HDTV / Xbox 360 (Budget £1000)

N

Nova

Guest
Hi,

I've been looking at setting up something of an 'entertainment system' for a while now. Any help you can give would be great! I have a budget of about £1000 and am looking to buy:

HDTV (Plasma or LCD, don't really understand the difference)
Xbox 360

I've been looking at these two TVs...

Vistron

Firstline

My questions are, they seem to have a lot of good reviews on ebuyer and are a third of the price of their more famous name counterparts. Any comments on them or their price? Do you pay for what you get with HDTVs? If these are no good feel free to recommend any others, but I'm working strictly to a budget and would like at least 42".

Also... with an HDTV would I need to buy a seperate sound system as I'm planning to watch a lot of DVDs on it (no television).... or will the sound that comes with it be decent?

Will it be worth shelling out extra for the Xbox360 HD-DVD player at some point or will using a standard DVD player with an HDTV produce great results? I'm not someone who is a tech geek over image quality but I would like a decent picture.

I don't want it to seem like I've been lazy and just come here looking for all the answers, as I have looked about on the internet, but there's a hell of a lot of options out there and I could use some advice!!!

Thanks a lot in advance!!! :smashin:
 
Oh and...

was reading a few more of the reviews of those two TVs I mentioned and there seems to be some debate over whether they're HD or not.... confusing... might I be better off going for a smaller screen which really is HD?
 
You can't run HD quality on a standard DVD player, you'll have to invest in a HD-DVD player, which are VERY expensive at the moment. In order to watch DVD's in HD you have to ensure the DVD disc itself is a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray and that the film was filmed in HD, then you need a HD-DVD player to play it. I know that sucks, but its brand new technology so the big boys are still working on sorting all the new gadgets out. Also, if you want to watch HD programmes, you'll need a HD subscription, but at the moment there's only really Sky HD. Also, definitely consider the HD-DVD with the 360 as it'll save you a lot of hassle in the future, and means you can run stuff through that, and boosts your gaming experience HUGELY. Toshiba have a lovely HD-DVD player out if it helps, just check out their website www.toshiba.com.

Secondly, don't go buying HD TV's from the cheap brands, the price is tempting but they're horribly built. Go for LG if you can, as they invented the technology they know what they're doing. Failing that try and go for either Philips or Samsung, Panasonic at a push. When you're paying over £700 for big screen HD TV's now, you want one thats going to last and actually be a decent TV itself.

With regards to the surround sound, the existing sound should be fine, but if you want a true cinematic experience with all your HD stuff, definitely invest in a 5.1 surround sound system. Panasonic are doing some good one's at the moment for under £300 (most notably the SCHT-900), shop around and find a bargain.

You will bep ushed trying to get all the HD gadgets, a 360 and surround sound in a £1000 budget, but there is ways.

Hope that helps you out a bit, I work at a Currys store so any other questions I do actually know what i'm talking about ;) (despite popular accusations against us Currys lot).
 
Thanks, awesome reply that helped a lot!

So watching regular DVDs on an HDTV will be no different than watching on a regular TV? Surely it will be somewhat better if not a true HD picture?

You said not to bother with the cheap screens - sure that's not the Curry's sales person in you talking there? :D I don't doubt you know more than me, but they seem to have a lot of good reviews on Ebuyer and they can't all be muppets!?!

As for replacing all my DVDs with HD-DVDs or Blue Ray, the likes of Sony can forget that! Not going to happen. Blue Ray is going to be about as successful as UMD imho.
 
You said not to bother with the cheap screens - sure that's not the Curry's sales person in you talking there? :D I don't doubt you know more than me, but they seem to have a lot of good reviews on Ebuyer and they can't all be muppets!?!

