Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 A decision has been reached! I'm going to go for a 46 inch. The 50 inch is too big I think, and whilst I'm sure a 42 will do the job perfectly I'd just like a little more "wow" factor. So this seems a good compromise. Plus, if it's too big I can console myself with the fact that at least I didn't buy the 50", and if I feel I could have gone bigger I can console myself with the fact that at least I didn't buy the 42". :D I've also decided to upgrade to the TH-46PZ81B instead of the 80B range, principally because it has built in Freesat. I don't watch a huge amount of TV so this way I believe that I can get a dish and enjoy the free channels in HD when they gradually convert. Sensible or waste of time? Getting it next week all being well. Can't wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark_90 Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Sounds like a good compromise to me. I think Freesat will come on leaps and bounds in the next 5 years or so, hopefully it can be some competition to Sky (let's face it, they need it!). Show us some pics when it's on the wall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Don't forget the dish for Freesat. Or does it come with one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Dish is an extra but I'll worry about that another day. Just ordered it five mins ago, arriving Monday! :D Cables alone (which I'm getting at trade price as it's a mate of mine and I'm buying the TV from him) come to over £230!! :shock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chav Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 WTF - you spent 230 on cables -what cables? dont tell me you were conned into buying monster cables or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brabus Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Feck me that's not cheap for cables! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 2x HDMI 2x Scart 1x Componant 2x Phono 1x Optical 1x PC cable 1x CAT 5 lead 1x Aerial Co-ax 1x Sky Cable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chav Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 should be about 20-30 quid for that lot, assuming a few metres length. And no, it wont make any noticeable difference what quality of cable you've used as I guess you're not running a 50m length, and dont have a 10ft screen etc.etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizze Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 (edited) I agree, far too much on cables. Also Ari, I would get the PX80 and the Humax Freesat PVR, this is better than Sky+ in operation and doesn't leave all your eggs in one basket. HDMI cable never more than £20 each up to 5m long. Scarts fully shielded and wired £5-10 each. Optical £5 at the most!! Aerial will be included. Sky cable?? don't know what that is? Edit: not the PX80, but the 1080 screen which doesn't have freesat built in. The difference in price between the freesat and non freesat screen is more than the 320gig, twin tuner Freesat PVR at £299. Edited November 12, 2008 by gizze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chav Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 and freesat will never catch up with sky. ever. sky own the satellites, have 10mill+ viewers and are adding more hd content all the time. i bet itv shut up and put itv-hd on sky before long too. sky hd selling by the bucket load. freesat isnt. also of course, sky gives you freetoview channels so no idea who the plonker was that thought of freesat. weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Sorry, my mistake. The £230 is for the cables and the wall bracket. I decided to upgrade to the built in Freesat set because I bought my last TV just as Freeview Digital came out. Not a problem as I got a seperate box, but always felt it'd have been a lot neater to have got a set with a built in Freeview receiver. So thought this time I'd get it all built in from the off. I'm not after loads of TV channels particularly, but thought it would just be nice to be able to watch Top Gear or whatever in HD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Sky cable?? don't know what that is? . The Sky cable is basically an extension cable for the satillite cable. It effectively takes the plug that's on the back of the set down to the corner of the wall. It means I can plug in there, rather than having to get the cable to the TV which would be difficult with the set on the wall and all the cables faired into the wall. Doing the same with the aerial cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizze Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 Alot of people don't want to be tied to Sky, you have to pay the get the HD channels and because of that, for some, Freesat is appealing. I agree, you are better to have Sky for £27 a month, get all the free channels, free broadband and all telephone calls in the UK free. But some do like the idea of Freesat, I think their PVR is far better than Sky's too, and that is one of the main reasons I wouldn't have left Sky previously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chav Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 yes i wish sky would hurry up with the sky hd epg upgrade grrr. need the program search. i hardly watch any tv but dont have time to piss around searching for the couple of progrs i do watch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 So I've not completely ballsed it up then? :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizze Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 No I think it is a great set. Just I think that having the PVR gives more scope for the same money. Watch the videos in this link, it is awesome!! Video: Watch The FOXSAT-HDR Freesat+ PVR In Action | PVR Junction But I do think that a £25 wall bracket from Ebay and £30 worth of cables would have been a better bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 You may well be right but I doubt I'd get all the cables I'm having for that price. And it's all coming from the one guy and should be decent stuff so that's worth something. This is (hopefully!!) a one off job, I'd rather pay a bit more and know it's "right"! (especially as I don't know much about all this stuff). