Philips 42PFL7662D/05 Review

Philips 42PFL7662D/05

First of all, my heartfelt thanks to everyone for your words of support and encouragement. I had lunch with Colin today: he appreciates all your comments, sends his regards, but his mind is set. You can’t even begin to imagine the sort of things he’s been contemplating in his post-HDTVTest era… “attractive” to say the least. ;)

Moving forward, I will continue to review HDTVs (here’s the latest: Philips 42PFL7662D) as funds permit. Taking on board a few points suggested by you guys in the previous post, I’ve been brainstorming ways to raise money for this project:

  • Anyone interested in HDTV calibration service around the North West region? My rates would be much cheaper than any other calibrators in the UK, and I possess in-depth knowledge of all the televisions I’ve reviewed on this site.
  • Anyone interested in buying the HDTVs that I’ve finished reviewing? I usually buy from the cheapest online store I could find anyway so the price would be competitive. To compensate for the TV being second hand (it will actually be as new because I take care of the TVs very well and usually sell them within 2 weeks), you’ll get it with the full calibrated settings (worth £250 if you get a calibrator to do it), and I’ll walk you through how to get the best out of the TV.
  • Collect some donation before going ahead to buy and review a HDTV… sort of like how http://www.phpvideotutorials.com are doing it.
  • Pay-per-access or monthly subscription… really doubt this will work though when there are free reviews elsewhere.
  • Just a simple “big ass Paypal ‘Support Us’ button” :) (as suggested by Max)

These are just thoughts… I need to gauge the response before acting on them, so let me know what you guys think.

13 comments

  1. Hi Vincent

    You must realise by now, given the true heartfelt outpouring of support, that you have a winner on your hands. You now know that you just need to find a way to make it pay.

    Perhaps you expected the site to pay for itself too quickly. You have reviewed a number of expensive, top class displays, within a very short space of time (you spent your load too quickly). Maybe a comparison of cheaper brands such as Mirai, Hannspree, and AOC 32″ LCDs would have prolonged your budget. Also, reviewing DVD players could have strung out the funds (a shootout between Samsung 870, Toshiba 370, Sony NS76, and the Oppo 981 springs to mind). These cheaper intervals would have been lapped up by the review hungry crowd.

    Given that your budget is depleted, the idea of reviewing a display then offering it on your site for sale on the site is logical. It should command a reasonable price since the visitors to the site know that they would be getting a fully calibrated screen (and ISF is expensive). You could celebrate the purchaser in some sort of ‘Hall Of Fame’ on the site.

    My advise is to stick with it, but sometimes review cheaper options among the high price stars (and sort out the strange html formatting that leaves large areas of blank page}. Remember that it’s the calibration detail that makes this site special (and the ‘big ass’ Paypal button can’t hurt).

    I, like many others, wish you great success.
    Stephen

  2. Hi Vincent

    it’s really sad that you’re struggling so much to make ends meet. I enjoy your reviews very much and therefore I have the following suggestions and comments:

    Pay-per-review goes against a public service concept and means fewer visitors and less fun.
    I believe the best way to make this site worth running is via relevant ads (maybe a few banners, but especially link to products, prices, price comparison, special offers, etc.) and more visible donation links.

    I think pre-review donations – e.g “donate for the Sony KDL-40D3000 review” – just like the ps3 activity could be the way to make sure, the loss of product value + time used is covered. Income from non intrusive, relevant “public service” ads could then be used to cover misc. expenses such as hosting and future site upgrades – and hopfully, after all bills have been paid, there’s some money left to reward your time and effort.

    If you need specific advise about relevant ads, please don’t hesitate to mail me – I’d be more than happy to help :)

    best wishes
    Allan

  3. I’d pay almost list price for a second-hand, properly calibrated TV, that’s been looked after!

    There are so many inferior content providers (particularly the mags), that I can’t help think that you must stick with this…

    It will work!

  4. Hello !
    I just wanted to express my regard to your important work, and to the fact you didn’t “throw away the towel” altogether (due to recent events). the site is alive and well and reviews are still written.
    thank you, Mr. colin.
    apparently one man can make a difference… ;)
    sincerely yours,
    Ido.

  5. Vincent,

    Have you tried to approach manufacturers, importers and ask televisions for review?

    Maybe you could also try to make deal with some store. This store would borrow you televisions, when you advertise them a little.

  6. I agree with #5, JJK80.
    Wouldn’t it be possible to get review examples from TV manufacturers?

    Thanks for a great site!

  7. Anders: dealing with the manufacturers is very, very hit and miss. I can understand why Vincent and Colin bypassed them and just bought the TVs themselves to review!

  8. Surely there’s hope for HDTVtest. You guys write the definitive reviews of HDTVs…something that we consumers really appreciate. I think most people accept that review mags are primarily driven by advertisers…either that or the review sets they receive are in no way representative of the real off-the-shelf product (bitter experience speaking here).

    There is a similarly definitive website for digital cameras that I found a few years ago….they’ve just been “acquired” by Amazon:

    http://www.dpreview.com/news/0705/07051402amazonacquiresdpreview.asp

    So there are companies out there with a real commercial interest in independent review sites (maybe you could approach Amazon?).

    In the meantime can you not at least claim the VAT back for the TV’s you review….it is a business after all and that would go someway to offsetting your purchase bill.

    Keep up the good work Vincent, you deserve to do well out of this website…it’s brill :-)

  9. Im sure everyone appreciates the work you put into running this site. When splashing out on something this expensive it is vitaly important to have a definitive, unbiased opinion. Luckily I found that and was able to be confident in my purchase.

    Would it not be possible to rent TVs from companies such as ‘Hughes Electrical’ for a week/month and thus save money?
    I suppose it depends how much you lose out on when re-selling.

    I wish you good luck, and implore you to maintain such an excelent service

  10. Hi Vincent

    I’m ready to donate some money now! Just tell me where!

    How much for the calibration?

  11. PS. I think Dave C had the best idea, integrate with a well established website with money to back you. I worked for play.com for about 2 years as a manager so if you need contacts i’ll help you out.

  12. Well, now that you even credited me for the Paypal button idea I’m sure to pitch in mate!

    Good luck, and I’m looking forward to your review of the upcoming W3000 series once they hit the shells.

    Max

  13. as i suggested before, sellign the tv’s is a good option. leave it for sale for a week, goes to the highest bidder.

    approach companies, you suggested that samsung have already started providing you with TVs

    ads are ok, let us know how much money you make from click throughs and purchases, we can buy ‘through’ your website to give you the commission etc.

    keep up the good work :)

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