I've just spent the afternoon with my old mum, who has a perfectly acceptable 32'' Samsung. Probably at least five years old, but ok.
With failing eyesight, she told me about a new series on TV tonight, some Italian detective, and that she struggles with the subtitles. A new 37'' TV, with slimmer frame, would take up the same amount of room, so I'm tempted to buy one for her ASAP. My own TV is also a 32'', so I'm trying to envisage if the subtitles will be that much larger on a 37''. I should have measured the external dimensions... Maybe a slim line 42'' won't look too out of place.
My limited knowledge of these things tells me to stick with a brand such as Sony or Panasonic.
Anyone got a 37'' surplus before I take the plunge?.....
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Important message no 1 learned from 83 year old mum, it need to be SIMPLE to operate with a nice large uncluttered well labeled remote control. The olds dont need "smart" teles, so I went for the 40" J5100. Uber thin bezel, great picture quality, no unwanted features so a reasonably uncluttered remote.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 2 Jan 16 at 22:50
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A 37" TV will have the subtitles slightly bigger but not much. Maybe if there's room then a larger TV will solve the problem. Or get her to sit nearer the TV :-)
It might be worthwhile checking viewing distance and taking her somewhere to see 32, 37, 42 inch TVs to see how the subtitles look to her. Bearing in mind the TV generates the graphics for the subtitles, the size of the text will also be dependent on the TV.
I agree that I'd go with Panasonic or Samsung if this was me. And I'd recommend getting it from John Lewis to get their standard 5 year warranty.
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Before a replacement TV it may be worth exploring with an optician a new pair of specs optimised for her viewing distance from perch to screen, i.e. her new TV glasses.
Opticians are good at lenses for reading books and looking at the horizon but in between may get "overlooked"
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I assume your mum is hard of hearing? if so, wireless amplified headphones might be be an option.
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Go for the 42 and rearrange the furniture of necessary.
We swapped a 26 for a 42 for similar reasons (not failing eyesight but just that captions generally are sized for larger screens now). It seemed enormous and out of place for about a week, now I think we might even have been OK with something bigger!
And your Mum's eyesight is unlikely to get any better.
She must be planning to watch The Young Montalbano, BBC4 9pm. A slightly comedic detective show with marvellous pictures of Sicily. I love hearing Italian spoken, we'll be settling to it.
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My old Mum's sole entertainment was a TV morning til night. One day she complained about the picture on her 2 year old TV which, if recall, was blue across the top, pink in the middle and green on the bottom. But she would manage as it wasn't that bad. When I got to visit sure enough it was cream crackered but she did not want to spend the money. So I went out and got a 42" jobbie as her room was quite big.
As Z says ease of use of the remote is the biggest issue (she regularly managed to switch between ananogue and DTV after the switchover and was ringing me as her TV was not working. So I shopped for the remote first.
Well I wheeled it in and her face was a picture as I extracated it from its box and she was a little disgruntled that I had bought one so large. But she soon settled into it and I'm sure was appreciative in the end.
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This seems a good price to me. But some bigger TVs in our Tesco at times for similar money.
www.johnlewis.com/samsung-ue43j5500-led-hd-1080p-smart-tv-43-with-freeview-hd-and-built-in-wi-fi/p1939927
Replacing the remote with a simpler one would be an idea on most modern TVs.
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Going back a few years the late MiL had great difficulty with TV when the analogue Virgin signal went off - instead of 1, 2, 3 etc etc she was faced with 101, 102 etc etc & a more complex Remote Control. If you went into the house the Channel was purely random - if pressing any keys gave a picture......that was what she had on. Of course she regularly used the wrong control and the TV handset / Virgin caused issues. which meant a 6/7 mile trip to reset "the broken TV"
We had to put Parental controls on the Virgin box as she went into the "Premium Adult Channels" and was billed!!! (95 year old!!)
She could not handle the complex remote buttons......looked for a "simple control" to no avail - although there are some now available - basic on/off, vol & channel up/down - RNIB sell them (IIRC).