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gb110430 Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 to confirm ari what tv are you getting and is free sat built in????? but you cant record Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipex Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 The reason for Freesat is so that when the analogue signal is switched off, they can still claim 99% coverage of England, as once analogue is switched off, some areas (like mine) would otherwise be without any tv service (other than sky) as we cannot have freeview or cable tv, so to ensure some sort of free service, which is what we pay our licence fee for, this is what they came up with. Although there will still be many people up sh*t creak, as you cant fit a satellite dish to a listed building (of which there are many where I live), so no sky or Freesat, no analogue and no freeview!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rottenbend Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 The reason for Freesat is so that when the analogue signal is switched off, they can still claim 99% coverage of England, as once analogue is switched off, some areas (like mine) would otherwise be without any tv service (other than sky) as we cannot have freeview or cable tv, so to ensure some sort of free service, which is what we pay our licence fee for, this is what they came up with.Although there will still be many people up sh*t creak, as you cant fit a satellite dish to a listed building (of which there are many where I live), so no sky or Freesat, no analogue and no freeview!! There will be a massive boost to the digital signal once they've got rid off the analogue channels which are clogging up the airwaves. It should cover almost as much of the UK as the current analogue channels. However, you're right for those who still can't get digital, there'll always be Freesat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 I thought the benefit of Freesat was the possibility of full HD picture quality? :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 to confirm ariwhat tv are you getting and is free sat built in????? but you cant record Tis the Panasonic TH-46PZ81B. And yes, built in Freesat reciever, no record function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipex Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 There will be a massive boost to the digital signal once they've got rid off the analogue channels which are clogging up the airwaves. It should cover almost as much of the UK as the current analogue channels. However, you're right for those who still can't get digital, there'll always be Freesat. We cant even get channel 5 here, let alone freeview, our only option once analogue is switched off is to have a dish put up. Doesn't really bother me as I have sky digital, but its still handy to record 2 programmes on sky whilst the mrs watches eastenders upstairs on analogue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2008 Well, I've done the deed! Panasonic TH-46PZ81B being delivered next week, got a boot full of bracket and cabling (not that it takes a lot to fill up a MINI boot admittedly :D). Seems a silly amount to spend on a TV, but it's the right way to go for what I want to achieve, and I'm sure it'll seem worth it once it's all rigged up. Fingers crossed I've got the size right but it feels right based on what I've looked at and researched. We shall see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 Well it's here and it's up. Coming off again tomorrow as we've got to finish the decorating around it, but we had to give it a blast and see how it looked! :D I have to say, it is an awesome bit of kit, and that's just of standard definition sources like Freeview and my antiquated DVD player! Sizewise, when it turned up and we got it out of the box to fit the bracket to it I really thought "Oh my God, what have I done!?" It looked absolutely enormous and I instantly wished I'd been more sensible and gone for a 42". But we persevered and it went on the wall for the first time this evening and suddenly it looked ok. Plenty of telly, but ok, didn't swamp the room. We fired it up and sat back and, well, wow! :shock: I knew then it wasn't too big. Any smaller and it wouldn't have that wow factor. In fact I believe I actually could have just about got away with a 50", but it would have been overkill really adn I think that switched off it would just have dominated the room. So I think I have it right. You have to live with these things for a while to be sure. I'll tell you what though, if it's this good now I can't wait to see what it's like with Blu-Ray and High Definition Freesat!! Couple of quick pics, obviously still plenty to do to sort out and tidy up. Will be worth the effort though I'm sure. Appreciate all the words of wisdom, thank you, it helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now