Wondering Where To Buy a Cheap TV

[yorksrob]

Hi all,

Anyone know where I can buy a cheap TV ? My new cable box doesn't have a BNC connector (like what you used to screw your aerial into) so I can't use it in my existing set (the joys of the twenty-first century never cease).

Everything seems to be around £100 quid but I don't want fancy schmancy HD nonsense.

 

[DaleCooper]

Can't you get an adaptor to go from BNC to whatever the other socket is?

 

[J-2739]

Cash Converters, or British Heart Foundation has a large variety of TVs at cheap.

 

[najaB]

Can't you get an adaptor to go from BNC to whatever the other socket is?

Probably not. If it doesn't have a BNC connector then it's likely a digital output only (e.g. HDMI) so a simple converter won't work.

 

[yorksrob]

Can't you get an adaptor to go from BNC to whatever the other socket is?

I asked at Maplins. They don't do them unfortunately. The nearest I could get was something called a modulator, which converts the signal (I assume one was in the original cable box). But that's £40 quid an'd I'd rather spend that on a TV.

 

[me123]

Hi all,

Anyone know where I can buy a cheap TV ? My new cable box doesn't have a BNC connector (like what you used to screw your aerial into) so I can't use it in my existing set (the joys of the twenty-first century never cease).

Everything seems to be around £100 quid but I don't want fancy schmancy HD nonsense.

£100 is a low price for a television. You won't be getting anything "fancy schmancy" at that price. Your local supermarket will have a basic television in this sort of price range.

 

[yorkie]

I also agree with not getting a converter of any sort.

It may be worth getting a second hand model.

£100 is a low price for a television. You won't be getting anything "fancy schmancy" at that price. Your local supermarket will have a basic television in this sort of price range.

True but I am sure yorksrob will be actively avoiding anything too high-tech!

As a 1980s connoisseur, I'd imagine something as close as possible to the screens depicted here from Kung Fury would fit the bill

 

[yorksrob]

I also agree with not getting a converter of any sort.

It may be worth getting a second hand model.

True but I am sure yorksrob will be actively avoiding anything too high-tech!

As a 1980s connoisseur, I'd imagine something as close as possible to the screens depicted here from Kung Fury would fit the bill

I already have a screen like that

Seriously, I'm already falling out of love with Virgin Media. They keep putting their prices up and now they're forcing me to buy extra kit on top through their shoddy design !

 

[krus_aragon]

Cash Converters, or British Heart Foundation has a large variety of TVs at cheap.

I'll second BHF, specifically their larger furniture stores. Look here to see if there's one nearby.

A decade ago, I picked up a 24" CRT (old-style) television from a Cardiff BHF for £15. They only carry flat-screen LCD TVs these days, and the prices are very reasonable: from ~£25 upwards.

 

[cjmillsnun]

I take it you have a V6 box? They have a odd socket they label as SCART, so ask them for a converter to a standard SCART socket and you should be able to use a SCART to BNC lead. That won't be a modulator, and should just be a plug to socket cable.

You are going to have the same problem with everyone now as support for analogue technologies is going.

EDIT. Looking again I think you may mean a belling lee connector rather than BNC. In which case, you're out of luck..

The first picture below is a Belling Lee connector, and the second is a BNC

 

[507021]

If you or any of your relatives use Facebook, there's plenty of local groups offering various goods like televisions for a decent price.

 

[yorksrob]

I take it you have a V6 box? They have a odd socket they label as SCART, so ask them for a converter to a standard SCART socket and you should be able to use a SCART to BNC lead. That won't be a modulator, and should just be a plug to socket cable.

You are going to have the same problem with everyone now as support for analogue technologies is going.

EDIT. Looking again I think you may mean a belling lee connector rather than BNC. In which case, you're out of luck..

Hi, its a TIVO box. The scart plug is one of the big ones with one side angled in. Would this give an anologue signal that can be converted without a modulator ?

(I think its the top one I need).