At the other end of age scale - 6 year old Granddaughter has a 32" Samsung TV in her bedroom - she has exhausted the Minecraft on the tablet & now has a recycled PS3+ Minecraft. The picture in Freeview HD is stunning and all for some £180 - contrast that with the £240 I spent on her dad 30+ years ago for a Sony Trinitron 14" TV for his Spectrum games!
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In the film Lady in the Van, there is a shop window with TVs in it and they were about £500 or thereabouts. This was in the seventies. How much is that the equivalent of today? And all basic TVs of course with tubes in them.
With regards a remote, then a simple one that can be programmed would mean you have one to turn on TV and control a STB.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Sun 3 Jan 16 at 17:36
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My parents paid £500 for their first colour TV around 1970/71. We paid a bit less for our Grundig a couple of years or so later.
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"My parents paid £500 for their first colour TV around 1970/71. "
Yes - I remember that as about the going rate. As a student, I used to do vacation work with the local council road-gang, and the foreman, who couldn't drive, bought a colour-telly instead of having a car. He displayed a curious mixture of pride and embarrassment following his purchase.
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Not sure of the year in lady in the Van. Reviews suggest she arrived in AB's life in seventies. IIRC colour migrated to BBC1/ITV in 1971. £500 then would be a tad shy of £7k now.
No wonder most people rented.
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>> No wonder most people rented.
We didn't, we were not rich so £500/7k is way off the mark. Only ever rented one audio visual thing, a VHS video recorder in 1980.
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>> We didn't, we were not rich so £500/7k is way off the mark.
I used this site:
www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1633409/Historic-inflation-calculator-value-money-changed-1900.html
These sort of comparisons distort because inflation isn't a measure of purchasing power etc. I'd also suggest £500 was some way up from a standard colour TV which I recall being around the £350 mark.
Given where we lived and my parents' respective occupations we must have been quite well off by early seventies standards but we rented - mostly about reliability/repairs though.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sun 3 Jan 16 at 18:13
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...this page gives a fairly convincing view of the prevailing price.
tinyurl.com/late60sctv
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>> ...this page gives a fairly convincing view of the prevailing price.
>>
>> tinyurl.com/late60sctv
>>
Weight: 139lbs.
Price isn't the only thing that's changed.
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>> Price isn't the only thing that's changed.
In 1970 it took a minute to warm up
In 2015 it takes 90 seconds to boot the system before you can do anything.
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>>
>> >> Price isn't the only thing that's changed.
>>
>> In 1970 it took a minute to warm up
>>
>> In 2015 it takes 90 seconds to boot the system before you can do anything.
>>
I was thinking this at work the other day, late 70s oscilloscopes for example took a minute or two to give a display, now the blinking things run Win 7 and take longer to boot or change any settings. Even my Fluke multimeter takes several seconds to boot, which is annoying when you just want to do a quick voltage or resistance check.
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>> ...this page gives a fairly convincing view of the prevailing price.
>>
>> tinyurl.com/late60sctv
>>
Some nigh on £600...
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The Grundig TV was the only item in our house that was covered by insurance. Nothing else we owned was worth any where near as much.
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>> No wonder most people rented.
>>
I can remember my parents renting right upto about 1990. A friend of theirs still rents a TV and a radio. I was surprised there was still a market for rented TVs and radios.
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>> >>
>> I can remember my parents renting right upto about 1990. A friend of theirs still
>> rents a TV and a radio. I was surprised there was still a market for
>> rented TVs and radios.
>>
I rented till we moved here in 2001.
TV's are so cheap and reliable now it's uneconomical. Back when I was a kid most people were on first name terms with the rental company's repair man.
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>> In the film Lady in the Van, there is a shop window with TVs in
>> it and they were about £500 or thereabouts. This was in the seventies. How much
>> is that the equivalent of today?
>>
This site does those sorts of comaprisons:-
www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/
500 quid in 1970 is around 7K in today's money based on intervening price inflation, or 14K based on purchasing power.
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Back to OP I would be wary of changing a good 5 year old model for a new one. Most 5 year old sets will have reasonable speakers, current sets are so slim as to make decent onboard speakers a rarity. So unless buying a soundbar as well, it may be that it would swap one problem for another.
