Need help purchasing a HDTV!?

Question

I'd like to buy a HDTV with a budget maxing at around £300-£400. I wanted a screen with a size of 22"-26". Supporting 1080p would be great but isn't necessary. It's for use with a PS3 and a Sky HD box at a later date so 2 HDTV slots would be brilliant. Thanks [=

Answer 1

Go to your nearest Electric goods retailer and see what is on offer.

Answer 2

If you can up your budget a bit this would be a good one for you. It would be better for gaming and for viewing.

http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk/products_...

Answer 3

Go to a nearest shop or search some products meeting your requirements on the internet.

Tom Masters

Answer 4

Don't do it. Being a cheapskate with a tv set is a long-term waste of money.

Stay away from £400 26" tv sets and don't even look at cheaper ones. If you buy cheap now you'll regret it in less than a year when you see the superior pictures that your friends are watching.

Be patient. Wait a while and save your money for a decent Panasonic, Philips or Sony (or at a pinch an LG). For a Good 26" set expect to pay £500, and don't buy from an on-line only or you'll have guarantee support problems if it goes wrong.

Have a look at the John Lewis web site (better still, go to your nearest shop). They're probably the best retailer in the country (for information, range, fairness, service and price matching) - and you get a 5 year guarantee included free with every television.

Why do you want 1080p? If it's just for the PS3 then fine, otherwise forget it. Don't let it be an issue.

Only a vanishing small number of Blu-ray discs use it and  

neither Sky or Freeview or Freesat will be transmitting any 1080p pictures - at all.

It is not in the European HD broadcasting standard (for commercial and technical reasons involving the available bandwidth).

In fact, most of the current HD output is in 720p, with a few programmes in 1080i. None are, or will be, in 1080p.



You probably won't have any choice about it anyway. If everything else about your chosen tv is perfect you'd be daft to reject it because it doesn't have 1080p.

For £400 you will certainly be able to buy a 26" tv. Supermarkets such as Asda or the larger Tesco's have them coming out of their ears. They will be "own brands" and will be poor quality.

Common deficiencies of cheapo tv sets are:

Low Contrast Ratio (blacks are not very black and colours not well defined);

Narrow Viewing Angle (people not sat directly in front of the screen get a poorer quality of picture - the further off-centre they are then the more "fuzzy" the picture gets);

Low build quality (it will feel plasticky and possibly flexible, plugs won't fit well, expect a fault just after the guarantee expires);

Lack of good sound quality (don't be fooled by quoted high "wattage", if it's poor sound then you just end up with high power noise);

Inefficient (check the power consumption in both ON and Standby modes. A good 26" tv will be less than 120W when On and less than 2W when in Standby. Anything more, especially in Standby, is to be avoided like the plague).

Lack of facilities (2 HDMI slots on a cheap tv will be at the expense of something else, normally a SCART or two and certainly quality).

I have even come across an own-brand (sold by Marks and Spencer) tv where you could only change Freeview channels from the remote control. The on-set buttons didn't work - by design not a fault. That was a cheap and nasty feature which could leave someone with a useless tv if the (rather flimsy) remote failed or got lost.

Answer 5

Ok firstly. If you want to watch Sky HD and play PS3 on it then please don't go for sizes less than 32". So many reasons why, here are just a few:

1) you won't get 1080p on a tv less than 32". There's also no point even if you could.

2)If you have a PS3 and Sky HD the best way to enjoy that is at 37" or more.

Now if you're budget is £300-400 then you will have to go for 32" if you want a tv that is any good. But you can get a Samsung or Sony for that price.

Have a look at http://plasmaorlcd.co.uk/productreviews....

Email them....they should be able to help you further.

Hope that helps!

Answer 6

What help to do actually require?

Are you expecting someone here to buy it for you?