Author Topic: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them  (Read 21904 times)

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Offline etiTopic starter

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As title says, I think an expensive TV is a VERY VERY poor  investment, and people spend FAR too much on them, and yet it seems that the quality of the acting and presentation from the TV stations is getting worse and worse.

I cannot see how anyone can justify anything over £500, **maybe** £600, for a flat oblong that sits there and doesn't show you ANYTHING "better" than the last flat oblong you owned, did. People who "pixel peep" and get all hung up on OLED, Qdot, LCD etc... who cares? You only take interest in this nonsense because you are marketed to, by the TV companies, who blurt out all these fandangled acroynms, and because all your mates down the pub are also too easily impressed by all these acronyms (and because of the ever idiotic "Keeping up with the Jones' " effect). People are SO easily fooled - look at any "X brand vs Y brand" food/drink taste test - even self-proclaimed "experts" cannot tell one from the other.

Further, the investment you make, cash wise, is a VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY poor one, since the price you paid will crash through the floor in 1 year, and in another 2 years from then, you will either see your TV as "outdated" (marketing BS again) or it will melt, collapse, dissolved into a heap of raspberry sherbet... or whatever. All this nonsense, FOR WHAT? It's a flat thing that shows you the same RUBBISH you can see on any other TV, many of which are hugely more affordable.

Someone recently gave me a 43" LG 4K TV, as it was being thrown out due to the blue LED syndrome of the backlight; they'd rather spend £2,000-3,000 on a new TV, vs £100 for the repair.

A friend of mine runs his own, very successful industrial plant hire and earth moving business, which he started from nothing, ALONE. He once told me about a friend in the same business who was more preoccupied with "image" and "prestige" than just buying a tool for a decent price (because it's just a tool, and the tool is moving earth, not flying people across the world) - he said that the friend would buy a brand new CAT/JCB etc, and then my friend would be in disbelief, as his friend would NEVER recoup the lost premium he paid for a brand new CAT/JCB - it's all shine and mark-up. Since the new tool is no more capable of moving earth than the bargain he got for 1/10th of the cost at auction, set his hand to and repaired for a fraction of the price, I can only agree.

I. Just. Don't. Get. It. WHY?
« Last Edit: February 01, 2022, 08:28:50 pm by eti »
 
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Offline magic

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Watching TV in the first place... ::)
 
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Offline etiTopic starter

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Watching TV in the first place... ::)

There seems to be this new, strange form of (inverted?) snobbery where people consider TV as a waste of time, across the board. No, where we live, in England, we are known for some spectacular acting and production levels, but I do not watch as much TV as many. However, writing ALL TV off as "bad", depends on where you live, but that certainly isn't the case in the UK (or maybe people just have poor taste - and looking at the TV schedules here... YEP, they VERY VERY much have APPALLING taste!)

I pick carefully the handful of things I want to watch, and I am not one to watch dumbed-down "documentaries" aimed at the great unwashed, that are 1/100th as sensible and informative as they were in the 70s-90s.
 
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Offline BrokenYugo

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The sooner you make peace with it and let them go be dumb, the happier you will be.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2022, 08:44:54 pm by BrokenYugo »
 

Offline etiTopic starter

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The sooner you make peace with it and let them go be dumb, the happier you will be.

My being eternally baffled with it makes me no less "at peace" with it, as you say. I am not bothered, just find it strange. People are capable of not caring at all, whilst being simultaneously baffled and curious as to why something occurs.
 

Offline jpanhalt

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"An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them"

1) It's not an investment.  Neither is the opera, pizza, or Super Bowl.
2) Is there some beginner-level technical matter for this thread?
 
