Best TV under £400?

[ChaiseyLain]

I haven't been back in the UK for very long and I'm looking to get a TV for the flat i'm moving into.

I heard there is something called freeview now. Could someone suggest a quality TV with the capability to view freeview channels aswell as ntsc & pal DVDs through a standard DVD player (I have as many NTSC DVDs as I do PAL DVDs), and all the usual modern connections (that 6 pin hole to connect to computers aswell for example - S-video?)

Could you suggest the best and cheapest place to buy it aswell.

Sorry if this has been asked before, but the search function doesn't work and 6 month old TV suggestions might be a bit outdated anyway.

Cheers.

[ChaiseyLain]

Just done some research. I realise £400 won't get me that much. I'll go to £600 max!
Do i need 100hz technology? Can I recieve freeview through a standard wall socket aerial? What is "digital tuner with all free to air channels" !?

[KillerHERTZ]

SAMSUNG Plano 28" flatscreen for £379.

Doesnt have freeview but is NTSC compatable, has S-video side AV and twin scarts

[ChaiseyLain]

It's strange how hardly any of the TVs seem to have NTSC compatability. I got the impression nearly all TVs were multisystem now.

I have done a search and there don't appear to be any TVs that are Multisystem AND Integrated Freeview

[Welshlad]

just because they dont list NTSC compatibility as a 'feature', doesn't mean it wont be. i think its pretty much standard on all modern sets nowadats isn't it?!?

i'd be amazed if you could even buy a TV set that wont display NTSC material

How about this (http://www.qksrv.net/click-582776-10282254?url=http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/140228.html) for £430 for example?!? Freeview, NTSC, awesome PQ.

[DazMon]

PANASONIC TX28DT4C Same price same shop

Was £390 at easter though , when i got mine. Cracking picture :)

[Welshlad]

PANASONIC TX28DT4C Same price same shop

Was £390 at easter though , when i got mine. Cracking picture :)
Interesting. Comet (yeah, I know! :doh: ) rate it via what tv & video as having an inferior PQ to the Sony.
Available for £389 from here (http://www.cramptonandmoore.co.uk/shop/default.asp?pid=239) though

[kiran_mk2]

We've got the Sony shown above. It came down to a choice between the Panny DT4 or Sony DL10, but the DT4 has several problems with freeview stuff (such as the BBC NewsMultiScreen), so we went with the Sony. £430 from an Alders pricematch with a 5 year guarentee and then a (now expired) £50 cashback from Sony took it down to £380.

[ChaiseyLain]

Just been doing some more research on this integrated freeview thing. I think it might be better to just get a TV without it and then later on get a seperate box. This way I could get something standalone which works better and has more functions (Tivo? Recording? Pay as you go? payper view sky?)

What do you think?

[ChaiseyLain]

"just because they dont list NTSC compatibility as a 'feature', doesn't mean it wont be. i think its pretty much standard on all modern sets nowadats isn't it?!?

i'd be amazed if you could even buy a TV set that wont display NTSC material"

Thats what I thought but nearly all the TVs in my price range that I pull up on Comet have the line
"NTSC playback/ compatible - No " ?? =/

how about this one? SONY
KV28FX68 It has everything I want (100hz, NTSC compatibility, virtual dolby) except integrated digital.

Is there any other advantage to integrated digital other than it can receive freeview without a seperate box?

[ChaiseyLain]

Oh please don't give up already!

[dan13l]

I asked about the best telly for £500 a few weeks back, and I think the conclusion then was the KV28FX68. That's certainly the one I'll be getting once I've moved house. Unless somebody has a better idea :)

[Welshlad]

ChaiseyLain: The Sony *is* NTSC compatible :)

[forum]

Is there any other advantage to integrated digital other than it can receive freeview without a seperate box?

Been looking into buying a widescreen TV for about a year now, but something always comes up. Been looking into purchasing one with integrated Freeview now.

