I've grabbed meself a bargain! (Matsui 2107)

Member Name: GR-Design

Product:	Matsui 2107
Date:	03/11/01 (696 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap, nicam stereo

Disadvantages: lack of bass, colours are not as good as sony models

I’ve just bought myself a new TV! I didn’t actually mean too. I took my sister off to currys as she wanted a new TV. However, me being me, I came back with a new TV and my sister quite simply didn’t!

I came back with the Matsui 2109NS. Now, I wouldn’t normally buy a Matsui television, simply because they are at the cheap end of the market and generally, I believe in you get what you pay for. However, having got a Matsui microwave that’s been going for a good few years and 2 Matsui video recorders which have had no problems, I decided to give it a go. But hang on, why did I come back with a TV and not my sister?

Basically, she wants a 14” TV to fit in her flat. The Matsui was sitting on the shelves advertised as the Managers Special for the small sum of £87.95 (small sum for a TV anyway!). Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but that’s a pretty good price for a 21” Nicam Stereo TV. The reason that is was this price was that it had been an ex display model, i.e. it had been on the shelves of Currys showing whatever they show. The normal price of the TV is £127.95, so I think I picked up a bargain! Think about it this way, you can either spend £90 on a 14” TV or £87 for an ex display 21” TV. I know what I’m after!

So, what’s the TV got and what’s it like. Well for a starter, it looks pretty good. It’s casing is a fairly good quality, silver plastic. The two speakers are visible on either side of the screen, also in silver. The only thing that annoys me is that you can actually see where the speakers are, if you get my drift. Along the bottom you have the power button, a pull down cover to access the display and volume details and the remote receiver, which is black and actually looks quite good next to the silver. You also have ‘NICAM’ displayed on the top left of the TV in a shade of grey, which looks rather nice, I like stuff with wo
rds written on it, I always think it makes the thing look better, but hey, that’s just me being sad….

The tube is only slightly curved, you’d actually be mistaken for thinking it’s pretty flat when your watching it, and there’s no curves in the corner of the tube either, it’s all perfectly square. Talking about the tube, the actual colours and picture quality are indeed quite good for what it cost. Don’t get me wrong here, it’s no Sony or Toshiba quality and the colours are a bit overdone in places, no matter how much you change the colours around, but this is what you have to expect for the cost. It’s not really going to affect your viewing pleasure though, the only time you will notice is if you are used to watching a Sony like myself. Along with the colour controls you have all the rest, including contrast, brightness and sharpness, which you can play with until you’ve got the perfect picture quality for yourself.

You’ve also got controls for the sound, which include Bass level, Treble Level and balance. The sound on this TV is also good, but again, not upto the standards of Toshiba or Sony. The one thing I was a bit let down about was the bass, there doesn’t seem to be that much of it, but I am also used to watching a Toshiba Nicam Stereo TV which has loads of bass. However, the Tosh costs about £300 for the same TV! So I’m not complaining! The Nicam stereo works well between the speakers, and the actual sound quality is very clear. The treble is very good before I forget, really bringing out some of the sounds you don’t often hear on a mono set.

The remote control is suprsingly small. However, you’ve got everything on there that you need to control the TV with including all the fasttext buttons. The remote does look a little flimsy and is very light, which is slightly worrying as I’m around. You also need the remote to tune in the TV and
carry out most of the tasks, as you do with most new TV’s. You can only change the channel and volume from the actual set itself, and of course turn it on! It’s quite easy to find your way around the remote in the dark though (isn’t that the most important thing!?) with the main buttons being a different shape to the others. I also seems to work from some difficult angles, which is always good, theres nothing worse than a remote that needs to be in a direct line with the TV to work!

So, onto the specifications then!…
The TV’s picture frequency is 50hz, so not one for you 100hz fans, it has one scart socket, which could be a problem for you games console fans. And heres the hright and weight specs if your interested, you never know, it might help someone to make a purchasing decision!!
Height : 446mm
Weight : 21.7kg
Width : 600mm
Depth : 480mm

OVERALL

Overall I’m very happy with the TV, especially at the price. When I bought it I didn’t expect too much out of it, and I actually got more than I bargained for. The only problem I am having is the Nicam Stereo switching itself on and off quite a lot, even if your watching the same channel, and if the nicam stereo is on, then goes off, your volume suddenly goes up, which is annoying. However, I’ve found that doing a bit of fine tuning sorts this problem out, or just turn the NICAM off, but hey, I want NICAM! It looks pretty groovy in me bedroom and makes easier viewing than my old 14” set (which my sister bought off me for £30, so I only really paid £57 for the TV!). Just because it is a Matsui, it doesn’t mean your compromising on quality, however, I don’t reckon it will last as long as a Sony model, otherwise why would the price be so low!

For the price, it’s going to be 4/5 from me, as the bass let me down a little. (I sorted that out though by connecting my stereo up to it! Oh…how sad
am I!)

Summary: