Why are these so cheap?

PardonTheWait

PardonTheWait

PardonTheWait

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Joined
26 Aug 2003
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So... I'm looking for a new TV at the moment, I've got about £450. Could go higher but I'd really rather not.

I started off looking at 32" TVs, then decided to rearrange the room and go bigger. So when I was looking at 32" TVs LED ones were in my price range, not so much now I'm looking at bigger ones.

Buuuuut. I am seeing a few that do fit - the LG 42LE4500 for example. £450.

Now this is 1080p, 4 HDMIs, 42", and LED.

Why isn't it more expensive? Is it crap?

I wasn't really hung up on an LED TV, but a couple of people have been raving about them and if I can get one, I'd like to, but it's not the end of the world. If an LED TV at this price is going to actually be less nice to look at than a standard LCD, then so be it.. but I don't know enough.

I've been mostly looking at 40" Samsungs for some reason prior to this, the LE40C580, LE40C550 and LE40C530.

So in short: what's the deal, why so cheap? Should it be avoided?

Thanks :)
 
All I can tell you is that I bought a LG 42PQ6000 a year or so ago, they were ~£450 at the time, and it's been excellent so far. I'm delighted truth be told, my message is - don't discount LG just because it's cheaper than the crappy ripoff LCDs you see in Currys.
 
It's not that it's LG, some of their stuff's fantastic, my current TV is LG as well and I've been quite happy with it. It's just the alarmingly low price. I've been hunting and seen very mixed reviews. Only problem being is that you can find a bad review of anything you want, and you can find a good one too :/

I hear all these people talking about input lag, where's that come from? Is it a real problem or just something I'll see on AVforums and whatnot where they're super fussy? I do play a lot of games and it's a little worrying hearing people measuring response times and stuff like when TFT monitors were new!

All I'm after is a good telly at around the 40" size for my £450-500. I play games, watch SD and HD content. Grr. Shouldn't be this complicated. I have no brand loyalty or anything.
 
Every manufacturer produces a range with different feature sets. A "Good, Better, Best" if you like. In Samsung's case for a 40" set they have the entry level 5 series, then 6, 7 and 8 series which is their top of the range.

So, the 5 series is their "price fighter" range in this size. What you get is the basic minimum to satisfy the casual buyer - it's 1080p (tick), with a high enough contrast figure to look impressive (tick), and with enough inputs to feel like you have the bases covered (tick).

What you might be missing is the better video processing of the higher spec'd models, LED illumination, a HDTV tuner, 3D, surround sound, Ethernet on LAN, DLNA network support, headphone socket, WiFi adapter support, more inputs, recording features, better power consumption and on and on and on....

My advice, look at the middle of the range set to see what you get extra compared to the base model.
 
Why so cheap? cheaply made with cheap parts and less functionality is the answer.

People want BIG for less £, so this is were giants like LG come in, to fill this gap. This is why Pioneer couldn't compete, as they made far superior, quality TVs but at a premium.

You get what you pay for, this goes for any product.
 
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Wizzfizz said:
Why so cheap? cheaply made with cheap parts and less functionality is the answer.

You get what you pay for, this goes for any product.
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Not always.

Personally, I'd rather have a better-specced CCFL-backlit TV than go for an LED one, which is essentially what I did just recently anyway. For £400-450 there's a lot of very nice 40" TVs out there at the moment (you've probably missed out on the Sony KDL40EX403, they seem to be all gone).
 
Robbie G said:
All I can tell you is that I bought a LG 42PQ6000 a year or so ago, they were ~£450 at the time, and it's been excellent so far. I'm delighted truth be told, my message is - don't discount LG just because it's cheaper than the crappy ripoff LCDs you see in Currys.
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Exactly the same here. Same TV, same situation with it being vastly, suspiciously cheaper than all the other brands for the same size and res plasma. Read lots of reviews, was finally convinced to try it, and it really is a superb telly.

Have you seen what the consensus is with reviews for the LE4500?
 
TheVoice said:
Not always.
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:confused: care to to expand?

There's a difference between a 'nice' TV and a 'quality' TV. Nice is what my girlfriend would buy for instance. Bit like when a girl chooses a car, she doesn't buy it because it's 'quality', more because she thinks it's nice looking (pretty).
 