 

[WelshBluebird]

I already have a screen like that

Seriously, I'm already falling out of love with Virgin Media. They keep putting their prices up and now they're forcing me to buy extra kit on top through their shoddy design !

To be fair, you can't expect new boxes to support connectors that most people haven't used for years. Even before flat screens / LCD's / HDTV's took off, the vast vast majority of TV"s that people used had scart sockets and so you'd use that rather than the aerial connection.

 

[yorksrob]

To be fair, you can't expect new boxes to support connectors that most people haven't used for years. Even before flat screens / LCD's / HDTV's took off, the vast vast majority of TV"s that people used had scart sockets and so you'd use that rather than the aerial connection.

I don't see why I should be expected to buy a new tv everytime technology changes.

 

[TheEdge]

I don't see why I should be expected to buy a new tv everytime technology changes.

Your not, you are using hugely outdated equipment. Its like asking why you can't plug all your old serial devices into a new PC, they are just so outdated that they have gone as pretty much everyone else has moved on.

In fairness most modern TVs still come with SCART sockets even though pretty much everything now uses HDMI, so they do allow for it.

 

[yorkie]

Hi, its a TIVO box. .

What model number?

If it would work with a Dell 2407WFP I may be able to help.

 

[WelshBluebird]

I don't see why I should be expected to buy a new tv everytime technology changes.

You aren't.

Technology has changed several times since the days that the aerial input was the main way of plugging a box into the TV. Since then we have had RCA composite, Scart, S-Video, YPBPR component and HDMI. And that is ignoring the lesser common (mainly computer oriented) ports such as VGA, DVI, DisplayPort etc.

Hell even the 14" CRT TV I had in my bedroom as a teenager back around 2002 (one of the crappy cheap ones from Argos that had a built in VCR) had scart and RCA composite ports.

 

[AM9]

I don't see why I should be expected to buy a new tv everytime technology changes.

Scarts were introduced in the '70s, they will be 40 years old this year. TVs then were analogue, broadcasts were lower quality than the worst digital channel and sound was only mono. 40 years is a great age for any consumer electronic device to still be usable, let alone affordable.
Digital inputs (HDMI) were fitted to TVs from 2005 so if you have a TV without an HDMI input, it is at or very near the end of its expected service life. If you insist in running an obsolescent TV, you must provide the necessary interfaces that digital receivers need. Why should Virgin Media (or anybody else) source a handful of special boxes for the few TVs in the UK that won't work with a modern one, (unless of course you are prepared to pay the going rate for such an obscure device).
Do you still have an ETACS (analogue) mobile phone?

 

[AM9]

Your not, you are using hugely outdated equipment. Its like asking why you can't plug all your old serial devices into a new PC, they are just so outdated that they have gone as pretty much everyone else has moved on.

In fairness most modern TVs still come with SCART sockets even though pretty much everything now uses HDMI, so they do allow for it.

I think SCARTs are finally being flushed out of this years sets, the sockets just aren't compatible with modern manufacturing methods and the trend for slimmer designe means that there is insufficient space to mount them properly.

 

[yorksrob]

Scarts were introduced in the '70s, they will be 40 years old this year. TVs then were analogue, broadcasts were lower quality than the worst digital channel and sound was only mono. 40 years is a great age for any consumer electronic device to still be usable, let alone affordable.
Digital inputs (HDMI) were fitted to TVs from 2005 so if you have a TV without an HDMI input, it is at or very near the end of its expected service life. If you insist in running an obsolescent TV, you must provide the necessary interfaces that digital receivers need. Why should Virgin Media (or anybody else) source a handful of special boxes for the few TVs in the UK that won't work with a modern one, (unless of course you are prepared to pay the going rate for such an obscure device).
Do you still have an ETACS (analogue) mobile phone?

Frankly I pay them enough money for my TV service for them to adapt to my TV, thank you very much.

I don't recall ever seeing a TV with a scart cable until the early noughties anyway.

 

[yorksrob]

What model number?

