Buying a new television nowadays is a major investment. If you are going to spend what could be considered a small fortune or at the very least a large amount of money then it would be prudent to try and make the correct decision at the outset.

The way that technology changes so quickly nowadays you would be wise to consider carefully any investment and try and ensure that it remains compliant with all possible standards.

Television over the years has taken a great number of forms from the old days of analogue Black and White, through the launch of colour television to the latest technologies known as Digital Television (DTT). With DTT, viewers are limited to whatever channels the antenna picks up. Signal quality will also vary.

For the purposes of this article we want to take a look at purchasing a new Flat Screen Television and in this case the television in question is the Hitachi 26LD200.

The 26LD200 is a 26in LCD TV and the prices for these are around 550 pounds sterling or 1100 US dollars. The screen resolution is 1280 x 768 and with regards to being HD Ready the answer is no. The Hitachi has 2 (1 RGB) scarts and the type and number of Multimedia interfaces the 26LD200 uses is none at all. The type of Tuner for this TV is Analogue and the Hitachi is available from limited outlets only.

So given this information, what would be our view of the Hitachi 26LD200?

First up, we would look at the picture quality and our score here would be 8 out of 10, and closely tied in to the picture quality is the sound quality and our score for this would be 8 out of 10. Taking a look at the number of relevant connections and their availability, our score would be 8 out of 10. As far as overall features are concerned we would give it 6 out of 10 and for ease of use and overall value for money we would give it, 8 out of 10 and 10 out of 10 respectively.

Finally our overall opinion would be this set is amazing for the price and outperforms much more expensive competition with ease which means that we can recommend this as a good buy for almost everyone.

It is extremely unlikely given the variety and range of makes and models available that you will not be able to find something to match your tastes or budget.

It probably doesn't need repeating but might be an idea, this is only our opinion of the Hitachi 26LD200 and not an official endorsement of the Hitachi 26LD200 either way, good or bad.

Please bear in mind the prices that are quoted in this article and take note that they are there purely for illustration and though valid at the time of the writing of the article may vary from time to time and also depending on the time of year when you make your purchase.