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Offline MrMobodies

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I have had some friends who had brought 55 - 60" tv's and they had failed within a couple of years like the back lights and what should set off alarm bells was the warranty of these things were only for a year or two at best. The best warranty replacement led's I can find for a TV I am looking at is about £130 for only 6 months warranty. There are 126 (a few 2x2 strips, 28 leds in series and some 1x2 strips 14 in series) to replace and it only takes a few to fail to trip the string it is on. It looked to me like the LED'S were over voltaged to get them brighter when I looked at the LED output voltage on the power supply and higher with 3d and those are only rated 3v according to the datasheet. On powering working strips at exactly 3v using a regulator they didn't really bright at all. I noticed overheating marks on the power supply and many of the used ones on ebay so is looks like poor air flow.

I'd expect at least a 5 year warranty like the with 40" set I got in 2013 that still works fine today.
 

Online Benta

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No, where we live, in England, we are known for some spectacular acting and production levels, but I do not watch as much TV as many. However, writing ALL TV off as "bad", depends on where you live, but that certainly isn't the case in the UK.

It will be soon. Defunding the BBC, one of the most respected broadcast institutes in the world, is already planned.
Nadine Dorries (culture secretary), the most upright, honest, integer, staunch... (and in no way a turncoat!) Boris J. brown-noser is preparing the field.
You might as well sell your TV right now.
 

Online coppice

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Defunding the BBC, one of the most respected broadcast institutes in the world, is already planned.
Get with the times. The BBC used to be excellent, but we never watch it any more. They have badly lost their way.
 
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Online Gyro

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Get with the times. The BBC used to be excellent, but we never watch it any more. They have badly lost their way.

Everyone it entitled to their opinion... even if they are wrong!

Edit: I agree with Benta if not clear.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2022, 09:14:59 pm by Gyro »
Best Regards, Chris
 

Offline johnboxall

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #10 on: February 01, 2022, 09:31:24 pm »
Defunding the BBC, one of the most respected broadcast institutes in the world, is already planned.
Get with the times. The BBC used to be excellent, but we never watch it any more. They have badly lost their way.
 

Online coppice

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #11 on: February 01, 2022, 09:49:08 pm »
Get with the times. The BBC used to be excellent, but we never watch it any more. They have badly lost their way.

Everyone it entitled to their opinion... even if they are wrong!

Edit: I agree with Benta if not clear.
I'm genuinely interested. What is left on the BBC that is watchable? I often listen to BBC radio when driving, but even that has gone downhill. BBC TV really has nothing to offer. The last thing I watch on the BBC itself was a dramatization of The Name of the Rose a couple of years ago (not something they themselves produced). I've watched a few excellent older things from the BBC since then on other services.

 

Online Gyro

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #12 on: February 01, 2022, 10:53:55 pm »
Great documentaries that none of the other broadcasters would make/fund (otherwise they already would have), News, World Service, most of the stuff on BBC4 (TV), Radio 3, Radio 4, and actually quite a lot of really good drama series. Sure, they make some crappy Saturday night lowest common denominator audience crap, like all the other broadcasters do, but at least they make the good stuff too!

How else do you think they sell so many programs to other international broadcasters?
Best Regards, Chris
 
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Offline etiTopic starter

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #13 on: February 01, 2022, 10:59:41 pm »
Great documentaries that none of the other broadcasters would make/fund (otherwise they already would have), News, World Service, most of the stuff on BBC4 (TV), Radio 3, Radio 4, and actually quite a lot of really good drama series. Sure, they make some crappy Saturday night lowest common denominator audience crap, like all the other broadcasters do, but at least they make the good stuff too!

How else do you think they sell so many programs to other international broadcasters?

A SUPERB example of a BBC masterpiece is "Call the Midwife". There are many more.

If you need something gorgeous to keep your TV busy, try these:









 

Online tszaboo

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #14 on: February 01, 2022, 11:05:06 pm »
I. Just. Don't. Get. It. WHY?
Because you are old, and grumpy, and act like an armchair general. That's why you don't get it.
"Everything new is bad, the old was good, we should go back the things they were." Just open a topic like this, and place there your daily rant.
 
