# New TV



## paulm (10 Jan 2010)

The old Sony 28" telly finally packed up this morning after a decade or more of sterling service, so we now have the excuse to upgrade to a new more modern (and bigger  ) one !

I've always had, and rated very highly, Sony gear in the past but have the impression that Panasonic may be the better quality for picture and sound at the moment, or does it just depend on the actual model ?

Is plasma the way to go rather than lcd ?

Any suggestions very welcome, as long as it's not Samsung as I got one of their smaller lcd screens last year for the dining room and the picture and sound are pretty rubbish !

This one is the main set to be used in the lounge with the Sky+ box, dvd player etc. Haven't bothered with HD yet but would make sense to be suitable for that I guess. No particular budget, just want to get something towards the top end that we will be happy with, probably 48" or thereabouts I think to fill the space !

Cheers, Paul


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## Dibs-h (10 Jan 2010)

paulm":3t7smd3i said:


> The old Sony 28" telly finally packed up this morning after a decade or more of sterling service, so we now have the excuse to upgrade to a new more modern (and bigger  ) one !
> 
> I've always had, and rated very highly, Sony gear in the past but have the impression that Panasonic may be the better quality for picture and sound at the moment, or does it just depend on the actual model ?
> 
> ...



I'm pretty much in teh same boat as you - except the current one is on it's way out. I was going to buy a Sony KDL40W5500U (40") LCD. What TV & Video gave it a fantastic rating last year and it's 100Hz. They are currently goimg for around £650.

I saw the Z series which is 200Hz and Bravia 3 engine and wow! Although I haven't seen the 2 side by side, view the same material. I have also seen the new 100Hz Sharp LED which Curry's are doing for around £850 - but it will all require a little more looking into before settling on one. The only benefit of the Sony's is 3 yr warranty with SOny, but the LED's suck less juice, but how much less - no idea.

They are all available in larger sizes and correspondingly larger prices.


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## LarryS. (10 Jan 2010)

i went into comet the other day, they had a display of plasma, lcd and led tv's above each other, there was quite a difference in the picture quality so worth you doing the same comparison to see what you like


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## Argee (10 Jan 2010)

Like you, I've always rated Sony sets for their crisp picture quality and - as a result - all the TVs I own are made by Sony, including our main set, a Sony Bravia 40" LCD (KDL40X2000), which we've had since the model was introduced. We had a plasma set before that and were waiting until the LCD sets improved enough to render blacks as blacks (rather than very deep purple).

The current Sony achieves this easily and is very good with HD broadcasts too, but there's also a lot of hype now about LED TVs, especially regarding their low weight and very thin screens. They're not actually LED screens, but are backlit by LEDs, as I understand it. I've seen one of these alongside a Sony, tuned to the same programme and I couldn't detect any difference. Whatever you decide, make sure it's got at least two HDMI inputs, preferably more.

Ray


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## paulm (10 Jan 2010)

LarryS":2rv3wfn6 said:


> i went into comet the other day, they had a display of plasma, lcd and led tv's above each other, there was quite a difference in the picture quality so worth you doing the same comparison to see what you like



Thanks for all the feedback guys, have done a bit of browsing and all very confusing !

Did you reach any conclusions LarryS based on what you saw ? Might be a while before I can get out and see some as the snow is still a bit of a problem round here !

Am tentatively thinking about this one here which seems a good deal with 5 year guarantee and installation (I hate fiddling with these things :roll: :lol: ).

It seems that the plasmas are better for moving pics, sport, movies and the like, and the picture dosn't worsen when viewed from different angles, as far as I can figure anyway......

Cheers, Paul


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## LarryS. (10 Jan 2010)

Paul,

There was one that looked much better but for the life of me I am not 100% sure which one it was. Like you say I do remember the plasma looking richer and more colourful


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## matt (10 Jan 2010)

Sony really gained popularity when they were the first to produce "true" black. Their popularity rode on this particular wave rather than being especially better than any other TV in any other way. Panasonic was amongst the first to follow the true black thing but, by then, the salesman and women had Sony fever. These days true black is true of all plasma and, I think, LCD and LED TV's.

