[flatley]

I'm new to this game so I'm seeking advice if poss.

I'm going to be getting a 36" CRT (going to couple this with the Philips LX9000R) but I've become punch-drunk with all the options...

100MHZ? Hi-Def? Do I need RGB SCART? So many questions so few answers!

Any advice/help/pointers greatly recieved particularly with which 36-incher I should go for.

PS
My wife will prefer not to have to switch on the LX9000R just to watch Corry so a good sound on the TV is a must...

Thanks!

[flatley]

<--- Watches a lone tumbleweed roll by, hears the distant toll of a church bell at a funeral.

Anyone? Anything at all for me to go on? I've read a bunch of reviews but it's always nice to hear from others...

Flatley,

I am in exactly the same position in searching for a 36" CRT television. Last year I rang up to order the Philips PW9618 but they were fortunately out of stock. I say "fortunately" as I afterwards read so many adverse comments on this forum about that model. I have been dithering between JVC, Panasonic, Thomson, Toshiba and Sony.

Bazzae posted a link to the www.whatvideotv.com site. On their news page they mention a new Pixel Plus, due out in April, I am hoping one may be a 36" model. I was leaning towards J.V.C. but it didn't have Dolby Digital, which I would have liked. Good luck with whatever you buy, it seems that's necessary with the high tech televisions of today!

[flatley]

Dear me... I still can't decide which 36-incher to go with. Now that I have the funds, they're burning a hole in my pocket!

And now I have an additional caveat do deal with; the TV is going to have to sit on an existing piece of furniture which means that it's footprint is going to have be as small as is physically possible. So, the area around the screen itself needs to be kept at a minimum...

Oh dear... if I can't find one that suits, I'm going to have to drop to the more wife-friendly 32" TV. I can see where she's coming from, but I really do have my heart set on 36" of widescreen CRT pleasure.

The search continues!

[bananaman]

Have you considered the Toshiba 36ZP38? Lovely picture and with surround-sound speakers to boot!

A damn fine telly, and from what I've seen on a thread over on the DVD Forums, it's for sale today in House of Fraser (any store) for £1214.99!!

I had one myself before sending it back because of problems displaying progressive images, but Toshiba now recognise this as a fault and are fixing those sets which have problems

However, I can't vouch for this and from what the original poster said, THIS IS FOR TODAY ONLY!! Sorry if that doesn't give you much time - kind of forces you into an impulse buy if you do decide to go for it... You do get a 5 year warranty for that price, though .

(Credit to michlob for that find!

[flatley]

Ooer - I'm going to take a gander at that one! Muchus gracias!

i bought Philips 36PW9308 few days ago along with Philips LX9000 dvd recorder/home cinema. Taken me a few days to set it up, tweak settings etc but picture on Sky digital is good, none of the problems mentioned by other people. BUT, have just watched Matrix Reloaded and had the most incredible in-house cinematic experience EVER! Totally blown away by the incredible picture quality from the TV and sound from the home cinema. Admittedly, it is from a good quality DVD source, but thats why I bought it, for occasions like this. Wasnt bothered about the 9618 as I intended getting a seperate home cinema anyway, rather than a poorer quality built in system. Just thought I should say something good on here for a change....seems to be full of peoples complaints usually!

By the way, bought it all from Sound and Vision for £1500, Comet wanted almost £2200 for it! Knackers to them.

[flatley]

MAP!

Spooky! I'm also going to get the LX9000R! You mention some people are having problems with it. What probs are they? Always get a bit jumpy when I hear of folks having problems around kit I'm looking to get.

Cheers!

whats the LX9000R .... sounds like a projector?

[Hem]

I think the problems MAP is referring to is with picture quality issues on large screen TV's with Sky digital. I purchased the 36PW9618 a couple of weeks back and, to date, the only issue I have is with the weaker, lower bandwidth channels on Sky showing up a few digital nasties. On all other channels the picture is great, and DVD's and console gaming are out of this world.

I also looked at the 9308, but to be honest I don't think I could live with the look of this set. It has a mesh look surrounding the screen and doesn't have the clean lines of the 9618. But then if you're getting a seperate AV system I guess you really have to think is the extra £300 worth it. By the way the sound on the 9618 is unbelievably good for a built in system, and the wireless surrounds work, look and sound superb.

If footprint is an issue, the Toshiba picture frame TV's and the Panasonic PD30 are both slimmer sets, having the speakers mounted at the sides or externally. The Philips though has a slightly reduced depth than these two and is (in my view) more compact at the rear.

Also to consider if you don't intend to use the stand (and save a few quid) is the PD30 and Toshiba are really designed to go with their stands so may look a bit odd without them. Just a thought.

[flatley]

Thanks for the info! Appreciated!

This is the LX9000R

http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xPC-Philips_LX9000R

sorry guys, i was referring to problems with the 9308, not the LX9000R. There is some problems on the lower bandwith channels on Sky but nothing major. Sky news is superb for instance. Gonna watch some footy over the weekend so that will be a good test.
I agree the looks arent great - but I figured it cant be that bad because my wife liked it and she is extremely fussy!
I did look at it in terms of was it worth paying an extra £300 for the 9618 and decided it wasnt for the looks and built in Dolby Digital so plumped for the 9308 and am so far extremely happy!

The other thing worth mentioning regards the lack of scart sockets (2) on this set. I have Sky, (redundant) VCR and PS2 all routed through the LX9000 which is itself connected to the RGB scart. So i only use one of the two scarts, and so this isnt a problem. The other advantage of this, is that i can play sound for all these appliances through the LX9000 when it is switched on and telling it which source is connected and so defo didnt need a good built in sound system!

[flatley]

Looks like a thumbs-up for the Tosh. My better half went in to John Lewis and saw the thing for herself. She was in agreement that we should get this set (wayhay!) but had a worry - and one that I'm confused about.

On the specs I got off the web, the depth of the model says 23.5" - however, the salesman quoted 29" to her which is a pretty significant chunkage of inches to stick out into the lounge. So now I've got to get there myself with a tape measure. Wish me luck luck!

Going back to the Philips for a sec though... I see that it can tax a coax input/ouput as well as SCART. Hopefully this will be an end to my recording woes as we're on ntl at the moment and can't record/watch terrestrial while watching/recording cable. I'm planning on mounting a loft aerial to pick up analogue/digital broadcasts and running it down to the Philips... I hope I have my facts right on this!!!