As a girl I am strangely drawn towards tech stuff, gadgets etc. I guess it comes from being in a family full of engineers. Either way, there are a few things that can get me as excited as picking out new monster hi-tech stuff.
With this background in mind, one cannot be surprised that our current 26inch-5 years-old TV has got me wishing for more. Please keep in mind that I share my life with a certain anti-tech, totally artistic type so it falls down on me (thankfully) to do all the thinking and choosing for a new one.
The criteria for a new TV are plenty (in order of importance to me): brand, model, specs, size - price is somewhere in between all those. Before I continue let me say blankly that apart from two shorts periods in my life where I had a Sony and a Grundig TVs, all the rest of it has been spent staring at Philips TVs. So, yes, I'm a little Philips inclined. Just a teeny bit - had of course left some leeway for considering a Sony one. The fact that I worked for Philips for a while some years ago had nothing to do with this - I was working for the baby products department mind you. Before you consider me biased, let me just say that this brand preference only refers to TVs - when it came to picking a new Blu Ray player for us some months ago I went with the best: a Sony one of course. Got all sorts of brand preferences depending on the product in question - gasp.
So what about the models? Well for those of you not into the world of TVs, let me bring some light to the otherwise insanely confusing world of manufacturers' model numbers. When you see the "KDL46EX503AEP" you might already call it quits and move on to something more interesting to browse online. The model I chose there was a random Sony model - they basically slap on KDL to all their models (perhaps it means something in Japanese!?) so I disregard that.
46 refers to the screen size (46 inches). EX refers to the range of their TVs, meaning the lower-end range or the higher-end range. Currently for Sony these start at CX (lower-end and cheapest TVs in their range - with specs to match) and go on to EX, HX and NX. Obviously, the higher the first letter, the higher the range in terms of specs and functionality.
503 refers to again the level of specs within the range classification - the higher the number, probably the more packed of extra features (for better or worse) it is. However, as manufacturers spit out new TVs constantly, a certain care needs to be taken with these "503" and such descriptors - you can never be too sure that just going with a higher number, even if the price is to match, will get you the best state-of-the-art TV.
AEP letters at the end are a little of a mystery - my best guess is that these mostly refer to the language cluster in Europe or such. Usually I ingore them, for better or for worse.
Even Philips' model and range classifications are totally tricky and confusing. Their TVs have model numbers such as 42PFL8605H. Again here the 42 refers to the screen size in inches, PFL is something they slap on to all their model numbers (whatever it would mean in Dutch!?) and the 8xxx number refers to the range. Philips' TVs come in 3xxx, 5xxx, 7xxx, 8xxx, and 9xxx ranges. The 5xxx are the lower-end range, and the 9xxx is the top range (if you have a lot of money to give up on). Well so much for the boring stuff - you can ask me more if you really want to know more.
So, what about our new TV? Well, in an ideal world I would go for a Philips 9xxx range one - ahhh, if only my account would allow it! For example, the 46PFL9705 is to "die" for. Best product of the year award, tons of top stars reviews etc. In case you are wondering where you check for best reviews online for TVs, here are some tips: trustedreviews.com / techradar.com / whathifi.com
But a word of warning before you completely rely on their reviews - those guys are total freaks! Seriously, they see flaws and imperfections where any other non-hawk vision non-nerd would never. As much as I rely on their reviews, as much as I also like to check out the TV for myself in a nearby store (but buy online obviously, always money to save that way). Also, knowing your spec requirements helps in seeing through the reviews i.e. I am in no way interested in wearing glasses to see a movie in 3D so the fact that a TV is otherwise great but falls on their 3D requirements does not scare me.
So, where does that leave our new TV? Well, obviously a Philips 8xxx or 7xxx are my candidates. However, after reading the reviews for 42PFL8605 I was sold but for the small matter of the glass screen surface. Our living room has huge windows everywhere (note, I am not exaggerating) so a TV screen that reflects a lot would in no way be optimal and would annoy me at the best of times. So I went to check it out at a local store in Malmo, Sweden (LOL sorry, I live in Denmark in case you missed that one!). It fell short of my excitement, the screen reflection was too much for my living room and it was back to the drawing table. For those of you whose TV would be in a corner, facing away from any window light coming in, that TV might be perfect.
So, now we are down to the almost as amazing 7xxx Philips range: the 46PFL7605. Screen size decision is still pending! But here are some specs that I find crucial: its an LED TV (vs just an LCD) - I won't be going into the differences now for the fear of this blog post turning out completely boring. Its a 100Hz (would have prefered a 200Hz but that is on the 8xxx line), 4 HDMI ports to be able to connect everything possible to it, has the Pixel Plus HD processing engine, Philips' very special Ambilight feature (it casts light from the sides of screen to enhance the viewing experience), Ethernet and USB connectivity (read, it can connect to the Internet and show pictures and videos from any USB device). It also shows images from the computer connected in native resolution of 1920x1080. Picture quality is reviewed as really good, so we are almost there.
I haven't pressed the "put in basket" button yet - will need to check a few more options around before I do that. Screen size being one of them - but have a look for yourself, maybe you fall in love!
Tech Radar Review
Note: in case you are reading this from outside of Europe please bear in mind that some of the suggestions for reading the model numbers might not be applicable.
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