I'm not in the market for a flat-screen right now but when I was last considering it Pioneer were quietly making some stunning TV's that were often overlooked in favour of Panasonic and Sony etc.

If I were looking now I'd revisit Pioneer and Panasonic. I would also check I was not missing something special in the other camps too before parting with the cash.

John Lewis inc 5 year guarantee and delivery. Not sure about installation.

FWIW - I'm still loving my 36" Panasonic for £136 off eBay. There were so many good deals a few years back as everyone rushed to upgrade to flat-screen. The chap I bought mine off won a plasma in a competition - the Panasonic was not very old, cost over £1000 new but second-hand was nigh on worthless.


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## Calpol (10 Jan 2010)

I just ordered a new Philips Ambilight jobby from Great Universal's sale, blurb and reviews seem to be alright and the ambilight looks amazing... I think plasma TVs don't have a very long life span either, depends when you plan to upgrade again


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## Shultzy (10 Jan 2010)

Check out the Gadget shows best buys.

http://fwd.five.tv/gadget-show/


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## Harbo (10 Jan 2010)

I bought a new TV about 12 months ago.
Was going for a Sony but read that gas plasma was still the way to go and after some research bought a 42" Pioneer (which incidentally had smaller external dimensions than the 40" Sony!)
Fantastic picture - people often ask if they are watching HD - which they aren't.
Now heard that Pioneer no longer make TV's which is a great shame.

Have a search on the AVForum as new models are out all the time.

Rod


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## woodbloke (10 Jan 2010)

Panasonic here Paul, very cuffed with it - Rob


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## paulm (10 Jan 2010)

After some more exhaustive and exhausting researching :lol: think we have now settled on this beastie here

The next model up from the one I previously linked to, and not in the sale unfortunately, but has a higher 600htz refresh rate, latest version lcd panel, and a built in freestat receiver, so worth a bit more I think for the more recent technology.

Only thing is I like the M&S offer (surprisingly) as the price includes a five year guarantee, delivery and installation and disposal of the old one, but it's quoting delivery for 27th Jan and is £110 more than Amazon which is the best price I could find, but Amazon seem to have them in stock.

So I'm trying to convince myself (or not) that the extra £110 and two week wait is worth it basically for the extra guarantee, installation and disposal of the old one, but is it :-k 

It's a lot of extra dosh, and watching the 19" Samsung lcd that I've just relocated from the dining room to the lounge temporarily, for two weeks or so isn't a great proposition either :lol: 

Think I'll sleep on it and check that date with M&S in the morning. 

Anybody know if installation is easy enough ? Having just plugged the Samsung in it works fine with the sky+ box excepting the sky remote doesn't change the volume, so you have to select channels on the sky remote and then use the other to turn it up or down, I hate fiddling with these things :roll: :lol: 

Cheers, Paul


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## LarryS. (10 Jan 2010)

i want one


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## andycktm (10 Jan 2010)

I know someone who has just purchased a panasonic with freesat.
Of course you will need a feed from a dish for the freesat!
They fitted a dish to his house and connected it for £80.
With sky+ you should have two spare feeds off the dish.


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## OLD (10 Jan 2010)

Installation is easy if you have a new lead from the dish for freesat thats a total of three you fit the stand connect up switch on, it asks for your post code then its all automatic 4 mins. and its done you can switch inputs sky+,freeview,and freesat etc. if you have a 5.1 sound system then there is some setting to do.Plasma is a more natural colour system ,water and outside pictures look great always better than they were in the tv shop.


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## paulm (10 Jan 2010)

In the interests of being fair, ought to just mention that the small Samsung lcd, which I never really rated for picture quality when in the dining room and attached to a freesat box from the sky dish, actually looks pretty good now it's hooked up in the lounge through the sky box and same dish !

