Hi, my first thread so bear with me.

I have a 32" Loewe Aconda in that gorgeous black and it's 21 months old. I bought it for £1300 with an extended 5 year warranty (couldn't resist it at £100). The tube went, so in September it went off for a new tube. They've still got it!! The dealer has loaned me one of those gruesome Mimo's in the meantime - good image though. The dealer is highly embarassed by Loewe's failure to get a new tube out of Germany to the repairer and have offered me a full refund - £1400 - for the TV and warranty. Outstanding. However, the only point in doing this would be to buy a better TV. I am led to believe that you can't better an Aconda for CRT - in fact the shop tells me you can't better it full stop. But the Sharp Aquos LC32P50E caught my attention in the shop. As I think the shop has made a most honourable offer, I feel that it would be only right to buy from them - so I would be happy to get the Sharp for £900 plus £500 cash back.

The question is, is the Aquos image as good as or nearly as good as the Aconda's? I can't compare them side by side because mine's still away and they don't have another Aconda in-store. Perhap's I should compare it with the Mimo, which I am told shares the same tube as the Aconda?

I mostly watch TV via my Freeview tuner (Pace-Twin) but also enjoy watching DVDs - maybe one a week. I'm also keen to run the laptop through it and show photos.

The Aconda's picture is stunning, the box itself is georgeous and the picture is amazing, but it does take up a lot of room. That said, I'm not sure that's an issue. I just thought that although the front of the Sharp is no-where near as sexy as the Aconda, overall, with its lack of behind-screen bulk, there's probably not much in it. Also, now that one tube has gone, I'm concerned about its reliability and whether it will happen again. I had considered the 37" LCD, but I'm only 9' away and if I wanted it that little bit bigger, it's not so heavy to pully the caster-wheeled AV table forward. As it happens, the 32" LCD is 32", whereas the 32" Aconda is realy only 30", so the LCD would be that little bit bigger. The other -ve on going for the LCD is that it's only got 12-month warranty whereas the Aconda still has 3 years to run. I have also heard that glare/reflection off the LCD will be substantially less than a glassed CRT.

I'm pretty sure I'm not fussed about HD and if I was I could go for the 32" Aquos Titanium at £1550 - better looking too, but I didn't figure it was worth the extra £650, especially when the normal TV image is better on the P series. Withe the £500 cashback, I figured it'd be nice to upgrade my DVD recorder to a Panasonic hard driver recorder (i've already got an older one with lots of RAm discs - but no HDD)

Any thoughts on this?

I also posted this one in the LCD section - it's identical

My dealer got me my Aconda back by Christmas Eve, fitted with a new tube. Extremely worried that like the Mimo it would be afffected by my speakers, that was the first thing I looked at. Initially I didn't think it was but after warming it up and looking at a plain red scene, it was still quite apparent that there was colour distortion close to the speaker, the extent of which varied as I moved the speaker about. So I did a load more tests and eventually, let the TV cool, moved away all speakers, rebooted and once it had warmed, there was still distortion. My DVD player was below it, which I then moved about, and Loewe and behold, even the DVD was affecting it. Infact, both DVD's VCr and PVR all affected it to lesser or greater extents!! However, after a lot of huffin and puffin, I was eventually able to align my main speaker (the right speaker's miles away so not a problem) and my sub so that they seemsed to cancel each other out and now there's virtually no noticeable distortion at all. Interestingly, the only colour I could see this was in red, set it to green or blue and there was no problem, although with the Mimo, it was also very noticeable in blue!

Anyway, I think I am no longer worried about magnetic effects, which has removed one of the LCD's considerable advantages.

BTW, even though my dealer managed to return the TV, he has still given me two weeks to decide whether or not to keep it and so a full refund is still on the cards should I choose. So he also dropped off the LC32P50E, which he assures me currently produces a better picture than the GD7E. He also assured me that the the P series was among the best out there for TV and possibly DVD too. I trust him because our customer/dealer relationship has at times extended to a curry and a few beers. I guess I should mention that he works for Audio-T and their serivce really is second to none.

So apart from the meagnetic issue, I also considered swapping to LCD for size and weight advantages, the slightly bigger screen (16:9 format gives about 1cm x 3 cm size advantage over the CRT - 32") and I guess also because it was brand new (Aconda is 21 months old) and more recent technology. Other than that, I couldn't see any other advantages - unless I went the extra £ and bought HD ready stuff - which I don't really care about for the next few years. The LCD would only have come with 1 year warranty whereas my Aconda's still got 3 years to go. Connectivity is about the same - not worried about HDMI cos I'm more than happy with my DVDs. In fact, as I occasionally show photos from a lap-top and camera, the Aconda has the advantage with its frontal AVS ports (for the Sharp, I would have to remove the rear panel, disconnect some kit to plug in the camera/laptop!!).

But, forget all that stuff, the bottom end is that the LCD simply does not compare to the Aconda in image quality. I guess that comes as no surprise, but what did surprise me was just how far apart they were and now that I've seen them side by side, I just can't let the Aconda go. In comparison, it's like watching the LCS through mist under street lamps. There are no blacks, the whites are yellowish (no matter what I do with the white balance), most colours are over saturated and it really is not so sharp (!!) at all. I have to say that I was rather disappointed, although I do acknowledge they've come a long way in the last 2 years. That said, put on a bright animation such as Iceage, Nemo, etc and the differnece is less. Watch Event Horizon, Matrix, Alien (etc) and you sure notice the difference with dark-brownish greys as good as it gets to being black. It is such a shame because I was quite excited about the prospect of having an LCD - in fact so keen was I that I gave it the advantage of connecting it up direct to the DVD player with my best quality Scart on RGB. The Aconda however was connected to the DVD via a lesser quality RGB scart, a second DVD player and an S-vid cable!! and the Aconda still won hands down. On the other hand, if I was a gamer and had never discovered the Aconda, I think I would have been quite happy with the Sharp.

