Buying new LCD TV. Any advice?

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James Bond

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# 20574 31-Mar-2008 10:33

I'm currently looking at the 37 inch range.

Budget $1800~

What I want is a good TV that can do 1080p/i, a good viewing angle and
overall good picture quality for around that price. I will be getting My Sky HD when it comes out and I'm also looking into buying a BR
player in the next 12 months.

The 64 dollar question is, which brand/series should I go for?

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Biddle Corp

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# 119845 31-Mar-2008 11:23

I would personally hold off buying a large screen TV at present. Integrated Freeview tuners aren't far off (I have heard unconfirmed reports of Sony having their TV's in the marketplace around June/July and using the Olympics in HD as a selling point). Once 1 or 2 suppliers have this it's going to be very hard for other brands to compete.

If integration isn't a big issue for you expect some discounting with manufacturers clearing out stock! :-)

James Bond

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# 119847 31-Mar-2008 11:30

sbiddle: I would personally hold off buying a large screen TV at present. Integrated Freeview tuners aren't far off (I have heard unconfirmed reports of Sony having their TV's in the marketplace around June/July and using the Olympics in HD as a selling point). Once 1 or 2 suppliers have this it's going to be very hard for other brands to compete.

If integration isn't a big issue for you expect some discounting with manufacturers clearing out stock! :-)

Yeah I noticed that about the tuners, even the high end ones don't have digital tuners. I'm in no rush to buy so I will hold off and see what happens.

pebbles

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# 119854 31-Mar-2008 12:01

On the other hand if that's not a major buying point for you, you may have noticed every retailer is starting to sell of tv's incredibly cheap. nearly bought a samsung 32" in the weekend for $950. The retailers are clearing all their older models at the moment as the new ones are coming out, so it's a good time to grab a bargain

pebbles

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# 119855 31-Mar-2008 12:03

And oh mi gosh I am blind... sorry sbiddle just realised you have already said that! It's monday though... so brain is still not functioning :)

pebbles

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# 119857 31-Mar-2008 12:07

Right... for your question on brands, my personal favorite is Samsung, I find that if you look at each price range they have the best features out of all the brands in the same range. At the moment a lot of them are coming with a free BR player via redemption too.

Just went with noel leeming as I like their website... but an example would be: http://www.noelleeming.co.nz/tvs-dvds/televisions/lcd-tvs/30-lcd-tv/samsung-la32r81bx-32-widescreen-lcd-television/prod96961.html

This is also up to $500 cheaper than other retailers atm, I know harveys was selling it at $1999 over the weekend.

davidcole

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# 119914 31-Mar-2008 13:52

thanks sbiddle, kind of the information I was after....I asked about integrated tuners at bond and bond (LH) in the weekend and got a blank stare.

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sbiddle

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# 119921 31-Mar-2008 14:10

davidcole: thanks sbiddle, kind of the information I was after....I asked about integrated tuners at bond and bond (LH) in the weekend and got a blank stare.

I tried asking around as well, I've had a fairly reliable source tell me about Sony being to market first however nobody seems to know anything. I would have thought that if it was true it would be something Sony would be telling retailers about but having said that maybe they are worried about killing sales at present.

Without naming the store involved I got the biggest load of trash I'd heard in a long time when I discussed Freeview and TV's in general with a salesman at a store in Lower Hutt. I know there are some good staff around but some of these people seem to be so ill informed that it's hardly surprising people many people are confused. I'm sick of hearing about Sky going HD and "every Sky channel being HD" and retailers claiming that they know it all. The guy ended up thanking me when I told him all about the DTT trials etc and admitted they had been told very little.

Freeview and Sky really need to be getting together with all the major retail chains and educating their staff because some of the rubbish they are spinning customers is just plain crazy. People expect that when they go looking for a product they will be given truthful advice, not spun rubbish. What is happening is just bad for the industry as a whole.

davidcole

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# 119923 31-Mar-2008 14:22

sbiddle:
davidcole: thanks sbiddle, kind of the information I was after....I asked about integrated tuners at bond and bond (LH) in the weekend and got a blank stare.

I tried asking around as well, I've had a fairly reliable source tell me about Sony being to market first however nobody seems to know anything. I would have thought that if it was true it would be something Sony would be telling retailers about but having said that maybe they are worried about killing sales at present.

Without naming the store involved I got the biggest load of trash I'd heard in a long time when I discussed Freeview and TV's in general with a salesman at a store in Lower Hutt. I know there are some good staff around but some of these people seem to be so ill informed that it's hardly surprising people many people are confused. I'm sick of hearing about Sky going HD and "every Sky channel being HD" and retailers claiming that they know it all. The guy ended up thanking me when I told him all about the DTT trials etc and admitted they had been told very little.

Freeview and Sky really need to be getting together with all the major retail chains and educating their staff because some of the rubbish they are spinning customers is just plain crazy. People expect that when they go looking for a product they will be given truthful advice, not spun rubbish. What is happening is just bad for the industry as a whole.

Tell me about people being confused....my father in law has dropped $800 on a Twin Tuner PVR Freeview box (hyundai DVB-S) which is connected to his 1080P Sony TV.

Only to have his face drop when I told him that this wont be able to do the High Definition since high definition is not on the satellite (yet).

CYaBro

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# 119937 31-Mar-2008 15:18

Integrated digital tuner in the TV is great but what do you do if you want to record something?

davidcole

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# 119943 31-Mar-2008 15:26

I have a pvr as well, with DVB-S, DVB-T and twin analoge connections....

Although "normal" (read non geek) people should be waiting for Hard disk recorders with integrated tuners, just like video recorders..

eXDee

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# 119966 31-Mar-2008 16:57

CYaBro: Integrated digital tuner in the TV is great but what do you do if you want to record something?

Same way as you would do it with analogue. You watch TV on one channel while you tune a DVD Recorder/PVR into another channel, digital of course, when they come out.

Its just kinda future proofing and gives you more options when you watch/record.

Also i asked sony support a while back and i think they said "Mid Year" for digital tuners.

sbiddle

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# 119973 31-Mar-2008 17:29

CYaBro: Integrated digital tuner in the TV is great but what do you do if you want to record something?

HDD recorders aren't far off either.

What will be interesting is to see what manufacturers do with any HDD/DVD recorders. Obviously DVD isn't a HD format so if you record a HD show with your HDD recorder you're not going to be able to transfer it to DVD and it still stay in HD. Some manufacturers have got around this by burning the .ts file direct to DVD as a file but this means you can only play it back on a player that supports this and not a standalong player.

askelon

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# 119993 31-Mar-2008 18:31

According to my wholesalers the first LCD TV to have an integrated decoder in it will be one of the Olevia branded ones and should hit our shores in the next week or two. Not sure on price at this stage but if its a replacement model for their standard 42" then expect around $1750RRP. Past that I know nothing about them :)

davidcole

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# 120008 31-Mar-2008 19:10

What sort of integrated tuner, DVB-T or DVB-S?

Ta

James Bond

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# 120024 31-Mar-2008 19:59

Thanks for the replies. In regards to LCD TVs coming out with integrated Digital tuner, what kind of difference in price can we expect to have in general from current models?

Also, we are talking about DVB-T here in terms of Integrated TV tuners, right? or DVB-S as well?

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