Signal is from the same dish, so is the better picture to do with a cheap and nasty freestat box, too long a cabling run, or is the freesat signal poorer to start with :-k 

Sound quality on the little Samsung is still [email protected]~p though :lol: 

Still have one connection left on the four way sky thingy on the dish for the new freesat connection, so sounds like installation should be easy enough, so how much value do I put on the extra guarantee from M&S and a few metres of cabling and stuff ? :-k 

Cheers, Paul


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## woodbloke (10 Jan 2010)

Paul - when I bought mine, I asked Martin about as he's quite knowledgable about TV and film stuff (having worked in the business) and he said that the only make worth considering is Panasonic...so I did :lol: - Rob


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## Paulg (10 Jan 2010)

Paulm - I have the 42" version of the Panasonic you linked to (also bought from M&S). 

One word - Excellent.

Also, if you go through Quidco.com, you get 5% cashback. It tracks pretty quick from M&S too.

PG


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## newt (10 Jan 2010)

37" panasonic Plasma here Paul, had it a year and very very good. Is there a Panasonic shop near you worth checking. I think all Panasonic TV's have 5 year warranty. I spent some time looking at both LCD and Plasma and decided that Plasma had the edge regarding fast movement. I had the panasonic guys rig up a plasma and LCD side by side with the same input. However that was a year ago and things could have changed.


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## TrimTheKing (10 Jan 2010)

Paul

I have a 42" Panasonic Viera and a 50" Samsung and they are both very good, expecially with HD sources .

To go back to one of your initial comments (and one Rob made) Samsung actually manufacture something in the region of 95% of ALL plasma and LCD panels on the market (the actual screens) and other companies build their own shells and fancy bits around them. So with that in mind it could just be that the source you were viewing through wasn't great.

My Samsung did go pop after about 5 months but it was just a controller board and replaced within a couple of days on John Lewis 5 year warranty.

The one you have linked to is good, I looked at it in John Lewis the other day, I can't imagine you would be disappointed.

Last thing, the sky control codes for Samsung's are as follows, 
4 digit = 0060
3 digit = 037, 065, 584, 037, 245, 476, 398, 516, 292, 318

Follow the instructions on here and you should be up and running with your volume in minutes. I can't remember which code worked for mine, but one of them definitely did 'cos it works 

HTH


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## llangatwgnedd (10 Jan 2010)

> or is the freesat signal poorer to start with Think


 
Sky, Freesat and FTA use the same transponders, just the EPG is different, thats all.


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## cambournepete (11 Jan 2010)

We've got a Sony 40W2000 LCD which we've had a couple of years and are very happy with it.
The colours and motion are fine, and I'm not convinced Plasma are any better really.
We recently got an AV amp (Sony 2400ES) and now route the pictures through that and only need one HDMI input on the TV. The picture from Sky is much better than when we connected the Sky box direct to the TV.
We only use audio through the amp so get much better sound than any TV could produce.

Whatever you decide on, try and see one in person before you buy to see if you like the picture (and the look of the TV in the flesh).


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## devonwoody (11 Jan 2010)

Paulm. You can order direct from Argos on the telephone get delivery etc. and if you dont like it you can usually return if there is a problem that you are dissatisfied.

I got a good guarantee and price from them as well when we got ours.(Sony Bravia)

So if snow is still around but price is right I would go that way. I recall living near Basingstoke in 1963 and the roads were terrible until the end of March that year.


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## misterfish (11 Jan 2010)

We have a 32" Panasonic tv just over a year old which got rave rewiews. My son has a slightly newer Sony which also was top rated. In the kitchen we have a small Sony TV.

The quality of all of them is excellent with stunning displays when attached to an HD source. I would happily replace any of them with like for like.

Before we bought ours we visited several retailers around the area to get an impression of what they were like, but no care had been taken in setting them up and it was difficult as a model that looked good in one shop looked bad in the next.

Definitely go for at least 100Htz to ensure no flicker.

Also watch out about the warranty as some include a 5 year warranty and others will try and sell it to you. With a bit of judicious searching you can get this included.

