What TV - has to be from Curry or Comet(!)

[Dan_1981]

The insurance are sending us vouchers for our stolen TV - it was a Samsung 37" LCD about three years old.

Anyway they are sending vouchers that have to be used at either Currys or Comet.

Budget is up to £600 what would you recommend?

[RVVUNM]

Panasonic from Comet, there, sorted.

[Nimbus]

what type of insurance is it that sends you vouchers to a specific store ?

surely they should be sending you cash ?

[Dan_1981]

Nimbus said:

what type of insurance is it that sends you vouchers to a specific store ?

surely they should be sending you cash ?

Direct Line.

Not sure how it works but for some items they are sending cash, other items vouchers, and other items direct replacements are being shipped out.

[Nimbus]

Dan_1981 said:

Nimbus said:

what type of insurance is it that sends you vouchers to a specific store ?

surely they should be sending you cash ?

Direct Line.

Not sure how it works but for some items they are sending cash, other items vouchers, and other items direct replacements are being shipped out.

ahh, they must have some deal with comet/currys then, so what you are paying, isnt what its costing direct line..

[Dan_1981]

Nimbus said:

Dan_1981 said:

Nimbus said:

what type of insurance is it that sends you vouchers to a specific store ?

surely they should be sending you cash ?

Direct Line.

Not sure how it works but for some items they are sending cash, other items vouchers, and other items direct replacements are being shipped out.

ahh, they must have some deal with comet/currys then, so what you are paying, isnt what its costing direct line..

Probably not.

And in one way its annoying but then again they have been very very good with it all, an 8 day turn around and new for old replacements on everything that was taken.

[Busamav]

RVVUNM said:

Panasonic from Comet, there, sorted.

yup , they presently have a 42" model for £499 .

iirc it is the S model .

or add a ton to the vouchers and get the G20 .

Edited by Busamav on Wednesday 27th October 17:18

[Grey Ghost]

Busamav said:

or add a ton to the vouchers and get the G20

This. But go to a Panasonic main dealer for a demo to see how good it is as the set up in Currys/Comet etc won't do it justice

[Goliath205]

Personally I would recommend a Samsung or Sony over a Panasonic, I work in Curry's (*don's bullet proof suit*!) and can tell you that no amount of fiddling with the display setting will get as nice a picture from a Panasonic plasma as from an LCD or LED. Panasonic's LCD/LED TV's seem to be priced very highly.

For £600 you can get a 42 Samsung LED 100hz TV.

A few 'inside secrets' if you do end up going to Currys....

Curry's will price match Comet (and John Lewis, Tesco etc etc) and give you a further 10% of the difference.

Most of the time you will find that 42" TV's are cheaper than 37" TV's as there is more choice/more produced etc.

You will (should be) be offered our 'Whatever Happens' service, now before you say no straight away there is a way to benefit you even if you don't want the service. If you don't want the actual cover then still seem interested but mention about not wanting to spend more then however much the TV is and you will be told about the monthly options and no doubt offered a month or two free (ask them for this if they don't ask you). As we can't actually give a month or two free as it is a direct debit the assistant will discount the two months off the price of the TV, hey presto an extra £20 or so off. All you have to do is cancel the direct debit before any money comes out, you don't even have to ring Currys, just cancelling the direct debit is all you need to do. Also if you do take out 'whatever happens' you will almost certainly get half price cables and/or TV stands if you ask.

However if you do want the cover it is actually a good service and nothing like the old extended warranties Currys used to offer, I had a customer come into me the other day who had bought a £1299 TV 4 years ago and had purchased 5 year 'whatever happens' for £200 (which I agree is a large initial outlay) but 4 years down the line the TV had gone wrong and was not repairable so she was issued with vouchers for a new TV (of any spec), she ended up walking out of the store with a better spec TV then her old one, another 5 years 'whatever happens' on the new TV and just under £400 on a gift card as the new TV didn't come to as much as the old one!
Another benefit of 'whatever happens' is that it covers accidental damage, so if your TV was to get 'accidentaly' damaged just before your 'whatever happens' agreement runs out you would get a new TV

Happy TV buying, if you want any more info about TV spec's feel free to ask and I will do my best to point to the right TV

[theboss]

Goliath205 said:

Personally I would recommend a Samsung or Sony over a Panasonic

This will get interesting

Not a 'measured' comparison I know but for what it's worth I have a 50" G10 in one room and a slightly older 40" Bravia in the next. I bought the Sony without even looking at anything else because at the time my brother worked for Sony Europe and could get amazing discount. The Panasonic absolutely trounces the Sony in every way possible, it's just in another league.

On topic bizarre that Direct Line do this - as a customer of theirs I wouldn't be too happy with being given vouchers for a specific retailer (particularly one that I despise). I appreciate they have handled it well and acted promptly... but if I bought the original telly from Der's shop or JLS, for example, I'd damn well expect to do the same for the next one. What if they don't stock or supply your preferred manufacturer or model? Could I claim on a damaged Linn power amp, for example, and be sent its value in Comet vouchers? Being an 'electronics' store and all that?

[Dan_1981]

theboss said:

On topic bizarre that Direct Line do this - as a customer of theirs I wouldn't be too happy with being given vouchers for a specific retailer (particularly one that I despise). I appreciate they have handled it well and acted promptly... but if I bought the original telly from Der's shop or JLS, for example, I'd damn well expect to do the same for the next one. What if they don't stock or supply your preferred manufacturer or model? Could I claim on a damaged Linn power amp, for example, and be sent its value in Comet vouchers? Being an 'electronics' store and all that?