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The OP mentions sub-titles - speakers might not be a problem if she's nearly deaf.
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One of my friends has been a staff photographer on a provincial newspaper. He was sent to interview and photograph some local duffer who claimed to have a 45 year old colour TV still in everyday use. The duffer reckons it cost him around a £1000.00 when new. Says a lot about a lot of things.
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>> One of my friends has been a staff photographer on a provincial newspaper. He was sent to interview and photograph some local duffer who claimed to have a 45 year old colour TV still in everyday use.
What are the pix like? I seem to remember that a photo of a 625 or 405 line TV screen was usually indecipherable. May be better with digital, but I'm an old cat who used film, analogue to the core.
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>> One of my friends has been a staff photographer on a provincial newspaper. He was
>> sent to interview and photograph some local duffer who claimed to have a 45 year
>> old colour TV still in everyday use. The duffer reckons it cost him around a
>> £1000.00 when new. Says a lot about a lot of things.
Of course its not in every day use. Nothing can be received thought its receiver, it has no scart, it "probably*" has no suitable RGB input that can be used by todays equipment.
However if it cost 1k it might have been a Sony Trinitron professional receiver and may have RGB input, however its still unlikely to be in everyday use and I think they were more than 1k at the time.
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>> Of course its not in every day use. Nothing can be received thought its receiver,
>> it has no scart, it "probably*" has no suitable RGB input that can be used
>> by todays equipment.
Some digiboxes had an RF output.
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Most were pass through. And mostly those were the old ones that can't use the new EPG.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 3 Jan 16 at 20:57
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>> Most were pass through.
I had two with RF output. First was a product originally branded as ITV digital but sold to me as 'Top Up TV' - wanted Euro sport for Le Tour.
Second was a surprisingly cheap Tesco jobbie used for kid's bedroom TVs when digital switch over came to Anglia region.
Edit for Edit. We had no EPG in 1971 - so long as the box can show the channels listed in the paper it'll do the job.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sun 3 Jan 16 at 21:03
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>> Edit for Edit. We had no EPG in 1971 - so long as the box
>> can show the channels listed in the paper it'll do the job.
Not all of them it wont.
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>> Not all of them it wont.
If it shows BBC 1, BBC 2 and ITV it'll be better than some were in 1970. BBC 2 was always dodgy at home even when the new Emley Moor tower was up and radiating at full power.
Other channels on the public service MUX are a bonus.
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...interestingly enough, I have a Freeview HD box with a menu that offers RF out, with a configurable channel!!? It doesn't detail the setting in the manual however.
I might just try it one day to see if it outputs anything on said channel (currently set at 38 - which is not used by either of the transmitters I receive from).
(And I have had various digiboxes in the past that have had (configurable) RF output. When using passthru, one had to take care to move the RF-out channel away from any used ones (either analogue channel or digital mux)).
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It was a Ferguson or some other British crap. I have the article somewhere...I'll dig it out
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>>It was a Ferguson or some other British crap
Shame on you.
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Most CRT TVs sold in the UK were made here, even the Japanese makes. A combination of our PAL TV standard and the sheer bulk of a largish screen TV being the cause I would imagine.
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>> Most CRT TVs sold in the UK were made here, even the Japanese makes. A
>> combination of our PAL TV standard and the sheer bulk of a largish screen TV
>> being the cause I would imagine.
>>
I recall back in the late eighties I had a Ferguson VCR (600 quid's worth...) which was made in Japan (being a re-badged JVC) and a Panasonic TV made in the UK.
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I recently bought a Panasonic as a present for my parents, I was debating getting an unknown brand and jokingly said to the sales person in Richersounds they are all the same old crap made in he same factory anyway.
Anyway I get it home, noticed the stand by LED is a red one (red is cheaper than blue) I I became suspicious about the lack of any Panasonic branding other than on the a sticker on the base of the TV. The made in Turkey badge confirmed it, I had been done, this TV is not a Panasonic at all but just another rabadged Vestal.
I am sure there is nothing wrong with Vestals, I've had a few Vesta based PVRs and they are fine until the caps start to pop after about 5 or 6 years. My point is I don't mind buying a Vestal if it says Vestal or another cheap brand on it like ALBA, I get annoyed paying £30 or more for a premium badge only to find the TV is in fact identical to the ALBA other than badge and minor styling details.
