Reviews related to : Televisions
Certainly the biggest TV to have invaded my lounge, unlike most others that allow me to slide my own TV back on the unit this needs to be towards the back of the unit because of the width of the screen and the size of the stand.
The Cello QLED 55inch 4K TV measures 124x70.5x.6cm and the stand it sits on is 76cm wide at the front and 24cm from back to front, it is the shape of a ‘C’ this raises the unit by 7cm from what it sits on. It can of course be wall mounted. However as the fitment is the only place I can put any TV the width of the ‘C’ is vital for me.
A visit to the HMS Belfast on the Thames introduced me to a company called Cello and its range of televisions.
Over the past few years I have been sent items for review that have been lacking some essential components. These review items have generally consisted of LCD monitors but a more recent product to arrive with missing components is a 22 inch battery powered flat panel television.
While the sound quality of the two previous Cello units have been good there is little any normal TV speaker can do about the terrible sound quality on recent films even those made by people like the BBC are now falling into the choice of hearing speech and being deafened by the music or hearing music at the normal level and lip reading speech, however help is available with a quality sound bar.
This is a 43inch TV with a couple of plus points, first it has an integrated sound bar which looks little more than an extended area under the screen and second this unit has a full Android computer built in so you can get and send emails and search the WWW in fact anything you can do with an Android Tablet. It comes with a tiny Wi-Fi USB dongle to connect to the supplied TV’s ‘Air Remote Control’. The TV is 96x63x1.
Recently I visited HMS Belfast and saw the whole range of Cello TV’s including the recently reviewed Battery TV offering, here is something that is a first for me in TV’s a curved screen offering although I have reviewed a couple of computer panels that have curved screens.
This is their smallest curved TV at 32inches. My normal TV is a little larger but I choose the 32inch for logistical reasons, Cello place their stand supports towards the end of the TV and what I sit my TV on would not be wide enough to support anything larger. Having moved my TV further back and unplugged my aerial input as well as the HDMI connection between my PVR and my TV I was ready to assemble and install the Cello in front on my own TV it weighs just over four kilos.
This is a full size (22inch or 32inch available) TV that can run off an internal battery pack, mains power or even off a car cigar lighter socket. Best of all it comes with everything you need even a Philips screwdriver and an external aerial.
This rechargeable LCD television measures 38x30x8cm, my unit was the 22inch model, the viewable screen was 48x26.5cm this gives the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 22inches. This is a first for me a TV that can run off an internal battery pack, while it is of course ideal for caravans it is also useful for anywhere that suffers regular power cuts and it can even power a couple of low power lights which are supplied with the unit complete with the LED bulbs.
This is not Samsungs latest and greatest high end model but it is being sold by AO at a very competitive price so much so that they class it as a best seller, so what exactly do you get for your money and is it a good value purchase.
The screen is 90x52.5x3.5cm, the stand is rectangular at 50x19cm and this raises the screen by 6cm from whatever you place it on. The viewable diagonal screen measurement is 40inches.
I have looked at a number of high priced Smart TVs here something for a lot less with of course a lot less features it has Freeview and is an HD TV, but a lot of the extras like optical out are not included in this bargain buy.
The Blaupunkt BLA-40/233 measures 90x51x1.2cm the last figure is at the edges, the stand is 44x21cm and this raises it by 7cm from whatever you put it on. This is a terrestrial TV as it has an aerial input, it also has three HDMI and a USB as well as composite and component connections. So while it is not the very latest ‘Smart TV’ it can be tweaked with a PVR and something like a ROKU box to bring it up to date.
Reviewing a quality TV is always a pleasure it means my elderly 32inch offering can have a rest. This 40inch offering is just about the perfect size for my lounge and while exploring its secrets from my sofa I am still technically working.
As one of its smallest models, the Samsung 32-inch television is the subject of this next review.
Smaller than the previous models I have checked out, the Samsung Series 6 SMART TV LED TV 32 is, as its model number clearly indicates, a 32-inch unit. As with the previous 40-inch model reviewed earlier, this 32-inch SMART TV needs to be mounted on an elongated “X” shaped silver base. Attaching this base involves the use of seven screws that are included in the package. I found that these screws needed more force than I had expected.
I had a few days of watching my own 32inch TV before I had at accommodate yet another 48inch TV from Samsung; this was not a curved screen offering so it was even a little bit larger than their recently reviewed item.
I was expecting the 40inch model and to accommodate 48inches is always a squeeze. Its not the overall weight as they are all very light these day but the size to sit on the unit I place them on, its all down to the size of the stand as an overhang of the screen either end is acceptable. It is 107x71.5x4cm on the stand. The stand itself is a sideways ‘x’ shape this is 67cm wide at the front and back and 34cm wide at the sides.
While I have seen TVs with curved screens, in fact I seem to remember one vendor claiming it had the first one in the UK. Now around a year later I get one to review. This 48inch offering from Samsung has a great deal to offer.