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Offline free_electron

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #15 on: February 01, 2022, 11:38:33 pm »
i don't have a tv subscription like cable or satellite. programming has deteriorated to the point they interrupt the commercials to show bits of a movie. and you need to pay to watch the commercials.
streaming only. i watch what i want, when i want. no commercials.
i don't even goto movie theatres. the seats are cramped. there's invariable a tall guy in front and a back kicking, stinking popcorn munching kid behind. with some person that needs to get up in the middle of the movie to answer the phone. if anything interesting happens you can't stop and rewind and if you need to get up to pee you miss half the stuff. i have a motorized double recliner with center console and a 85inch 4k HDR screen and kick-ass surround.
between my Netflix and amazon prime (and CBS pass to watch star trek discovey, picard and others ) i have any program i like. There is nothing on 'live tv' i care about anyway. programs like shitfactor , the masked whaler or nobody's got talent don't interest me.
scifi, documentaries , the big bang theory, young sheldon, dexter , the blacklist, walking dead. all stream.
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Any comments, or points of view expressed, are my own and not endorsed , induced or compensated by my employer(s).
 
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Offline TimFox

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #16 on: February 02, 2022, 12:16:38 am »
"...who praises, with enthusiastic tone,
All centuries but this, and every country but his own..."
Gilbert and Sullivan, The Mikado, Act I.
 

Offline EHT

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #17 on: February 02, 2022, 12:32:02 am »
Great documentaries that none of the other broadcasters would make/fund (otherwise they already would have), News, World Service, most of the stuff on BBC4 (TV), Radio 3, Radio 4, and actually quite a lot of really good drama series. Sure, they make some crappy Saturday night lowest common denominator audience crap, like all the other broadcasters do, but at least they make the good stuff too!

How else do you think they sell so many programs to other international broadcasters?

Fully agree. UK TVs used to just have 4 buttons on the tuner: BBC1, 2, ITV, Ch4. Now we have literally a thousand channels on any set-top-box, but almost all of them are rubbish, unless you want to pay extra for sports, which I don't. I could still just have 4 buttons except replace ITV & Ch4 for BBC3, 4. :)
In practice, I only watch through iPlayer, a few series & films on Netflix and listen to R4 on podcast.  BBC Current Affairs, Drama, David Attenborough & similar. Unfortunately the UK's new "culture secretary" has instigated the dismantling of the remaining culture we have left. To be fair the BBC have a very broad reach that could be slimmed down but it's not easy to work out how a new funding scheme that wouldn't have a massive negative impact overall.

Regarding the TVs, there is usually a sweet spot in price. Once you go past it, you pay a much higher % premium for a luxury model- same with CPUs etc. AFAIK you can get a really good value screen say around £500 mark and excellent at £1k, but obviously they will depreciate pretty fast.
 
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Online coppice

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #18 on: February 02, 2022, 01:24:07 am »
Great documentaries that none of the other broadcasters would make/fund (otherwise they already would have)
It used to be that all the channels offered pretty good documentaries. ITV has never been quite as down market as most people remember. They are all pretty bad now.

News, World Service
BBC news, both its UK and World Service forms, are completely disconnected from reality. World Service TV was OK when it was launched, but it pretty dreadful now.

most of the stuff on BBC4 (TV)
I've never noticed anything there that drew me to look.

Radio 3, Radio 4
Radio 3 is still OK, although they've gone for a more annoying DJ style of presentation. Radio 4 (and extra) are a pale shadow of the service 30 years ago. Radio 4 used to be great for comedy. Now its about as funny as toothache.

and actually quite a lot of really good drama series.
Not like there used to be. As I said before, I've watched a few older BBC made dramas on other services in the last couple of years. Really good stuff. All of it at least 10 years old.

Sure, they make some crappy Saturday night lowest common denominator audience crap, like all the other broadcasters do, but at least they make the good stuff too!
Every channel always made Saturday night pretty grim.

