Philips will not include Freeview HD tuners in its 2010 TV range
We've just had it confirmed from Philips UK that it will not include Freeview HD tuners in any of its 2010 TV range.
In a statement issued exclusively to whathifi.com, the company says: ""We've considered all the options for 2010, and given that it's early days for Freeview HD, we have now decided not to launch integrated Freeview HD in our TVs until our 2011 range.
"Instead, we will have a competitive bundle with one of our Philips Pace HD boxes. This will provide a versatile and affordable solution that gives consumers a choice."
There had been some confusion as to whether Philips's 2010 models would include Freeview HD as standard, as you can read on this thread on our Forums.
Back in March, Philips unveiled two Freeview HD set-top boxes designed by Pace, the £299 HDT8250 with 500GB hard drive, and the £159 DTR5520 Freeview HD receiver-only model.
Comments
Dont see this as a major problem since i`m am one of the milliuons on customers with Sky hd. Also most people will want recording ability which is not included in built in freeview hd set
I am another lost sale for Philips; someone who was waiting to see what they did, and thinking I was just waiting to see price and date details, and, hopefully another good review from WhatHiFi.
Much as I like Ambilight, and, frankly, just the quality of the sets recently, I simply will not buy a TV without HD, so I must now look elsewhere.
Still, it does mean I'll get a new TV sooner than I though, I suspect.
R
Sorry for my soap box rant yesterday, its just that I've been holding of buying my new Philips TV for 8 months until the 2010 Freeview HD sets are out so Im very disappointed, but come on Philips if your sets are the top of the range LED LCD's money can buy how come every maker of TV's worth there salt has Freeview HD tuners installed this year e.g. LG, Sony, Toshiba, Sharp, Panasonic, Samsung and the cost of the new tuners must not be much more as you can even get a Sony TV for £499 with it installed = Sony Bravia KDL32EX403U LCD HD 1080p Television, 32 inch with Built-in Freeview HD.
Could it be that as the only European country broadcasting the new HD format they just couldn't be bothered as the UK is only a very small percentage of there overall sales of TV's, maybe if they were more widely available they might sell a few more ?
How can Philips release a TV that is going to be out of date before they have even released them on the U.K. public. If the 2010 series are anything like the 2009 series we won't see them until the end of the year. When WHS&V had their exclusive meeting with Philips, they should have enquired when they were releasing their sets in the U.K.
As the top models of the 2010 range are going to be 3D ready, but only with the use of an additional box. Why don't Philips include Freeview HD and Freesat HD tuners in the additional 3D Box, (with the option of also having a PVR version of the box)as this would cut down on the amount of HMDI sockets being taken up by separate boxes. Philips customers would also feel that they were getting better value when buying the 3D Box.
Phillips are late to the HD party anyone would be an idiot to buy such an incomplete product.
its a shame really as philips make great TV's they just cant get them out in time
we have to wait months for the high end models and by the time they get released you are better of waiting for another tv.
I feel utter disgust at Philips stance on this matter, Half the UK will have Freeview HD by the end of the summer but Philips feels you should not expect there �1800+ (9000 series) TV's to give you all the terrestrial channels reception.
They may look into including it in there 2011 range ? so that means you may be able to find a Philips set by the end of 2011 / start of 2012. Given the VERY VERY poor service they seem to have decided to offer the British public since pulling out of the large electrical retail market a year or two back, and given that almost every corner shop in Holland has the complete range available we British should vote with our wallets and boycott Philips products.