frustration

[Big Mouse]

On top of my crap week, I get let out of saxon clinic yesterday to find my TV has died so off I go to John Lewis to investigate the purchase of a new one with all the bells and whistles.

I want a flat screen upto 37" - I could go to a 42 but I feel its probably a bit to big for a room my size as for optimum viewing you need to be about 8ft away (why do people in 1 bed flats buy 50" screens )

I thought I might as well get a decent home cinema system while I'm at it and have it HDMI compatible to upscale my collection of DVDs - those that it will anyway.

My wife records everything, she'd record the test card if I'd let her, so we need a facility do that. I currently use Sky+ which I'd like to get rid of as its crap. So I need a freeiw or freesat tuner with a built in hd for at least 250 hours of recording.

We need to be able to record 2 programs at the same time

I'm a bit picky about having different brands mixed together so it has to be all one brand. First choice would go to Panasonic.

I like the idea of being able to receive freesat, the content will increase over the coming months

So why can't I buy the component parts without either ending up with two dvd players or two tuners?

I can buy a tv with freesat (but have to go for the 42" option) but have to buy a HD DVD and tuner with 160gb recording to be able to record onto which also means I can't then watch another channel as the freesat will be using the tuner to record. With the home cineam I'll end up with two dvds and two tuners

I can buy a tv with just freeview and a seperate freesat tuner and HD but no one can tell me whether they'lll conflict with each other when recording.

I can't be the obly person to have found this - I just want to cut down on the wiring and number of boxes under the telly. At the moment we have a vcr, a dvd player, a Sky + box, X box and a Nintendo Wii - I don't need the VCR anymore so can play tapes on the TV upstairs

[F Body]

Quoting: Big Mouse

I can buy a tv with just freeview and a seperate freesat tuner and HD but no one can tell me whether they'lll conflict with each other when recording.

Sounds about right

Everyday technology promises everything but delivers little, why can't they wirelessly commmunicate

NB : I don't want a GEEK lesson so save your complicated explanations  for someone who is :

A / Interested.

B / Can Understand it.

C / Isn't too busy in the loft looking for their old Betamax VCR

[art b]

hmm decisions decisions....
whats so bad about sky+

[Fieldy]

got a budget idea mate? at all?

or is it a case of, pay what is necessary?

[Big Mouse]

Quoting: art b

whats so bad about sky+

just about everything - last week and this its decided that it won't record anything on an ITV channel; it comes up with a "No satellite signal is being received" error message. So you go to the planner page and see that the program is actually shown as recording but it won't let you access it or delete it, the only way to remove it is to pull the power cable from the back of the machine and leave it for 30 seconds.

Last month - and stil occasionally - if it records anything from channel 4 the replay is very jumpy - like when you start to lose the signal - and is almost impossible to watch. However, like the problem above, if you go to that chanel it is being received perfectly.

Speaking to Sky to try to resolve it is a whole different problem; its like Microsoft - their answer is to reboot everytime which may get rid of the offending problem but doesn't allow me to to watch the program which was the main object in the first place.

Most of their channels are repeated now; last week while off work I watched the telly in the afternoon for the first time for months. Out of the first 200 channels on Sky, 48 were showing the same as an earlier channel - same program on two channels, 3 in one case - or they were Blahblahblah+1 so it was something that was on an hour ago on one of the earlier channels - which is great because I can't fecking record it anyway!

Quoting: Fieldy

got a budget idea mate? at all?

For a decent TV, home cinema, say 5.1 or good quality 2-3.1, (not bothered about Blueray just yet but would expect it for the top budget), with good recording time allowance I thought a max budget of £1500 with a preferred budget of £1000-1200

I don't need a stand but a good quality wall bracket for later would be a Brucie bonus

[HardRockCamaro]

Quoting: Big Mouse

I can buy a tv with just freeview and a seperate freesat tuner and HD but no one can tell me whether they'lll conflict with each other when recording.

Watching freeview on the tv while the freesat boxes records onto its hard drive isn't going to conflict in anyway.

If you'll settle for freeview this box seems pretty good:

http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=HUMA-PVR9300\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=HUMA-PVR9300

Can do simultaneous recoding of two channels, even while you watch a pre-recorded programme (or watch a 3rd using the freeview receiver built into the telly).  Won't do 250 hours though, I think you need 500GB for that, so this one will do probably 160.  Dixons do sell a 500GB twin tuner box for less than £300, not sure if it will actually record 2 things at once, or just one and let you watch another, you'd have to ask...

Only problem is I have no idea if either of them are actually any good...

[FUBAR]

Quoting: HardRockCamaro

I think you need 500GB for that

Are the drives Interchangeable on these things?  any reason why you can't put a 1TB+ PC HDD into one?

[HardRockCamaro]

In theory you could.

