Sony Bravia KDL-32W5810

So, the new TV came about a week after I ordered it. Fair enough, for £480 I would’ve waited for another week!

First off, I really didn’t expect a 32″ television to be as big as it is. Looking back, it’s amazing I was even considering a 37″ set. The 32″ is exactly the right size for my room. It fits in well and all HD material looks amazing, the optimum screen size so as not to show any artefacts. The KDL-32W5810 was a breeze to set up. It plugged in and searched for channels the minute the screen came on. Beforehand, I’d taken the aerial cable from my Sky box and plugged it into the back, so I’d be able to pick up any channels on Freesat. This service was one of the deal breakers for me. Freesat offers BBC HD and ITV HD for free – two channels broadcasting high-definition for no extra cost then the current Sky subscription. Without all the faffing about with a Sky HD box, it’s the World Cup this summer I’m really looking forward to. I saw Arsenal v Barcelona on ITV a few days ago and in HD it really did look impressive, i expect the World Cup to be as good!

The standard definition Sky signal also looks reasonably good. It doesn’t look amazing, but then I never expected it would. What is also worth considering is that sometimes certain programmes will look so much sharper and smoother than others. Sadly, shows such as Friends from about ten years ago – or indeed Only Fools and Horses from 1987 – will looks look a bit rubbish on High def screens. No matter, while it isn’t as pin sharp as you’d like, it’s still perfectly watchable.

Games look astounding through the 32W5810 too. I have both a Playstation 3 and an Xbox 360 and I couldn’t be more pleased with how the graphics look. I tried Gran Turismo 5 Prologue on the PS3 and Batman: Arkham Asylum on the 360 and the sharpness, colour and smoothness all impressed me. Another thing the PS3 will be used for is the Blu Ray player. I’ve yet to buy any movies on this format, so I can’t give my opinion yet, but rest assured I’ll probably own a few movies fairly soon!

The Mac is also hooked up to the TV (is there anything this thing can’t do?!) – and again there are no complaints with this either. The TV has about 8 settings depending on what is being watched on screen. So, with the Mac turned on, I’d have it on “Graphics”. With the footie on, it’d be “Sports” – and so on. One curious addition to the list of features is ‘Motionflow’. I think this has something to do with the 24p setting, but I’m not sure. The basic idea is that the 32W5810 will add the missing frames on the input source, in turn giving it a smoother appearance. What actually happens is that anything that is shot on film, such as Lost or 24, will end up looking like an episode of Eastenders. It’s a hard thing to describe without seeing it yourself, but I’m guessing it’s a setting designed for sports, or gaming. It doesn’t seem to work well on films.

The sound, as I’d read on many a review, isn’t amazing. Compared to the beasts that are CRT televisions, sound can never match up. There just isn’t enough space for a decent speaker. Knowing all this in advance, I’ve hooked up my LG Hi-fi to output the sound. It does a fine job, and the TV will let you share the sound with the stereo. I can imagine this would benefit from a good surround sound setup, but I can’t justify that in a small room such as this.

It isn’t often that you buy something and it ticks all the boxes. Quite often I’ve bought new tech and been slightly disappointed with it somewhere, but not this. Everything I expected of it, it delivered. And as I write this, the price on Play.com has gone up by £20 to £500 – they must now how much of an amazing bargain it is and have upped the price a little to compensate.

Eggs and Tellys

It’s nearly Easter, or Chocolate Day as it should be known. To be honest, there is one easter egg that I quite like the look of this year. It’s one of three Nestle eggs that are purposefully retro. A Rolo egg with the old logo and a ‘last Rolo’, a Yorkie egg with the old lorry box and finally a Smarties egg, with the old logo and colour, and with a brown mug. It looks great! Sadly it’s about £5, plus I’ve only seen on in Tesco and Morrisons – and didn’t buy it at either opportunity. I’m hoping to pick one up soon!

While I’ve had no fun buying eggs, I’ve done slightly better with buying televisions. Play.com seemed to have gone on a price-reducing frenzy, marking down the TV I want from about £560 to £480. I’d have kicked myself if I hadn’t got the TV when I had the chance, so I checked my bank balance to see how much I’d be left with if I was to buy (£40 for one week, I can deal with that) and I’ve bought the telly. Now it’s onto the extra bits, such as HDMI cables, a remote for my PS3 and a possible surround sound system, though I am favouring a hook up to my old LG stereo, a significantly cheaper option.

The TV should arrive either the end of the week or the beginning of the next. It has Freesat, so once I’ve hooked the Sky cable up to it, I’ll be able to enjoy this summers World Cup in HD. Huzzah!

Elsewhere, Forest seem to be consolidating a playoff position, and the union of which I’m part of – PCS – were on strike today. I’d like to write on here what I think about unions and striking, but I did that once before on here and sadly I got over-run by many pro-union losers from Royal Mail telling me how to think. So it isn’t worth it.

No matter, Easter soon – which means summer is ever closer. Lighter evenings and milder temperatures. Yay!

Ca$hing In

I acted responsibly for once this weekend.

I’d managed to build up nearly £900 in my bank account after the decision to take £300 as a Christmas advance (something that I soon found out I didn’t need – not in the slightest!), the major temptation with that amount of money is to blow it on something big. It’s happened time and time again with me, Xboxes, Macs, PS3′s. When it comes to money and gadgets – I have form!

However, the circumstances are currently a little different. My contract at the ILF is only a seven month affair. It started the 1st of September and runs until the end of March, so wasting copious amounts of cash wouldn’t be the wisest move. In all likelihood they will keep me on with another short term contract, but just to be on the safe side I need a back up plan.

Hoarding the money seemed the better option, until my parents pointed out that spending a large chunk of the money on outstanding bills (£250 at Argos, £360 at Home Shopping Direct) would be better for a possible jobless person such as myself, as these respective companies wouldn’t be hounding me monthly for a tiny portion of what I owe them. With the end of my mobile phone contract (possibly the last ever one, i can’t see anyone taking me on with my credit rating!) the only money I have outgoing each month is board and £60 on a bus pass. Marvellous!

It’s good that these bills are settled, although I now have the rather more substantial matter of the £2100 i owe HSBC. But having made the jump into responsibility by paying off these bills, I could see myself debt free within the year – should the news about my job be positive…

Of course it wouldn’t be me without some sort of mad purchase. And within a few months I will have just that. I’ve got my eye on a brand new TV (yes, another one), that will replace the monitor and old 28″ telly that currently reside in my bedroom. It’s a Sony Bravia LCD 37″ TV that looks awesome, and is a snip at £600 at Amazon. I feel I’ve done the responsible part by paying off the bills, now onto the mad part where I spunk away all my cash on needless technology.

Which of course is the best part!