New fangled TVs.

[Alex_UK]

Thats interesting, because i never had a problem with older CRT TVs. This is why i'm hesitant about buying a new one.

I must have just been unlucky then!

[The Grand Wazoo]

ref my previous post!! older stuff was made to last or be repaired... now its made to work or be replaced! if you are fortunate you have a free extended 5 year g'tee, if not by your poor self

Well, just you & The Sale of Goods Act, which ought to give you 5 years with or without a guarantee.
...........No?

[Stratmangler]

Well, just you & The Sale of Goods Act, which ought to give you 5 years with or without a guarantee.
...........No?

T'aint necessarily the way it reads here.

Chris

[alb]

I must have just been unlucky then

Quite possibly Alex.
I've had two TVs in 21 years of marriage, and both were ex rental when i got them. No real problem with either of them. Nothing that could be blamed on the manufacturer.
You see television isn't important to me. Which is why i get all "Scrooge like" at the thought of buying a new one.

[The Grand Wazoo]

T'aint necessarily the way it reads here.

Chris

Well, I'd argue that if it can be guaranteed to work for 5 years for those people who feel like handing over some cash, then it should also work for the same period for those who don't hand over the cash.
I think anyone should reasonably expect an item of electronics costing several 100's of quid to last at least 5 years. Maybe I'm being too simplistic or naive?

[Stratmangler]

Well, I'd argue that if it can be guaranteed to work for 5 years for those people who feel like handing over some cash, then it should also work for the same period for those who don't hand over the cash.
I think anyone should reasonably expect an item of electronics costing several 100's of quid to last at least 5 years. Maybe I'm being too simplistic or naive?

I am in agreement with your viewpoint - it's just the sale of goods act that has "grey area" stamped all over it.

Chris

[Themis]

I'm under pressure to buy a new telly for the living room. We don't have one in there now because it was in the way of the speakers, so i moved it out. It wasn't used much anyway.
To save space i'm going to have to relent and buy one of these 32" LCD things, and wall mount it. Don't know anything about them, and need some advice please.
Judging by the number of broken ones for sale, i'm guessing they're not as reliable as the old CRT type.
If i had more room i'd buy a secondhand CRT again, but thats impractical.

Is there anything i should look out for, or avoid?
Do they need protection from mains spikes etc?
Is secondhand too risky?
Am i being unnecessarily paranoid?
I don't want to be spending more than £400 on something that isn't really a priority in this house.

I would advise you to get a Sony or a Philips one. If you don't want to spend unnecessary money, then have a look also at the prices on Internet shops.
A few years ago, I bought a high-quality Philips on an online shop and saved more that £1200 on normal price.

[Jason P]

Also, if it's not important to you don't be fooled by the whole '1080' hi-def hype. Although for a 32 you're unlikely to get a 1080 set, the 'inferior' lower resolution sets actually cope with standard definition material better IMHO. You could do worse than trawling through this site here:

www.hdtvtest.co.uk

but as has been said before, if you stick to Samsung, Panasonic or Sony you won't go far wrong.

Jason

[alb]

Thanks Jason. Good link.

If you look at the consumer reviews, there's always one who contradicts everyone else.

Quote.

"If you want your Tv to last for more than 2 years don't buy a SONY.
I had a LCD fault rendering the TV completely useless. I asked Sony to consider if the TV should be servicable for more than 12 months. They say I should insure the TV if I want it to last any longer than 12 months.
You decide, but me I will never buy another Sony product again."

Thats an interesting attitude from the manufacturer.

Looking beyond that, it seems the budget Sony models don't really fare any better than other brands.

I had a quick walk around Currys this morning as i happened to be close by. Every TV in my price range was displaying something different, making it impossible to compare much at all. The Toshibas were showing a Samsung advert, work that one out.

Will start looking this afternoon.
I think the final choice will be down to price and a reasonably convincing demo.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Thanks Jason. Good link.

If you look at the consumer reviews, there's always one who contradicts everyone else.

Quote.

"If you want your Tv to last for more than 2 years don't buy a SONY.
I had a LCD fault rendering the TV completely useless. I asked Sony to consider if the TV should be servicable for more than 12 months. They say I should insure the TV if I want it to last any longer than 12 months.
You decide, but me I will never buy another Sony product again."

Thats an interesting attitude from the manufacturer.

Looking beyond that, it seems the budget Sony models don't really fare any better than other brands.

I had a quick walk around Currys this morning as i happened to be close by. Every TV in my price range was displaying something different, making it impossible to compare much at all. The Toshibas were showing a Samsung advert, work that one out.

Will start looking this afternoon.
I think the final choice will be down to price and a reasonably convincing demo.

that guy with the faulty sony was either unlucky, or more likely got shouty and swore at them!
realistically any electrical product is garunteed for 5 years, you just have to know your rights!
that said the 5 year g'tee, if they are free, are worth having - you will find for the most part (certainly with panny and sony) that they are domestic and general parts and labour g'tees (just dont chuck your wee remote at and your fine) they just save all the hassle of having to write backwards and forwards from these companys quoting various legislation!

like i said before, if you want some help, you can ring my shop! i wont even try and sell you one!

...

when in the tv shop:
if they want the sale enough they will bend over backwards for you!
if you want to get a "reasonably convincing demo" take your own dvd in! get them to show you a low end sony (or any other brand) next to a high end sony running the same signal at the same time (making sure they split a hdmi signal)! get them to set both to "standard" in the picture settings.
look out for contrasty sceens and look for detail in the shadow areas. also look out for sceens with panning or tracking shots and focus on the edges of stationary objects! the higher speced "100htz" sets should judder less! dont let them fob you off with a demo of an animated film on blue ray.. especially something like "wall-e" that looks good on all tvs especially running with a 24p signal!
whilst you are watching the two tvs tell them not to tell you which one is the most expensive, and not to point out any of the benefits of one over the other!
also ask the guy in the shop which are most reliable, if he says they are all as reliable as each other he is lying and will lie againg, ask to speak to someone else, or leave!

thats what id do anyway!

good luck!