Blaupunkt 32-1331 HD Ready TV for £129, pay an extra £12.90 and you have a 6 year, fully refundable warranty.
To save you guys a comment please allow me to say:
1. Yes, it's not a Samsung UE32J6300. You pays more, you gets more.
2. Yes, Blaupunkt is not German any more and it's made by UMC of Slovakia, probably using cheap/graded Chinese power supplies, imaging engines, LED display panels and plastic pellets
3. Blaupunkt/UMC shares the same hell-hole with Vestel from Turkey, at least on this Forum.
4. Yes, it's not Full HD, 4K, HDR, OLED, HDCP 2.2, HDMI 2.0, Smart, Nano crystals or even 3D.
5. Yes, It's in-store only
6. Yes, it's not Freeview HD (thank you, zipgun!)
7. Yes, given the piddling refresh rate you'll probably get shot and killed from a bullet coming at you from 1m away in your favourite FPS because YOU DID NOT SEE THAT BEADY EYED A-H*LE JIHADIST PRETENDING TO BE RAMBO'S DISTANT COUSIN STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU PACKING A HONKING M2 BROWNING IN HIS GRIMY LITTLE HANDS!!! (thank you, Gollywood!)
8. Yes, you'll probably need a soundbar to compensate for the tinny, abysmal, godawful speakers (thank you, evostick47!)
9. YES, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
10. etc
BUT
1. It's only £143 for a 32-inch TV guaranteed for 6 years (and Gollywood's set - see comments below - has lasted 2 whole years to-date!)
2. It is probably good enough as a second TV for most folks who couldn't give a toss about the % of the sRGB colour gamut covered by the LED panel
3. Blaupunkt TV's have a rating of ca. 4/5 on some websites including Tesco and RS. I'm hopeful all of them were not written by UMC or retailer employees.
4. It has 3 HDMI and one USB for PVR recording which appears to work fine. Could you imagine the flexibility 3 HDMI's will offer you in the bedroom - the mind boggles!!!
5. Richer Sounds have a sterling reputation for audiovisual equipment.If it goes bad you'll have it repaired or replaced; I have personal experience of their Supercare guarantee.You'll pay only 10% of the cost price for the warranty and can claim it back at the end of the 6 year period if you hadn't made a claim.
6. Currys will charge you £69 for a 5 year warranty on a TV costing £151 (46% of cost) and only the brave will attempt to walk back into the store after 5 years to claim warranty costs back because their TV did not require a repair.
Hell, only the brave will attempt to take it back to Currys for repair within those 5 years!!!
Top comments
hcc27 to LOUGHBORO GUY
1 Feb 163#3
Well at this price point it will never be a Best Buy tbh. Tesco, Amazon and Richer Sounds have mostly decent reviews for Blaupunkt TVs; Richer Sounds has 4.3/5 from 17 reviews for this particular TV.
Obviously you can pay more to get much better quality, but at least with the 6 year warranty you have peace of mind that your bargain basement TV will work for a very long time. Not an assurance you can get with most other dealers who offer only the standard one year warranty on UMCs and Vestels (unless you pay a hell of a lot more extra).
Most folks who have a sub-£150 budget for a 32-inch TV (myself included) couldn't care less that it doesn't cover 98% of the sRGB colour gamut. They just want something that works and is reliable for a few years to come.
Latest comments (20)
ollie87
2 Feb 16#20
Most likely dealer fitted too.
Like those crap dealer fitted sunroofs.
Zuulan
2 Feb 16#19
I'm sure BMW's had no radio as standard in those days. They were optional extras.
hcc27
2 Feb 16#18
I take all your points on board, but these provisions are no different from what other retailers offer at significantly higher cost. E.g. Curry's Care Plan, a 5 year warranty on a TV in the price range £151-200 costs you £69 and the terms are the same e.g. a complete replacement nullifies the remainder of the cover.
The salient differences with RS appear to be the cost of the warranty (fixed at 10% of price), the full refund available at the end of 6 years if you hadn't claimed and of course, the CS which many happy customers will testify to.
In the case of a £200 TV, RS will charge you £20 (10% of ticket price) for 6 years' cover with their Supercare plan and will refund you if you haven't claimed in 6 years. The same TV will cost you £69 for 5 years' cover at Currys (35% of ticket price) and you can bet your bippy they will look quite confused if you try to claim the cost of cover at the end of those 5 years because you hadn't used it!
evostick47
2 Feb 16#16
8. You need to factor in the price of a sound bar because the sound is unbearable.
9. I speak from personal experience, we have one on the wall in our bedroom and it's a terrible terrible TV set. I mean really really bad.
10. Spend a few quid more and get something a lot better.
11. You have been warned.
guitarman1 to evostick47
2 Feb 161#17
So it's not very good then?