I know this also went on in the old days of TVs too so badge engineering is nothing new.
I remember a lot ex rental TVs we had as a kid, my uncle would be round every other week repairing the awful Baird TVs we had. Then in 1990 my parents had enough and rented a Tatung TV and a VCR (I forget the brand) and after 3-5 years of none of them breaking down they asked why are they still renting when a 21" TV and VCR now costs £500? They bought a Panasonic TV and VCR in 1998. The TV lasted about 8 or 9 years but the VCR is still going although never used.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 4 Jan 16 at 10:32
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"I am sure there is nothing wrong with Vestals, I've had a few Vesta based PVRs and they are fine until the caps start to pop after about 5 or 6 years. My point is I don't mind buying a Vestal if it says Vestal or another cheap brand on it like ALBA, I get annoyed paying £30 or more for a premium badge only to find the TV is in fact identical to the ALBA other than badge and minor styling details."
Spot on, I've had Vestel PVRs running for 5+ years no problems, but I'm not going to pay Panasonic money for a Vestel product - IIRC even the basic Panasonic 4K TV is a Vestel.
Last edited by: spamcan61 on Mon 4 Jan 16 at 10:40
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I raised an eyebrow at that, but here it is:
"Panasonic Some LED TV sets from Panasonic, such as the A300, CX350 and CX400, are made by Vestel, mainly entry level/budget, Ultra HD 4K models."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestel
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Many thanks one and all for your feedback. It is much appreciated.
My old Mums hearing is fine, and after a recent visit to the optician she tells me that no more can be done re her eyesight, although next time I might go with her!
A friend who lives locally is going to lend her his 37'' TV and we shall see how she gets on with that for a week. He will take it is his own car & set it up... The only cost several beers... Another reason I need a more practical car, as its so much easier than putting the roof down to place it on the rear seat of my ragtop!
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>>.......... and after a recent visit to the optician she
>> tells me that no more can be done re her eyesight, although next time I might go with her!
>>
I think it would be a good idea to go with her on the next visit.
IMO opticians tend to optimise specs for reading a book or landscape and compromise vision for TV viewing.
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Its not a Vestel, its made by Vestel. There is a difference, Different Panel, Different electrical design, different components, different case design.
Panasonic can't afford to throw away a reputation by rebadging crap.
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While I am not going to take it apart to find out, the quality of the product doesn't feel like Panasonic, even the panel has quite a poor picture, what you would expect from a supermarket cheapie. It is only 720p though simply because I could not find any 1080p in 24" at the time for less than £200. The case design appears very much vestal right down to the cheap red LED.
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>> While I am not going to take it apart to find out, the quality of
>> the product doesn't feel like Panasonic, even the panel has quite a poor picture, what
>> you would expect from a supermarket cheapie. It is only 720p though simply because I
>> could not find any 1080p in 24" at the time for less than £200. The
>> case design appears very much vestal right down to the cheap red LED.
It would still need to conform to panasonic standards. Albeit standards at the cheap end of the Panasonic range. With all brands you get what you pay for.
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>> Its not a Vestel, its made by Vestel.
Good point. Some brands are just licensed with minimal control over the products but I doubt if Panasonic is one of them. I think it's more likely to be a case of subcontracting manufacturing.
Both Panasonic and Sony IIRC have or have had manufacturing in Wales. But given the cost of closing or scaling down such operations when they are not needed, contracting somebody else to assemble stuff could make sense. Especially at the cheap end.
Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 4 Jan 16 at 12:24
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>> Its not a Vestel, its made by Vestel. There is a difference, Different Panel, Different
>> electrical design, different components, different case design.
>>
>> Panasonic can't afford to throw away a reputation by rebadging crap.
>>
Who knows? It may (or may not) be a Panasonic design, I'm sure they'd not be forthcoming about what quality standards are applicable to the components used and production processes. It's unlikely that Vestel would want the logistical hassles of different parts and processes for differently badged products.
