Granny needs new telly !

Conanius

Conanius

Conanius

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
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Hi All,

Bek's Granny is after a new TV. Like all old people with an idea, she has decided she wants to buy it before the VAT rate goes up, and more importantly, from John Lewis. The latter to me seems to make sense withthe whole 5 year guarentee lark, and in light of the end of the market we are looking at here it will be more than up to the job.

Now, the issue is, the choice ! She wants a 32" tv (Aware there is LED technology tv now, is that worth looking at?) which is easy to use.

She wants to be able to record from TV, onto preferably VHS but if not DVD (not hard drive) so I've had a look at some of the VHS and DVD combi units which all look pretty reasonable to me !

If possible, it would be best to go for a compatible setup so just 1 remote can be used. Simplicity is absolutely key here.

Budget? Nothing specific has been said, but considering the audience it doesn't need to be a market leading set, as that will be a total waste

Suggestions !?
 
no budget ? but I prefer to buy something I think is going to last well

Marks & Spencers do a Panasonic 32'' TX-L32G10 for £699.00
they also give a 5 year guarantee with 26" and larger at the moment

if she wants simplicity then hard drive recording is fairly straightforward, my Mother can manage it OK and it saves cluttering up the room with old video boxes ?

If you go for DVD recording then Panasonic do DVD-RAM disk cartridges that are much easier to handle than blank DVD's, more like VHS in that sense.

:)
 
bitslice said:
no budget ? but I prefer to buy something I think is going to last well

Marks & Spencers do a Panasonic 32'' TX-L32G10 for £699.00
they also give a 5 year guarantee with 26" and larger at the moment
Click to expand...
£699 for a 32"? are you a millionaire or something lol?

Currys have an offer on atm for a 32" Samsung at £299.

As for recording from TV there's nothing simpler than using a Sky+ or Virgin Media box with built in hard drive. Also VHS will look abysmal on a HDTV and DVD's are a pain to keep track of.
 
Pretty much any TV will be fine, just take her down and see which she likes the look of. They are all decent enough and easy as each other to use these days. I wouldn't spend a fortune and I'd forget about LED too.

As for a recording - Sky+ would probably be the way to go as it's rediculessly easy, but if not then a hard drive based Freeview PVR would be by far the most simple solution - forget VHS totally and the DVD option is a pain too really. Best way here would again be to go down and have a play with some and see which has the easiest to use menu system.
 
Why are you ruling out hard drive recording? It's vastly superior to DVD recording not to mention VHS! I don't think they even sell recordable VHS' anymore. I would pick up a second hand Sky+ box or a Freeview/Freesat PVR.

For a TV I suspect your gran will be more than happy with a run of the mill LCD, I don't think she'll benefit from LED personally. Why not go for that 32" HD Ready TV advertised on TV for £300? Just buy an extended warranty :).
 
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I'd be tempted with a 32" Bravia - a big featureof these is the XMB user interface which should keep everything pretty easy to use. Also they give pretty decent pictures for an LCD.
 
Chong Warrior said:
£699 for a 32"? are you a millionaire or something lol?

Currys have an offer on atm for a 32" Samsung at £299.

As for recording from TV there's nothing simpler than using a Sky+ or Virgin Media box with built in hard drive. Also VHS will look abysmal on a HDTV and DVD's are a pain to keep track of.
Click to expand...

Comet have a 32" Toshiba 32av615db for £299 also .... i've just bought this TV very impressed.

There's a setting where you set the SCART input from DVD to play back to practically near HD quality ....
 
albert said:
There's a setting where you set the SCART input from DVD to play back to practically near HD quality ....
Click to expand...

The little known magic setting?

You can get an LG 32LH3000 for £329, they look great, very easy to use and set up, good picture and supports 1080p.

For recording you can pick up a Wharfdale DVDR24HD160F which has both a 160GB HDD and a DVD recorder built in for £85.
 
albert said:
Comet have a 32" Toshiba 32av615db for £299 also .... i've just bought this TV very impressed.

There's a setting where you set the SCART input from DVD to play back to practically near HD quality ....
Click to expand...

Um, you do know that most HD devices have upscaling from non-HD to HD?
 
There some nice lookin 28-37 inchers doing the rounds atm for what seems to be a resonable price.

299-399 for a decent enough brand and 5year warranties can be had free if you shop in the right places.

Im looking for a spare TV for the bedroom and the sammy 5 series look decent enough for about 329 for a 32 incher.
 
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