No - the claim was passed from direct line to a loss management company (two actually one for jewellery and one for electrics)

I had to provide model numbers or info of the items - if they were stocked by currys / comet you get vouchers for their replacement of the newest equivelant model, other items were sourced from other suppliers ( as in some of my photography gear) and other things a cheque is being sent out (xbox games and DVDs etc)

I'd imagine that very specialised stuff you'd get cash for unless they also work with more specialised suppliers.

[theboss]

Dan_1981 said:

theboss said:

On topic bizarre that Direct Line do this - as a customer of theirs I wouldn't be too happy with being given vouchers for a specific retailer (particularly one that I despise). I appreciate they have handled it well and acted promptly... but if I bought the original telly from Der's shop or JLS, for example, I'd damn well expect to do the same for the next one. What if they don't stock or supply your preferred manufacturer or model? Could I claim on a damaged Linn power amp, for example, and be sent its value in Comet vouchers? Being an 'electronics' store and all that?

No - the claim was passed from direct line to a loss management company (two actually one for jewellery and one for electrics)

I had to provide model numbers or info of the items - if they were stocked by currys / comet you get vouchers for their replacement of the newest equivelant model, other items were sourced from other suppliers ( as in some of my photography gear) and other things a cheque is being sent out (xbox games and DVDs etc)

I'd imagine that very specialised stuff you'd get cash for unless they also work with more specialised suppliers.

Oh thats not so bad at all then, I may have jumped to a conclusion but I interpreted your original post as "they just sent a load of vouchers in the post" without too much of a care in the world.

Based on what you've said about researching availability, going to other suppliers where necessary and providing cash on top, it sounds like they handled it very well indeed.

Makes a change from the typical stories we hear/read of insurance claims.

[lord summerisle]

Goliath205 said:

Personally I would recommend a Samsung or Sony over a Panasonic, I work in Curry's (*don's bullet proof suit*!) and can tell you that no amount of fiddling with the display setting will get as nice a picture from a Panasonic plasma as from an LCD or LED.

read this, then was browsing on Amazon, and came across this review:

"Hi, my name is David Mackenzie and I review HDTVs professionally for some web sites that you may have read. I use a projector for watching films, but needed a well-performing budget TV to play video games and watch TV (funnily enough) on. This was my choice.

Short version: it costs £550 but has no major issues, which is great. The black level is excellent, the "True Cinema" mode is accurate and high quality, and for video gaming, there is basically no video processing lag (I measured it as having only 16ms, whereas comparable LCDs, including LED LCDs, often have 40-100ms which ruins the enjoyment of fast-paced games). Since it's based on Plasma technology, there is no screen unevenness, viewing angle fall-off (the picture looks as rich as it does from the sides as it does face-on), and moving objects look sharp instead of being blurred.

You may have heard/read statements in the press or in stores with un-knowledgeable staff (which tend to have space-age sounding names, or ones which resemble Indian food) that "Plasma TVs are not as sharp as LCDs or LED LCDs". This is total nonsense and anyone who wants to can source test patterns to see for themselves (or take my word on it). I've fed my new TX-P42S20 test charts and it shows every drop of detail from a 1080p HD signal, which just about any 1080p TV does these days. And just in case you've heard scare-stories from the aforementioned retail sources : you do NOT have to "re-gas" a Plasma TV; any modern TV, be it LCD, LED LCD, or Plasma, will last for longer than you will want to watch it (20-30 years or more)."

[headcase]

Goliath205 said:

Stuff

LOL! He knows his stuff Hmm.. I wonder why I never buy anything from there.

[village idiot]

go for a sony... this way you can get 17.5% cash back (ie. the VAT) as sony have a launched a new scheme as of today which is valid in comet/currys!

i believe you put the receipt details into the sony website and they transfer the cashback via bacs to your bank account.

[Goliath205]

headcase said:

Goliath205 said:

Stuff

LOL! He knows his stuff Hmm.. I wonder why I never buy anything from there.

Hey come on, I'm only giving my opinion, I don't have the equipment to measure response times etc as per the post above so am just giving my opinions on my own personal experience, maybe my eyes are just different to everyone elses!

I only work there as I need a job, it's not as if I am in love with the place!

[headcase]

Good for you, ive never used a meter in my life as I tend to watch the TV with my eyes. People perceve a good picture as a vividly bright picture but when you get the thing home and actually watch it in your home you start to see the disadvantages of it, like it only has one shade of white and one shade of red and if your lucky you may get two shades of blue Now take a look at your darker pictured panasonic that was sat next to it, it has scaling and colours, its the difference between chalk and cheese. But most people buy the brighter one then just complain through their asses about it a few weeks later.

[Some Gump]

Whoa forum.

Just because goliath works for comet, does NOT make his opinion that of an idiot. Nothing he said has been either wrong, or far left field. I realise on PH the Pana plasma is the best in the world (but it was on here when the IMO far superior Pioneer was on sale, too) - but just because Goliath would prefer something else does not make him a heretic.

Oh, and he told you how to "beat the man" - not the actions of somone stitching you all up with an extended warranty?

[Dan_1981]

Right then the vouchers have turned up - £600 at the most to spend on a TV from Currys.

Looking on their website i'm thinking of the following - useage will be general TV, Blue Ray, and xbox gaming. (When they all get replaced)

So i'm thinking maybe....

Panasonic TX-P42S20B

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/panasonic-viera-tx-p4...

or

Panasonic TXL37S20B

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/panasonic-viera-txl37...

But am also considering.......

Samsung LE37C580

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-le37c580-37-f...

or in 40"

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-le40c580-40-f...

And thats about it... not a great deal of choice on the website to be honest - Comet seem to have a better range!

I'm assuming everyone here will reccomend the Pana?

[HellDiver]

Dan_1981 said:

I'm assuming everyone here will reccomend the Pana?

Samsung if you want something to cook your dinner, or to dig a hole. Panasonic if you want a decent TV.