Beko, bless you! (Beko 28426 ND)

Member Name: izzywizzy

Product:	Beko 28426 ND
Date:	05/10/03 (1838 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap price, Good picture quality, Good connectivity

Disadvantages: Poor sound quality, Poorly designed remote control, Tacky on/off switch

Our last TV was a Fidelity 28?, but not a widescreen. When it gave up the ghost after less than 3 years, we were sure we didn?t want a widescreen TV. The old TV only just fitted in the gap in our lounge, and we were worried that a 28? widescreen would be too big. Looking around the shops, we realized we didn?t have much choice but to get one, there just isn?t much else around!

PRICE
We paid an amazing £229.99 in Tesco for this 28? widescreen Beko 28426ND about 6 months ago. We had never heard of Beko, but the price was half that of other models. The same model is currently on sale at http://www.tesco.com/electrical/ for £239.00 with free delivery (and you get clubcard points too).

SIZE
The narrow speakers meant that the TV would fit in the gap vacated by our old telly - 71cm (28 inches)wide, 50cm (20 inches) deep. No other 28? widescreen we looked at had the small width of the Beko. If we hadn?t found this model, we would have had to buy a 24? widescreen (but that would have meant a smaller picture than our previous TV). Also, the set is very heavy. You need a good, strong person to lift this set even when unpacked from the huge box.

(If you're thinking that 28" wide is odd for a 28" TV, then so did I. Apparently it's because the screen size is measured diagonally.)

PICTURE QUALITY
Outstanding. The picture quality is as good as much more expensive branded TVs. There were twelve different TVs being demonstrated in our Tesco store, and this one had by far the best picture quality.

SOUND QUALITY
At low volumes, the sound is OK, but at high volumes the quality leaves a lot to be desired. There is vibration and interference and the sound becomes scratchy and electronic-sounding. I imagine that?s down to those small speakers on the sides that so impressed me with their space-saving. The sound is fine for normal TV watching, but not good enough for DVDs and films in general. It?s not a problem f
or us because we use our stereo speakers for TV sound and turn the TV down.

STYLE
A stylish, silver-coloured housing with a good nearly flat screen. You won?t get the street cred offered by the more fashionable brands, but then you won?t have to mortgage your house to buy it either!

TUNING
Very easy, self-tuning. I didn?t have to change a thing.

FEATURES
When the video recorder, DVD player or digibox is switched on, the Beko TV automatically senses it and turns over to the correct channel. Great for people like me that can never remember where to find the video channel J.

There is a headphone socket that I?ve never used.

REMOTE CONTROL
The remote is basic, and not very ergonomic (especially when compared to the lovely Hitachi remotes). There are too many buttons within easy reach. The most used buttons, although larger than the rest, are not large enough. It is too easy to press the wrong button when changing channel. The fastext buttons are too small and fiddly to find. The text buttons have incomprehensible labels like ?SUB?, ?REV? and ?DOUB? (this last one is supposed to stand for double ? meaning enlarge!).

Having said that, the remote is adequate and contains all the usual features including volume control, channel selection and mute.

SOCKETS
A twin scart socket is provided at the back of the set. It was straightforward to connect up our combined DVD/ video, digibox and stereo system.

SWITCHES
We use the remote control rather than the on-set switches for most things, but I do like to turn the TV off at the set at night (it saves electricity). The on/off switch on the set is poor quality and feels very tacky. You sometimes have to push it in two or three times before it switches, and I?m scared of breaking it because it doesn?t feel very good quality.

USER MANUAL
Large print, plenty of pictures, easy to read and informative. There is also a quick set up
guide printed on card, which was very helpful when we first installed the set.

RELIABILITY
We?ve only had the set for eight months, but there are no problems so far. I have to say that I've been pleasantly surprised with how good this set is, even though the manufacturer's name does sound like someone sneezing!

MANUFACTURER?S WEBSITE http://www.beko.co.uk

Summary: