Technika LCD15DVDID-107 TV

From the outset I will make a confession, this television replaces a 16 year old Sharp portable, which was first used as a crude monitor for an Amiga 500! Now this has advantages and disadvantages when it comes to making comparisons; the features of any new television will blow the Sharp out of the water, but a replacement has a lot to live up to in terms of reliability.

Connectivity. The unit features a single SCART socket, this will disappoint some; but I'm guessing that the manfacturers thought "Hey we're giving you integrated freeview and DVD player, so what else do you need to plug in". Just in case a set of RCA/Video connections with headphone socket is provided on the side of the TV, which a suitable adaptor would allow to fill in for a 2nd SCART, or provide a basic connection for a camcorder. There's no HDMI socket, but as this is an SD model this is expected. One bonus is the ability to go back to the days of the Amiga and use the TV as your monitor with the SVGA socket included.

Features. Seperate analogue and digital tuners; with no recording equipment on board, some will question why this is so. There are advantages to be had by having an analogue tuner in a few cases. First areas where the digital signal will be pathetic until switchover. Second for those who live on the fringe of a second region, and watch local programming; analogue signals generally cover larger areas than digital. Third if you just can't stand the slowness of digital text. Fourth if you intend to pipe RF from a security camera or satellite or cable box in another room. The ability to use the TV as monitor works fairly well (although I would still use seperate TV and monitor), and I am currently setting up my laptop to let my watch programmes on internet catch up services like iplayer and 4OD. The DVD is basic, but serviceable, and does play both press and burned DVDs (and can be made multi region by means of a code I am told). Two DVD complaints, firstly the DVD player will not handle mp3 files; secondly the only means of zooming in on a cinemascope DVD is by means of the LCD mode button. This is useful as it allows the viewer to do the same with widescreen TV pictures, but there is only one level of zoom, which could leave huge black bands on some films.

Picture & Sound. I suspect that this could be said of any LCD TV, but the picture quality is vastly sharper than that of even a better CRT; even on anologue channels the picture is pin sharp. The sound is stereo perfectly adequate, and the volume range is excellent (I can genuinely hear the TV, at volume 1 or 2 out of 50).

Setup. Setting up the analogue TV is easy, and more importantly automatic, with the ability to adjust the channel order easily should you be dissatisfied with the end result of the auto tuning. The digital TV is slightly more trick to tune, again it is quick and automatic, but the DTV menu button is cunningly hidden at the bottom of the remote.

Some final points. Firstly the viewable angle on the LCD could be better, but I suspect this is a matter of getting what one pays for; a TV turntable can circumvent this problem. Secondly, the DVD player lights up blue while in use, which is cool, but totally unnecessary. There is only a standby button, however I am told standby is very low power. Lastly, I have heard some complaints about DVD failure on some units, so check that you have some warranty and your receipt.

All in all the TV is superb, and a great space-saver.