If you go down the Panasonic route I hope you have a better response from your local Panasonic shop than I did. We wanted to purchase the TV and HD/DVD player/recorder - getting towards a thousand pounds worth of kit. The local dealer wasn't interested - no five year warranty and only at list price. We ended up buying over the web from a long established London dealer (who has a showroom) with 5 year warrnty included and next day delivery with about a 30% discount.

Misterfish


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## paulm (11 Jan 2010)

Thanks Mark for the sky remote codes and instructions, worked a treat, the code for the samsung is the 0060 if anyone needs it.

Thanks for all the ideas and feedback from everyone else also, very helpful.

I rang M&S this morning and I had misunderstood and they don't take the old set away after all (it's a big old 28" crt and [email protected]@#y heavy !). The installation needs to be arranged in-store once you have the set and can take a week or so to be done, so not actually done when they drop the telly off.

So, all things considered, decided to get that same set from amazon at £110 less, forego the extra warranty and "installation" but get it here for 14th Jan rather than 28th Jan that M&S were quoting.

Hope the installation turns out to be as simple as running another cable from the dish like I did for the freesat box in the other room (we have one connection left on the dish), and that I don't end up regretting the extra four years warranty cover, but for £110 saving today I'm happy to take the chance.

Thanks for the Quidco.com promo code idea paulg, but checked them out for use with M&S and while it would have saved £50 I didn't really like the terms and conditions, giving them my bank or paypal details and having to subscribe to their deal for a fee every year, sounded too complicated to me, attractive though the headline saving is.

Thanks for everybodies help again  

Cheers, Paul


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## RogerS (11 Jan 2010)

Just make sure you use a decent cable.


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## paulm (11 Jan 2010)

I picked up the last cable in Maplins Roger, this one I think here but don't know how to identify if it is any good or not ? Just go on price or a different supplier ?

On a different topic, how do you format links like that to show as a coloured word rather than a long url ? I think you need to add [url= at the beginning but don't know how you close it out ?

Cheers, Paul


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## bugbear (11 Jan 2010)

LarryS":13r5xlgd said:


> i went into comet the other day, they had a display of plasma, lcd and led tv's above each other, there was quite a difference in the picture quality so worth you doing the same comparison to see what you like



Sadly, TV's in showrooms all have their controls set to (ludicrous and unrealistic) levels of brightness and colour saturation.

(any TV set to normal settings would look a bit flat and dull in comparison, so a sort a natural selection sets in - a bit like Deer antlers).

Thus, comparisons made in a showroom are between TV's at their most bright and saturated - as opposed to "best".

I have no idea how to get good information - magazines tend to be biased (and/or out of date), induividuals tend to be defensive of their choices, showroom comparison are unrepresentative.

Nasty.

I just picked the top brands, and waited for a special offer.

I normally make (obsessively) fully informed purchase decisions, but became convinced that for TV's (and probably digital cameras too) it's impossible :-(

BugBear


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## TrimTheKing (11 Jan 2010)

paulm":pb8l9a0n said:


> I picked up the last cable in Maplins Roger, this one I think http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=227277 but don't know how to identify if it is any good or not ? Just go on price or a different supplier ?
> 
> On a different topic, how do you format links like that to show as a coloured word rather than a long url ? I think you need to add Paul
> 
> ...


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## paulm (11 Jan 2010)

Great, cheers Mark, have just gone back and edited the last couple of links to practice !

Cheers, Paul


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## dickm (11 Jan 2010)

Another vote for Panasonic. Both daughter and I have small (26") Panasonics between 2 and 4 years old and they seem pretty good. 
And to think we watched the coronation on a 9" screen and it seemed quite big............


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## dedee (11 Jan 2010)

Sony and Panasonic always seem to come up top of the pile. When I was researching a while back I could not find a bad review for the Philips 32PFL9613. The missus also got a good staff discount which helped :wink: 

Very good TV no problems with blacks, motion, judder, sound etc. Full HD works well with freesat and the ambilight feature (leds at the side of the TV which glow and change colour with the TV picture) is surprising pleasant to have on at night.