106x62cm is the height and width but this does take into account the up to 6cm concave in the central area of the screen. To work out the size of the screen would be beyond my ‘O’ level maths so in this case I take Samsung’s word that it is 48inches using the diagonal imperial measurement method. The stand is made up of two semi circles the front larger one is 88cm wide at the two edges. The rear semi circle is 55cm at the edges and they face away from each other.
Clearing a suitable space in my living room and, at times, putting a strain on my back, it was time to check out one of the new models in Samsungs television line up.
I can still remember the “box in the corner” scenario when you might be the only family in the street who had a one-channel television. You could invite some neighbours round to share the entertainment being broadcast while occasionally some others could be invited to raise the envy and jealous levels.
As with all such devices it is not just a TV but also an entertainment centre so you can send and receive emails, Skype, search the web as well as watch catch up TV all via Ethernet or Wi-Fi so the review period always needs to be longer.
Let’s start with the TV itself it is 95x54.5x5cm, the viewable screen is 89x50.5cm which gives the notional diagonal imperial screen size of 40inches. The stand protrudes beyond the base to 97cm at the front and 75cm at the rear of the pair of feet that support it. So whatever you stand it on will need to be at least 27cm deep and support a 10kilo item. You can of course get a kit to hang it on a wall.
I am old enough to remember sitting with the rest of the family around a small box in the corner of the room and watching a potters wheel in operation. I may have forgotten many of the light entertainment programs being broadcast by the BBCs sole channel during that period but that potters wheel is firmly entrenched in my memory of early television. Nowadays the screen of that box in the corner has expanded in size while the boxs depth has reduced considerably as it grants the viewer access to numerous channels that attempt to cover a wide range of subject matter. One such modern style television, or should that be media display centre, is Samsungs SMART TV UE40F6400AK offering.
This is the third model that I have checked out from the Samsung SMART range of flat-screen TVs. As its title might indicate, this unit has a 40-inch display which is mounted on a silver base in the shape of an elongated “x”. Eight screws are provided to ensure the base is firmly attached to the display panel. This operation, including removing the parts from the packaging, is best carried out by two people although it is possible for one person to perform the task.
Samsung are perhaps one of the top two manufacturers of affordable lounge sized TVs that do far more than offer Freeview HD. In fact this one complete with its two remote controls could for a lot be everything that they need.
It is 90x52x4cm, this can fit on the ‘x’ shaped chromed stand provided or like most recent TV’s be mounted on the wall. I used the former method, the stand raises the TV from whatever you sit it on by 8cm and the ‘X’ is 55x37cm at the extremes. The last measurement – for now – is the viewable screen size which is 89x50cm which gives the notional imperial diagonal measurement of 40inches.
For those looking for a large widescreen television, but lack enough space to accommodate the 55-inch UE55F8000 model I reported on recently, the Samsung UE46UF7000 product may be a viable option.
As with its larger sibling, the 46-inch UE46UF7000 SmartTV is not the kind of device that you could hide away in a corner. It will tend to dominate any normal household room in which it is sited. Although it is possible, as I proved despite the protestations of my back, to unpack and set up this widescreen television on your own, the operation is recommended to be carried out by two people.
Having recently looked at larger TVs from LG and Samsung it seems only right to look at another of the major manufacturers Toshiba, while most will think of Toshiba for notebooks they also do TVs and other home items.
It is 91x52x4cm and it is only 2cm thick at the edges. The viewable screen is 89x59cm giving the notional diagonal imperial measurement of 40inches, the stand is glass and is 38x20cm it raises the screen by 7cm from the table or whatever you stand it on, four fittings are supplied to allow you to fit into a wall kit should you want to wall mount. The stand allows around 15degrees of side to side movement. The screen however is fixed in the normal vertical position.
While my own TV is a unit capable of displaying HD it cannot show 3D, at 32inches by todays idea of size it is small. So I cleared a larger space in my lounge and here look at a Smart TV from LG that does it all that includes Wireless.
I am no superman but moving it around is not difficult as TV’s are so much lighter than early LCD unit used to be. As always I start with the dimensions. The screen is 95x56x2cm, it can of course –using a kit- be attached to a wall. However a stand is provided and this is a maximum of 52x25cm and it raises the TV by 7cm.
TVs are getting larger and are no longer just a device to take external connections, hence the word Smart as now they do not even have to have an Ethernet connection as a reasonably good wireless link will do it all for you.
My own LCD TV was one of the early ones after the tube was superseded and is now showing its age. So I was glad to have this offering from Samsung during part of the Olympics. Not just for having HD built in but also the BBC app that allows even more streams than the six available with a standard recent TV, so almost anything that is live is viewable. The screen dimensions are 91x52x2cm the only place that is thicker is where the stand connects to the rear of the unit.
This consists on a pair of glasses with earbuds connected by a short lead to a small box. My thoughts go back to early handheld CD players however here you not only get sound but also vision and the box has an Android system.
The term ‘learning curve’ seems to have fallen out of favour, this revives it. While with help I managed to get it to do all it was supposed to do you get a chance to learn the art of touch as with the glasses on you cannot see the box and you need to control the cursor on the screen you may also need to use a button on two on the box so you do get the chance to see things as a blind of partially sighed person does, an interesting experience.
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