So, Looks like we're all going to choosing whether to upgrade our sets again in the near future
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/09/05/s ... cost-25000

Are you happy with 1080p? Or are you interested in 4K resolution?

Volume keeps climbing automatically on my Samsung and it looks like its fooked, so will have to upgrade anyway..........but won't be spending 25 grand!!

My cable provider can't even manage consistent output of any kind. Might flog the 1080 and go old school; can't be any worse

Me neither I'm sure the prices will come down, that set is just the start. I remember when HD sets were first coming out and you would have got much change from 10 grand back then.

Oh god it is, After spending lots of time with HD and then going back to standard, I certainly noticed the difference. Couldn't do without it now.

I'm lucky to get wide screen without having to stretch the picture ridiculously. The so called HD channels are no different to the non-HD. They show the same shite on the different channels at the same time. Bit pointless really. Going through the 24 series on DVD at the moment

Serves you right for being tax-free & having all that hot, dry weather.

Yeah but everything but petrol and bottled water are dearer to the point it might as well not be tax free - honest I can also promise you that 50c and dry is not as good as it might sound. It is literally like living in an oven if you step outside for so much as a second. I miss the rain too

That said. Come November I can go to the beach or pool every day, BBQs in the garden and weekends on the bro in-law's boat

18 months ago I bought a Samsung HD thing. As per its predecesor (Sony Trinitron) it will be here until the day it goes 'pop'!

Shouldn't be too long then if it's a Sammy.

More than happy with my 3D Panasonic plasma.

I currently have a Panasonic Plasma, Great telly. Not 3D though, Can't stand it. Increased res interests me though after having used a 2560x1600 resolution panel monitor, the increase in clarity (if supported) is excellent. Can't wait for 4k.

Got a standard Sharp 26" with no bells and whistles. Had it about three years and everybody comments what a great pic it is. Do for me. Wife has a 32" Toshiba as we don't often watch the same things. I'd much rather have mine.

WHAT?

Actually, is there any sort of chart that gives the life expectancy of TV sets in terms of hours usage?

Will be ages until its supported, I think.

He's right....had a Samsung, lasted a year.

TIS WHY I asked the question, Grunto. Your's will have doubtlessly spent more time on than off whereas mine's rarely on.

Yours probably went into self-destruct anyway, sick of being a vehicle for all the shit tele you watch

Wasn't our main telly......those have been Panasonics. The Samsung was in the bedroom, hardly used.

Ages....in theory. Trouble is as they make them fancier there is more to break.

If its LCD/LED I've heard of instances where the lights either go 'a fault' or eventually dim the screen. Not usual though.

Nowt wrong with Samsungs either.

However given how they advance couldn't cope with keeping my TV that long before upgrading. I'm a gadget freak at heart I guess!

From tellies, to moblies.

I'm not a big mobile fan. Mine rings folk, and it texts folk, and that's all I'm interested in. It does have the internet, but it's that shitty WAP thing, and I've used it maybe once ever. I'm on pay as you go with O2. I've been with them since the first phone I got, when I was 15 and they were still BT Cellnet. Having been with them so long I've racked up that many bolt ons and whatever that it has never made sense to get a contract as it would be costing three times as much. I top up £15 per month, of which they take £7.99, and I get unlimited WAP internets, 50 minutes (I rarely ring people, Skype baby) and unlimited texts (I text the missus, occasional other friends just to talk to, and otherwise only if I'm meeting somebody). It has done me fine. At the end of the month, I'm left with about £7 in credit which I use as-and-when until it runs out, and then I top up my £15 and off I go again. I reckon roughly I get an extra week out of it. So £15 for 5 weeks is about £12 a month. Now, recently she's been telling me I need to join the modern world and get a 'smartphone'.

So, my questions to those who know:

Simple one - she's got the latest iphone and said I can have her old model. Is my free internet likely to be just data, in which case it will still apply with a smart phone, or WAP specific in which case it'll eat credit if I used the 3G internet? If the internet would be free I might just have that. Same deal as now except swanky newish phone (in comparison to mine) and also I suddenly have internet.

If not, two questions:

O2 have offered me a choice of smart phones for £11 a month. Blackberry Curve, Samsung Galaxy etc... Unlimited texts (snap) 100 minutes (double what I have now which I sometimes, though not often, use up) and 100MB of data. I'm naturally a cynical bastard. Are they trying to switch folk from pay as you go tariffs like mine because they can fleece me for more, or is it a business decision because having people on fixed contracts makes accounting easier? Apparently 100MB isn't very much, but I don't use any right now, so I'd probably cope (and as I understand it wifi access isn't counted in this right?). Has anybody taken them up on a similar offer? Can I keep my pay as you go SIM active (though with a different number).

I think I'm just being paranoid though, and this is a good offer. In which case, I'm currently paying about £12 per month. I'm not tied to it, but it's been pretty consistent for a few years. I can pay a pound less and get a swanky new phone. Sounds like a good idea. However, I have ranted for ages about the damn things, iphone wankers in pubs doing naught but stare at their mini screens; people showing you their new apps; folk spending hours glued to facebook. Do I want that, or am I happy in the last century? People tell me they are really useful, but I cope fine (-ish) now. Thoughts?

I think I lied about how many questions I was asking, but I can live with that...