I'm seeing quite a number of 32" monitors starting to hit the market at the £300 level.

On the face of it, the £299 (inc delivery) Dabs Value [click] seems exceptional value, offering 8ms response time and 1:1200 Contrast Ratio.

But, what are the downsides of buying such a cheap monitor? What can't it do that a £600 Sony or Panasonic can do?

Most probably a lower spec panel, and almost certainly a FAR poorer upscaler - but they will probably be pretty decent as long as you feed them from an HD box.

Fortunately I will be feeding from my computer for HD as I have a Blu-Ray/HD-DVD drive and PowerDVD 8, which upscales quite well. It is the only HD source I have at the moment, though, so upscaling for the standard Virgin STB would be handy.

Is there much to be gained, picture quality wise, on 1080i or p over 720i or p, and is the 1:1200 contrast ratio enough to make blacks black?

i had a look around and this set seems a great bargain

http://www.directtvs.co.uk/Finlux_32...60/version.asp

http://www.finlux.se/1899

Finlux is just a badge, the set is probably just a cheap Vestel.

think Finlux went bust and now the name is owned by Zorlu.

I think the Zorlu Group is Vestel.

I noticed Ebuyer dropping below £299 with Vistron

Click me for Ebuyer £269.98

Wow, that's a fantastic price, delivered. It could make it accessible to my buying power a week or two earlier than originally planned.

Same 8ms response time and better 1500:1 contrast ratio as the Dabs Value item! So, just need to work out what it hasn't got - the inbuilt Freeview receiver looks useful too, as is the 1080i and 1366x768 resolution.

Apparently it is a Samsung panel!

it is.. electronic companies, who started off selling cheap tat usually go on to bigger and better things.. i think it is worth checking out http://www.finlux.eu/

Seems spot on , see below



Taken from your link

Say no more

made in china or hong kong or taiwan used to get the same response

And now ?

the problem these days is are you just buying a badge , however sometimes the quality of the badge name will guarantee that the compenents used are better than base models , but not always


Badging can cause problems .

I have a Goodmans Tv /Dvd combi portable sized Tv , it failed after 15 months , I contacted Comet who told me my guarantee had expired , whilst I argued failure after only 14 months on a Tv in the kids bedroom that wasn't heavily used ( the kids were only 2 years old) didn't inspire me

I took up the problem directly with Goodmans who requested the model / serial numbers of the Tv combi

They emailed me back to distance themselves from the claim for a replacement , as it was a Goodmans Badged Tv built under license directly for Comet , just using the Goodmans name so they had no responsibilty for the Tv .

I had a free estimate to fix it by an independent , so for £25 it was fixed and is still working strong today .

The problem was in the power supply unit which seems a common problem

So be careful of the badge you buy

Most TVs these days come with a 3 year on-site warranty. This is a service made by the manufacturer (or badging company), rather than the retailer.

So for the first year, or so, you have a choice of contacting the retailer and getting him to repair it under the SOGA, or cashing in on the manuacturers warranty.

In such cases, I defer to the warranty, as manufacturers will usually simply replace the unit. The issue here, though, is that you may not get a brand new unit, but someone elses unit which has been repaired and refurbished. But if you're very very lucky, you might get a superior specification (you can't be sent one with an inferior specification, unless you agree to accept it).

Of course, for DOA units, go back to the retailer.

Are you sure?

I never see many with a decent(and vital) warranty.

I have had the 26" version of the finlux (vestel ) tv since November 07 and it is superb .I paid £340 for the 26" so the dabs price for the 32 is a bargain .I would recommend it.
Last edited by Sibeber : 12-05-2008 at 19:45

Can I ask what warranty came with it and does anyone know what warranty comes with the ebuyer one ?

The last big ( Samsung ) 32inch Lcd I purchased from Argos came with a 3 year warranty worth £100 ?

I must admit I wouldn't buy a big lcd without a decent warranty .

I guess at these prices its worth taking a chance or is it ?

I'm thinking about getting the eBuyer one, as part of a phone deal. £35 a month for 12 months. Making it £420, with flogging the phone (will use my current one) and my old TV (about a tenner I expect!) should make it a little bit cheaper. Plus it will save me all those tenners I am spending on PAYG credit

better at Advanced Mobiles - £40 cashback at Quidco, and for the contract that I want £32.50 for £12 months, includine Web and Walk which is what I want

£32.50X12=£390
£350 with Cashback

And I've emailed them asking can I pay extra and get a 37 or 42 inch when it comes round to claiming!!

Credit is way too expensive. Save up and pay cash/debit card.

It works out well for me. I will use the net on my phone, say 2 times a week. It costs £1 a day so 2X£52 is £104 saved already. Plus all the texts and calls that I make, probably another couple of quid a week, so I will be up on the deal as they are included in the Phone contract.

And flogging the phone I get will raise another small amount to pay off the contract too, as my existing Nokia N73 is doing me fine at the moment.

You are right about credit though, it is horrendous, I'd never sign up to some of the crazy rates and APRs that are going about

Most TV's unless stated otherwise at the time of purchase will only come with 12-month warranty not 3 years. The only time you'll usually get this is from retailers linked to manufacturers such and Sony shops and the like.

I bought a Mirai LCD about 18 months ago when they first started to become cheap (think I paid about £470 at the time).
They offered (and still do) a 3 year collect and return guarentee on their TVs.
Although it is one of the 'cheaper' TVs it has a great picture!

http://www.mirai.eu/Europe/Warranty

eBuyer have raised the price on that £269 32" to £299. I can't buy mine until next week, and the raise in price seriously affects me.

I might have to look elsewhere.

WOW - Ebuyer have reduced the TV price again - down to £280 - but the black one seems to have a better specification with a 6.5ms response time. Click here.

With their 500Gb SATAII Samsung OEM hard drive 'till Thursday special offer, I've chomped firmly down on the hook and been reeled in to part with less than £320 delivered. Bargain???!

The TV also has a Samsung panel!

personallyi wouldnt trust those Vistron lcd tv's sold on e-buyer.although there are some good reviews,on the e-buyer forums there are some nightmare storys(freeview stations sound out of synch,dead pixels,red ghosting).if youre gonna go for a cheap lcd tv go for a hannspree