Gollywood
1 Feb 16#15
Yeah, my lad ditched it sharpish. PS3 is permanently attached to main TV now. With hindsight, WTF was I thinking!
bo84gle
1 Feb 16#12
Pretty sure I seen this in store at tesco for £99
BigBruiserAl to bo84gle
1 Feb 161#14
I got this for £89 on black Friday in Tesco, quality is beyond crap relegated to kids room for 720p xbox and even then I'm ashamed :smiley:
Gollywood
1 Feb 16#13
I actually have this identical TV but it's the UMC badged version. Paid about £150, 2 years ago.
It's OK, but not very good for watching fast moving ball sports if I'm honest. Son gave up using it with his PS3 so I guess it's not that great for gaming either, even after fiddling with the settings.
You can tell when assembling the stand that it's made of cheap bit, but that's to be expected.
I think the Black Friday price of £99 is actually what it is really worth.
Gollywood
1 Feb 16#11
I voted HOT for the honesty!!
AndyRoyd
1 Feb 16#10
Don't want to get too bogged down in t&c for warranty. Actual terms for RS 6year warranty state: The Company's liability is limited to the lower of the original purchase price of the product or its current value. (Current value means the cost of replacement of the product immediately prior to the time of failure with an item of similar age, specification and condition.)
1. All benefits under the agreement will cease if:...
c) A cash settlement in lieu of repairs is made, or a faulty unit is exchanged for a different model....
5. Following settlement of a total loss claim the agreement expires.
And you can tell that the current 6yr warranty t&c page is actually an update to the earlier RS 5yr warranty: http://www.richersounds.com/action.php?cdx=loadstatic&page=5yearterms
T&c should not be confused with gestures of goodwill by RS. I highly rate the RS service and its GoGW, but customers should be aware of the limitations of the written t&c.
Heck, "you can claim your money back at the end of the 6 year period if unused. Simply return your unused Supercare policy within one month of the expiration date, and we'll refund the price of your guarantee." What's not to like?
Ninbox4
1 Feb 161#9
Yeah, that's right! :smiley:
Ninbox4
1 Feb 162#7
Triggered a great memory of Blaupunkt car stereos being the ultimate back in the late 80's (before Kenwood stereos became popular) :wink:
LOUGHBORO GUY to Ninbox4
1 Feb 161#8
Yes weren't they standard in BMW in the 70s and 80s ?
hcc27
1 Feb 161#6
Well I beg to differ based on my experience with them. Have had two TVs that needed repairs after 3 years (power supply fault and backlight blown), one was repaired within a week and the other was replaced again within a few weeks as it was beyond economical repair. I actually received a better model of TV for the latter. A friend of mine had his Supercare refunded after 5 years as he never made a claim, apparently they've stopped offering that now.
Will never go to a retailer other than JL or RS for AV equipment.
AndyRoyd
1 Feb 16#5
Er, no. With a 6 year warranty you have peace of mind that your bargain basement TV will be away being fixed numerous times for a cumulatively very long time. Actually, that isn't true either, cos I think RS has a vague policy of replacement/refund after xx repairs, so if a(ny) repeatedly failing item is replaced say at year two, that's the end of your "peace of mind" 6 year warranty. Sometimes, a 6 year peace of mind warranty equates to a short term piece of junk warranty.
In context, I have owned a number of UMC items and all have performed faultlessly. But I know techs in the TV repair trade...
zipgun
1 Feb 161#4
Also 6. Not Freeview HD
LOUGHBORO GUY
1 Feb 16#1
You forgot to mention which magazine says it's a don't buy not a Best Buy !
hcc27 to LOUGHBORO GUY
1 Feb 163#3
Well at this price point it will never be a Best Buy tbh. Tesco, Amazon and Richer Sounds have mostly decent reviews for Blaupunkt TVs; Richer Sounds has 4.3/5 from 17 reviews for this particular TV.
Obviously you can pay more to get much better quality, but at least with the 6 year warranty you have peace of mind that your bargain basement TV will work for a very long time. Not an assurance you can get with most other dealers who offer only the standard one year warranty on UMCs and Vestels (unless you pay a hell of a lot more extra).
Most folks who have a sub-£150 budget for a 32-inch TV (myself included) couldn't care less that it doesn't cover 98% of the sRGB colour gamut. They just want something that works and is reliable for a few years to come.
Opening post
To save you guys a comment please allow me to say:
1. Yes, it's not a Samsung UE32J6300. You pays more, you gets more.
2. Yes, Blaupunkt is not German any more and it's made by UMC of Slovakia, probably using cheap/graded Chinese power supplies, imaging engines, LED display panels and plastic pellets
3. Blaupunkt/UMC shares the same hell-hole with Vestel from Turkey, at least on this Forum.
4. Yes, it's not Full HD, 4K, HDR, OLED, HDCP 2.2, HDMI 2.0, Smart, Nano crystals or even 3D.
5. Yes, It's in-store only
6. Yes, it's not Freeview HD (thank you, zipgun!)
7. Yes, given the piddling refresh rate you'll probably get shot and killed from a bullet coming at you from 1m away in your favourite FPS because YOU DID NOT SEE THAT BEADY EYED A-H*LE JIHADIST PRETENDING TO BE RAMBO'S DISTANT COUSIN STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU PACKING A HONKING M2 BROWNING IN HIS GRIMY LITTLE HANDS!!! (thank you, Gollywood!)
