28" TV from Lidl - any good?

peckerhead

€269.99

I know Lidl and Aldi have previously had Beko 28" TVs for around this price; has anyone any experience of their 'Welltech' brands? (seems to get the thumbs up here , but there are only a few comments).

A three-year warranty is nice to have, for a budget model like this. I compared prices with DID/Power City and their most basic 28" non-widescreens started at €279, with only a 12-month warranty...

Am I right in assuming that the difference between a 50Mhz and a 100Mhz screen is fairly unnoticeable, for everyday viewing? (digital TV and DVDs)?

Any views? I had been looking around for a good second-hand 28" for <€250 (to go with this ) - but I reckon I'd be better off paying €20 extra for a new 'no-name' one with a warranty, rather than a year-old Sony/Philips, etc...

beardybrewer

I too would be interested in hearing more information about this tv. I have a media unit so I would like to know the outmost dimensions to know if it would fit. Also would it play NTSC as well as PAL for universal VCRs and region1 dvds?

Peckerhead, where did you see it was 100hz? I didn't see those specs online. I'm not sure but I thought it was either 50 or 60hz.

Everything I found about LIDL's Welltech brands seem to indicate this information is hard to come by so it might just come down to picking one up and seeing for yourself and returning it if unhappy.

Loobz

My Dad bought one of these from Lidl about 6 weeks ago. We found one or two things wrong with it.

For some unknown reason, the TV would not power up at all for about 10 days. Then one day it decided to work again :rolleyes:
We did nothing either to break it or fix it.

Also, I find on some channels you have to turn the volume way up to hear it properly. However, on other channels its way to loud. this may not be an issue but will require a lot of volume altering.

Overall, the screen size is big (4:3), and a bargain. You may not experience any of the issues mentioned above.

The Bollox

pfff... I worked in Lidl and believe me, they don't give a **** what kinda warranty you might have, they just tell you to fook off! and the quality of their products is woeful! NOTHING WORKS!

byte

I would class them as "OK" nothing more. But, what do you expect for the price. I think that Welltech is a rebadged Beko though I'd need to get me a closer look to know for definite.

OT, the VCR/DVD Combi for 99eur is a good price.

ozmo

peckerhead wrote:

€269.99

Am I right in assuming that the difference between a 50Mhz and a 100Mhz screen is fairly unnoticeable, for everyday viewing? (digital TV and DVDs)?

If there was no difference there wouldnt be 200++ euros in the difference.
I think for widescreen a 100Mhz tvs if you can afford it is the way to go - when put side by side 50Hz widescreen tvs look flickery in comparison, and some very slightly wavey colours. 100hz is rock steady if you go with Philips, Sony etc. (about 700 for 32" widescreen Philips 100Hz, half that for 28")
Downside is Horizontal scrolling text on a 100Hz tv is harder to read (ticker tape left to right scrolling credits)

muffler

Loobz wrote:

My Dad bought one of these from Lidl about 6 weeks ago. We found one or two things wrong with it.

For some unknown reason, the TV would not power up at all for about 10 days. Then one day it decided to work again :rolleyes:
We did nothing either to break it or fix it.

Also, I find on some channels you have to turn the volume way up to hear it properly. However, on other channels its way to loud. this may not be an issue but will require a lot of volume altering.

Overall, the screen size is big (4:3), and a bargain. You may not experience any of the issues mentioned above.

Have you tried going into the sound menu and setting the AVL to on. This works on my TV although it is a different make

C Fodder

Aren't these the same ones they were selling in England at Christmas for £129(€190 ish) ?

dearg_doom

byte wrote:

I would class them as "OK" nothing more. But, what do you expect for the price. I think that Welltech is a rebadged Beko though I'd need to get me a closer look to know for definite.

OT, the VCR/DVD Combi for 99eur is a good price.

isn't a beko a rebadged Philips??

ie made in the same factory with the same machines etc...

sheesh, cheap versions of the cheap brands?? what next an Awia knock-off!

peckerhead

C Fodder wrote:

Aren't these the same ones they were selling in England at Christmas for £129(€190 ish)?

Looks like it. Nice FX rate, eh? :mad:

Still, if I don't see a cheapier deal by next week I might just go in and pick one up - it's only for the feckin' kids anyway, and the local Lidl is right down the road from where I work. Makes things a lot simpler if I need to call in the warranty...

Incidentally, on the 50Hz vs. 100Hz question - I asked an AV-techie friend in work and he said a lot depends on your eyesight (ah, jaysus, so the priests were right! ) A good way to test whether or not you'll notice the difference is to look away from the screen for a few minutes, then peep at it out of the corner of your eye. You'll probably notice the flicker on a 50Hz screen, whereas the 100Hz one will be rock-steady. But whether it's noticeable when you're actually looking at the screen is another matter (and of course has to do with the size of the screen, too).

I'll pop into the local TV shop and try it out on their (over-priced) 28" sets, then decide if it's worth the extra 200 yoyos...

Loobz

muffler wrote:

Have you tried going into the sound menu and setting the AVL to on. This works on my TV although it is a different make

Thanks for the tip. Will give it a go.

byte

No, definitely not! Philips and Beko differ. You will see some odd makes of TV's with older Philips chassis (the Powerpoint 21ers from a few years back used older Philips chassis and had Hotel Mode), and some with Beko chassis. Others will have Vestel chassis.

As for Aiwa, who recently took to try reinventing themselves, they are owned by Sony, though products seem to differ greatly.

dearg_doom wrote:

isn't a beko a rebadged Philips??

ie made in the same factory with the same machines etc...

sheesh, cheap versions of the cheap brands?? what next an Awia knock-off!

The_Conductor

Loobz wrote:

My Dad bought one of these from Lidl about 6 weeks ago. We found one or two things wrong with it.

For some unknown reason, the TV would not power up at all for about 10 days. Then one day it decided to work again :rolleyes:
We did nothing either to break it or fix it.

Also, I find on some channels you have to turn the volume way up to hear it properly. However, on other channels its way to loud. this may not be an issue but will require a lot of volume altering.

Overall, the screen size is big (4:3), and a bargain. You may not experience any of the issues mentioned above.

Have the exact same problem on a 32" Beko I got in Powercity.
You get what you pay for......
If you take an audio feed from the headphone socket, and feed it into an amp, sound is fine.
I was warned by the salesperson in Powercity, that the sound thing is "known" with Beko- but given the price its a small amount of annoyance.
In my case- changing channels (on some channels, not all) results in the volume going way down, but if you wait 2-3 minutes, the sound recovers to its previous levels.

Picture is 100 Hertz- its fine, no issues with it whatsoever.

Re: quality- I've had it for about 2 years, without any other issues whatsoever.

Also- Beko is a Turkish company, more commonly known for making air conditioning systems, cookers and refrigerators (under a number of different brands). They bought the bankrupt Grundig company about two years ago- so the Grundig brand is rebadged Beko- not the Phillips brand as was alluded to earlier in this thread.

S.

peckerhead

smccarrick wrote:

Have the exact same problem on a 32" Beko I got in Powercity.

So - Beko aka Grundig aka old Philips = bad (potentially)...
What about the current 'Welltech' yoke?

I think I might just go in and get one anyway, try it out downstairs for a few days (before I heft it up to the converted attic!) and cross my fingers after that. A three-year warranty ain't bad, after all... - and I've never, ever had a problem from Lidl with returning stuff, or any sh1te about 'dealing with the manufacturer'. You buy it in your local Lidl store, and that's as far as you have to cart it back if there's a problem with it... Gott bless 'em!