Need sound advice on TVs

[Peggy Sue]

I'm not much of a techno, and had intended keeping the analogue TV for ever just to make a point, and having freeview coz sky's a rip off.

BUT the third (yes third although one was a gift and one from freecycle) Freeview box has now given up the ghost and coupled with that the terrestial reception is getting steadily worse coupled with progressively more lines etc on the screen.

SO if I get a new TV I want it to be efficient at least- so I guess LCD am I right? I don't understand most of the technoblurb on HD and guess it doesn't matter that much for the likes of Gardeners world
Should I be on the lookout for anything in particular? I could be easily caught out here my expertise is in composting

And if I get one with freeview built in are they reliable or not...and can I record from the freeview (like freeview plus) ? All the search sites seem to have the details written in chinese... or it may as well be!

Thanks for any help- I can usually trust you lot!

[MKG]

Done this one a few times for various family members!

You can keep your analogue TV for as long as you like - but it won't work after 2012 unless you have a set-top box to go with it.

LCD TVs are slightly more power-efficient than the older CRT-based sets - but only on a size-for size basis. Most people get larger screens when they upgrade to LCD - and that's where the power goes.

Sets with built-in Freeview (ie most nowadays) are perfectly OK and reliable. But then so are most Freeview boxes - I think you've just been unlucky. And yes, you can record from Freeview no matter how your system is made up.

Your worsening reception is most likely to be a combination of your aerial and the environment. Did you have a wideband antenna installed when you got Freeview? If not, you should be thinking about it. Apart from that, the worst enemy of good reception (assuming you have a reasonably good line to the transmitter i.e. no mountain in the way) is trees. They grow leaves in summer. Leaves are amazingly efficient blockers of TV signals. At Godmanchester, you may also have a windfarm in the way - I'm not sure how that one ended up.

Mike

[Peggy Sue]

Ah great advice from a friendly name

My plan was same size TV (26" max)

We did have a new ariel with the freeview (at great and unexpected cost!), and there are definitely NO mountains or even molehills in Godmanchester, but next door had an outsize evergreen tree that grows 14 ft a year and shades all my garden - so to improve my signal I need copper nails

My dilemma is if the freeview wants replacing now and the TV will evetually go (a good 10 years old or so) should I get a new one now with built in freeview or do I have nothing to gain really and just get the FV box now and wait for the telly to expire sometime in the future?

What I really wanted was FV+ but I can't find it built into the telly. Am I looking in the wrong place? is it a bad idea anyway?


The other option if I have to go box plus TV is get virgins V+ box as we have cable and that would resolve the trees/windfarm issues....they've got deals at the moment but the question is always will they hike their prices and all I want is a few normal channels, nothing fancy not 1287 of them either

[MKG]

Freeview+ gives you extended recording facilities and nothing else. If you have a decent DVD recorder, you should be able to program that well into the future so, as far as I can see, Freeview+ is superfluous. Cable TV certainly would solve your reception problems and, given the amount of competition, I can't see any of the service providers hiking their prices too much. It would also give you choices on broadband internet access and ordinary telephony.

I'd keep your present telly and go for a set-top box solution (Virgin if you like). Sets will decrease in price as the market becomes saturated (except for 2012, when the price of sets will go up as all of the people who've ignored it all realise that they HAVE to do something or miss Corrie). The other thing to consider is that there aren't too many sets around at the moment which will use High Definition signals, when they arrive (don't fall for the HD-Ready hype - these sets can display an HD image, but they can't receive HD broadcasts because the transmission format hasn't been finalised yet).

Mike

[Millymollymandy]

Mike, is there ANY subject that you don't know about? *shocked smiley* (they're not working and it has disappeared off into the extra smilies)

oh bah humbug, without the smiley what I wanted to put across doesn't work, does it?

[Peggy Sue]

Don't worry MMM, Mike can fix it

Well we sort of came to the virgin box decision last night, seems sensible.
As for having a DVD.....well we still have a VHS, sorry really hate spending money. OH still moaning we are the only people in the county without a dishwasher

[Peggy Sue]

Dishwashers seem to breed a belief that nothings really clean unless it's been in a dishwasher...we all managed quite well without dying of a dreaded lurgy before they existed, besides the dog can make a spanking job of a burnt lasagne dish

[Millymollymandy]

it's working now but a bit late!

By the way I'm posting your seeds today P Sue!

[Peggy Sue]

:
By the way I'm posting your seeds today P Sue!

Mine went out yesterday... or was it Weds- something like that

There'es new smilies, maybe whoever is in charge of ish-smilies was upgrading them when you tried?

[MKG]

Mike, is there ANY subject that you don't know about? *shocked smiley* (they're not working and it has disappeared off into the extra smilies)

oh bah humbug, without the smiley what I wanted to put across doesn't work, does it?

It's what comes as a result of a long career as a technical author - you develop a facility in mentally filing away loads of information. But there are lots of things I know bugger all about - women, soaps, reality TV, making head or tail of mobile phones, Microsoft's customer care department, and whether Andy is hatching several wind-up plots at once at the moment, to name but a few.

Mike

[Peggy Sue]

Ah so you are human then Mike?

[Millymollymandy]

Well that could be debatable

Yes John has been working on the smilies and the everyday ones are now back in the usual place (plus a few more). It's just that sometimes the extra ones don't seem to work and it has been mentioned several times on the forum. Doesn't happen for long though. It's hard work for him though as not straightforward and he's got a lot on his plate at the moment.

[MKG]

Sorry to increase your workload John - but have you got a Smiley that blows raspberries at wisecracking ladies?

Mike

[Millymollymandy]

I tend to use this one! But why would you seeing as we are

[Peggy Sue]

I call that showing off