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Old 14-05-2014, 19:57
scorpionatthepc
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Are they any good? They are 50 inch full HD with freeview HD for just over £280!


Or do you get what you pay for?
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Old 14-05-2014, 20:09
chrisjr
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Are they any good? They are 50 inch full HD with freeview HD for just over £280!


Or do you get what you pay for?
Answered your own question

They probably come out of the same Turkish or Chinese factory as all the other supermarket own brands. And maybe all that differentiates them from a Tescos equivalent is the badge on the front.

As long as you don't expect Sony or Panasonic (or even LG/Samsung) levels of performance and reliability then you could take the risk. Personally I would not touch it with someone else's bargepole much less mine Lowest level I would go for is LG/Samsung.
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Old 14-05-2014, 23:28
AlanO
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Inevitably it will be a low quality set - even by cheap set standards, £280 for a 50" set is very, very cheap.

It's possible Asda are selling at a loss or very low margin (<10%) but either way, it's so much cheaper than most others have, you have to ask yourself about the likely quality.

It might be worth a punt, if you add an extended guarantee onto it - chances are even then it'll still be far cheaper than other sets, but will at least have the benefit of some cover should it fail.
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Old 15-05-2014, 07:38
mac2708
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.

It might be worth a punt, if you add an extended guarantee onto it - chances are even then it'll still be far cheaper than other sets, but will at least have the benefit of some cover should it fail.
Asda offer a Square Trade extended warranty on the TV for £40- but check the T&Cs carefully.
If it failed at any time it's unlikely that spares would be available or repair viable
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Old 15-05-2014, 07:58
Lidtop2013
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Well I had a Polaroid 32" bought from pcworld(before it was part of currys) about 8-9 years ago, it didn't break and it still works ok, just got a faint white line at the top of the screen on dark scenes, we only upgraded because of that really(and because I wanted a bigger tv). So I can't speak for 2014 models but my 2005/2006 model proved to be very reliable. Heck even sky added a remote code for Polaroid tv's on their website, so sky remotes now work with them.

We have an LG smart tv now which is obviously better in everyway possible but then my Polaroid was a 8-9 year old bulky set with a non led screen, so it would be unfair to compare them. I'd say do you REALLY need a 50"? If not spend alittle more and get a branded 42" or something, I'd much rather have a branded tv/slightly better pic quality on a smaller screen than a none branded bigger tv. In my opinion of course.

Normally I'd say because my experience of Polaroid was good, go for it, but nowadays branded tv's are pretty cheap now.
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Old 15-05-2014, 08:22
Orbitalzone
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There's loads of comments from buyers of this over at HotUKdeals, so you can ask them what they think.

I seem to recall reading there that this is a Vestel made TV (no real surprise there)
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Old 15-05-2014, 09:12
Nigel Goodwin
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I seem to recall reading there that this is a Vestel made TV (no real surprise there)
To be fair if it's a Vestel then that's probably a 'good' thing, as the alternatives are likely to be worse

However, as with all these 'made up brands', different models could be from different sources (all of which will be as cheap as possible) - or even same models could be entirely different sets (like Argos did with at least one TV - same model number, same price, same catalogue description, completely different sets).

But basically, it's a cheap TV at a cheap price, if your expectations aren't high than it's as good as anything else in the price range.
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Old 15-05-2014, 09:46
barbeler
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My parents have a Wharfedale TV that they bought from Argos about 10 years ago, which someone suggested must have been made of Vestel components. To this day, the picture quality is better than any other television I have ever seen and offers extreme viewing angles. The standard picture matches my Toshiba Regza and it's so good, that when I connected an HD box to it, it was difficult to see any difference.

It just goes to show that the brand name isn't everything.
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Old 15-05-2014, 11:15
fmradiotuner1
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Is there any difference be-twine Vestel & ips?
Google does not say anything?
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Old 15-05-2014, 11:21
Nigel Goodwin
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My parents have a Wharfedale TV that they bought from Argos about 10 years ago, which someone suggested must have been made of Vestel components. To this day, the picture quality is better than any other television I have ever seen and offers extreme viewing angles. The standard picture matches my Toshiba Regza and it's so good, that when I connected an HD box to it, it was difficult to see any difference.

It just goes to show that the brand name isn't everything.
No, it just goes to show that a sample size of only ONE isn't significant at all

It's also not 'made of Vestel components', it's a just a cheap set made entirely by Vestel with a Wharfdale badge stuck on it.

