Smallish IDTVs, are they available yet?

I keep looking out for an LCD IDTV for the bedroom, i.e. about 14" screen,
all neatly in one box, just one remote control, and they still seem to be
very rare.

Anyway, I looked in Currys.digital today (ex-Dixons) and sure enough there
were none to be had on the TV displays and I asked the spotty youth who
confirmed there were none, however then I noticed that there was a 15"
Ferguson LCD TV on the camera counter, demonstrating a digital camera, and
the screen bezel had the DVB logo on it! I pointed it out to the SY who said
that oh yes, it does seem to be an IDTV, yes it will be for sale. "How
much?" I asked, to which he said, "Err it's about three hundred quid". I
thought it best then to go away and search for it elsewhere.

I have found it via Kelkoo, a Ferguson FL15DX5, available from PC World for
£329.99, but it only scores 1.5 out of 5 on the review. Has anyone found any
other contenders yet? Are the stores purposely avoiding stocking this size
of IDTV or is it the manufacturers who still haven't got their fingers out?

Paul

I keep looking out for an LCD IDTV for the bedroom, i.e. about 14" screen,
all neatly in one box, just one remote control, and they still seem to be
very rare.

Anyway, I looked in Currys.digital today (ex-Dixons) and sure enough there
were none to be had on the TV displays and I asked the spotty youth who
confirmed there were none, however then I noticed that there was a 15"
Ferguson LCD TV on the camera counter, demonstrating a digital camera, and
the screen bezel had the DVB logo on it! I pointed it out to the SY who
said that oh yes, it does seem to be an IDTV, yes it will be for sale.
"How much?" I asked, to which he said, "Err it's about three hundred
quid". I thought it best then to go away and search for it elsewhere.

I have found it via Kelkoo, a Ferguson FL15DX5, available from PC World
for £329.99, but it only scores 1.5 out of 5 on the review. Has anyone
found any other contenders yet? Are the stores purposely avoiding stocking
this size of IDTV or is it the manufacturers who still haven't got their
fingers out?

Paul

Actually, I just noticed that the TV has a 3 star score, it's PC World who
get only 1 and a half (that figures!).

Does anyone own one of these sets?

Paul wrote:
Actually, I just noticed that the TV has a 3 star score, it's PC
World who get only 1 and a half (that figures!).

Does anyone own one of these sets?

I can't help with the TV, but I can endorse the score for PC World. Should
you decide to purchase it, do not trust their online reservation system
("collect in store").

Having been called upon to repair a friend's PC, I quickly established that
the hard drive was faulty and would need to be replaced. Spotting a rather
good deal for a 160GB drive on the PC World website, I reserved it for her
so that she could simply walk in to the nearest store, quote the reservation
number, purchase the drive, bring it over to me and I could install it and
reinstall the operating system along with the data from the failing drive.
No technical argie bargy required on her part.

She was in the store for the best part of an hour while the staff searched
in vain for the drive, of which their computer insisted they had several in
stock. A call to the next nearest store revealed the same problem - computer
showing stock, but none actually to be found. In the end, they offered her
one half the size for £4 more. Not impressed.

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Does anyone own one of these sets?

I don't know anything about that set, but I must say it seems very odd how
few small screen IDTVs there are. I wonder why this is? It's a common
question from customers, so the demand is there.

Bill

"Pyriform" wrote in message
...
Paul wrote:
Actually, I just noticed that the TV has a 3 star score, it's PC
World who get only 1 and a half (that figures!).

Does anyone own one of these sets?

I can't help with the TV, but I can endorse the score for PC World. Should
you decide to purchase it, do not trust their online reservation system
("collect in store").

Having been called upon to repair a friend's PC, I quickly established
that the hard drive was faulty and would need to be replaced. Spotting a
rather good deal for a 160GB drive on the PC World website, I reserved it
for her so that she could simply walk in to the nearest store, quote the
reservation number, purchase the drive, bring it over to me and I could
install it and reinstall the operating system along with the data from the
failing drive. No technical argie bargy required on her part.

She was in the store for the best part of an hour while the staff searched
in vain for the drive, of which their computer insisted they had several
in stock. A call to the next nearest store revealed the same problem -
computer showing stock, but none actually to be found. In the end, they
offered her one half the size for £4 more. Not impressed.

Following an attempt to use B & Q's ordering system, I have resolved never
to set foot in that emporium again. The staff were as helpful as possible,
but the system they are bound by made the whole thing a nightmare.

Bill

Pyriform wrote:

I can't help with the TV, but I can endorse the score for PC World. Should
you decide to purchase it, do not trust their online reservation system
("collect in store").

The odd thing is their 'online' prices are often just as competitive as
Dabs, Ebuyer, Amazon etc, and far lower than the in store price.
Reserve something online, as you pay only that price on pick up.
I reserved a Wireless Access box on their website, then 5 hours later turned
up at their store. Gave them the reservation number, and the assistant
glazed over and went looking for the item on the shelves. Not really a
reservation system is it ! In my case the item was in stock, but that was
just a lucky fluke.

Argos's reservation system is brilliant, used that many times. You can even
do it via text messages (at normal text rates) from your mobile.

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

"Paul" wrote in message
...
I keep looking out for an LCD IDTV for the bedroom, i.e. about 14" screen,
all neatly in one box, just one remote control, and they still seem to be
very rare.

