Title says it all. After a lot of sniffing around I eventually decided on THIS, so I went and grabbed one from my local Tesco for £180.
Main Features:
Built-in DVD & Freeview
Wall mountable
Tiltable
1x SCART
1x VGA
1x HDMI
S-Video Port
RGB Ports
CI Port
VGA Audio in
Component Audio in
It should be noted this LCD TV is NOT full HD but with a resolution of 1680*1050, its very close. Which explains why it still has a HDMI port. Default and preset picture and audio settings are... abysmal to say the least. Fortunately the TVs saving grace is the ability to fine tune your own screen and audio settings, once you have done that picture quality is very good (3rd DVD now, gave it a good exercise with Transformers, Ice Age 3 and Outpost).. I'd say a 8/10. With custom audio settings its passable for the majority, 7/10. Using the TV is also very easy, one button press here and there gets you to where you want to go. Overall for all the ports, features and screen size it just scrapes its merit of £180, and I do mean JUST. Due to all of the faffing about required to get a decent picture and audio out of the TV, I would of preferred it if the TV cost £160. Finally, a note on the audio and screen quality issues. Here are the current settings I'm using, but I do feel they both need tweaking slightly still.
Video:
<Personal>
Contrast: 40
Brightness: 55
Colour: 40
Sharpness: Sharp
DNR: Mid
Sound Settings:
<Personal>
Bass: 45
Treble: 55
Balance: Of course, 50
The Good:
- Almost everything
The Bad:
- Tad expensive given the dreadful audio and screen presets and time involved correcting this
- Slightly beefier speakers would of been nice
- Full HD would of been nice.. but your really not going to see the difference between 1050 and 1080.
As you can see I'm really trying to find faults and nit-pick, but bottom line its actually pretty good for £180. Overall I would give the TV a solid 8/10. Maybe a 8.5/10 if I can tweak the image and audio a little more.
If anyone else happens to have this TV or gets it, let me know your screen and audio settings for the sake of me being a perfectionist with my own settings.