I think Ebble would be a whole lot more comfortable if you hired a wood panelled CRT from Radio Rentals.

Most warrantys' t&c cover defects in manufacture and/or materials, not vandalism! This Panachronic is Vestel; the Sharp is the equivalent from UMC; the Sony "should" be a superior TV.

Looks like the price is now £399.

This TV has the worst picture and sound I've seen in a long time. However, this is completely reflected in the price. If you can spare a bit more go for the Samsung 48j5100, as that will get you good quality for an extra £80.

Every time a TV comes up as a 'bargain' the Vestel debate begins. I have no connection to or with Vestel but did meet with a rep of theirs a couple of years ago at the time a lot of Argos Hitachis were blowing their power supplies. What he said was illuminating. Vestel will build a top quality TV if the manufacturer or seller allows them to. If many were to spend an additional £10 on their specs the TVs would improve surprisingly. Penny pinching as opposed to Vestel appears to be the problem.
In this instance, the quality of the TV will depend on the spec demanded by (I assume since via John Lewis) Panasonic. If this were ordered by, say, a large electronic seller who then stick a badge on it then i would expect it to be poor quality. If this has been ordered by Panasonic then I would expect the quality of both build and parts to be good. How the buyer can determine who has authorised the build is not something I am aware of but I am sure some of you have this facility.
To sum up? If ordered by Panasonic, I would suggest buy.

There's been quite a few of these on eBay as 'manufacturer refurbished' recently

I'm still watching my old Panasonic plasma model TX-37PX600B. Screen burns electricity and isn't the prettiest compared to these new skinny framed LCD sets.
It's almost 10 years old now but has great sound for a flat(ish) TV. The picture quality I still find fine in standard def and superb fed with a high quality DVD.
Just waiting for a decent 4k TV to come onto the market at a reasonable cost before I take the plunge. It's been an amazing TV if not the cheapest. You get what you pay for ultimately.

I am not really sure what you mean but you can read it for yourself. This is for the Consumer Act from October 2015. For goods purchased before October 2015 we had rights under the consumer protection act and limitations act.

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act

Full version is here

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents/enacted

If you purchased a product before October 2015 then a different act or acts apply. It is quite easy to word an email to Currys or whoever stating you wish to make a claim under the relevant act. I have a draft at work which my son used to inform Currys of his samsung tv that had little use in the 2 years 9 months he had owned the tv. I will happily post the wording of this if anyone requires it. Googling the fault highlighted that his panel fault was not an isolated case.

Please buy from JL or Richer Sounds as it does make a claim easier by purchasing through them. All they are doing is saying to you, "We know what your rights are as a consumer and we are here to help you if you have a problem". Its just a shame Currys, Argos, Tesco etc cannot do the same as JL and RS must be laughing in their faces with not only their price match promise but also their statement that if you have an issue with your tv in the next 5 or 6 years then get in touch.

But if you can't get what you want from JL or RS then don't be afraid to purchase elsewhere as you still have rights. Don't expect a new replacement when your tv is nearly 5 years old and the panel fails but they must do something about it and offer you compensation taking into account how much you paid for the tv and how much use you have had from it.

Goods have to be fit for purpose and last a reasonable amount of time, but five years seems excessive for a TV. I've been reading about vestel TV's this afternoon and they are routinely failing within twelve months

Post the relevant consumer law passages at £0 cost and everyone should vote hot for a 6Year warranty.... Dare you!!

Lol we have a consumer law expert in here! Oh dear

Why do people vote hot for such rubbish when you can get a 48" Samsung for just £30.00 more.

http://www.tesco.com/direct/samsung-ue48h5000-48-inch-full-hd-1080p-led-tv-with-freeview-hd/259-5594.prd?sc_cmp=aff*nt*gmo*HotUKDeals_1018132&utm_medium=gmo&utm_source=tradedoubler&utm_campaign=aff*HotUKDeals_1018132

You don't need the JL 5 year warranty. You get 6 years under UK Consumer Law.

I suggest you do what I did and go and view the 300B in Currys. It is a bad tv. Awful picture as soon as anything gets up to speed. I haven't seen motion blur on a tv as bad as that since my first lcd tv from more than 10 years ago. I don't care whether this tv is made by Vestel, UMC or from some small electronic company working from a mud hut in the Indian Ocean. What I do know is it is a crap tv. This is £300.00 wasted which you could put towards something better. Only a few weeks ago Currys were selling off a similar size LG tv for £329.00. You can get deals like that for most of the time on branded tv's. Why these reach so much heat is ridiculous. Either people are so naive before rating or the 'manufacturer' employs people to give their products heat. This is not a hot deal. It is £299.00 wasted that could have been put down on a better tv.

It's bad in that the picture quality is dire. A sh1t tv is a sh1t tv, being big doesn't make it less sh1t

I think he was being sarcastic - its usually the response posted when inferior items are posted (eg a crappy smartphone from Sainsburys for £9.99), followed up with comments such as 'will be great for kids or the grandparents'

It's just my personal opinion / preference. The 'Panasonic' is made by Vestel, and the 'Sharp' is made by UMC (So neither Panasonic nor Sharp make their sets!!), and I would marginally favour the UMC over the Vestel.

But in a perfect world where I had a higher budget, I wouldn't touch either, and go for a Sony or Samsung (because I believe even LG have the odd budget set made by Vestel)

I wish Dave Jones would do a tear down of a vestel TV on his EEV channel

Yes, a basic TV. OK for children or old people, but not really for the experienced, technologically advanced telly watcher.

I think Ebble would be a whole lot more comfortable if you hired a wood panelled CRT from Radio Rentals.

As for the whole Vestel v UMC debate, I would rate UMC slightly above Vestel. They tend to use parts (power/AV boards) sourced from China, some of which are reasonable quality. Vestel on the other hand manufacture everything in house and they're built with the cheapest of parts that are barely upto task hence the high failure rate.

I would choose a UMC Sharp over a Vestel Panasonic any day

Why do you think that? Genuine question.

Now I have a dilemma, bought the cheap £249 Sharp tv from Tesco knowing its crap, was going to return that and buy the Sony (the one from John Lewis for £399) and then now this has cropped up!

Last 3 tvs broken by the kids so the 5 Year John Lewis warranty would really fit the bill for me.

So advice from others would be great.

Yup just had a look couldn't find hot wheels being thrown as accidental... But spills including which counts for two tvs :smiley:

Doubt "accidental" would include vandalism :confused: But point acknowledged and respected.
http://www.johnlewis.com/our-services/more-about-added-care#terms-and-conditions

I think someone mentioned in the Sony thread that JL were offering 3 years' accidental damage for an additional £20.

Agree but for £20 you get the accidental damage cover from John Lewis

V is for ............VESTEL?!! Yes?