Buying a Budget HDTV - Which one?

[ja3h]

Hey all, I've been using my 360 on my 20inch dell monitor in my living room and i have a 20inch crt in my bedroom which i stream media to from my pc. I'm thinking of moving the xbox into the bedroom and getting an hdtv. So just wondering which one? I'm not looking to spend a lot. I'm wondering if i should go for one of these:


Vistron 32" HD LCD TV Freeview 720p 1080i 1366x768 1000:1 550cd/m2 HDMI 8ms Black + Free Wall Bracket

Hannspree XV JT01-32E2-000 32" LCD HD TV HDMI x 2 1366x768 1200:1 16:9 500cd/m2 8ms HDMI Black

Thanks, i'll be ordering tomorrow or not...

[doopydug]

The Hanspree gets a good report from most purchasers. Personally I went for a 32" TECO and have to say I couldn't think of a better way to spend £300 !! It's a cracking set. With my sky HD box, both HD and SD look great and DVDs are upscaled to a degree I never thought possible. It has rejuvenated my dvd collection!

[Linedanger]

I also went for a Teco 32", and was happy, for a few months.
Then it developed a fault. on the right of the screen, the display was lighter shade than the rest. About 4" FROM rhs.
Then the remote started playing up, which was changing the A/V channel when I was trying to turn the volume up. I disconnected the remote battery, which cured that.
Then, just over a week ago, it died. No power or lights anywhere. Even with a new mains cable.
Tried to get the phone number of Teco, or advice from Savastore, where I bought it. I gave up trying to get through to them, after being in their queues for 2+ hours overall.
Got Teco number from Misco (well done, straight through)
Phone the London number for Teco, which went through to Holland. Was told that I would have replacement within 48 hours. GREAT NEWS.
48 hours came and went, so I chased Teco. They would escalate it.
I chased a few more times, but they wouldn't commit themselves to when they were going to be able to deliver.
7 days later and I am still waiting!!!

[stoney73]

Hi Linedanger,

did you have any luck with getting the teco replaced?

I bought a teco last year, all was well until last week when it developed a fault. was also told that it would be replaced within 48 hrs, that came and went.
phone the london number up, and they are trying to tell me that the warranty is only a pick up and repair warranty.Not the onsite replacement warranty that was stated on the website that i bought it from. complained and theyve said it was 'escalated' and they will get back to me.

having read your post im now very sceptical about it all.

[directhex]

it's always worth spending the extra on a real brand

[stoney73]

i know

[directhex]

i know

tried contacting the retailer (rather than the manufacturer) for a refund?

[stoney73]

yeah, bought it through aria technology last november. all they keep saying is its a manufacturer warranty. grr. also bought it on finance):

see when i bought it, i remember seeing the warranty on the website say( 1 yr swap out on site warranty) which is the only reason i bought it off the net.
teco is trying to say repair only warranty.

[Linedanger]

They eventually collected it 27/09/07.
I gave them a week, till yesterday, and phoned the uk service company Indec, who would "get back to me", but they didn't, so I rang again today and got told that they have ordered the 'power board' to repair it, but couldn't give me a rough date.
I think it will stil be faulty, as there is a problem (I think) with the LCD itself. It is a lighter shade at RHSide.
I have sent loads of emails through their website, to Taiwan & Holland, but not even got an acknowledgement, let alone any help.

[Linedanger]

Their own website teco-lcdtv if you go into "contact us" says as follows
TECO is committed to provide high level of customer satisfaction. We look forward to assisting you.
Dunno whether to laugh or cry.
Good luck

[stoney73]

ive managed to get a fax number out of them, allegedly to send my complaint to.

0031534829779(holland)

they collected tv , but no swap. after many phone calls, no give on there part.

EACH OPERATOR SAYS SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

[Rack]

I have a Hyundai I bought from Ebuyer about 2 years ago. They are now ~£370. Can recommend both (though Ebuyer are just OK). Bit more than those £300 sets... and still not perfect.

I have to say, every samsung set I've seen looks good on or off.

[Linedanger]

UPDATE 5-10-2007
Chased Indec again. Still awaiting spare part to repair it. No promises.
Had to buy 2nd hand spare 24" TV as our 15" is not big enough for living room.
I will check to see if there are some consumer rights guarantees re warrantee policies.

[Linedanger]

Update 17/10/07
I am promised delivery from INVEC (NOT iNDEC) this Thursday.
I have been sending emails through the Teco site. to the "contact us "box for Holland, but never received a reply until yesterday. (It was in Dutch language) I got it translated via freetranslations.com
I replied to it, saying 'what can you do for me'.
I got a call today from Invec saying the part had come in, and someone was working on it now. They will get back, which they did, for a change.
I also had an email from their European sales manager, apologising for their service, and offering to see the job through and hopefully resolve it today.
I also had a phone call from, I think, the same person, apologising again, and saying if I still have problems, to get in touch with him personally.
It seems that their website had incorrect contact email addresses, so none of my emails had been getting through to anyone, until now. I had noticed gradual changes to their site all through my ordeal.
But its a bit bad if they are expecting their customers to point out their failings, before they get simple things right in their system.
Their call centre is well meaning, but totally ineffective, when there is a complaint.
They are not permitted to let you have any managers contact info. Even their supervisor fobs you off, saying there's nothing in their system that they can do. The system is supposed to carry your fault through to conclusion. But it didn't.
Anyway, Hopefully, this is the beginning of the end of my service problem.
It's bad enough to have a rogue product from them, without all the hassle and wasted time I have had.

If anyone from Teco sees this, I would invite them to please respond to this forum train, telling us how they are going to improve their system/service in future.

[Linedanger]

Guess what!!!!!
STILL NO TV.
Rang Invec, who said they didn't have a suitable packaging box to put it in!!!

This is their main type of business. Carrying out warrantee repairs for all the big names in LCD screens. (Samsung, fujitsu, Hitachi, Philips etc.) and they didn't have a box????

I am promised delivery tomorrow.
Teco European Service Manager has apologised again. (He didn't follow my case through. It was still up to the customer to advise him what he should have been in control of)

Can't wait for tomorrow, to get my TV back.
BUT WILL I ?????? Perhaps the lorry will have broken down.

[stoney73]

well, i got my tv back yesterday. all fixed. came in a huge box(thought they'd sent me a 50" by mistake, well was hoping anyway).
works nicely, except that now there is a fair old scratch on the silver bit on the top. scratched so badly you can see the black underneath.

phoned them up yesterday, and guess what they said?
















come on, just guess....
















thats right, they said they would escalate the problem, hahaha