New TV Help Needed.

[Termite]

OK the 10 year old idiot box is playing up and I don't feel inclined to throw good money into fixing it. I need opinions as to which brand to replace it with. Not being blessed with a Lotto win and not being a rabid TV addict I have decided that the requirements are

Max spend $1000.00.
CRT not plasma or LCD. (Longer life and cheaper)
66cm widescreen 16:9 (same height as present tv but wider)
Standard definition.
Does not need built in surround sound system. (have 6.1 surround system)

Am leaning toward Sony 66cm KVSA282M31 at the moment.(RRP $899.00)

All opinions of this and other brands appreciated.

[AlexS]

Have you checked the antenna connections? They corrode. Recently replaced our antenna & the 25 year old set is now as good as new (well almost).

[Shedhand]

Our 10 year old Sony died so we bought a Loewe Aventos 70cm widescreen. Brilliant. $999.00
You won't get them at Hardly Normal's. Shop around for the Loewe's and you'll get a brilliant tele at a good price.
Cheers

[woodbe]

We had a similar idea a couple of years ago:

* We never watch live TV
* We have a TiVo
* We more often than not, watch a DVD

In the end, we gave the old bodgy set to the kids to play games on, and put a projector on the ceiling. I wouldn't say it's great for casual TV viewing, but we never do that. For everything else, it's the bees knees

I know it's outside your budget, but thought I'd suggest anyway, as it's a better alternative for some than the LCD/Plasma option that you have already discounted.

woodbe.

[Termite]

Have you checked the antenna connections? They corrode. Recently replaced our antenna & the 25 year old set is now as good as new (well almost).

No mate, its a recurrence of a problem that it had about 4 years ago, cost about $150.00 to fix then. Its a 10 year old Akai that I consider to be past its use by.

[Thommo]

hi Termite, try this site www.dtvforum.info/ it tells you about different tv's peoples opinion on tvs etc.

can be very helpful, well I find it helpful


regards thommo

[Gumby]

Stick with the best brands - get a Triton. The orange screen is really nice, although since the GMC takeover, they are now blue.

[Auld Bassoon]

Check out the Grundig range. I bought a 78cm Xentia a couple of years ago. 100Mhz, does widescreen, and is HD ready (whatever that means, exactly).

Great quality, hooks up incredibly easily with other Grundig products (e.g. DVD, VCR, etc) and within your price band.

[Glenn_M]

I'll second Shedhand, check out Loewe.

Glenn

[Dean]

Don't buy Teac... crap... had three, all had problems. Same part blew up in two of them... Had a Teac replacement part fitted and two days later that blew up as well. Then had the same TV fitted with a compatible third party brand part and has worked fine ever since. Obviously Teac use crap parts

[DarrylF]

You can't go wrong with a Sony mate. I've had a basic 51cm for 10 years or so and not a scrap of trouble. I've had a 66cm widescreen for around 7 years and it's been great too.

Of course the 86cm widescreen I bought two years ago is absolutely brilliant - but it's a little out of the price range

[Iain]

Remember the the following names:
Teac
Akai
Telefunken (now Korean)
DEC
Palsonic (not Panasonic)

Now, when you go to buy a TV and see these, avoid them like the plague.
Hopelesly inadequate power supplies that run almost flat out and have trouble coping, the caps cave in just out of warranty period.
Can be fixed (dodgy repairers will replace the faulty caps only and you have to go back a little later to get the rest done, there are 6 to 8 of them at about 50c each) but a decent brand will not let you down.
Another set that is winning acclaim with the techs is the Konka, good tube and fairly reliable for a cheap set.
DEC tend to use whatever they can get at a cheap price and bang it in a box and parts are always a problem.
Stick with a big name and you really should be OK, I am partial to Toshiba and have found them to be excellent value for money and reliable.

[Termite]

Well thanks for all your help folks, now have the Sony 66 in and running. Got it from my local Retravision for $689.00 (RRP $899.00).
And thanks in particular to a good friend who did his best for me, won't be forgotten mate.

[JackoH]

We bought a DEC 70cm flat screen TV and DVD player two and a half years ago, all for $650.00. It hasn't missed a beat, and SWMBO watches a lot of TV.A couple of weeks ago added a digital set top box (Magnavox $119.00 from K-Mart) Perfect picture on all channels.
I guess this is the exception that proves the rule (Whatever that means.)

[Iain]

Jack, DEC have a tendency to stick whatever chassis they can find into a box, so if you buy a Model ABC 123 depending upon when you bought it and where from it could house any different number of parts, a lot of the guts of these things come from Pakistan, Yugoslavia and other such countries, and it is only when something goes wrong that you find out that it can or cannot be fixed.
Magnavox is imported by a large importer in Dandenong, they bring out a number of identical units and mark them for the retailer.
There back up service is excellent and the product is good too, they ship out containers full of these things for all the major retailers, Coles, Safeway, even Bunnies and mark them accordingly.
I have dealt with the company in the past and when they source a product it has to meet their specs, they do not like warranty claims and as a result of the research get very few claims.