.

Recommendations would be appreciated. Budget £700 max

Kevin

A Freeview HD TV will pick up Saorview channels. My own preference would be Sony but Panasonic/Samsung are also good makes. The Sony/Panasonic ones have good tuners in them.

Machinehead

For 700 bucks you would probably get a damn good HD model in and around 42" but not a 4K fancy curved screen (but who needs that) with a satellite HD tuner also built in for the UK FTA satellite channels. Very handy for BBC, ITV & C4 HD viewing. Of course this is of no significance if you already have a Sky box but then with your budget you could probably go bigger with just a terrestrial tuner.

Sam Russell

Any TV you buy just make sure it is Saorview approved by checking the model number on Saorview.ie web site.

If you wish to watch Freesat, then make sure it is Freesat compatible (ask the shop) but then you have to set the TV to Country=UK, which then means the TV tunes Freeview and not Saorview and puts all the Saorview channels in the 800s and they have to be resorted. Check that this can be done as well.

kah22

Thanks guys for all the replies.

TV wise seven would be my max and I do know I can pick up a pretty decent one between £500 and £700. Personally satellite TV' doesn't interest me in the least. I can watch enough rubbish without going down that road

Up until now I've been thinking Samsung, they seem to be the leaders in the field at the moment

Kevin

Digifriendly

Sam Russell wrote: »

If you wish to watch Freesat, then make sure it is Freesat compatible (ask the shop) but then you have to set the TV to Country=UK, which then means the TV tunes Freeview and not Saorview and puts all the Saorview channels in the 800s and they have to be resorted. Check that this can be done as well.

Sony/Panasonic TVs definitely allow viewer to reorder channels.

Sam Russell

Digifriendly wrote: »

Sony/Panasonic TVs definitely allow viewer to reorder channels.

As do Samsung.

kah22

At the moment my top three are in no particular order are the

Samsung UE48H5500
Samsung UE48H6400 and the
Samsung UE40H6400. This seems a great TV for the price

My ideal size of a TV would be 42 inches

NIMAN

afaik, I thought all retailers in Ireland were not allowed to stock TVs that don't receive Saorview.

kah22

Possibly,but remember I'm living North of the border and before buying was anxious to avoid buying a telly that wouldn't pick up Soarview

Since asking the question I've been doing a little more research and it seems that, as Digifriendly said above, that to ensure I can receive Soaeview I'll need a Freeview HD tv OR a Freeview HD Box. I've carried out a quick check and it would seem that most of Samsung TV's are capable of receiving Freeview HD.

ThisRegard

kah22 wrote: »

Samsung UE40H6400. This seems a great TV for the price

Picked up one of these during the summer for cheap enough. I was planning on getting one of this years models but I saw this for cheap and with the reviews being exceptional I grabbed this instead. I thought they might have been hard to pick up at this stage though.

kah22

ThisRegard wrote: »

Picked up one of these during the summer for cheap enough. I was planning on getting one of this years models but I saw this for cheap and with the reviews being exceptional I grabbed this instead. I thought they might have been hard to pick up at this stage though.

As a matter of interest what's your opinion of the set.
Which Online say this:
PROS Great picture quality, decent sound, impressive smart TV and other features.
CONS Smart touch control could be easier to use

ThisRegard

It's brilliant, picture is excellent.

I don't really understand the point about the smart touch control being difficult. You get 2 remotes with the set, 1 traditional one, and and then the smart one. It's much smaller and you basically use it like a wand to point at the tv. It's that simple. We never used the other.

1 issue I did have, and it would apply to any LCD tv, not specific to this one, is that the first set I had had bad light bleed which was very noticeable in dark scenes. Brought it back and exchanged it for a new one which has no such issues.

pluto_322

Bought Samsung 43J5500 Smart Full HD TV on black Friday; very happy with purchase; receiving Freeview HD channels and all Saorview services.