Depends on how the system is implemented.

If it runs off of ROM then you could probably just swap the drives.
If it runs off the hard drive then you may be able to Ghost it and expand the ghosted partition size.

[Kenny]

Why not just wait till Christmas and get a Freesat box with PVR built-in?

I highly recommend Samsung, they do great 40" telly's.

[Big Mouse]

Quoting: Kenny

Why not just wait till Christmas and get a Freesat box with PVR built-in?

Does that mean that they're not being released until then or do you think someone will buy me one as a present?

What make box is it or are several manufacturers thinking of doing this?

I'd looked at Samsung as an alternative to 1st choice Panasonic but some of their home cinema sets look a bit cheap from the outside

[Fieldy]

Quoting: Kenny

I highly recommend Samsung, they do great 40" telly's.

Mine is 42", samsung, it's a lovely, clean piece of kit. No issues at all.

[F Body]

Quoting: Kenny

I highly recommend Samsung, they do great 40" telly's.

Our's is a Samsung 40" which we bought after looking at all the other makes. There is ( was ) nothing that came close to it for the price

I only have two minor issues with it, it's a bit slow to change channel because I think it waits to see if you are going to enter a three digit channel number and under water shots can show some picziliation ?? in the darker blues.

[Big Mouse]

Having looked around the AV Forum and listened to a few other people - and taken note of the comments on here I hastily add - I;ve decided to get just a tv and home cinema kit for now and keep Sky+ until a decent Freesat HD PVR comes along later in the year/2009 then get rid of Sky.

As a pvr will work with anything I can go for my preferred make of Panasonic and save a bit of money as I don't need to get the built in tuner version

Thanks for the input

[FUBAR]

Quoting: Kenny

I highly recommend Samsung, they do great 40" telly's.

Also for PC monitors which I have one of, Samsung are, as far as I know, the only manufacturer that Guarantees NO dead or stuck pixels when new, all the others adhere to the industry standard of "no more than 3 dead pixels per million" (I think its million)

[Big Mouse]

Quoting: FUBAR

"no more than 3 dead pixels per million" (I think its million)

When you're my age just being able to see the telly is a bonus never mind the odd pixel not lighting up

[Roadkill]

Samsung Rocks !

I brought one of their DVD players earlier and am splashing out on one of their LCD TV's later this year / early next.

[ianjpage]

Quoting: Roadkill

Samsung Rocks !

got a pair of 19" monitors and they are perfect -crisp and clear!!

[HardRockCamaro]

Agreed, Samsung for teh win.

Sony fit their panels to their high end Bravia's.

I've got a 32" Samsung LCD telly that I've had for about 3 years (?) which I bought new from Mister Chevy...  I notice Costco offer 5 year warranty's on 'em, my sister just bought a 32" 1080p model for about £500...

Also got a 24" Samsung monitor for work which I hook the MacBook Pro up to.

Got a 17" Samsung on the Mac Mini (which will be sold with it btw if anyone is interested).

[Fieldy]

wow, didn't know Samsung was getting such a good rep....

[Big Mouse]

Well, I ended up with a 37" LCD Sharp Aquos LX37XO2E, with Sharps anti-judder software to help prevent pixelisation, and Sharp HTDV40H cinema system.

TV was £587 in Costco (inc VAT but being a VAT rated business I can reclaim that so it cost me £499 ) and the HC from John Lewis at £299 leaving me with plenty of budget to get a decent freesat pvr when they come out

[F Body]

Quoting: Big Mouse

TV was £587 in Costco

That seems like a good price, whenever I look at anything electrical in Costco they always seems expensive

[HardRockCamaro]

Quoting: F Body

whenever I look at anything electrical in Costco they always seems expensive

You sure?


By and large I find their tv's are way cheaper.
They also have a Samsung hang on the wall DVD player for £370 inc vat at the moment that is £500 in the new Argos catalogue.
The coffee machine I was looking at was also about 20% less there and I bought a Western Digital USB hard drive (the mini laptop type ones) for less than the cost of the bare drive elsewhere.

Granted they can be beat from time to time by other places, especially during sales, but overall I find them to about the cheapest.

[F Body]

Quoting: HardRockCamaro

You sure?


By and large I find their tv's are way cheaper.

When we bought out Samsung 40" TV Costco worked out with VAT @ just over £800, we bought it from John Lewis for £700 with a free DVD player thrown in
Roughly the same our Fridge/freezer also bought from John Lewis, now like Ray if you claiming the VAT back they might well be cheaper

[art b]

we've had a 42" samsung 4 a while, when they go wrong, as ours did under warrenty,
the repair guys come out with a kit of parts for each model[supplied by samsung]
and can replace all components apart from the screen,
they said only samsung offer this service,and other tvs if there no a simple fix have to go back to manafacturer