I already have an old digital box and a crummy 20" set.
Should I purchase a widescreen set with integrated Freeview, the old TV set and digital box is going to be given to my brother. The advantage for me being that that once the digital box is gone there'll be some free space on the shelf for something else, there'll be less hassle of looking for an extra remote control and I can free up an extra plug socket.

:)

[JonLaidlow]

PANASONIC TX28DT4C Same price same shop

Was £390 at easter though , when i got mine. Cracking picture :)

I'm looking at a sub £400 w/s tv too. I notice from Comet's website that this doesn't have an RGB scart - is this important?

http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/453_113239.html

J

[Welshlad]

I'm looking at a sub £400 w/s tv too. I notice from Comet's website that this doesn't have an RGB scart - is this important?

http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/453_113239.html

J
As noted above, pay no attention to the comet site for specifics regarding any device. Of course the set has an RGB socket - its just (another) mistaken on comet's part.

Best bet is looking at reviews over at http://www.homecinemachoice.com/ or something like that for details of the set

[ChaiseyLain]

Thanks for all recent feedback.

Anyone have anymore comments on the integrated digital area. I am becoming less interested in it now as surely a standalone one would work better and I must be able to get a tivo box with a freeview function? I wouldn't be able to update integrated freeview tvs with newer systems and functions as easily would I?

[Welshlad]

Depends on what you want. Some IDTV's offer great integration with the freeview (for instance the Sony IDTV allows you to set program reminders from the Freeview EPG and will automatically change channel or even turn itself on when a specific program is starting. It also means you can use the interactive features of freeview from the same remote of your television. I think all IDTV's are capable of receiving automatic over-the-air software updates to accommodate changes to the freeview platform and some even have serial connectors on the back (tho i've no idea when they'd be used). Plus you've got less wires/remotes/boxes to fit in, you wont lose a Scart socket to connect the box to the set and its generally a 'neater' solution.

OTOH you cant control an integrated freeview box with a PVR such a TIVO so if that is what you plan on doing then an external box is your only option.

Guess whatever suits your needs best really

[SPB]

ChaiseyLain, you might want to check you can get freeview before worrying about whether it's itegrated into the TV. It's not available to everyone, postcode checker here (http://www.freeview.co.uk/canireceivefreeview/) .

Also there is a pay terrestrial digital service called Top Up TV (TUTV) @£7.99 p/m IIRC, 1 month contract. You might want to check this out and make sure that if you do want it that you get a freeview reciever with a card reader that can be used with TUTV - if there are any about yet!

[ChaiseyLain]

Depends on what you want. Some IDTV's offer great integration with the freeview (for instance the Sony IDTV allows you to set program reminders from the Freeview EPG and will automatically change channel or even turn itself on when a specific program is starting. It also means you can use the interactive features of freeview from the same remote of your television. I think all IDTV's are capable of receiving automatic over-the-air software updates to accommodate changes to the freeview platform and some even have serial connectors on the back (tho i've no idea when they'd be used). Plus you've got less wires/remotes/boxes to fit in, you wont lose a Scart socket to connect the box to the set and its generally a 'neater' solution.

OTOH you cant control an integrated freeview box with a PVR such a TIVO so if that is what you plan on doing then an external box is your only option.

Guess whatever suits your needs best really

Does that mean I can't record any programs onto a PVR from an IDTV? Sorry, I'm, not sure what you mean by 'control'

[DeadKenny]

Sony :thumbs:


By the way, the problem with "integrated" digital sets is the digital terestrial stuff keeps changing and what you've got in the set might become obsolete. I'd go for a standard set without the digital tuner and get a separate Freeview box or similar.

Almost all TVs now are NTSC compatible, and even if you have problems they're likely to support RGB which is a way around the NTSC issue as RGB is independent of PAL and NTSC colour standards and all modern TVs cope with the 50 and 60Hz standards that both systems use (e.g. my parents have a Goodmans telly which can't display NTSC properly but it will display 60Hz RGB which basically means R1 DVDs will play fine on their telly... in fact better than NTSC ;)).

[zantarous]

I think IDTV also have an issue while recording programmes while they are off, ie you have to leave it in stand by not good if you are going away for a few weeks.