Your Toshiba set may well be Vestel as well, but in any case feeding pretty well any set from an HD box makes them look good - even cheap sets - much of the better picture on higher quality sets are down to the far more expensive scalers used, which only affects SD.
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Old 15-05-2014, 11:33
anthony david
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Devices bought 10 years ago are not a guide to current products from any manufacturer.
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Old 16-05-2014, 08:51
barbeler
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No, it just goes to show that a sample size of only ONE isn't significant at all

It's also not 'made of Vestel components', it's a just a cheap set made entirely by Vestel with a Wharfdale badge stuck on it.
It's the whites you notice the most - brighter and purer than on any other TV I've ever seen. It's the screen that intrigues me the most though, as even very close up, there is very little of that fuzziness that you see when standing close to just about any other set.

It's also remarkable in that you can view it when standing at about an 80 degree angle to the side. It's far superior to any screen I've seen on even the most expensive TVs.

I couldn't care less if it's regarded as being made from cheap components; I would give anything to be able to buy one in a 38" version at any price.
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Old 16-05-2014, 21:47
Skylover4life
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I've had a Vestel 42" LCD tv for about 4-5 years, it's only downside is a clunky menu, but when used with Sky+HD you rarely need to use it.
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Old 17-05-2014, 08:55
Nigel Goodwin
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It's the whites you notice the most - brighter and purer than on any other TV I've ever seen. It's the screen that intrigues me the most though, as even very close up, there is very little of that fuzziness that you see when standing close to just about any other set.

It's also remarkable in that you can view it when standing at about an 80 degree angle to the side. It's far superior to any screen I've seen on even the most expensive TVs.
I can only imagine you're either 'seriously deluded', or simply 'making it up'

I've seen MANY Wharfdale and other Vestel sets, and none have been 'remarkable' at all, and viewing angles are much poorer than better makes.

It's funny how you are the only person who imagines Wharfdale are wonderful sets?
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Old 17-05-2014, 15:14
barbeler
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I can only imagine you're either 'seriously deluded', or simply 'making it up'

I've seen MANY Wharfdale and other Vestel sets, and none have been 'remarkable' at all, and viewing angles are much poorer than better makes.

It's funny how you are the only person who imagines Wharfdale are wonderful sets?
It's the one that my parents have, the one with the silver surround and a speaker on each side. It's not a good looker, but the colours are so natural and bright that it's actually quite startling.

As somebody who obviously has so much technical knowledge, can you tell me what type of screen it must be to give such a clear picture and wide viewing angle? Where can I find the same on a television currently in production?
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Old 17-05-2014, 15:25
chrisjr
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It's the one that my parents have, the one with the silver surround and a speaker on each side. It's not a good looker, but the colours are so natural and bright that it's actually quite startling.

As somebody who obviously has so much technical knowledge, can you tell me what type of screen it must be to give such a clear picture and wide viewing angle? Where can I find the same on a television currently in production?
Does it look like this?

http://www.inest.co.uk/images/XL2290.jpg

If so it's just a bog standard LCD. I'm assuming it is not a CRT (easy to tell as it would be considerably more than a couple of inches thick).

Have you actually compared this TV to anything else side by side showing the same source in the same lighting conditions. And with both TVs properly set up to the optimum performance. You cannot make any valid comparisons otherwise.
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Old 17-05-2014, 20:18
azimo
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Are they any good? They are 50 inch full HD with freeview HD for just over £280!


Or do you get what you pay for?
My sister bought her 40" from Asda over 12mths ago and she has no complaints, the other thing is Asda are very good when something goes wrong unlike Argos and Currys so its not just a telly your buying, If I was looking for a new TV I'd probably buy from Asda.
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Old 17-05-2014, 20:18
barbeler
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Does it look like this?

http://www.inest.co.uk/images/XL2290.jpg

If so it's just a bog standard LCD. I'm assuming it is not a CRT (easy to tell as it would be considerably more than a couple of inches thick).

Have you actually compared this TV to anything else side by side showing the same source in the same lighting conditions. And with both TVs properly set up to the optimum performance. You cannot make any valid comparisons otherwise.
That's the one. It's possible to view the screen at about 80 degrees - not that you'd want to, yet on my supposedly far superior Toshiba it starts to fade out even at about 15 to 20 degrees.

My parents have always had just about the worst lighting you can imagine for TV viewing - they simply don't get the idea of ambient lighting at all and usually have stark overhead lighting from the centre of the ceiling.

