U.K. T.V.

[Richard-R]

I planning on buying my folks a new T.V. for there bedroom and want one with a built in digital tuner, Are these the way to go or is a stand alone freeview tuner better and if I buy a T.V. with a digital tuner, will they need to add a exteral arial? They live in London. They are both (80+) getting on a bit so want the easiest option for them.

[Baz]

With the UK TV market changing rapidly and the ceasing of analogue transmissions starting in 2008, there is no doubt that purchasing a TV with a built in digital tuner is the way to go. The problem is that whilst  these TV are available at present the choice is limited but will rapidly improve over the coming months. You mention that it is for the bedroom which means that currently you will have to look for an LCD flat screen TV and I am not aware of any with screen sizes less than 20" which is perfectly OK if the room is large enough. The prices of these integrated sets start  around £500+ mark but they are reducing in price daily and once the world cup is over when sales are likely to slow down there may be bargains to be had.

The second part of your question is that an external Aerial is almost certainly required to receive good digital signal unless you are next to a transmitter. I would not recommended a stand alone freeview digital tuner especially for the elderly as in my opinion they are not easy to operate unless you get used to the remote and certainly my panasonic tuner drives me mad unlike the Sky remotes which are relatively easy to master.

Baz

[Ecossais]

Hi Richard,

An “integrated digital TV” (built-in Freeview tuner) would mean one less remote control which they might find easier.  The JVC IDTV I have has a “TV / DTV” (digital) button to switch between the analogue and digital tuners.  With a separate Freeview receiver, as with Sky, all they’d have to do is select “AV” on the TV and then use the Freeview remote control to change channels.

An IDTV would give them the same range of channels range as a normal TV with a separate Freeview receiver unless they wanted any of the “Top-Up TV” channels – they would need a Freeview receiver with a slot for a subscription card (like a Sky card).

I suggest you have a look at http://www.currys.co.uk or http://www.comet.co.uk and have a look at the difference in price between a normal TV + a Freeview receiver (around £30-£40) and a similar sized IDTV.

You can check that they can receive Freeview where they live here:  http://www.freeview.co.uk   So long as they get a good picture on their existing TV, Freeview will be OK.  I get a better picture on Freeview than analogue with a set-top aerial.

 

[Richard-R]

Thanks to both of you for that. I was looking at a 28-32" LCD T.V. Planning on ordering it online, so only want them to have to open the box and plug it in, and not have to worry about getting someone around to fix and ariel.

[Jc]

I've tried the Freeview website;it tells me I can't receive signals yet-30mls. out of  London;the reception is excellent!!