If on reading this you want any other info about my magnetic problem or the tests I did, just let us know.

[mo]

hi,
if i was you i wouldnt give up on the acconda just yet.
by keeping the acconda i feel that you have made a wise decision.
just 2 inches off the screen should not deter you from the all important thing.
the image of the loewe.
besides you've got warranty left on the tv so you may as well see out a bit more and see what the middle of 2006 offers.

Mo

Well today I got up and this time, in daylight, I compared the two again. Yikes, the Sharp was better than the Aconda! Of course, this was with light cloud and occasional sunshine with all the curtains open. The Aconda is not in direct sunlight, but just the brightness of the room (which isn't extraordinarily bright) meant that there was significant reflection and a slight green cast across the colour range. The LCD on the other hand was not affected and its blacks actually appeared better than the Aconda's. Draw the curtains however and the Aconda edged ahead again. But now the sun's gone down, the Aconda's way out in front again!! Last night I'd decided on the Aconda, by lunch time today I'd decided on the LCD, but now I'm just torn between the two!! Bear in mind if I take the LCD I also get £500 in my pocket, which would go a long way towards an upgrade in maybe 3 years time - hopefully by then HD will have taken off and LCDs will be able to display blacks and whites. I also reckon that in 3 years time very few will want CRT and even the Aconda will be worth very little, probably no more than a 3 year old LCD. So financially it would make better economical sense to get the LCD now - but then I suppose quality isn't about economics. I really don't know which way to turn and it's driving me insane.

Oh, and today my dealer bought around the 37" Sharp Aquos Titanium (he didn't have the 37" P series). I decided it was probably too big for my room and wasn't worth the extra £400 (for the P) over the 32" version.

Mo, what might the middle of 2006 bring?

W

[mo]

mate,
are you sure you didnt have lint in your eyes first thing in the morning?
i agree to what your saying on the money side of things.
i just feel that the acconda will consistanty perform better in all conditions.
if the features of the loewe dont mean anything so be it.(i use my split screen everyday)
as for 06' ,like you said ,see how sky hd is bedding in.
around the time of the world cup you'll see quite a few new screens including 1080p panels.more inputs etc.
have you not considered the loewe lcds?
if the savings now mean alot ,go for it, and good luck.
buying good quality tvs is never an easy task.

[RockySpieler]

Wotabloke,

Regarding the "improvement in the P50E" in the morning. It may have been down to the background daylight, did you demo the LCD in a darken room on Christmas eve?

A lot of LCD owners have lamps on behind the screen, or in the room. This helps reduce the contrast and disguises the "grey" blacks, there are even "heated" discussions on the best colour temperature to use. Some Philips ambilight owners have posted that they just use a fixed colour instead of the active glowing backlight.

I just have a standard lamp behind my sofa, but it makes a big difference and is an amazing pq enhancement given the cost of a light bulb.

btw you may want to demo some HD before opting for the P50E, 720p, 1080i movies (via PC) are amazingly detailed.

Thanks for your responses.

After viewing again today in daylight I can see how much better the Loewe is - IF you concentrate on the PQ rather than the film/programme. However, even in bright daylight, occasionally the LCD shows its limitations, especially with smooth blending of colours and panning. The whole image seems to shimmer, very granular. The Loewe is so much smoother. In daylight the LCD contrast levels are good, almost better than the Loewe (a trick of the light I'm sure). In dim light, the LCD looks so murky. I can see the point of using lamps behind or nearby, to reduce contrast between screen and surroundings, but this is turn should improve contrast on screen. If there's a lot of white in an image, the blacks look so much blacker. But if there's a lot of black (most Sci-Fi's!!) it's so grey. So for now the Loewe is winning my heartl, even though it was so tempting to swap over and have £500 in my pocket for a future upgrade. However, I think we do most of our our viewing in the evenings when bright room conditions are not a problem, so one main advantage of the LCD is not so significant. If it's that bright and I'm watching the Aconda, then I pull the curtains. I really don't think I have the heart to let the Aconda go, knowing how much better it is in dim light conditions. It's not so much that the LCD is better in daylight, it's just easier to view.

I also had a call from dealer today after he had discussed the magnetism issues with the engineer. The bottom end is that although I can see slight colour distortions (red only) in the extreme left corners, it is only minor and not enough to worry about, to notice under normal viewing or to cause permanent damage. The engineer said that the effects do get worse as the TV warms up and reds are far more noticeable. He also said that whilst transformers (in video/dvd components) can also cause discolouring, the magnetic fields they produce are weak and nowt to worry about. The dealer, who has visitied my house on several occasions and knows my set-up, confirmed that he would support another warranty claim should I experience problems in the future - so that's a relief (about £1k for a new tube apparently!!). Tomorrow he's going to bring a 37" Aquos Titanium over for me to have for a few days. I figured that it seems pointless "downgrading" to a 32" P series, so my choice should be either a 37" P series or a 32" Titanium. So I'm gonna see if the 37" fits in my room ok and whether or not the Titanium PQ is superior. The GD7E will cost me £150 more than I'll be refunded for my 21-month old Aconda. I also think I should kiss the £500 goodbye on the basis that quality costs, and if the Aconda lasts, then it'll probably be another 4 or 5 years before I upgrade (£2 per week!) I think I will try and keep it simple; if the 37"P and/or the 32" Titanium PQ's are still not to my satisfaction, I won't get either and keep my beloved Aconda.

Thanks for your advice.

W