8. Yes, you'll probably need a soundbar to compensate for the tinny, abysmal, godawful speakers (thank you, evostick47!)
9. YES, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
10. etc
BUT
1. It's only £143 for a 32-inch TV guaranteed for 6 years (and Gollywood's set - see comments below - has lasted 2 whole years to-date!)
2. It is probably good enough as a second TV for most folks who couldn't give a toss about the % of the sRGB colour gamut covered by the LED panel
3. Blaupunkt TV's have a rating of ca. 4/5 on some websites including Tesco and RS. I'm hopeful all of them were not written by UMC or retailer employees.
4. It has 3 HDMI and one USB for PVR recording which appears to work fine. Could you imagine the flexibility 3 HDMI's will offer you in the bedroom - the mind boggles!!!
5. Richer Sounds have a sterling reputation for audiovisual equipment.If it goes bad you'll have it repaired or replaced; I have personal experience of their Supercare guarantee.You'll pay only 10% of the cost price for the warranty and can claim it back at the end of the 6 year period if you hadn't made a claim.
6. Currys will charge you £69 for a 5 year warranty on a TV costing £151 (46% of cost) and only the brave will attempt to walk back into the store after 5 years to claim warranty costs back because their TV did not require a repair.
Hell, only the brave will attempt to take it back to Currys for repair within those 5 years!!!
Top comments
Obviously you can pay more to get much better quality, but at least with the 6 year warranty you have peace of mind that your bargain basement TV will work for a very long time. Not an assurance you can get with most other dealers who offer only the standard one year warranty on UMCs and Vestels (unless you pay a hell of a lot more extra).
Most folks who have a sub-£150 budget for a 32-inch TV (myself included) couldn't care less that it doesn't cover 98% of the sRGB colour gamut. They just want something that works and is reliable for a few years to come.
Latest comments (20)
Like those crap dealer fitted sunroofs.
The salient differences with RS appear to be the cost of the warranty (fixed at 10% of price), the full refund available at the end of 6 years if you hadn't claimed and of course, the CS which many happy customers will testify to.
In the case of a £200 TV, RS will charge you £20 (10% of ticket price) for 6 years' cover with their Supercare plan and will refund you if you haven't claimed in 6 years. The same TV will cost you £69 for 5 years' cover at Currys (35% of ticket price) and you can bet your bippy they will look quite confused if you try to claim the cost of cover at the end of those 5 years because you hadn't used it!
9. I speak from personal experience, we have one on the wall in our bedroom and it's a terrible terrible TV set. I mean really really bad.
10. Spend a few quid more and get something a lot better.
11. You have been warned.
It's OK, but not very good for watching fast moving ball sports if I'm honest. Son gave up using it with his PS3 so I guess it's not that great for gaming either, even after fiddling with the settings.
You can tell when assembling the stand that it's made of cheap bit, but that's to be expected.
I think the Black Friday price of £99 is actually what it is really worth.
The Company's liability is limited to the lower of the original purchase price of the product or its current value. (Current value means the cost of replacement of the product immediately prior to the time of failure with an item of similar age, specification and condition.)
1. All benefits under the agreement will cease if:...
c) A cash settlement in lieu of repairs is made, or a faulty unit is exchanged for a different model....
5. Following settlement of a total loss claim the agreement expires.
And you can tell that the current 6yr warranty t&c page is actually an update to the earlier RS 5yr warranty:
http://www.richersounds.com/action.php?cdx=loadstatic&page=5yearterms
T&c should not be confused with gestures of goodwill by RS. I highly rate the RS service and its GoGW, but customers should be aware of the limitations of the written t&c.
Heck, "you can claim your money back at the end of the 6 year period if unused. Simply return your unused Supercare policy within one month of the expiration date, and we'll refund the price of your guarantee." What's not to like?
Will never go to a retailer other than JL or RS for AV equipment.
In context, I have owned a number of UMC items and all have performed faultlessly. But I know techs in the TV repair trade...
Obviously you can pay more to get much better quality, but at least with the 6 year warranty you have peace of mind that your bargain basement TV will work for a very long time. Not an assurance you can get with most other dealers who offer only the standard one year warranty on UMCs and Vestels (unless you pay a hell of a lot more extra).
Most folks who have a sub-£150 budget for a 32-inch TV (myself included) couldn't care less that it doesn't cover 98% of the sRGB colour gamut. They just want something that works and is reliable for a few years to come.