Firstly apologies for the long post, but I am about to step into the big wide world of LCD TV and home entertainment and I have a number of questions that I am hoping the kind guys & girls of the Digital Spy world might be able to help me with.

I have only been looking at “kit” for a couple of days, but at the moment I am keen on the following:

LG32H5000 TV (HD, 1080p, 100Hz) on sale at Currys for £449.
Samsung DVD Recorder (DVD-SH893M/XEU) on sale at Laskys for £163.

So my questions are as follows:

1. Does my current choice of TV look OK. I have a budget of up to £500?
2. How about my choice of DVD recorder? I have a budget of up to £200?
3. Would I be better off waiting for the January sales or is it unlikely that I would save much?
4. Any know any discount vouchers to get this kit cheaper?
5. I plan to install the TV on the wall and so want to minimise the number of cables hanging down. Would I be correct in thinking there should only be two cables – the TV power cable and an HDMI cable connecting the DVD recorder to the TV?
6. Is the advice I have received from Comet about the DVD recorder correct:
a. I can record Freeview TV OK?
b. I can record one Freeview channel while watching another?
c. I can copy digital camcorder files onto the DVD recorder hard disc via the USB cable and then burn these files onto a DVD on the recorder?
7. If I want to connect my Son’s PS2 to the TV, would I need another cable (SCART) hanging down the wall or can it be connected via the DVD recorder some how?
8. What is the best way of disguising the cables hanging down the wall – I have wall paper on the wall at the moment and don’t have any spare?
9. How much should I spend on the HDMI cables – the prices seem to vary hugely despite the fact they seem to have a similar spec?


Any help to a complete newbie to the world of home entertainment would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks

Supahoopsa,

Whilst I am certainly no genius I'll have a go at 2 of your questions.


5. Yes, you should only need HDMI to the DVD recorder (provided it has an HDMI connection) and power cable
9. I initially paid £40 for a 1m cable at the SONY shop, then paid £4.99 for one on EBAY and there's zero difference between the 2. You can pay up to £250 if you like, but there is no point

bit dear for a 32", i would say - loads of decent makes for under £300 now

Won't you also need an aerial feed to the TV?

Forget LCD TV...it is expensive and above all - unreliable. (oh...and a distorted picture)

Firstly - over a period of time (6 months - 2 years) the 'back' lights will fail -amongst many other problems.

Secondly - this new technology is totally unreliable and is no where near as good as the old CRT models.

LCD/Plasma TV's are simply 'cheap' tat that will not last...regarless of the make and how much you spend. I guarantee that it will break down within weeks or months. (why do people constantly put looks over reliability?)

Go out and get a decent wide screen CRT model which is FAR more reliable and gives BETTER picture quality and then go out and buy a freeview HDD recorder (NOT a DVD recorder) and add a decent amp and speakers - sorted!

expensive stuff

Is that luddite, with two ds or one d

p.s. I'd like to make a claim under your guarantee that it will break down within weeks or months.
mine hasn't so where do I apply...

Getting a new CRT is easier said than done And a decent-sized one would be so heavy and cumbersome - I had to pay £50 to get mine delivered (to an upstairs flat).

If only Samsung had come up with the eagerly awaited revamped Slimfit... but they didn't

The LG that OP has selected has very good reviews on Amazon (check the price there) - apparently the sound is above average for an LCD.

I agree with Andy - buy a PVR (Freeview hard drive recorder with its own twin tuner) either instead of or as well as a DVDR. Don't get an HDD/DVDR combo unless you can afford the newish Panasonic, they're just not as user-friendly. Digital Spy has forums on PVRs - and the best of British luck Don't bother with an HD upscaler, your LG TV should do a better job of that than any PVR or DVD.

parthena

wow so what bad exerience have you had with LCD???

I guess the millions and millions of other satisfied customers must be wrong?

What facts can you back up your claims?
so you say:

Forget LCD TV...it is expensive and above all - unreliable. (oh...and a distorted picture) - Expensive eh? (see you own comment 3) - LCD is now around the same prices of CRTs from about 10 years ago....you cand get LCD from about £100 up to whatever your limit is, and distorted pictures on LCD or plasma, I think you mean CRT, you do understand the various aspect ratio viewing modes including stretchy vision?

Firstly - over a period of time (6 months - 2 years) the 'back' lights will fail -amongst many other problems.
anyway, - Back lights can fail but don't on a regular basis, LCD technology is not new, it's been used in laptops for 20 years! and the 'many other problems'? what exactly?

Secondly - this new technology is totally unreliable and is no where near as good as the old CRT models. new technology? .... see above... CRT's have been around for about 70 years, how long should we wait for LCD to mature?

LCD/Plasma TV's are simply 'cheap' tat that will not last...regarless of the make and how much you spend. I guarantee that it will break down within weeks or months. (why do people constantly put looks over reliability?) - So now they're cheap tat not expensive as said above? There are cheaper, medium and expensive models. Now tell me more about this guarantee you offer on breakdown?

Go out and get a decent wide screen CRT model which is FAR more reliable and gives BETTER picture quality and then go out and buy a freeview HDD recorder (NOT a DVD recorder) and add a decent amp and speakers - sorted!- So which decent brand still makes new CRTs as I don't want a secondhand one?

