Freesat, and why not, the concept is so sound it's almost the next best thing to sliced bread. I'm not sure the reality lives up to it though. Since looking into it a while ago when I was presented with the usual Sky or Freesat dilema that I suspect will be the agonising contemplation of many a telly obsessed brit. So, to check it out, I got one of the SD boxes - a little Bush one - it was cheap as chips. Probably rightly so. I think I would have done better to stump up and get a decent HD box. At least something with a little more oomph to it. Or maybe a freesat PVR. Heck, if I really put my money down I could have got a spanking freesat enabled TV. Then I could have gotten a sky box on top of it and had the best of both worlds. However the little Bush BFSAT does actually do the job, just not very elagantly. For example, the menu is a little obtuse - adding in extra channels is a pain and sorely missing from my manual, but at least reasonably document on the internet. And then there's the fact that the on screen program guide, more often than not displays a "no information available". Doing a re-install solves this. For a while at least, but I can't help thinking it's all a bit of a crock. Now I know that some of the HD boxes probably aren't much better, but still, at least I would have had HD!

Well, if you're lucky enough to have found one of the Hitachi media boxes that is meant to go with the UT32MH70 or any of the other Hitachi Ultra Thin TVs, then good for you. I've been searching high and low and can't seem to get my paws on one. I have, however found the instruction manual for the HDR-MX01 over here.

It looks like a pretty cool digibox with a 250GB hard drive, it doubles as a PVR, so it would be the perfect thing to connect to the UT32. In the meantime, I'm thinking of getting a freesat HD box to connect up so that I can watch TV via the HDMi port in the back of the telly. Ideally though, I want something that can upscale a scart connection since I have a media centre that uses a scart output which I would love to get connected up to the television.

Also, I notice that the 42 inch model (the UT42MX70) is coming down in price and as far as I can tell, that one is full HD unlike the UT32, so if I can get a nice AV amp with upscalling that could be a brilliant option. Still on the super skinny televisions, the new Samsung Luxia range also looks pretty good, though I expect it costs a bit more than the UTs...

Oh, back again? Looking for another review of the Hitachi UT32MH70? Still undecided about buying it despite that lovely cheap deal at Richer Sounds? Well that explains why you are reading this site! I'm probably in the same boat as you. Now some people might call be oveanalytical, but I think I'm just cautious. After all, who wants to part with 300 odd quid for a TV in the current economic climate without having all the information to hand? See, the thing is, I don't want to be buying a new TV every year. The tv I buy this year should last me for the next ten years, so I really want to make the right choice. Trouble is, I fall into the category of wanting the world on a platter for almost no money at all :). Now a lot of reviews point out that the UT32MH70 is a good deal, even at full price, but I'm not so sure.

I was reading the Trusted Reviews write up of Hitachi's UT32MH70. Just like the techradar review of the ultra thin television, they marvel at how extremely thin this television is:

Get a tape measure out, have a look at how small 35mm is, and you'll appreciate just what an achievement the design of the UT32MH70 really is. It's a genuinely huge step towards the long talked about dream of truly wafer thin TVs, and currently makes this Hitachi one of the most aggressively stylish and aspirationally appealing TVs around.

Well, nothing unusual there - we know that already, after all, it is an ultra thin television. But they do highlight just how thin the UT series is. I did actually get a tape measure out and measured it against my current telly. It is pretty shocking! Trusted Reviews carries on marvelling at the asthetics of the thing:

slick, polished look of the bezel, or the way the polished excellence extends beautifully round to the TV's rear

And then tells us how Hitachi managed to create such a wafer thin like television. Basically, they started using multi-tasking chipsets and developed a tiny power supply as well as improving heat dissipation and air-flow to keep the innards cool. Then the kicker, as we all know by now, the fact that Hitachi have removed the tuner from the UT32MH70, rendering it more a monitor than a television.

That's a bit backward for a television. In fact, you might say they've arrested the development of the TV. Get it? Arrested development? You know, the television show.....won a bunch of emmy awards and stuff. let me refresh your memory with some arrested development quotes. Now, where was I before that humerous aside?