How else do you think they sell so many programs to other international broadcasters?
They do well in international sales with children's programs and natural history. You don't see as much BBC drama, comedy and other material around the world as you did in the 90s.
 
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Offline Halcyon

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #19 on: February 02, 2022, 05:46:10 am »
I have to disagree with the point you made about brand X vs brand Y... there are some significant difference both in terms of specifications and image quality between brands and models.

Like with most things technology-related, you get what you pay for. Last time I bought a TV, I spent weeks doing my homework and actually looking at different models before I came to a decision that was right for me. For example, if you go and compare your basic run-of-the-mill 165cm model from brands such as TCL, Kogan or Hisense (at something like AUD$1000) to a more mainstream brand such as Sony, LG, or Samsung, you're going to notice quite a significant difference in quality.

Aside from the quality of the panel itself, a lot of those cheaper TVs tend to be under-spec'd. Couple that with all the "smart" garbage they install on them these days, the user experience can be rather sluggish and horrible, so it does pay to get a unit with a faster CPU and more RAM. Televisions, like many other appliances these days, are like buying computers. No longer are they merely a "light box". Most TVs will do quite a bit of image processing depending on the settings (which is sometimes quite useful for low resolution or low frame rate video).

However that being said, consumers need to look past the marketing bullshit and look for the features that are most important to them.

One thing is true however, no amount of money you spend on a television will ever fix the absolute garbage that is broadcast these days.
 

Online Zero999

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #20 on: February 02, 2022, 11:19:20 am »
Get with the times. The BBC used to be excellent, but we never watch it any more. They have badly lost their way.

Everyone it entitled to their opinion... even if they are wrong!

Edit: I agree with Benta if not clear.
More often than not, opinion is subjective, rather than right or wrong. Whether the BBC is any good or not is an objective opinion. It's not something you, or anyone else has the authority to determine as right, or wrong.

The main criticism I hear from many and I agree with is, like much of the mainstream media, the BBC has gone far too woke. They keep pushing ethnic minorities on the screen, who are invariably talentless, just to tick a diversity box. They tell lies about British history and erase xenophobia and racism by casting ethnic minority actors in period dramas, set at a time when England was 99% white, when anyone who looked different was treated with suspicion, yet they show ethnic minorities being treated like everyone else. Comedy is now crap because they don't want to risk offending anyone. Inequality and racism are covered through the lens of critical race theory, rather than an objective manner.

News coverage is horribly biased. They way they've dealt with COVID-19 and the government's response just proves this. They've failed to adequately challenge the government's policies: lockdown, school closures, mask mandates etc. Perhaps they were right and necessary, maybe the BBC agreed with them, or perhaps they were an over-reaction, with greater harms, than benefits, but that's not the point. It was their duty as a public broadcaster to question policies which placed the greatest restrictions on our freedoms, during peacetime.

My TV license is due in spring, but I'm going to cancel it. They can fuck off. I'm not paying another penny to those evil cunts.
 
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Online Gyro

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #21 on: February 02, 2022, 11:45:48 am »
Firstly, to quote your own comment back at you...

.... The BBC used to be excellent, but we never watch it any more.....

If you never watch the BBC, then it seems that you are hardly qualified to be able to give an informed opinion on its output. Most of the output you do watch seems to be 10 years old and on other networks.

Quote
It used to be that all the channels offered pretty good documentaries. ITV has never been quite as down market as most people remember. They are all pretty bad now.

You illustrate my point perfectly, The output of ITV and most other channels are governed by their investors and advertisers. They go for the lowest common denominator - soaps, game shows, 'reality TV' etc. The lowest effort and expenditure for the maximum financial return. The result - low end crap. A possible exception is the Channel 4 / Film4  etc umbrella, who do finance film projects, though not as much as they used to (they are relying on imported US shows and 'reality TV' more and more though). The BBC has none of these restrictions (other than the amount of money available from the license fee).