Nova trust me, having bought 2 cheap, relatively unknown HD LCD TV's (lexsor LC27M6S and a re-branded thomson, yes the woolworths 32" at £399) and returning them both due to shocking response rates(playing a ps2 was a nightmare), and god awful blacks even though both had been getting brilliant reviews all over the net - I'd kinda given up on LCD tecnology and was fast beginning to think that nothing compared to my old CRT. But that was until I bought a samsung panel LE-R72BDX and OMFG what a difference, The picture is a sight to behold even without a high def peripheral running into it, and the DNIE engine built into all of samsungs panels is incredible, plus the panel itself is stunning, and has become the centrepiece in my home. You can only speak from experience, but trust me the difference was incredible when I finally went 'Brand name' so, dare I say it, the Currys man may be talking sense...
 
Have a look at this Pioneer system which is specifically designed for use with the X-Box.
http://www.play.com/Electronics/Ele...1_Xbox_360_Surround_Sound_System/Product.html

...and this LCD is a bargain

http://www.johnlewis.com/Shopping/Product.aspx?Type=SKU&ID=230307098&source=17219

And just to let you know my bro has the 32" version of the above recommended tosh - and its absolutely incredible, some might even say it has some of the best blacks on the lcd market at the moment - comes highly recommended and with x2 hdmi inputs your future proofing too!
 
Cheers for the replies.

Right, I'd best avoid the "bargains" then I suppose.

And just to let you know my bro has the 32" version of the above recommended tosh - and its absolutely incredible

What is the sound like on that? Since it looks like I won't be able to afford a seperate sound system and a 360.
 
Hi,

I've been looking at setting up something of an 'entertainment system' for a while now. Any help you can give would be great! I have a budget of about £1000 and am looking to buy:

HDTV (Plasma or LCD, don't really understand the difference)
Xbox 360

Finally, here's a great article which will help you understand the difference between plasma and lcd, plus the pro's and cons of both technologies:

http://www.lcdtvbuyingguide.com/lcdtv-plasmavslcd.shtml
 
You've been really helpful, thanks again - I appreciate it!! :thumbsup: Will keep reading.
 
Cheers for the replies.

Right, I'd best avoid the "bargains" then I suppose.



What is the sound like on that? Since it looks like I won't be able to afford a seperate sound system and a 360.

the 32" version of that tosh can be had for £550 leaving enough cash for a small 5.1 setup I would emagine. Personally I am looking at HT-XQ100 but then I am trying to do tv and 5.1 for the same budget... Panasonic do a SC-HT855 which has optical in (for the 360) and is about £250 so you can get the lot in budget and have well regarded components for each bit (if you are getting the core).

http://prices.cnet.co.uk/0,39100483,30836298,00.htm (SC-HT855)
 
I was hoping to squeeze in the premium system with Gears of War, so that's going to be about £280-£300. Thanks for the link, looks interesting but I feel kind of loathe to buy an Xbox 360 (which plays DVDs) and a standalone DVD player at the same time.

Xbox 360 DVD player

I read there (and a few other places) that although the 360 is progressive scan it's not actually that good. Looks like the choice is coming down to 32" with sound system or 37" without sound system.

Finally, here's a great article which will help you understand the difference between plasma and lcd, plus the pro's and cons of both technologies:

http://www.lcdtvbuyingguide.com/lcdtv-plasmavslcd.shtml

Before I read that I was more interested in LCD based on what else I'd read, that seems to point towards plasma still though. That Toshiba you mentioned looks pretty nice though so I might go into a shop (maybe even Curry's, didn't know they still existed!!) and check it out.
 
There are pro's and cons for both technologies, but for yourself I'd probably be leaning towards an LCD as you seem to be a keen gamer, Plasma's tend to suffer from 'screen burn' displaying still images for a prolonged period of time, ie a game's health bar for example, LCD's not as much, though it is still worth turning down the contrast/brightness levels when playing for prolonged periods of time, and NEVER use 'Vivid' or 'Dynamic' settings when game playing - these options crank the brightness/contrast right up, mostly used to make an impact on the department store floor and should not be set at theses levels at home, these settings can also reduce the backlight life of your TV!..
That said alot of the inherent problems with both types of screen are gradually being erradicated with the progression of todays new technologies and manufacturers built in image enhanment engines etc..
 

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