If it's any help, when you look at the Wharfedale screen VERY closely, it's as if it is made of of microscopic squares, whereas mine just looks splodgy and awful when you get that close. I've spent hours trying to make mine comparable, even experimenting with the 3D colour facility (conclusion - not worth mucking about with), but I can't get it to reproduce whites in such a pure form.

I wouldn't now try to find a Wharfedale, although I did try a few years ago, but I'd love to know what's in them to get that picture and which more recent televisions share those components.

p.s. Even the sound is far better than on mine, with an effective graphic equaliser and very pronounced stereo separation. I can assure you that over the time I've had my TV I've experimented with every setting available.
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Old 17-05-2014, 22:09
Kodaz
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Well I had a Polaroid 32" bought from pcworld(before it was part of currys) about 8-9 years ago, it didn't break and it still works ok
Doesn't mean anything I'm afraid.

Polaroid was never a TV manufacturer (*) and any "Polaroid" LCD sets are just the result of licensing deals with third-party distributors who use it to rebadge (and give bogus credibility to) random generic OEM models.

ASDA only licensed the name a couple of years back anyway (**), so it's not even like the company who owned the license at the time you bought yours will have any connection with the current sets.

If your TV turned out to be decent, I'm happy for you, but it doesn't mean anything beyond that.

(*) Not even the original "real" Polaroid which went bankrupt in 2001. Later owners of the name licensed it out for plastering onto any old tat.

(**) In other words, it can be treated as ASDA's version of Tesco's "Technika"

Devices bought 10 years ago are not a guide to current products from any manufacturer.
Ten times moreso if the "manufacturer" is just a fake brand licensed to rebadgers of random sets anyway!
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Old 18-05-2014, 10:07
barbeler
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I always think the Morrisons Techwood televisions have a very good picture, although for all I know, they might actually be exactly the same as those in Tesco.
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Old 18-05-2014, 11:17
Nigel Goodwin
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Doesn't mean anything I'm afraid.

Polaroid was never a TV manufacturer (*) and any "Polaroid" LCD sets are just the result of licensing deals with third-party distributors who use it to rebadge (and give bogus credibility to) random generic OEM models.

ASDA only licensed the name a couple of years back anyway (**), so it's not even like the company who owned the license at the time you bought yours will have any connection with the current sets.

If your TV turned out to be decent, I'm happy for you, but it doesn't mean anything beyond that.

(*) Not even the original "real" Polaroid which went bankrupt in 2001. Later owners of the name licensed it out for plastering onto any old tat.

(**) In other words, it can be treated as ASDA's version of Tesco's "Technika"
Interestingly I was in Tesco this morning, and they have Polaroid badged sets there as well
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Old 18-05-2014, 11:18
Nigel Goodwin
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I always think the Morrisons Techwood televisions have a very good picture, although for all I know, they might actually be exactly the same as those in Tesco.
Quite possibly, there's only a fairly small number of crap manufacturers who service the badging trade, mainly Vestel of course.
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Old 18-05-2014, 16:03
Kodaz
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Interestingly I was in Tesco this morning, and they have Polaroid badged sets there as well
That's strange, I was under the impression that ASDA had signed a deal for the exclusive right to the name in the UK:-

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/new...oECR7a5w5jxUYy

Perhaps that deal has now lapsed?

As I said though, the "Polaroid" name is pretty meaningless since it's been licensed out to multiple third parties over the years, even more so when *they* don't even make the sets!
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Old 18-05-2014, 16:28
Nigel Goodwin
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That's strange, I was under the impression that ASDA had signed a deal for the exclusive right to the name in the UK:-

Perhaps that deal has now lapsed?

Such deals are often only for fairly short times, it's also VERY possible that Asda couldn't take the quantity they contracted for, so the distributors are free to sell them to who they like (this has happened various times in the past with 'exclusive' deals).

As I said though, the "Polaroid" name is pretty meaningless since it's been licensed out to multiple third parties over the years, even more so when *they* don't even make the sets!
Considering Polaroid only ever made cameras it's hardly a name to inspire confidence in TV's anyway
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Old 18-05-2014, 17:23
Lidtop2013
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Still having this debate then lol

How's about you go into the shop and look at them, make up your own minds what looks best to YOU. Lol

Only other debate is relaibility, again it's up to YOU whether or not you trust a no name brand over a big name set
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