Feb
14

Viewsonic LCD TV Review

Filed Under LCD TV Reviews, ViewSonic LCD TV | Leave a Comment

ViewSonic Corporation has its World Headquarters in Walnut, California and they say that they are “a worldwide leader in visual display products–including LCDs, LCD TVs, projectors, Digital Signage and CRT monitors”.

They don’t say where they manufacture their LCD TVs, or whether they manufacture LCD panels themselves, but they have offices in Taiwan and China, so that’s most likely where they assemble their TVs.

They divide their LCD model range into 3 categories, based on size:

  1. Small size - 16 to 24 inches
  2. Midsize entertainment - 26 to 37 inches
  3. Big screen full HD - 42 to 52 inches.

Here is the ViewSonic N4785p LCDTV - it looks just like most other LCD TVs doesn’t it?

ViewSonic-N4785p-LCDTV

Features of the N4785p include:

  • Full 1080p high-definition performance brings details to life
  • 1920×1080 resolution delivers 100% of your HD signal for unsurpassed image precision
  • Three HDMI inputs let you add Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, and other digital components for complete, uncompromised HD entertainment at home
  • ClearPicture™ technology ensures extreme clarity in fast action movies and sports
  • Dolby® Digital stereo sound optimizes your HD entertainment experience

ViewSonic Market Positioning

My view is ViewSonic are positioned in the middle of the market - above the pack of cheap LCD TVs, but below the top brand names - Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Philips etc.

As usual it’s up to you to decide what features of an LCD TV are most important to you, make a shortlist, set a budget and then make sure you go and see a few TVs - i.e. don’t just rely on other people’s reviews on the internet - before making your decision.

Smarthouse Review of ViewSonic N4060W

This LCD TV review was done in July 2007 and they gave the ViewSonic N4060W 3.5 stars out of 5.

  • Pros: Connectivity; design
  • Cons: Feeble sound; limited contrast/black level; colour tone/detail with standard def sources.

To be fair to ViewSonic 2 and 1/2 years is an age in the fast moving world of LCD TVs - things can change a lot in 6 months, never mind 30 months.

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Feb
6

Cheap LCD TVs

Filed Under Cheap LCD TVs, Value LCD TVs | Leave a Comment

“Cheap LCD TV” can mean at least a couple of different things.

1. It can mean buying a cheap LCD TV from a no-name, or value brand.

2. It can also mean buying an LCD TV from a name brand such as Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, Hitachi, Samsung etc at a discounted price.

Our usual recommendation is that you’ll generally get the best TV for yourself with option 2, but there are certainly no-name brands who offer genuine value - meaning a good quality picture and good TV reliability. The catch is working out which of the no-name brands are the good ones.

We don’t recommend buying a no-name brand from e-Bay for example. Lot’s of ‘fly-by-night’ operators operate there.

So if you want to go for option 1, you need to do plenty of research before committing your cash. You want to know about both the brand and the company you’re buying from.

Flat Panel TV Reliability

The Annual Product Reliability Survey conducted by the US organization Consumer Reports says Panasonic’s 50″ plasma is the best TV overall, Hitachi is the worst LCD TV and Philips the worst plasma TV.

It’s surprising to see those tHitachi and Philips in the least reliable list. I don’t know if no-nam ebrands were included in the reliability survey.

Consumer Reports also reported that LCD and plasma TVs generally require few repairs during the first three years of use (flat panel sets overall had a 3% annual repair rate). This means that if you buy extended warranties on flat panel TVs, you would be statistically-speaking, wasting your money.

They also found that Panasonic made the most reliable flat panel TVs and other brands with low repair rates included Sony, Samsung, Toshiba and JVC in LCD TVs and Pioneer and Samsung in plasma TVs.

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