Cheers

Andy


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## yo_chuci (11 Jan 2010)

hi... just catching up...

the tv you like is available here for £865.

bought my dads on thru them. with tosh dvd upscaler and otehr bits and save a few hundred quid (inc a 5yr warranty)

satellite aerial cable the best stuff to go for is air filed (but that can let water to your equip if it ever gets damaged outside. most use foam filled for that reason...) how much do you need i might have enough on the end of a reel pm me.


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## devonwoody (11 Jan 2010)

TrimTheKing":106zcc8n said:


> paulm":106zcc8n said:
> 
> 
> > I picked up the last cable in Maplins Roger, this one I think http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=227277 but don't know how to identify if it is any good or not ? Just go on price or a different supplier ?
> ...


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## TrimTheKing (11 Jan 2010)

How odd. That post from you DW is showing as containing no text, but when I reply by 'quote' it shows you have put something in there...


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## devonwoody (11 Jan 2010)

Trim I am trying to do the coloured "here" using urls but cannot seem to get it.
Can somebody please do me a real silly person sheet or phone me on 01803554269


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## paininthe (11 Jan 2010)

After reading about home servers on here, and in the process of buying a new TV - my Sanyo is 20yrs old and the picture rolls till it warms up - I wanted to make sure the TV could play stuff of my computer. 

This then points you to "Wireless DLNA" support where you do not need a cable to connect. It seems all the TV manufacturers are taking it but I have plumped for the Samsung LE32B650 which will do everything I need it to, hopefully.

hth or maybe hinders


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## paulm (11 Jan 2010)

yo_chuci":10mq1uwb said:


> hi... just catching up...
> 
> the tv you like is available here for £865.
> 
> ...



How annoying is that, could have saved a few quid and got a three year warranty too, sod's law I guess :lol: 

Likewise have just ordered some cable and stuff from here before tuning in and seeing you might have some available !

Thanks for the info' and offer though, much appreciated.

Cheers, Paul


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## paulm (11 Jan 2010)

devonwoody
You need the following syntax [url=your.www.here said:


> your highlighted word/s here[/url]
> 
> Like this



http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-paint-distant-trees-in-watercolor-90511/view/here[/quote]

Hi John,

Put at the end, then straight after that type whatever word(s) you want to show instead and after these put

Hope that helps.

Cheers, Paul


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## devonwoody (11 Jan 2010)

paulm":u7lutlo1 said:


> devonwoody
> You need the following syntax [url=your.www.here said:
> 
> 
> ...



Hi John,

Put at the end, then straight after that type whatever word(s) you want to show instead and after these put

Hope that helps.

Cheers, Paul [/quote]

[/urlwww.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-paint-distant-trees-in-watercolor-90511/view/]here


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## devonwoody (11 Jan 2010)

pipper pipper its still gone wrong?


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## devonwoody (11 Jan 2010)

It must be my age, I cant get it.


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## paulm (11 Jan 2010)

devonwoody
[/urlwww.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-paint-distant-trees-in-watercolor-90511/view/ said:


> here



You're nearly there, don't give up yet :lol: 

Referring to what you typed above, the amendments to make are to take out the [/url at the beggining and replace with and leave the at the end which is correct

So if you were doing it from scratch again you would have here where the dots are the usual address you are linking to.

Cheers, Paul


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## devonwoody (11 Jan 2010)

paulm":3lmvf152 said:


> devonwoody
> [/urlwww.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-paint-distant-trees-in-watercolor-90511/view/ said:
> 
> 
> ...




here


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## devonwoody (11 Jan 2010)

I knew I wasnt that dim

Many thanks


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## devonwoody (11 Jan 2010)

just to prove I can do it

here


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## paulm (11 Jan 2010)

Sorted \/ :lol:


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## RogerS (11 Jan 2010)

Just to be flash


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## devonwoody (11 Jan 2010)

.j


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## paulm (11 Jan 2010)

That's just showing off :lol:


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## TrimTheKing (11 Jan 2010)

devonwoody":3oy46e70 said:


> I knew I wasnt that dim
> 
> Many thanks


Then if you want it a different colour you could try this, or this, or even this


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## devonwoody (11 Jan 2010)

TrimTheKing":3c5tb1pz said:


> devonwoody":3c5tb1pz said:
> 
> 
> > I knew I wasnt that dim
> ...