If it would work with a Dell 2407WFP I may be able to help.

It's an SMT-C7-100 by Samsung.

I might be able to get a modulator.

 

[tony_mac]

You can try freecycle, ebay, or similar and see if you can find an old VCR. An old DVD recorder might do, but is probably more likely to be missing the modulator.
Although you should be able to find an old CRT TV with a scart socket for next-to-nothing; there will be plenty of them at your local tip!

 

[yorksrob]

You can try freecycle, ebay, or similar and see if you can find an old VCR. An old DVD recorder might do, but is probably more likely to be missing the modulator.
Although you should be able to find an old CRT TV with a scart socket for next-to-nothing; there will be plenty of them at your local tip!

Yeah, I'm quite happy with CRT, so that might be an option.

 

[TheEdge]

Frankly I pay them enough money for my TV service for them to adapt to my TV, thank you very much.

I don't recall ever seeing a TV with a scart cable until the early noughties anyway.

With the greatest of respect you are talking utter nonsense. I could understand the complaint if your new box didn't have a SCART socket as they are still fairly widely used but to expect a modern set top box to keep working with ancient equipment is pretty stupid.

You never know, you might like HD.

 

[yorksrob]

With the greatest of respect you are talking utter nonsense. I could understand the complaint if your new box didn't have a SCART socket as they are still fairly widely used but to expect a modern set top box to keep working with ancient equipment is pretty stupid.

You never know, you might like HD.

I didn't ask to change the box. If the ones they supplied me with didn't conk out after five years there wouldn't be an issue, so all of the pontifications of some posters on here about how I shouldn't expect to run my television, whilst welcome, will be disregarded.

 

[AM9]

Frankly I pay them enough money for my TV service for them to adapt to my TV, thank you very much.

But because they supply normal 21st century set top boxes instead of complicated obsolete designs suitable for a few '80s technology sets, the service is at least affordable. I manage quite well with about 20 good to reasonable channels (plus another 100 channels of rubbish) off air, i.e. freeview, so if cash was an issue, I wouldn't be paying £100+ over the licence fee per year for TV.

I don't recall ever seeing a TV with a scart cable until the early noughties anyway.

They started appearing on almost every UK TV in the early '80s so that people could spend their money on VCRs. The only sets that didn't have SCARTs on were the cheap rubbish 14inch 'kitchen and bedroom' sets.

 

[Bald Rick]

Frankly I pay them enough money for my TV service for them to adapt to my TV, thank you very much.

I don't recall ever seeing a TV with a scart cable until the early noughties anyway.

My 2nd TV bought in 1991 for £300 (Sony 14", fast text) had a SCART. My most recent one bought last year for £650 (or roughly £300 in 1991 cash) (Sony 49" 4K smart) is my first one without a SCART. It does have a standard aerial port though.

 

[AM9]

It's an SMT-C7-100 by Samsung.

I might be able to get a modulator.

Don't waste money on a modulator. The Dell 2407WFP is a serious monitor, - I use one on my edit workstation. If I was using a STB like the one above, I'd use an HDMI to DVI cable (or HDMI to HDMI plus adaptor) to get full HD TV. The DVI interface doesn't carry sound so use the phono outputs into some sort of amplifier/speaker setup.

 

[yorksrob]

Don't waste money on a modulator. The Dell 2407WFP is a serious monitor, - I use one on my edit workstation. If I was using a STB like the one above, I'd use an HDMI to DVI cable (or HDMI to HDMI plus adaptor) to get full HD TV. The DVI interface doesn't carry sound so use the phono outputs into some sort of amplifier/speaker setup.

As it happens, I do have a spare monitor, but it has a computer monitor plug on it (what I also call a scart but probably isn't one), rather than the TV one. Would that work do you think ?

Lack of amplifier will be annoying though.

 

[ainsworth74]

My 2nd TV bought in 1991 for £300 (Sony 14", fast text) had a SCART.

'Fast text' what's that then