First time buyer

Milky Joe · 24-10-2001, 18:18

Hi everyone,

Gonna upgrade from a mono tv which is slowly dying soon. I have a few questions.

What is virtual dolby surround? I've found a nice cheap (we dont have that much money to spend, about £300) widescreen Thomson TV with virtual dolby surround, is it any good? Obviously it wont be anywhere near the proper thing does it sound good?

The one i found is - http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/produc...e=THO-24WK25UG

Does anyone have any other ideas? Especially anything on that site? Thanks for your help

hxbro · 24-10-2001, 19:38

At a guess it means it has speakers in the back of the tv that make it sound like the sound is coming from all around you, rather than actually having the rear spears behind you. It won't sound as good but as your on a budget I'd go for the best you can get.

Have a look on www.price-guide.co.uk and www.pricerunner.com, you might be able to find a cheaper deal.

Hx

Milky Joe · 25-10-2001, 20:22

thanks

wicket · 26-10-2001, 11:57

I would check out Empire Direct. I was going to buy a tv from them but after going on the Which site there were a few people there that had had problems with them. On these forums I posted a thread about Empire Direct a few people replied saying they thought the site was good, however, all the people concerned had had problems with what they had bought. There had been no problems getting replacements from them though.

We were going to spend a lot of money buying a 32 inch Sony so we decided to go to a retailer instead. We did pay £70 more but had greater peace of mind.

As people have said here Virtual Dolby is not as good as an inbuilt Dolby Prologic/Dolby 5.1 decoder or a separate amp. However, I would imagine it is a lot better than just a nicam set. As far as I understand it Virtual Dolby uses speakers at the back of the set to project sound to make you feel like you have speakers behind you. I have never listened to one of these sets so cannot give you an opinion of them. If possible try to find a quiet shop where you could listen to the effect. A lot of shops have a Sony LS35 set in that has virtual dolby so you may be able to get a demo of that.

In Which in August it listed the Ferguson W7023U (£330) as a best buy.

Milky Joe · 26-10-2001, 16:06

Thanks

Do you have a link anywhere which has ths specs for this Ferguson tv? Cheers

wicket · 26-10-2001, 18:40

No I have not got any links. I can tell you a bit of what it has though:

68 x 51 x 49 cms, automatic tuning, autoformat switching, timer to turn off, timer to turn on, childlock, 3 audio/video inputs, audio/video input on front.

The Which report gave it a best picture quality, average sound quality, a bit worse than average ease of setting up/instructions, a bit worse than average everyday ease of use and a best in standby power consumption.

Just hit a search engine and put the model and make in and you should get a list of links.

Which did give the top best buy of the widescreens to the Sony FQ75, however, there is a thread on this site which makes you think it is not such a good buy.

I personally would not buy a Ferguson so please do not take anything I say as my own recommendation for this particular set. Other Forum members may be familiar with the set in question and could give you more details on it.

Milky Joe · 26-10-2001, 18:49

ok cool, thanks

I'll be passing on the info to mum

24-10-2001, 18:18	#1
Milky Joe Forum Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: 0.3 units from doom Posts: 17,447	First time buyer Hi everyone, Gonna upgrade from a mono tv which is slowly dying soon. I have a few questions. What is virtual dolby surround? I've found a nice cheap (we dont have that much money to spend, about £300) widescreen Thomson TV with virtual dolby surround, is it any good? Obviously it wont be anywhere near the proper thing does it sound good? The one i found is - http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/produc...e=THO-24WK25UG Does anyone have any other ideas? Especially anything on that site? Thanks for your help

24-10-2001, 19:38	#2
hxbro Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2000 Posts: 2,161	At a guess it means it has speakers in the back of the tv that make it sound like the sound is coming from all around you, rather than actually having the rear spears behind you. It won't sound as good but as your on a budget I'd go for the best you can get. Have a look on www.price-guide.co.uk and www.pricerunner.com, you might be able to find a cheaper deal. Hx

25-10-2001, 20:22	#3
Milky Joe Forum Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: 0.3 units from doom Posts: 17,447	thanks

26-10-2001, 11:57	#4
wicket Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: NE England Posts: 3,096	I would check out Empire Direct. I was going to buy a tv from them but after going on the Which site there were a few people there that had had problems with them. On these forums I posted a thread about Empire Direct a few people replied saying they thought the site was good, however, all the people concerned had had problems with what they had bought. There had been no problems getting replacements from them though. We were going to spend a lot of money buying a 32 inch Sony so we decided to go to a retailer instead. We did pay £70 more but had greater peace of mind. As people have said here Virtual Dolby is not as good as an inbuilt Dolby Prologic/Dolby 5.1 decoder or a separate amp. However, I would imagine it is a lot better than just a nicam set. As far as I understand it Virtual Dolby uses speakers at the back of the set to project sound to make you feel like you have speakers behind you. I have never listened to one of these sets so cannot give you an opinion of them. If possible try to find a quiet shop where you could listen to the effect. A lot of shops have a Sony LS35 set in that has virtual dolby so you may be able to get a demo of that. In Which in August it listed the Ferguson W7023U (£330) as a best buy.

26-10-2001, 16:06	#5
Milky Joe Forum Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: 0.3 units from doom Posts: 17,447	Thanks Do you have a link anywhere which has ths specs for this Ferguson tv? Cheers

26-10-2001, 18:40	#6
wicket Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: NE England Posts: 3,096	No I have not got any links. I can tell you a bit of what it has though: 68 x 51 x 49 cms, automatic tuning, autoformat switching, timer to turn off, timer to turn on, childlock, 3 audio/video inputs, audio/video input on front. The Which report gave it a best picture quality, average sound quality, a bit worse than average ease of setting up/instructions, a bit worse than average everyday ease of use and a best in standby power consumption. Just hit a search engine and put the model and make in and you should get a list of links. Which did give the top best buy of the widescreens to the Sony FQ75, however, there is a thread on this site which makes you think it is not such a good buy. I personally would not buy a Ferguson so please do not take anything I say as my own recommendation for this particular set. Other Forum members may be familiar with the set in question and could give you more details on it.

26-10-2001, 18:49	#7
Milky Joe Forum Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: 0.3 units from doom Posts: 17,447	ok cool, thanks I'll be passing on the info to mum

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