Did a quote and got the formula displayed for each colour  

So I suppose the flash one is for each letter


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## TrimTheKing (11 Jan 2010)

devonwoody":3ugateng said:


> Did a quote and got the formula displayed for each colour
> 
> So I suppose the flash one is for each letter


No sure what you mean about 'flash one' but the easiest way to change a word colour is to do your whole url= thing then highlight your 'feature' word with the mouse/keyboard and then change the colour with the drop down menu.


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## llangatwgnedd (11 Jan 2010)

Paulm 
Don't forget a length of ethernet cable from your router to the Panni Freesat TV, and you'll have BBCi Player 
in a few weeks or even days time. 

ITV Player in the coming months.


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## devonwoody (12 Jan 2010)

TrimTheKing":tb0karan said:


> devonwoody":tb0karan said:
> 
> 
> > Did a quote and got the formula displayed for each colour
> ...



That flash bloke RogerS did the word flash, each letter a different colour on a post above. 

Sorry about the hijack Paulm


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## TrimTheKing (12 Jan 2010)

devonwoody":k5pwh044 said:


> TrimTheKing":k5pwh044 said:
> 
> 
> > devonwoody":k5pwh044 said:
> ...


Ahh, with you. That's easy too, once you have you key word in place just highlight each letter in turn and choose the colour and it will do it for you.

Right, enough nonsense, sorry Paul


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## devonwoody (12 Jan 2010)

I think paul has bought is TV, you dont live long without one these days


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## paulm (12 Jan 2010)

Yep, had notification of impending delivery for tomorrow, snow permitting presumably !

Wonder how much business M&S lose with their two week delivery nonsense, their best estimate was 28th Jan, err no thank you :lol: 

Sawdust Prod', hadn't heard about being able to get I Player on telly, sounds interesting if I can convince swmbo to let me run more cables around the place, which I think is a bit unlikely !

Cheers, Paul


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## paulm (16 Jan 2010)

Well, new tv finally arrived Friday after being delayed by the weather and road conditions, and it's a monster :shock: !!!

We did try the measurements in place where it would go before ordering and seemed fine but now it's physically there it seems a lot bigger somehow!

Anyhow, unpacked and installed it this morning, ran a new freesat cable from the sky dish, all connected up nice and easy, it ran through the auto set up successfully and then came up with the BBC news channel.

Wow, what a picture, amazing !

Problem is it only lasted for five seconds, popped and switched off :evil: 

It's got power as the led's work but won't start up. Powering off and back on again the green led flashes for a couple of seconds and then turns and stays red.

Managed to find an authorised repair centre that was open this morning and explained the problem over the phone, he said that because I got to the stage of having a picture, albeit for a short time, the installation had been successful, and that it sounded like an internal fault being detected by the tv which was then powering down to avoid further damage.

So, just been on to Amazon who needed only a little bit of pressure to agree to ship a replacement immediately (they normally need the return item back first) and that should be here Wednesday, with the current one being picked up Monday once I have boxed it all back up again :roll: 

Hope I haven't done or missed anything stupid on the install, but it was only a matter of plugging a couple of scarts, and other leads in the same way they were on the old set and add the extra cable for freesat, and the autotune process went fine so can't see anything much to go wrong.

Dissapointing but I guess Amazon have done everything they could and that's good at least, would have been a different matter if they had made me wait to receive the old one back first before re-shipping.

Oh well, back to the tiddly wee Samsung for another few days :roll: :lol: 

Cheers, Paul


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## paulm (19 Jan 2010)

\/ Faulty telly picked up yesterday, new one arrived today, half hour this evening to unbox and connect up, run autotune and now settling down to watch the big match on BBC HD on freesat, quite an impressive picture, hope the match is half as good  :lol: ccasion5: 

Cheers, Paul


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