[gavintennant]

Hi folks,

I think I've narrowed down my choice of TVs to these ones. I've done searches on both and now to be honest with you I'm as confused as ever!!

I know the Vitros is a bit more expensive than the Tosh, but I've also heard that the Vitros uses the same tube so what can the difference be?? How much better is it, how much are you paying for the styling and brand compared to the actually picture quality?

Do I really need progressive scan? There comes another question... I was looking at a DVD player sub £200, would I get progressive scan on any of them? Is the Tosh SD220E a good purchase ( I know it doesn't have PS)? anyway, I digress....

One more thing, does anytone know where I can buy a Loewe online (in the colour of my choice), all I've found is Empire Direct and they only have 1 colour available?

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated....

Thanks
Gavin

[bobones]

www.robertwhyteltd.co.uk do Loewe mail order.

[SILVERBACK]

you may wanna do a search on robertwhyte before ordering mate word to the wise

[gavintennant]

Hmmm... some interesting things said about them although I need to decide which TV to get before I actually order one!!

[ditton15]

Tosh SD520 or SD510 does have prog scan and can be got for about #200. I got the latter for less in a Clearance Sale. I am told the former is available for #215.

The SD510 works v.well with my Tosh 32ZD26 in prog scan.

ditton

[groundy]

People who own Loewe Televisions (myself included) generally do so because they are looking for something a little different to the standard high-street brands and are prepared to pay a premium to get it. While progressive scan would certainly be a welcome addition, be aware that the Tosh TV can only accept NTSC Progressive so if the majority of your DVD collection is R2, then you will not benefit. Both the Tosh & the Loewe have a built in de-interlacer (i.e., Progressive Mode) which uses digital processing to line-double all sources. Results are not as good as true Progressive though.

In all other areas, the Loewe TV is about as good as it gets and is a vast improvement (in my opinion) over the other brands. As for online retailers, Empire-Direct is the cheapest but you might want to check out Sevenoaks Sound & Vision clearance offers as they usually have a few Loewe's in them. You can see the clearance offers for a branch near you on their website:

http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.c...clearance.html

If I were you, I would not buy an expensive TV mail-order.

[sparkle999]

gavintennant,

I decided to go for a Loewe some months back, and considered on-line versus high street. At the time I considered the price differential (of potentially hundreds of pounds) to be a heck of a lot of "after sales service". But at the back of my mind, I was worried about a lot of hassle if my set developed a problem.

I was fortunate enough to happen across a good deal from House of Fraser - who were running a sale at the time. Ended up with a keen price WITH the after sales service and 5 yr guarantee. I agree with groundy. I would recommend that you should have a nose around for a good deal from a reputable high street dealer.

Touch wood, not needed to invoke the after sales service... and am delighted with the quality of the Loewe (Aconda).

Good luck with your deliberations!
Sparkle

[gavintennant]

I must admit, I do like the Loewe, not just on looks but there seems to be very few problems with it, I just trying to work out if I can justify the extra £££££'s of which there is quite alot when buying from the High Street. I know what everyone is saying and I've read so many bad things about on-line retailers I guess I should listen to the advice given!!

On the other hand..... I'd rather like a plasma TV... Why are these things so hard? I suppose I'll just have to do some foot/phone work instead and see what prices I can get for them, before I make a final decision!! But basically, either TV would be a good purchase, quality wise rather than anything else?

Going back to the DVD player.... Most of my DVDs are Region 2 at the moment, but I'm going to be doing a lot of travel to the States over the next year so thats really a must have, hence why I'd want a PS TV and player. I think I'll go for the SD-520E. Haven't read too many bad things about it and I asume it is at least as good as the SD220E which everyone raves about!! Oh, how is the CD quality on it, if you know. I have a 10yr old Sony would this play CDs at least as good as that?

Originally posted by gavintennant
Hi folks,

I think I've narrowed down my choice of TVs to these ones. I've done searches on both and now to be honest with you I'm as confused as ever!!

I know the Vitros is a bit more expensive than the Tosh, but I've also heard that the Vitros uses the same tube so what can the difference be?? How much better is it, how much are you paying for the styling and brand compared to the actually picture quality?

Do I really need progressive scan? There comes another question... I was looking at a DVD player sub £200, would I get progressive scan on any of them? Is the Tosh SD220E a good purchase ( I know it doesn't have PS)? anyway, I digress....

One more thing, does anytone know where I can buy a Loewe online (in the colour of my choice), all I've found is Empire Direct and they only have 1 colour available?

Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated....

Thanks
Gavin

I have owned a Vitros for two weeks. After having had three Sonys I can tell you the Loewe is by the far the superior TV. Once you have got it set up correctly the picture is excellent on Analogue and absolutely fab with sky digital and DVD The only downside is the user manual which to put it plainly is crap. Mine also does not have the same tube as the Toshiba as there are no centre marking each side of the screen.
If you have an Empire store near you take a print out of the Vitros price from their on-line site and I'm sure they will price match it. I was considering a plasma a while ago and the Empire store at Bradford said they would match it with their on-line store.

[TooManyHobbies]

I've have a Loewe Planus 32" widescreen and it has been a fab piece of kit the picture is fantastic people often comment on the quality of the picture and then when I tell them it's 6 years old they cannot believe it. I would highly recommend them.

Mark

[gavintennant]

I've been reading all the various threads on Prog Scan in here but it's just left me (like everything else actually) confused.

Let me get this right:
The Tosh has 3 Scarts and a set of component RCA ins
The Loewe has 3 Scarts, One of which is component enabled?

If I buy a Tosh SD520E DVD Player, using R1 DVDs, can I plug this straight into either TV or for the Loewe will I need this VGA module thing?