In theory I would agree that Panasonic wouldn't want to damage their brand, but they certainly wouldn't be the first company to do so in the interests of short term profitability.
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Well in my eyes the damage has been done, I am not saying I won't be another Panasonic again but I would never buy one based on badge alone and expect it to be better than any of the supermarket rubbish.
We also bought a Kenwood Microwave recently, ok it was cheap but when I got it home I noticed "Made under licence for Dixons Retail Group" in otherwords it should have had a Matsui badge on it.
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Sony set up a Trinitron TV plant here, wales I think, for sets made in the UK and EU market.
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>>Sony set up a Trinitron TV plant here, Wales.
There was a JVC TV plant in east Kilbride but they all went the same way as the PC/Electronics manufacturing in England, Wales, Scotland & Ireland - off to Eastern Europe or the Far East!
It is not just the factory jobs in the IBM/Compaq/Sony plant that went - for every job in the actual plant there might be 4/5 elsewhere.
IBM had some 2500 jobs on site, their own railway station..........outside they has circuit boards being made in Irvine, metal bashing for the cases, injection moulders making Screen cases, cardboard boxes........they were BIGGER than Whisky Exports - 20 lorries leaving nightly for all over Europe..
What electronics manufacturing is there left in Scotland - small pockets employing 30-150 people in specialist assembly for special clients - electronics for RAF aircraft, specialist control systems for boats......a shadow of the scene 25-30 years ago.
My last 4 main TVs were 1991 Panasonic (Wales), 2 x Sony (Wales) and the latest is Panasonic & it's from Slovakia (IIRC) - Never needed a TV repair in 25 years so the Welsh TVs were great!
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I am just about to go to a job now, but as far as I know the Raspberry Pi is still made in Wales. It worked out cheaper from to produce it in Wales than China due to quality control issues, cost of inspection and reliability. Put simply they were cheaper to produce in China but the quality was mixed and the cost of employing people out there to keep an eye on things was too much.
Sony contacted them and said we have a factory in Wales you could use. I need to double check this but that is the story was I understand it, but happy to be corrected.
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>> Sony set up a Trinitron TV plant here, wales I think, for sets made in the UK and EU market.
It was in Bridgend. It then moved to Pencoed.
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I would never buy an LCD TV I'd not seen/heard beforehand. I'd seek out reviews too.
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Doing a bit of digging it seems the Vestel-made Panas are more Vestel than Panasonic, as Rattle suggested.
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Its a cheap tele. He paid for a cheap tele, he got a cheap tele.
End of.
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True enough.
But it does mean the brand value is being exploited to shift cheap tat, and reduces the faith we should put in it.
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I still paid 30% more for it than the cheap no brand Tellies that are exactly the same underneath though, I think that is the point here. I didn't see it in the shop there was none on display but I did get a 6 year warranty included in the price so I am not going to complain too much. In fact for the price I paid the TV is fine. The point of making the post is more about not being able to trust anything on brand value alone.
This will hurt Panasonic if they continue to go down this road. Subcontracting is fine, but the more I have researched the TV the more pure Vestal it becomes. Even the menus are vestal, the remote though does at least seem to be a Panasonic design.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 4 Jan 16 at 21:38
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The remote should work on other Panasonic TVs; I wonder if it does.
Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 4 Jan 16 at 23:03
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>> But it does mean the brand value is being exploited
I can see where Rattle is going with this. But to buy a cheap Tv that is badged Panasonic to find it's not really.... well not that big a surprise.
You'll be telling me my Audi A3 is really a SEAT Leon next.
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>> >> But it does mean the brand value is being exploited
>> But to buy a cheap Tv
>> that is badged Panasonic to find it's not really.... well not that big a surprise.
It is to me.
There are certain brands, very few, that sell because of the very high level of confidence they give to consumers. I bought Panasonic TVs for decades for that assurance of quality, only switching to Sony a few years ago because Pana didn't make a suitable PVR/DVD recorder at the time.
It's insane behaviour to attach such a brand to inferior product and I wonder what the plans for Panasonic TV manufacturing are. Sony vision is back in profit now after a decade of losses, I don't know about Panasonic.
