TV - Talk to me...

[Mr Burns]

Okay allow me to explain... Imagine you've just travelled in from 2004 and all the latest technology is baffling... This is me now.

For the past 5+ years I haven't watched any TV other than a couple of Father Ted and My name is Earl DVD's... I don't even watch Top Gear (yes I know Jeremy's gone lol)

So anyway, I've inherited my parents old Sony Bravia TV and figured I better do something with it. The TV is 'HD Ready' whatever that means and does have Freeview, although I can't get Men & Motors because the Freeview is apparently too old.

It currently doesn't have an aerial but that might not matter if I can get some use from it other than DVD's... I was looking at buying a Blu-ray player but I've noticed many of them come with apps such as Netflix and YouTube... Do I need subscriptions for these? Am I right in thinking a Blu-ray player with play old traditional DVD's? What benefit would 'built in WIFI' be exactly??

I do have an HDMI cable for it so I can run my tablet through it which works quite well...

Basically I want to use it to watch stuff... I'm not sure what exactly but I'd like some options...

 

[LeeRS]

Well generally speaking, you watch stuff on a tv. So your in the right place

Blu-Ray players will play normal dvd's and also blu-ray disks so that's ok.

HD Ready means it will accept a hd cable, so anything that runs a hd lead rather than a scart will be ok. Xbox one/ps4 etc use these for maximum video quality.

I'm no expert but damn, the mx5 really does show in you

 

[LeeRS]

Oh, and yes, Netflix is £5.99 a month but has pretty much everything you need to watch on it.
I believe the first month is free to try it out but if you don't like it, remember to cancel the subscription or they will charge you.

 

[Mr Burns]

...Cheers Lee, I'll bear that in mind!

So I'm going to use my thread to ask stupid questions, and here's my first...

I can't watch Motors TV because the Freeview is too old. Can I go out and buy a set-top box that will address this? If so, how much and where from?

 

[LeeRS]

Yeah, you can buy freeview boxes from ebay for next to nothing (freeview is old.... to us)
Check the channels it has listed before you buy any old one.
Get a hd ready one as well.

They are literally plug and play.

Before you do that, is there no option on the tv to update the channel list?

 

[Mr Burns]

No... I did a bit of research and it seems that early Freeview systems aren't compatible with some of the channels.

 

[Mr Burns]

Right, I thought I'd bump this thread as I STILL don't have a TV!

I've decided that I just want a regular 32" TV, and with Currys having a sale this weekend I thought I'd pop down.

Is there anything I need to look out for or avoid? Which are the best brands? I don't think I'm too fussed about a smart TV but what would I be missing out on? I've noticed most of the TV's I've looked at so far are LED, are these good?

Apologies for my lack of general knowledge regarding TV's, but I genuinely don't find this kind of thing interesting lol.

 

[Gally]

Just buy the Jvc one at £150 mate. It's a nice TV and at that size it really doesn't matter that much.

 

[Mr Burns]

Just buy the Jvc one at £150 mate. It's a nice TV and at that size it really doesn't matter that much.

That's the one I noticed on the advert actually. That'll have Freeview I assume? I mainly want it for Motors TV and DVD's.

 

[Bluebeard]

If you've got wifi in your house, get a smart TV.

Like you, I'm not a technology man by any means but I bought a smart TV about 3 weeks ago and it's been my best purchase for years. Bloody brilliant thing.

 

[Mr Burns]

Cheers Dan. What is it about the smart TV that makes it so useful?

 

[Bluebeard]

Cheers Dan. What is it about the smart TV that makes it so useful?

The ability to watch a s**t-ton of stuff that I'd previously never heard of.

Honestly mate, couldn't recommend one enough.

 

[Mr Burns]

Cool, I'll see what I can pick up later

 

[Bluebeard]

Cool, I'll see what I can pick up later

We bought a 43inch LG.

It's reduced to £299 at Argos at the minute. Dirt cheap!

 

[glowworm105]

As above I also purchased an lg smart TV for a similar price and cannot fault it , its 3d aswell if your interested in that

 

[Mr Burns]

Going for a full HD Samsung smart TV.

 

[dajones]

We bought a 43inch LG.

It's reduced to £299 at Argos at the minute. Dirt cheap!

I bought that one 2 weeks ago at 399
Bloody good TV though!! Not keen on the stands but I've ordered a pedestal thing for it to have a stand in the middle. Soundbar next

 

[Bluebeard]

I bought that one 2 weeks ago at 399
Bloody good TV though!! Not keen on the stands but I've ordered a pedestal thing for it to have a stand in the middle. Soundbar next

I'm buying one for £299 today. Then I'm going to a different store and taking the new TV back using the old £399 receipt.

Boom.

 

[Mr Burns]

Right... Got my TV and now I need an aerial as I can't connect to the existing one. What are the options? I'm assuming I need to buy a digital aerial, but are these indoor ones no good?