To be honest, if I can get a price match on a Loewe then it will have to be one of them, either the Vitros or Plnus that you mentioned (If the qual is just as good!!)

Hi

Scart 3 is component enabled on Loewe sets. However, it won't accept a progressive signal, only interlaced. If you want to send an external progressive signal into the tv (and bypass the internal digital processing) you must use the VGA module. The component signal must also be converted to a RGBHV signal with the help of a transcoder. They are generally quite expensive IMO.

[gavintennant]

Hi again!

I'm still thinking about either of these TVs but you know... I just can't make my mind up! Both have pros and cons and I guess I do really want the Loewe because it is different basically.

It's difficult to be able to compare these sets for picture quality and maybe someone out there has already done this?

I'll only ever be watching sky digital and DVDs (although obviously some VCR and PS2 stuff) so analogue quality is less of an issue for me.

1) the Vitros is quite an old TV now compared with the Toshiba so does this make a difference and does anyone know which tube is inside the Vitros (6381ZW)

2) Will either of these TVs be updated soon (within the next couple of months) to support PAL progressive?
2.5) I know the Loewe supports both PAL/NTSC PS, but you have to manually re-size the image. Does this mean, every different DVD I watch I have to play with the settings to get the picture to fit. Does anyone actually use the PS capabilities of the Loewe? Is it a big problem?

3) How good is the Tosh with it's built in de-interlacer for R2 DVDs? Does this also work with digital broadcasts?

4) Basically... Picture Quality! Which TV do you think has the edge, given the sources I have? Will there be any discernable difference between them?

Thats it! Based on the replies to here (if any!!!) I'll go and buy whatever one!! I know I'll be happy with either, probably Loewe for sheer looks but no point in paying the premium for no difference in picture, and perhaps a lack of useability! (Was that a valid statement??!!

Thanks again!! I appreciate all this!!

Gavin

[leeoh]

Check out the new Loewe 32" Aventos its high street retail price is £1150 and can easily be found for less than £1000 in some retailers with a shop front. Get John Lewis to price match them and you've got the best deal going.

Very good spec includes.

100Hz 32"
3 scart = two RGB capable one s-vhs/composite.
Media plus chassis so will take a whole bunch of upgrade modules.

I had the Tosh 32ZD26P and sent it back due to loud buzzing which others on this forum have also complained about.

[Buckster]

I have a Vitros and I have been very pleased with it - took me a while to get used to the 'perceived' softness compared to the Panasonic before - but now I am used to it - excellent. I looked in a shop selling TVs the other day and all the 'standard' decent brands had so much sharpness enhancement they looked like etch-a-sketch !

What I have noticed is recently I bought a new DVD player with component out - DMM (equivalent of Phillips natural motion) with componenet seems much more realistic than it did with RGB - can't see why it would make a difference.

In answer to one of your questions, the original Vitros's (2400 chassis) used Phillips tubes - not sure about the new ones.

Noticed on the clearance page suggested above that my local Sevenoaks (Witham) has a 6381ZW Vitros for 1350 which seems a good buy.

Regards, Mark.

[groundy]

Originally posted by gavintennant


1) the Vitros is quite an old TV now compared with the Toshiba so does this make a difference and does anyone know which tube is inside the Vitros (6381ZW)

Loewe continually update the software inside the television so you will not be buying old technology. That said, the Vitros obviously does not accept NTSC Progressive via Component which the Tosh does. Other than that, the Vitros does everything the Tosh can do and much much more.

2) Will either of these TVs be updated soon (within the next couple of months) to support PAL progressive?

Someone will undoubtedly release a PAL & NTSC Progressive compatible TV now that PAL Progressive macrovision has been ratifified. I doubt Loewe will jump in to this so soon though. Toshiba's next model would be more likely to include it. Is it worth waiting? Not in my opinion as there are no definates. Progressive Scan on a 32" Screen makes surprisingly little difference - only on larger screens does it really come in to it's own.

2.5) I know the Loewe supports both PAL/NTSC PS, but you have to manually re-size the image. Does this mean, every different DVD I watch I have to play with the settings to get the picture to fit. Does anyone actually use the PS capabilities of the Loewe? Is it a big problem?

It only supports this via VGA so you will need to have the optional VGA Board fitted to your Loewe. This has only been confirmed to work on a Q2500/H Chassis Aconda. As far as I know, the new Vitros models use a Q2500/B or Q2500/M chassis. They should still be compatible but this has not been tested. It's not really a usable feature becuase of the aspect ratio problems - you do need to manually resize for each DVD but it's not even possible to achieve the correct aspect ratio with some DVD's because the resize controls are limited. Furthermore, you will need a DVD Player with VGA out (rare but a few budget import models include this) or an external transcoder (A few hundred pounds) that will convert an RGB or Component signal to RGB HV via VGA.
3) How good is the Tosh with it's built in de-interlacer for R2 DVDs? Does this also work with digital broadcasts?

4) Basically... Picture Quality! Which TV do you think has the edge, given the sources I have? Will there be any discernable difference between them?

In my opinion - and this is just an opinion folks, the Loewe blows the Toshiba away. The Toshiba has more than a few quirks/features that I and many others consider undesirable. I'm sure you're read through the huge Toshiba thread detailing them so I won't repeat.

I'll go and buy whatever one!! I know I'll be happy with either, probably Loewe for sheer looks but no point in paying the premium for no difference in picture, and perhaps a lack of useability! (Was that a valid statement??!!

Lack of Usability is certainly not something the Loewe suffers from. It has the most sophisticated Menu System I've ever across in a TV set.