Hi,
I want to buy a 28" widescreen TV. My girlfriend won't let me have a 32"
My Spec....
1. Flatscreen
2. NOT IDTV
3. Stereo sound out - not surround, I have an HTK-215 to plug it into so no need for any flash sound FX
4. The more scarts the better, I have a multi scart selecter box so this is not such a huge issue.
5. Not really bothered about 100hz as I can't see the difference, especailly not for the extra money.
6. No stand needed.

I was thinking of Sony KV28-FX20 which I have seen for £550 at SDB Electronics. I would also consider a Panasonic or another Sony model. Any suggestions/comments would be great.

TIA

Andy

I have the Sony KV28FX20, and I also sell Panasonics, so I can give you some ideas...

The KV28FX20 is now being phased out for a new model, which is out soon, probably the new model will cost about £650 I suspect. (it looks like the super flat 14 and 21" Sony 4/3s if you have seen those but wider of course!)

The price you mention seems good enough. I'm happy with mine, good pictures, not bad sound, 2 scarts and front AV.
Only one RGB /composite input on Scart 1 and SVHS / composite on scart 2 socket. Audio output sockets on rear.

Simple remote, and the Sky digital remote can operate most of the TV's functions if you have Sky.

I'd recommend this model.

Also the Panasonic TX28PK3 is an excellent alternative to the Sony. Almost identical features and performance. The Panasonic has an 'auto' aspect ratio mode that copes better with letterboxed broadcasts when compared to the Sony which only zooms out with a Channel 4 analogue widescreen broadcast. Digital widescreen switching works fine on both models.

With any widescreen TV, be prepared to see slight wonky edges or not totally true straight edges, especially when viewing a 4/3 image with black side bands. Most Widescreen TVs are like this, but it's rarely a big problem.

The Sony TV has more flexible service mode adjustments, for those who like to dice with death and tinker with the adjustments meant for the TV engineer. (Panasonic has slightly less options for screen geometry) This is hardly a problem though and i wouldn't make it a buying descision.

Ultimately I think you'd be pleased with either make. I can't really comment on other brands as I dont sell them (ok except Thomson)

Orbitalzone.

Thanks for the excellent advice. I have found the panasonic also at SDB for £499 which seems like a good price too.

Why did you chose the Sony over the Panasonic? I like the Sony brand generally but was there any other reason? I am going to have a look at the Panasonic on my lunch break see what I think....

Thank you once again

Andy

Ok I saw a similar panasonic, not the same model but the one with Dolby sound. The set looked good but for the first time on any widescreen I noticed a massive (about 1cm) difference in height of the picture from one side of the screen to the other. I guess this is probably just a dodgy set but it was really noticable.

How many Scarts does the Panasonic have? I couldn't get round the back of the set to see? Does it have stereo out like the Sony too?

Thanks

Andy

The Panasonic has 2 scarts and audio output just like the equivilent Sony model.

I chose the Sony FX20 mainly due to these two reasons :

Better colour cabinet and the ability to allocate a channel number to access an AV input. (use for simple access to Sky or a Video or DVD when connected via scart)

Little reasons, to be honest and I'd be happy with either, but I prefer the slightly darker colour of the Sonys casing and the video cabinet that goes with the TV looks a bit nicer I thought..

But as mentioned, both are excellent TVs.
The bands you mention might well be a poorly set up TV or someone's messed about with it !

I think that I might hand the decision over to my girlfriend so she can at least say that she has had some input into the whole TV buying process. She might prefer the colour of one of them over another. I'm not bothered about the cabinet as I've got my own wooden TV stand jobby which all my stuff goes into.

As for the channel allocation thing, that sounds useful. I guess that means no more continual preesing of the AV/TV button until you get to the input source you require.

Thanks again for your advice.

Andy

"2. NOT IDTV " ??????????

Why not?

You do realise that when analogue gets switched off in the near future that your tuner will be rendered useless and all you will be left with is nothing more than a 'glorified monitor'.

My sony 28 inch DX30 IDTV is great, much better picture than the corresponding analogue set.

Why not IDTV is a good Question:

1. It costs more
2. From what I can gather the browser software that is used in the TV is not upgradeable unlike a set top box. Hence if at some stage the Digital TV browser is updated then people with IDTV's will be stuck. This has happened with WAP phones. The original WAP browser is almost redundant now, as are the original WAP phones.
3. for the extra money the equvilant IDTV will cost I can get a sky subscription then cancel it after 12 months. I will then own the set top box, read the sky small print folks.
4. I view IDTV a bit like a washer dryer. The more stuff you put in one box the more likely it is that it will go wrong.
5. The government would be unwise to switch off analougue until such time that at least 95% have digital boxes/TV's. That is a long way off yet, and a lot further off than first predicted.
6. At some stage the govenment will probably have to provide a free box/module etc for analogue users who have not already upgraded to digital.

I have to say I am impressed by Digital TV especially when compared to a bad analogue signal. I do not intend however to upgrade to an IDTV, more likely to get a box of some sort.

Just my two penneth,

Andy

I thought the analogue signal was not going to be switched off till 2010 and then only if there was a certain percentage of people watching digital tv. If this is the case it doesn't matter if you buy an analogue tv now because you are going to get at least 9 years use out of it which is pretty good for a tv's life in any case and longer if it is connected to a digibox. By that time IDTVs will have come down a lot in price and then people will buy them.

I tend to agree with Andy about not buying integrated things believing you get better quality in separates but there are a lot of people of this site who are very happy with their IDTVs.

IDTVs.. thats a whole new debate!

There are too many reasons why you should buy one and too many reasons why you shouldn't.

Analogue TV simply will not be turned off for years. Think about it, of the 100% of TVs out there, probably 80% don't have Sky, Ondigital or Cable, and recent polls by Pace suggest 50% never want digital, unless it's free and even then they're not too bothered. Turning off analogue is going to take decades. There are too many TVs that can't receive digital until free or nearly free digiconverters are given away.

No governent (even a crazy one) is going to make the general public go out and get a new digital TV cos they want to turn off analogue, it's hardly a vote winner after all.

The government are finally realising that their great plan to turn off analogue starting in 2006 is totally impractical. 2010 seems the very earliest, and more likely it'll be longer.

It doesn't help when there's little choice with IDTVs. They're either too much or too cheap. There's nothing at sensible prices. Joe Public buys an analogue TV now and the delay is made worse.

In my case I recently got a new TV. There's no OnDigital service where I live and not likely to be until analogue turn off, whenever that is, so should I spend £1000 on the Sony IDTV or £600 on the Non IDTV sony equivilent and use it with Sky?

However, if you are in an area with good digital reception it makes perfect sense if you don't want to subscribe to channels but want more choice. IDTVs then make a good reason to pay a bit more.

Swings and roundabouts, broad as it's long.. etc.....

The main problem I find is that when I'm recording something off my Digital STB and I want to watch the other side, then I have to put up with a grainy 4:3 analogue picture, which REALLY annoys me.
Once you get used to the 16:9 clearer digital picture then anything less is a real comedown. This is the only reason why I want a IDTV. I'm not bothered about the extra channels, just the basic free ones will do fine. Paying for an extar STB is just dead money and besides I'm all out of RGB SCART sockets anyway.
No, my next TV purchase will most definatley be a IDTV, nothing less will do.