As I type this I am looking at twin LCD monitors both 4 years old, same technology as a TV panel. Back light failures are quite rare and some newer LCD TV's have led backlighting anyway which should be very very reliable

Yes, back light failure is very rare indeed, I don't know if LED backlights will be better or worse?, certainly LED based car lights aren't very reliable.

The LED TVs certainly are more expensive at the moment

parthena

Mains led lights are supposed to exceed 40000hrs

http://www.yourwelcome.co.uk/acatalog/led236.html

Presumably I don't need to point out that there's no such thing as a 'mains LED'

Life of an LED depends greatly on how hard it's driven, presumably using them for backlighting drives them pretty hard?, certainly CCFL's in LCD's are really bright.

Claimed lifes are all very well, LCD and Plasma panels have very high claimed lifes - usually the set is long dead before that event happens - and in both cases it's based on the panel gradually giving out less and less light. I don't think LED's fade over time?, so presumably estimated life is based on one or more of the LED's failing?

OK . But the bulbs are connected at 240V into normal bulb holders

Had you been on the Beer when you wrote this, I have seen some Crap on forums over the years but this has to be up there with the best Yes there have been some good CRT's ( I have had some) but they do what they do best i.e. SD & are not capable of HD. My Last "Cheap TAT" LCD cost me £1050 (SSP of £1299) worked 100% spot on with a superb PQ for the 2.5 Years I had it before selling it to a mate & is still going strong. My current Plasma came with a 5 year Guarantee from the Manufacturer, they must be bricking it thinking we are all going to return them faulty in 6 months oh yes & what are these distorted imaged you refer to?

If you do a lot of time shifting recording - aka, Corrie, Eastenders, or other regular show, then a PVR (with twin tuner) is the way to go for most people.

However, if the DVD Recorder also has a hard disc (we have a panasonic HDD-DVDR combi), you can get ease of use just as long as....
1 - use the hard disc feature for timeshifting.
2 - run an aerial cord from the RF-out to the aerial input on the new tv....
.....these HDD/DVDR combis are single tuner only, so when its recording one freeview channel, you will need to use the tv's in built Freeview circuit to view a different freeview channel.

If the recorder has HDMI output, you can buy a cheap HDMI cord to link it to the tv. This will give you the best poss picture on playback of your recordings and of dvd. Dont pay too much for a HDMI cable (saw a 1.5M hdmi cord in the pc shop at £25 - well overpriced - its a digital interconnect like a USB, so having gold connections makes no difference, it either works or doesnt).

And most, if not all DVD Recorder and Combi's, etc are all digital-tuners only - you must live in a Freeview area in order to record with them. Same goes for PVR's as well.

Better and cheaper TV ... Panasonic TX-L32X10 (£385).

Better, simpler and cheaper for recording: Humax 9150 PVR (£135).

DVD recorders are complicated, and typically at your budget NO you do not get twin tuners. Therefore the Comet salesman is either mistaken or slightly sneakily implying you can watch the TV with its own tuner while the Samsung records something else with its single tuner.

It is very useful to be able to record 2 things at the same time, to achieve this with a good quality twin-tuner PVR/HDD/DVD recorder all in the same unit is way over your budget (I believe, there might be one out there I'm not aware of). The thing they leave out to make the cheap ones cheap seems to be the 2nd tuner.

In your position I would get a twin tuner Humax PVR and rely on your PC or Mac for camcorder editing and DVD burning.

Asking a machine to be a reliable and user-friendly twin-tuner TV recorder AND do all your camcorder stuff is too much to ask unless you want to pay big money.

And I would not believe anything I was told in Comet or any big high street chain without triple-checking it elsewhere.

Why hang it on the wall? Can look really tacky as well as being quite hard to watch at some of the ridiculous heights people hang them. And at least three cables dangling down (power, aerial, recorder) will look terrible.

I think buying in December is crazy,100% wait for January sale's or even Febuary and don't buy before checking on-line pay a little more for one with 3 year guarentee,the extra cost is worth every penny for piece of mind.

eh, backlight lifespan, plasma lifespan are so long that its not really worth considering as a factor. do you really want to be using the same tv 20 years from now? who cares.

dunno about uk prices but that seems like a lot of money for such a small screen.
lately here we've been having 42" dipping below the 500 dollar mark:P

adjusted for inflation and considering the age of tech flat panels are damn cheap. if you look back at real crt prices back in the day and account for inflation they were wicked expensive. esp the higher end ones..


and prices? are always coming down, theres nothing to be done about it.

no point getting spendy on a 32", its too small to matter.
hdmi cables are wires, and gold plated nano super techno market babble on the box only means the shop gets rich from a sucker. wires wire. unless you are routing cables for dozens of meters the cheapest cable will work as well as any other. plenty online places sell them for a fraction of what many b&m do. you can go to the hardware store and get cable track type hider stuff, basically plastic/metal tube/panels you can screw to the wall to hide wires more neatly. not the most elegant, but the cheapest. going into walls requires technician, fire hazard and not up to electrical spec if you just try to thread tv power cable in wall. invalidate your home insurance:P

and as said, dont be a muppet putting a tv above the fireplace or higher. it should be right at eye level at seating position, not so you have to crane your head or look up a bit which is not ergonomic at all..eye strain galore. plus the tvs small...

Many thanks for all your replies.

Sorry for replying so late, but I had registered for email updates when this thread was updated and I didn't receive any.

Lots to think about - especially it would seem my initial choice of TV!