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I think Panasonic are wrong to have a TV that is cheap and low quality and not made by them. I've bought Panasonic a few times and it has been money well spent - I'll have to check if and when I need a new TV.
But to find a cheap Panasonic (not in a sale) and assume it will be top quality.... Not sure I'd fall for that.
We wanted a white 24" TV for the conservatory and got a full HD Samsung in the end. Seems decent quality, a good panel (tried as a monitor for half a day) and about £180. Probably not a Samsung :-)
Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 4 Jan 16 at 23:31
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It's not just TVs that can disappoint when it does not stand up in Quality to the reputation of the supplier - it applies to everything we buy - goods, services.
Marks & Spencer were quick out of the box to blame the poor weather for their, yet to be announced. poor results over Xmas.............I think that is a poor excuse.
Their real problems stem from losing control of the design & manufacturing process - chasing cheap manufacture & long delivery times from anywhere that is cheap.
The problem stems back to about 2000 when they dumped noted UK suppliers and put all their eggs in the Basket of Cheap & Cheerful (like BHS/Next/Primark) BUT still charge an M&S Price.
30 years ago our family spent £250/£300 per month @ M&S (3 kids) - today my extended family spend next to nothing - 8 adults & 6 grandchildren.
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>> The problem stems back to about 2000 when they dumped noted UK suppliers and put
>> all their eggs in the Basket of Cheap & Cheerful (like BHS/Next/Primark) BUT still charge
>> an M&S Price.
Thats a gross (and wrong) over simplification of the fashion retail business.
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>> It's insane behaviour to attach such a brand to inferior product and I wonder what
>> the plans for Panasonic TV manufacturing are. Sony vision is back in profit now after
>> a decade of losses, I don't know about Panasonic.
You can get a panasonic TV for 125 quid. How much superior product do you get for 125 quid?
Its fairly ruddy obvious you are getting a cheap tele, specially when you check you are buying a 720 tele
But so far apart from having a red LED, no-one has actually proven this thing is rubbish, even at that price.
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>>
>> But so far apart from having a red LED, no-one has actually proven this thing
>> is rubbish, even at that price.
>>
....my expensive, last of the range, Panasonic Plasma TV has a red standby LED. :-(
I'm doomed, I tell you..........
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>> >>
>> >> But so far apart from having a red LED, no-one has actually proven this
>> thing
>> >> is rubbish, even at that price.
>> >>
>> ....my expensive, last of the range, Panasonic Plasma TV has a red standby LED. :-(
>>
>> I'm doomed, I tell you..........
My Sony is Green, where does that leave me!
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How much would it cost to change the red standby LED on my Pana plasma to a green or blue standby LED. Is it a DIY job?
Last edited by: Dog on Tue 5 Jan 16 at 08:43
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Our 37" Panasonic wasn't cheap, and it's got a red standby LED. But it turns green when it's on - does that mean it's ok?
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>> Our 37" Panasonic wasn't cheap, and it's got a red standby LED. But it turns
>> green when it's on - does that mean it's ok?
>>
Same here. Only I have a different amount of inches - I'm not going to say how many more
as that would be rude.
;-)
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>> You can get a panasonic TV for 125 quid. How much superior product do you
>> get for 125 quid?
>> Its fairly ruddy obvious
your logic is irrefutable, it's a cheap and cheerful TV and probably good value, even if sticking Panasonic on it puts £30 on the price.
The point is that it damages the brand.
>> But so far apart from having a red LED, no-one has actually proven this thing
>> is rubbish, even at that price.
This was surprising news to me, enquiries have been made, people who repair them can see what they are.
Having spent some time in the consumer electronics business, I can well imagine what drives them to do it. Entry level accounts for a large proportion of sales, and margins are thin. It still looks like a mistake.
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>> This was surprising news to me, enquiries have been made, people who repair them can
>> see what they are.
So? Are they going wrong straight out the box? catching fire? only lasting 13 months?
>>can
>> see what they are.
A TV made in turkey? Apart from sniffy nose in the air uninformed tittle tattle going round the web, because its made by a Turkish company, are they actually crap?