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So am I avoiding this or not?

I shouldn't think I'm a particularly fussy buyer - I just don't want something bad...

Currently I'm erring towards one of the three Samsungs I mentioned because I get the gist that in general they're somewhat of a safer bet... am I wrong?
 
PardonTheWait said:
So am I avoiding this or not?

I shouldn't think I'm a particularly fussy buyer - I just don't want something bad...

Currently I'm erring towards one of the three Samsungs I mentioned because I get the gist that in general they're somewhat of a safer bet... am I wrong?
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then buy from the bargain end of the market with confidence

Samsung / LG sets are fine if you just want a TV thats not rubbish.

As for Samsung vs LG, neither are significantly better than the other tbh. Just choose whichever has the right price and features you want.
 
I'll see if I can find somewhere to look at the LG in person.I've had a look at the Samsungs and was happy enough with them, but two inches is two inches, she says.

Features wise, all I want is enough HDMIs that aren't in stupid places (like poking out the side), and the best picture quality I can get for my money. Freeview HD would be nice but I'm not mega fussed.

Internet/ethernet doesn't concern me as a Mac Mini lives underneath it to supply all the content like iPlayer/4OD, I use an Elgato TV card to record programmes as well. My DVDs are ripped and played through the Mac. I won't use the onboard speakers either, that's handled elsewhere.

So all I'm concerned with is picture quality, I'd like to get the best IQ I can for what I know is fairly bottom end money.

Maybe the fact that my LG has played up a bit is putting me off them. To be fair though I've had it five years or so, the remote doesn't work anymore (don't know if the remote or the TV is at fault) and it occasionally refuses to light up the screen until you switch it off and on again, but it's never actually let me down as such.
 
Always go and see the TV in the flesh and ask for the remote to check settings as shop modes or sales staff are not always the best at setting them up (for lots of reasons).
 
Check the TV out and if you find as I did the picture quality is equal as more costly TV's then by all means part with the extra cash for that ooh Ive paid more it must be better feeling, me I'd rather have an excellent TV and spare cash to buy something else :)
 
DirtyJester said:
sales staff are not always the best at setting them up (for lots of reasons).
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That's the understatement of the century :D The lack of knowledge in the AV industry, even in reputedly "specialist" dealers is appalling.


DirtyJester said:
Check the TV out and if you find as I did the picture quality is equal as more costly TV's then by all means part with the extra cash for that ooh Ive paid more it must be better feeling, me I'd rather have an excellent TV and spare cash to buy something else :)
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This comes back to the point above - the lack of AV knowledge in retailers.

If the TVs being compared aren't set up right in the first place because the dealers don't know or can't be bothered, then how can they hope to demonstrate the benefits of the step up model? You could say you'll try to do your own comparison in a store. But how many people know what to look for when comparing TVs? If past example is a guide then people gravitate towards bright colourful pictures rather than accuracy. Very few understand why a picture that shimmers with staircase jaggies isn't good, or why having a Readybrek halo around objects is a bad thing. If I were a manufacturer I'd be really worried about the state of the retail industry.

Any buyer serious about picture quality owes it to themselves to learn a little about how to judge picture quality.

There's plenty of good info on the web as a start, but that can't beat the experience gained from using a test disc. I have saved customers thousands of pounds by showing them they didn't need a new TV, they just needed their own setting up right.

A decent test disc with good tutorials is less than £20. It's a small investment that can pay off big. Have a look at Video Essentials on Blu-ray or DVD as good starting point. Go in armed with the right tools, and you might bag yourself a bigger bargain. :D
 
lucid said:
If past example is a guide then people gravitate towards bright colourful pictures rather than accuracy.
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But is that not the same case with the Audio industry, people are always told to go with what sounds best TO THEM, even if its not nessecerily the most accurate reproduction of the original sound.

Surely the same case should apply to the Visual industry, if people prefer brighter colours and will enjoy watching a tv thats bright rather than accurate then they should go with that?
 
I went for the Samsung LE40C550 in the end, £370 from Richer Sounds.

Also got a new amp so I can get my HDMI switching on, £510 spent and happy. I'm off to Tesco to buy some cables!

Thanks all :)
 
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