Just spoken to my OH and she thinks LCD TV's are expensive over there.

Can anybody tell me of any makes they have taken to Aus & do work fully?
ie are not "region locked" I believe a lot of modern ones are OK and will "swap"regions easily

They do seem more expensive than UK but they are slightly different so whether its worth it is a personal choice.

If my research is correct her are the main differences

The very latest technology is what they call true 1080. A lower resolutions is also called high def (720 etc). Now in the UK to watch high def tv you need sky. Sky actually transmits in high def. I am not aware of any free to air high def boxes in the UK. Bascially meaning the only way of watching high def is though sky or with blu ray player etc.

Here in WA. Foxtel is Sky. They are not yet transmitting in high def. The way you get high def on your tv is either with a blu-ray player, ps3 or with a free to air high def tuner. LCD's here can now be purchased with the high def digital tuner insider them thus being able to pick up high def using your normal aerial. Bascially if you buy a UK tv you will then need to purchase a hd tuner in Oz to watch your programmes in high def. There are only so many high def programmes airing at the moment though and I think it tends to be the AFL and prime time stuff. It will increase year by year and I am sure foxtel will also move to high def. I don't know how long it will be until it is in true 1080 though.

This obviously doesn't answer your questions directly but just more info for you to make your decision with. I am sure I will be corrected quite quickly if this isn't the case.

All the best

J

p.s if you do buy a tv here you will not pay the list price. there is always a haggle game played. Also look out for the end of tax year sales in Oz to pick up a bargin.

We bought one with us and works fine and bought one here, and we felt they are alot cheaper here, IF you are buying with your pounds converted to dollars rather than straight dollars!! If that makes sense!!

Current price for the latest 40" LCD Samsung here is about $2500 - on Kelkoo I found a similar model (without the inbuilt HD receiver) for 688 pounds ($1651)

Remember how it used to be a rip off society in the UK - well get used to it being the same over here :-(

DVD players are usually region locked but they can often be unlocked if you search the net for service codes. TV's aren't region locked as such but they might not work in another country if you use them for "off-air" tv reception. UK and Australia TVs both use PAL video so the TV will work with videos and dvd's or set top boxes, in all cases.

Where they will be different is in the transmission standard from the transmitter to your telly (Off-air reception). This is different in UK and Australia, for both digital transmission and analogue (old fashioned) transmission. Whether your telly will work here really needs a check of the standards which most people seem to get confused with. Since it will work if you buy a new set top box, its probably easiest to bring it and see. Set top boxes are cheap. You are right that in todays global market many manufacturers make one tv to cover lots of countries, but they don't all do this.

Regading high defintion picture resolution, there are about 4 different standards of High definition here. The TV companies seem divided into two main groups, half prefer to increase the horizontal resoltion and the other prefer to increase the vertical resolution. In my opinion the best pictures are on 1920x1080i screens. I don't think any free to air is doing 1920x1080p (twice the vertical resolution of 1920x1080i) and I'm not sure this is a ratified standard anyway, so I'm not sure its worth paying for a tv capable of that. If you are looking for a new telly I would suggest getting one that does 1920x1080i. Some claim high definition at much less than this.

Get to the Goodguys, PayLessPayCash

Generally from what we have found out, in retailers, over in Australia , if the brand is chinese it doesnt have a region lock.. in most cases

LCD 46inch on offer via retailer, $3400.00 chinese brand tho.. cheapest i found

We just bought a 60 inch plasma LG for about 5k , so there are bargains to be had

Steve

some sites to try are:
www.harveynorman.com.au
www.wowwicked.com.au
www.thegoodguys.com.au
www.betta.com.au

plus ebay.com.au

Hope this helps

Our PS3 displays on our TV through a HDMI cable at 1920x1080p but if we use any other cable it won't. I believe the 1080p is the Blu ray standard so if you want to be able to play Blu ray at full resolution then it may be worth paying for.

Yep, we just got a 70inch Sony Rear projection LCD from Good Guys for $4200, with their displayed price being $6500 so it is definitely worth haggling with them

Definately.

Always surprises me on the Interest Free Credit issue in Australia, lol..whereas here we can pay cash and get a discount, in uk you are not allowed to do that if you also offer interest free credit.

Another thing, I have just thought of...

If you go into an Aussie retailer, lets say Betta Electrical, and state you want a recently delisted model ( because it has been superceded ) then they can locate you that model, at a reduced price.. thats what we did and scored a second plasma for peanuts, by comparison.

Those sony 70 inchers and the huge LG and JVC rear projections are HUGE lol.. its like the VIDEO REFEREE screen at Telstradome !!! lol

Thanks for all the info guys (I am sure I will understand it all eventually!)

Basically my OH is in Aus already, I shall follow with the kids as soon as the house has sold. She has been looking about and a 32" lcd tv in Aus looks to be somewhere about $1800. I can buy one here for between £4-500 (say $900-1200) quite a lot cheaper, providing I can confirm it will work. I realise it will probably be ok through a dvd player or something, but the saving becomes questionable as to its worth unless the tv is fully functional over there. I know I have seen in past replies to such questions that people have taken thier TV's to Aus and they have worked properly from the outset. I was after any manufacturers names that this has happened with as the most likely to be worthwhile purchaseing and takeing over there.

I don't want to step on any toes but have you considered the warranty side of things? If you buy one without an international warranty and it fails then you'll be kicking yourself. I know that some notebook computers are sold with international traveller's warranties which have conditions like where you need to take it for repairs. Worth checking out?

we brought two plasma's over with us and they work fine, just make sure that they look as if they have been used or you will have to pay tax on them if customs think they are new

Not sure if that old myth still works. Customs are trained to recognise new models of popular electrical goods. If they are in doubt then they will likely pull over to make a thorough check. I'm not sure I would risk it and then there's the whole packing it for shipping and worry of it getting damaged.

Have you shipped your stuff over yet? I'm just thinking you may saved yourself $600 buying the TV in the UK but have to spend that much to ship it to Aus. Of course if you've not shipped your stuff yet, you may not pay much more chucking a new TV in the container with all your other things.

yes but I'm a firm sceptic on the value of "warranties"! I accept there is a small risk but the vast majority of electrical goods these days dont fail untill at least 3 days after the warranty expires!

We are not bringing a lot of stuff, only a part load, and economically 4 CuM is the minimum 5CuM is almost the same price bar a few quid and I think we will struggle to fill 4 CuM!