Quote
BBC news, both its UK and World Service forms, are completely disconnected from reality. World Service TV was OK when it was launched, but it pretty dreadful now.

What about BBC World service Radio? You should maybe ask international readers to comment on the world service, there are many in more 'troubled' parts of the world who rely on listening to the World Service to find out what's actually happening in their own countries. In the worst countries, governments make listening to it a punishable offence! I suspect that the BBC probably has more foreign correspondents than any other news network.

With regard to news in general. The BBC represents that ideal of a state broadcaster that is owned by the whole population, not the government (how many around the world would, and do, die for such principles). It is an organisation that can, and does, hold to account the government, of whatever flavour (and even utility companies for polution etc.), without the bias of proprietors or advertisers (show me a newspaper that doesn't have a proprietor bias either). In these days of government spin and twitter output over integrity, it is an institution that we should defend at all costs. Yes, we would all like the licence fee to be lower, but it is a small price to pay for independence. The only flaw in the system is that the government can 'punish' it for telling the truth as Benta mentioned previously.

We typically watch a couple of hours of news and current affairs in the evening, the news at 6pm for UK and main international, and then over to the BBC news channel for Open Source to get a bit more in depth on the international situation.

These days far to many get their 'news' from clips social media, complete with all the hidden agendas, misinformation, and conspiracy theories, an then have the nerve to proclaim themselves knowledgable about what is happening in the world. That's how you suddenly get the mobs turning out.

Quote
and actually quite a lot of really good drama series.
Not like there used to be. As I said before, I've watched a few older BBC made dramas on other services in the last couple of years. Really good stuff. All of it at least 10 years old.

Strongly disagree (both are good). That smacks of a 'kids of today' mentality. Also, who else other than the BBC makes decent Radio dramas.

[/quote]
How else do you think they sell so many programs to other international broadcasters?
They do well in international sales with children's programs and natural history. You don't see as much BBC drama, comedy and other material around the world as you did in the 90s.
[/quote]

What evidence do you have for that? I understand that BBC world is quite popular in the US.


P.S. I forgot to mention the obvious one - no advertising or commercial breaks.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2022, 12:37:01 pm by Gyro »
Best Regards, Chris
 

Online Gyro

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #22 on: February 02, 2022, 11:51:29 am »
More often than not, opinion is subjective, rather than right or wrong. Whether the BBC is any good or not is an objective opinion. It's not something you, or anyone else has the authority to determine as right, or wrong.

...but I agree, it is a subjective opinion at the end of the day.
Best Regards, Chris
 

Offline daqq

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #23 on: February 02, 2022, 12:03:51 pm »
As a Slovakian, most of my exposure to BBC was via Doctor Who. Considering what atrocities they have committed to the show in the last few seasons, if a horde of rabid gerbils eats the place I'll laugh my head off.
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Offline VK3DRB

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Re: An expensive TV is a poor investment, and people spend FAR too much on them
« Reply #24 on: February 02, 2022, 12:40:04 pm »
I tend to agree. There are people I know who waste their lives watching TV when they could be designing an RF amplifier or writing a PID algorithm in C. What is wrong with them!  :palm:

Seriously though, I do watch non-commercial news on the TV each night (Australian ABC TV). Hence I have a TV. The only crap I watch is a half hour show once per week... HardQuiz on the ABC, to chill out and have a few laughs... . I have not watched commercial TV for over 20 years and I feel I have missed nothing.

As for movies, I found modern American movies are generally very shallow, bug infested and aimed at the lowest common denominator. Bad acting, stupid plot. So I avoid modern American films. Hence I have no idea of what the famous celebrity actors and actresses look like. They don't make smart movies like 1964's Fail Safe anymore. I remember seeing an American SCI-FI movie at a cinema that had random beep noises sounding as data was being printed out on a screen. I walked out.

 


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