Oh yes, getting on with the Trusted Reviews review of the Hitachi Ultra Thin. They note that the Hitachi has great viewing angles and good colour depth, but are slightly surprised by the lack of Full HD on a TV that dispenses with SCART inputs in favour of 1 HDMI input. Despite the noise reduction capabilites, over all, Trusted Reviews leave a little dissapointed:

The UT32MH70 is sufficiently distinctive aesthetically and just about good enough in performance terms to justify its £900 price. However, it's not as accomplished a performer as its own bigger, Ultra Thin brother, and perhaps more importantly, it also isn't as accomplished a performer as some of its fatter 32in rivals.

Keep in mind though, that the review is looking at the 900 quid price point. The reviewer might change their mind if the set was priced lower.

Oh well, still undecided.......

So, scanning the web for Hitachi UT32MH70 reviews, I stumbled onto this little quote

There's actually something to be said for driving this screen without upscaling standard-definition content at all. If your upscaling player uses an old or regular processing chip, you will be better served with coughing out 576p or 480p images. I did, and was dazzled by the results. SD video, from DVD or a set-top-box, is rich in detail and depth. One person who spied the set during testing actually thought SD DVD was high-definition footage, it's that involving. While lacking in the kind of absolute detail HD encodes can offer, this screen is assured in its standard-def control.

That's from techradar. The rest of the review is pretty good as well. All in all a positive review of the ultra thin Hitachi TV, though, as usual it points out the lack of tuner as a big downside. A sperate media centre is obviously available, but that costs extra so it's bound to put some people off. Techradar also thinks that HD ready 720p is good enough for a 32" television, so even though the price tag on the Hitachi UT32MH70 is high, it still delivers a good picture for the money. Also worthy of noting that the panel is only 35mm thick. That's incredibly slim for a television. So slim that if this were a model, I would say it suffered anorexia. erm.

The techradar review of the UT32MH70 continues and points out that if you are watching TV with the lights turned down, then the blacks tend to grey a little. That's a pity, but then again, I was always told that watching with the lights out is bad for your eyes so.... :)

Finally, the review ends off on this note:

Overall, I'd rate picture quality as spectacular, and if it was only the width that's been slimmed down, rather than connectivity and content delivery, it would be a shoo-in for 32in of the year so far.

And it gives 4 out of 5 stars. A pretty good review of the Hitachi UT32MH70 all in all.

The biggest surprise about Hitachi's ultra thin television line is that they aren't really televisions. What? How can a television not be a television. Well, in the case of the UT series, when the television doesn't have a tuner!

How can a television not have a television tuner? Well, Hitachi's plan was to remove the tuner so that the TV could be made Ultra Thin.

So, how do you watch TV on a TV that has no television tuner? For a start, you could plug it into something like a Freesat digibox. Or maybe a Sky satellite box. Be sure to get the HD version though, because all that ultra thinness comes at the price of only having an HDMI input.

Woah! Wait a minute, you're saying only 1 input and no tuner? So now I need an AV amplifier or something so I can plug my HD television receiver AND my DVD player?

Yep. Well, see if you managed to get your hands on the UT32MH70 before January, then Hitachi were giving away a free external "media centre" box which included a TV tuner and 250Gb hard drive as well as a SCART input so you could plug in your legacy equipment. As it stands though, this is no longer the case and the HDR-MX Media Station isn't free anymore, so you have to plump for extra to get this TV to actually work as a TV.

Hitachi are one of the first companies to launch ultra thin LCD TVs. These things look absolutely stunning - in fact, they are so thin, you will be tempted to turn it just a little bit on the TV stand so that guests will notice how thin it is. Wafer like televisions, though, does not mean equally aneamic performance, as Hitachi have proved with their line of UT LCD TVs. The first one in the range is the UT32MH70. So named because it is in fact a 32" Ultra Thin LCD Television.

The UT32 is beautiful - and because it is so thin, it is also much lighter than your normal LCD televisions, which makes it ideal for hanging on the wall. All in all, this is one of the most stylish televisions to make it's way into your living room, and when you aren't watching TV, you can simply oogle at the stunning piece of technology on your wall.

Sadly, there isn't a lot of info about these TVs on the internet, so this site is here to collect together reviews that are out there so you can read about the Hitachi UT32 and decide if it really is the television for you.