I made my mother buy a panasonic TV, mostly based on what was said on here. Three years it lasted. Good job her memory is pants or I would have looked a right tit.
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>> made my mother buy a Panasonic TV, mostly based on what was said on here. Three years it lasted.
>>
I have a long established one man local TV repair place that sorts out any of my electronics.
He will also say if it it is fit for the bin.
A few years ago he repaired a large flat screen job for my son. It needed a new main board.
I got a refurb one on line but he said it was a major dismantle job to fit it.
( designed to be binned in normal circumstances it would be too expensive to fix ?)
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>> I made my mother buy a panasonic TV, mostly based on what was said on
>> here. Three years it lasted.
That's at least 2.5 years longer than ours lasted before it died! Of course it was fixed under warranty, and has been fine since, as long as you leave it in 'true cinema' (= 'raw') mode, as dark scenes confuse it in other modes.
Last edited by: Focusless on Tue 5 Jan 16 at 10:09
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Current TV is a flat screen Panasonic, been running hitch free since 2010. It replaced a Panasonic CRT that had run hitch free since 2003, and is still in use at in-laws, and THAT replaced a Panasonic CRT that had run for about ten years before that.
Standby LED is red, not that it's left on standby much.
All were bought from John Lewis (or Robert Sayles as they were known as locally back then).
Last edited by: Crankcase on Tue 5 Jan 16 at 10:13
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>> All were bought from John Lewis (or Robert Sayles as they were known as locally
>> back then).
Ah the days of JLP stores with weird names.,
Pratts in Streatham, Caleys in Windsor, Robert Sayles in Cambridge, Tyrrell and Green Winchester, Bonds in Norwich, etc etc.....
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Heelas of Reading out-weirds all those.
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>>
>> A TV made in turkey? Apart from sniffy nose in the air uninformed tittle tattle
>> going round the web, because its made by a Turkish company, are they actually crap?
>>
Not necessarily, as I said above I've got several Vestel PVRs that have lasted 5+ years...but I paid Vestel prices, not branded prices.
Manufacturers spend billions per year in advertising trying to convince us that having their badge on products makes them worth paying more for; so to stick their badges on what are (probably) generic products shipped with half a dozen different badges on is dangerous to the brand's perceived (by some) value.
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>
>> Having spent some time in the consumer electronics business, I can well imagine what drives
>> them to do it. Entry level accounts for a large proportion of sales, and margins
>> are thin. It still looks like a mistake.
The only alternatives are a: to have a loss leader or b: abandon that market segment.
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The remote does not work with other Pana TV's.
I'm assuming the TV Rattle bought was a TX 24c 300b - I purchased this model from JLP with a 5 year guarantee just before XMAS on the basis of brand reliability but feel more than a little put out that's it's not really a Pana.
Although I feel I got value for money would seriously think twice about buying another Pana in future.
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>> Although I feel I got value for money would seriously think twice about buying another
>> Pana in future.
Until (if) it goes wrong, you can't really moan about reliability. Panasonic reliability was always a bit of an overblown myth anyway. And yes I have personal experience of that.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 5 Jan 16 at 07:30
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Welcome to The Club, Doodle.
Most of them are OK.
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>>Welcome to The Club, Doodle.
>>Most of them are OK.
Thanks Duncan - I read daily but post rarely so wasn't too surprised at the response :)
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Wow, that's some lurk, Doodle! 1 post in 271 weeks. Welcome.
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Yep this is my point, the TV was £170 in the sale to £130, I bought a 24" LG 1080p for £120 a year before, so to me £130 doesn't seem that cheap relatively speaking. Yes cheap compared to 10 years ago etc but the price of electrical goods are constantly falling.
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Seems TV manufacturers aren't the only ones who rebadge something.
Even Marks & Sparks are at it with their "luxury biscuit selection box". Turns out one of the "luxury" biscuits is just a custard cream with some chocolate on it.
tinyurl.com/hp5jovc - The Telegraph.
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A custard cream dipped in chocolate sounds like luxury to me. If that's not a luxury biscuit what is?
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yeah, you dont see rows and rows of choccy dipped custard creams on the three for a pound ASDA shelf, sounds quite yummy to me.