Anyway, I looked in Currys.digital today (ex-Dixons) and sure enough there
were none to be had on the TV displays and I asked the spotty youth who
confirmed there were none, however then I noticed that there was a 15"
Ferguson LCD TV on the camera counter, demonstrating a digital camera, and
the screen bezel had the DVB logo on it! I pointed it out to the SY who
said
that oh yes, it does seem to be an IDTV, yes it will be for sale. "How
much?" I asked, to which he said, "Err it's about three hundred quid". I
thought it best then to go away and search for it elsewhere.

I have found it via Kelkoo, a Ferguson FL15DX5, available from PC World
for
£329.99, but it only scores 1.5 out of 5 on the review. Has anyone found
any
other contenders yet? Are the stores purposely avoiding stocking this size
of IDTV or is it the manufacturers who still haven't got their fingers
out?

Paul

I went looking for a small IDTV a few months ago in some of the
Currys/Comet/etc. There was a small Ferguson but the picture was
unimpressive. There were Humax and Toshiba sub-20" models, but the pounds
per square square inch ratio is much higher than for medium sized TVs. In
the end I didn't buy anything.

I keep looking out for an LCD IDTV for the bedroom, i.e. about 14"
screen,
all neatly in one box, just one remote control, and they still seem
to be
very rare
Is 14" perhaps a bit too small for widescreen? A 14" 5:4 screen has the
same picture height as (if I've done the sums right) a 16:9 screen
nearer 18" than 17". And there are quite a few around at that size -
but admittedly none cheap when compared with bigger screens (or indeed
with the prices of laptops+dongles). See, for example, Humax LGB17DTT
or Toshiba 17WLT56.

--
Robin

reply-to address is munged: delete the 2 obvious and invalid bits

"Paul" wrote in message
...
I keep looking out for an LCD IDTV for the bedroom, i.e. about 14" screen,
all neatly in one box, just one remote control, and they still seem to be
very rare.

Anyway, I looked in Currys.digital today (ex-Dixons) and sure enough there
were none to be had on the TV displays and I asked the spotty youth who
confirmed there were none, however then I noticed that there was a 15"
Ferguson LCD TV on the camera counter, demonstrating a digital camera, and
the screen bezel had the DVB logo on it! I pointed it out to the SY who
said that oh yes, it does seem to be an IDTV, yes it will be for sale.
"How much?" I asked, to which he said, "Err it's about three hundred
quid". I thought it best then to go away and search for it elsewhere.

I have found it via Kelkoo, a Ferguson FL15DX5, available from PC World
for £329.99, but it only scores 1.5 out of 5 on the review. Has anyone
found any other contenders yet? Are the stores purposely avoiding stocking
this size of IDTV or is it the manufacturers who still haven't got their
fingers out?

Paul

My local Currys has got loads of small LCD TVs - you might be better looking
on the website then ordering using a discount code. It's the shops that
will not restock with the latest models until people have bought all the
older stock. The way it works is that a shop will buy say 2000 TVs at 30%
of what the manufacturer tells them they must sell them for - RRP. They
will wait until nearly every last one has gone before getting newer models
in which are by now getting "old". That's why it took until this year
before seeing most LCD TVs with a freeview type tuner built in. The same
for DVD recorders at the moment, not many have a built in hard drive or twin
tuners.
They have been made, similar to LCD TVs with super-fast refresh rates - but
the shops are putting selling them on hold until people have bought what is
on offer believing it is the very latest.
I bet you will not find any flat screen TV using "SED" technlogy on the
shelf for another 5 years or more. LCD is now finished, SED is the next
offering which is already in production and can be seen at various audio
visual displays. It is like having a flat CRT so you don't get poor
contrast, grey instead of black or smearing effects that LCD is known for
even though people seem to accept inferior quality.
SED technology is the way to go but will not be released to the public until
retailers buy up all the old LCD TVs and monitors and get shut of them.
That is why prices have started to drop for LCD. Considering the retailers
pay only 30% or less of the RRP, they can do a lot better with reductions.
Companies behind SED will also insist the price stays high to get a return
on their research investment.

"Mark Carver" wrote in message
...
Pyriform wrote:

I can't help with the TV, but I can endorse the score for PC World.
Should you decide to purchase it, do not trust their online reservation
system ("collect in store").

The odd thing is their 'online' prices are often just as competitive as
Dabs, Ebuyer, Amazon etc, and far lower than the in store price.
Reserve something online, as you pay only that price on pick up.
I reserved a Wireless Access box on their website, then 5 hours later
turned up at their store. Gave them the reservation number, and the
assistant glazed over and went looking for the item on the shelves. Not
really a reservation system is it ! In my case the item was in stock, but
that was just a lucky fluke.

Argos's reservation system is brilliant, used that many times. You can
even do it via text messages (at normal text rates) from your mobile.

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

PC world are doing something a bit odd at the moment. I know someone tat
recently had 2 ADVENT PCs from them and both hard drives went within a few
days, then he went to change it for a different make which was HP! The
sales person advised this, but it was pointed out it was cheaper on the
internet so he would get a refund, go home, order it and pick it up later.
The sales man tried everything he could and lied about the system of
reserving goods not working correctly and that it would take a day before
the order would be ready. The customer was offered a business account in
return for a £30 reduction. If bought over the internet the reduction would
be more. The sales staff are obviously fed up of losing out when it comes
to sales so are now trying every way possible to get a customer to buy
direct from them.
Very unfair of the companies to force people to lie and mislead in return
for a bonus.
PC World is not a shop I would ever buy from.