New TV on a tight budget

[StarPhoenix]

Hi

I am due for some service award money and have decided that I would like to put it towards buying a television set for use with my Xbox 360 and Wii.

Are there any brands and models within my budget that I should look at in particular, or are they all much of a muchness at that price point?

Thanks

[rustypup]

see... we'd first need to know the price point..

makro keeps spamming me with specials... yesterday was a 40" full HD for R7k, the day before was R8.5k with an HD PVR...

something tells me they've got stock issues... again...

[Jonboy]

see... we'd first need to know the price point..

makro keeps spamming me with specials... yesterday was a 40" full HD for R7k, the day before was R8.5k with an HD PVR...

something tells me they've got stock issues... again...

+1, also been getting a lot of this. I bough myself a Samsung 40" full HD LCD with built-in media player and free Blu-Ray player for R8k about a month ago. Don't know your price point, but if you can't afford that and have, say, R3000 to spend, you can get a 32" Aim HD Ready from Pick n Pay for R2800, they're throwing these things at a person at the moment.

[Stuart]

you can get a 32" Aim HD Ready from Pick n Pay for R2800, they're throwing these things at a person at the moment.

Thanks for the warning. I was planning on going to PnP later today. I'd rather not, if it means avoiding getting hit by a flying TV!

[Jonboy]

you can get a 32" Aim HD Ready from Pick n Pay for R2800, they're throwing these things at a person at the moment.

Thanks for the warning. I was planning on going to PnP later today. I'd rather not, if it means avoiding getting hit by a flying TV!

[StarPhoenix]

see... we'd first need to know the price point..

makro keeps spamming me with specials... yesterday was a 40" full HD for R7k, the day before was R8.5k with an HD PVR...

something tells me they've got stock issues... again...

Under R5000

No Macros in this One Horse Town

Is it advisable to purchase a no-name brand television set?

[rustypup]

then hunt down a game/dion...

mass stores stocked up big for the WC... which means they now have a problem shifting those units which didn't sell..

[Jonboy]

Is it advisable to purchase a no-name brand television set?

This could be nonsense, but I heard that all LCD units are produced in the same Sony factory in Asia and are then sent to the various manufacturers for branding.

Might be nonsense, but I don't think brand is a huge issue, I've seen a Sinotec with better quality than a cheap Sony Bravia.

[ryanrich]

Yeah also been receiving tons of those Makro specials, although it is a pretty good deal compared to what they were asking a few months ago.

No name brand is fine if the warranty is good enough and if you're happy with it. Samsung and Sony tend to use mostly the same panels, but the software differs and can make a slight difference to the colour intensity, especially with the colour black. Other things like number of HDMI ports and where they're located could be important, depending on what you plan on doing with it...

People I know who have bought some Telefunken LCD sets lately have all had quite a number of dead pixels pop up, which I've never experienced on any of my Samsung sets, so I stick with them, but everybody has their brand preference based on previous experience.

[StarPhoenix]

Oooh......32 inch HD ready Sinotec going for R2999 at GAME from 25-28 November.
There is also a 1080p model for R3699.
Hmmmm......

[Tribble]

Go for the 1080p if you can. Everything is better in widescreen.

[GreyWolf]

I am a bit of a snob when it comes to technology, so I advise against no-name brands. You should be able to get a very nice Samsung for about 5k. I know this means waiting to save up, but I think you will find it worth the wait.

[ryanrich]

Go for the 1080p if you can. Everything is better in widescreen.

720p isn't widescreen?

1080p is obviously the better choice, but then your input has to also be 1080p to mean anything, which means Blu-ray or downloaded HD content. Even DStv HD is still only 720p...

[Tribble]

Oooh wasn't aware he mentioned the 720p. And yes - it is limiting but bearing in mind that he doesn't go out at night - it may be worth the extra expense to get a bigger picture

[StarPhoenix]

Go for the 1080p if you can. Everything is better in widescreen.

720p isn't widescreen?

1080p is obviously the better choice, but then your input has to also be 1080p to mean anything, which means Blu-ray or downloaded HD content. Even DStv HD is still only 720p...

Not forgetting PC and console output.

As my boss put it though, people with Kia budgets don't buy Rolls Royces....

I may breeze into GAME to have a look at the image quality on Sansui and Sinotec tvs.

Another option would be to buy a cheap 54cm tv at some stage to cater for my PS2 and Wii
and look for something else to spend my service award money on.

[IcePick88]

I am a bit of a snob when it comes to technology, so I advise against no-name brands. You should be able to get a very nice Samsung for about 5k. I know this means waiting to save up, but I think you will find it worth the wait.

I'm also like that. Hoe se die Afrikaners.... goedkoop koop is duurkoop.

Rather save a buy properly the first time. Anything less than 40" is a waste of money.
And it should be either Sony or Samsung.

Bought a Sony Bravia 40" the other day. Excellent picture and the software on the TV is good. Way better than Samsung.

[StarPhoenix]

32 inches is the outer limit on sensible tv size for my room.

[IcePick88]

32 inches is the outer limit on sensible tv size for my room.

Ah ok.

[ryanrich]

Anything less than 40" is a waste of money.

Err, that kinda depends on the size of the room it's in no? Being too close to a large screen is ridiculous. A friend of mine has a 50" TV in a narrow lounge and it's horrible to watch so...

[GreyWolf]

32 inches is the outer limit on sensible tv size for my room.

I have a 32" TV in my room. The bed is on one end and the TV on the other ( about 4 meters apart ), and even with my bad eyesight I have no complaints.

[lancelot]

I would agree with that, I bought a cheaper HISENSE at around R3000, very happy with it.

[ryanrich]

32 inches is the outer limit on sensible tv size for my room.

I have a 32" TV in my room. The bed is on one end and the TV on the other ( about 4 meters apart ), and even with my bad eyesight I have no complaints.

Yeah, my lounge is quite narrow so I have a 32", which is about 2m in front of the couch. A bigger TV just wouldn't make sense... There's actually a chart to work out what size you should get versus the distance. These guys with huge sets in small spaces is purely for bragging rights...

[KALSTER]

I'd get a Mecer 42" Full HD LCD panel and a Compro set top box with hybrid digital/analogue tuner, FM and full HD output. Shouldn't cost more than about R6200 or so.

[Anakha56]

Thanks for the thread Star!

Now I have some ideas on what tellies to look for. Trying to play games or watch movies on my PS3 on a small CRT kinda doesnt work . It needs to be bigger...

[lancelot]

It always needs to be bigger, ask Pam.