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Forget the biccies and get on with doing your magic:)
Pat
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>> Forget the biccies and get on with doing your magic:)
>>
>> Pat
I can't function without coffee and biccies (luxury)
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>> Forget the biccies and get on with doing your magic:)
...in a different context (and without having read the other thread) that could be taken as being quite rude.....
;-)
Last edited by: tyrednemotional on Wed 6 Jan 16 at 15:45
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Google "Eddo Brandes" and "biscuit" to find out why I'm wishing I was thinking of something else.
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The best was
In an Ashes match Botham arrived at the wicket to a bit of cheek from the Aussie keeper
Marsh : "So how's your wife and my kid's?". Botham: "Wife's fine. Kid's are retarded".
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Zero rude??? Never, what are you thinking of:)
Pat
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>> Seems TV manufacturers aren't the only ones who rebadge something.
>>
>> Even Marks & Sparks are at it with their "luxury biscuit selection box".
They've been doing it for ages. Nearly all theirs are the same as everyone else's. Only one or two, the rest are the same as asda tesco etc.
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John Lewis' Tellies are made by LG...had a look at the back of one today instore. In the end we got a Samsung Curved screen jobbie. Discounted by a hundred notes and a free Samsung Blu Ray DVD player chucked in.
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I'm surprised they didn't pay you to take the disc player away - suppose they did, in effect. Considering how pleased I was to have paid £300 for a new Bluray device as recently as 2009, it's amazing how quickly they've become as good as obsolete. Now we've got to the end of Mad Men (our main incentive to buy it in the first place) I'm not sure when ours will get used again.
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Wed 6 Jan 16 at 19:00
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We syill buy the odd DVD for the van more than anything. I'll buy some BR stuff from the Bay of E and let someone else take the hit....
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Sitting in a van in a field watching DVDs?
Rock and roll eh...
;-)
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...I take a set of recorded TV programs away with me on a hard drive....
Haven't ever watched one.
I wonder why?
tinyurl.com/what-a-nice-field
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...when you mentioned how many pairs of shoes you had (and jeans) I thought you lacked taste......
Now I know...
;-)
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>> Catatonia?
...and, for the record, no - Caledonia..
;-)
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Now try putting your hand over the rightmost third of the picture.
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I guess it's a home from home really for one of you anyway, sleeping in vehicles and so on...just like a regular night shift.
;-)
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Wed 6 Jan 16 at 22:40
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>> New Caledonia?
>>
....would be a rather long way to drive a motorcaravan.....
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I expect the rest of us would still be able to smell the chemical toilet.
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......I might take steps to ensure that you could if you were anywhere in the vicinity.....
;-)
Wasn't it Marlon Brando who said "I love the smell of Elsan in the morning"?
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I'd give myself a thumb-down if I could.
It was, of course, Robert Dulav :-(
Last edited by: tyrednemotional on Thu 7 Jan 16 at 18:23
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Are you referring to Robert Duvall who referred to the smell of napalm in the morning in Apocalypse Now?
He was 85 two days ago.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Thu 7 Jan 16 at 23:56
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Yes, but he worked it into a little chemical toilet pun. Do try to keep up!
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But he mention Robert Dulav as well. Was that another joke I missed?
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>> But he mention Robert Dulav as well. Was that another joke I missed?
Yes
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>>but he worked it ........
....."laboured" would appear to be the appropriate word.....
:-S
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TV arrived ( a little late !) last Monday. Easy peasy to assemble all the bits. Ordered a BOSE Solo5 soundbar to go with it. Curved screen does enhance, just streaming the 4K version of the Man In The High Castle to it now....stunning. Good sound stage with the Bose. Superb quality.
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At your age, shouldn't you be in bed at this time of night?
;>)
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Less of that! Siesta 4 till 8 after a long lunchtime on the local beer & a bottle of decent Rioja. Out at 9 pm to local bar then into Benidorm at midnight. Home at 4 ish. There's life in the old dog yet!
Not my kind of thing but ewe only live once
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It's the weekend since yesterday !!
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Or it could be utter rubbish with a terrible LCD panel.
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New TVs this Christmas anyone? - Zero
