TV Help

[Laurafoster]

Last week DH went on a corporate golf day and came in with the best score. The prize was a nice Philips 37 inch TV. (i knew there was a reason why i pay all that money for golf subs! )

However we ideally want a 42Inch TV so will sell this one. Im now looking for a nice 40/42inch TV at a reasonable price. Would like HD and ideally 2 scart sockets but apart from that i really have o clue what im looking for?! LCD/Plasma?!

Can anyone offer any advice? Or has anyone purchased a good TV recently?
I cant afford to spend a vast amount of money but want a decent make.

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Laurafoster]

Ooops sorry, just noticed i posted this in the wrong place. Could a Mod please move it for me Sorry!

 

[DisneyJo]

Well done to DH what a great prize

We have a Samsung flatscreen and it's really good, sorry that's all the advice I have!

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

Hi
We have a Samsung 42inch plasma,which has 2 scarts and 3 hdmi inputs.
The picture is fab however sound on plasmas are quite naff,so we purchased a samsung surround sound system..its a good set up and we are pleased with it We purchased ours from Dixons. delivered and quickly too.

 

[Jakey Rowling]

You have to quite careful over what you buy.

There is an optimum size for a TV in a room depending on how close you sit. There are guides on the web to help.

Buy too big a one and you're sitting too close and things can begin to look pixelated or blocky.

Also you want HD, do you have a HD source. (SKY HD or a blueray DVD player or HD freeview soon)
If not then you have to look for one that performs well for Standard Definition (SD) or normal TV.
Its a bit like a graphics card for your PC, the processing engine will determine how good a picture you get.

It's quite possible to spend money on a big LCD/plasma TV with a SD source and end up with a worse picture over a decent old fashioned tube TV.

Sony, Panasonic are the best in my opinion, LG are good value for money.
Other makes depend on your setup.

There are various forums which will give reviews.

I don't think that there is too much between LCD/Plasma these days.
Maybe LCD is best for a true HD source, plasma for SD but it is really model dependant.

 

[Minniespal]

We have a 42" Sony Plasma screen. Ours has 2 scart sockets and hdmi inputs. Similar to Beth we had to purchase the surround sound for it. We also have the Sky+ HD box and the sound is fantastic.

 

[bazzanoid]

LG are good value for money.

Maybe LCD is best for a true HD source, plasma for SD but it is really model dependant.

LG are good value for money, however once above 40" there are some real issues with the quality of the LCD panels - we had a few through the shop and they suffer badly with pixelation and motion trails... would recommend either panasonic or Philips for the larger panels. If you watch a lot of disney cartoons and not a lot of sports, steer away from plasma as the colour's aren't as rich. If sports ARE your thing, then plasma definitely as they don't suffer from motion trails as much.

I personally have a 37" Goodmans LCD - unbelievably it was the best quality all round at that size out of all the brands available in Comet at the time, which included sony, philips etc...., and brings me on to the most important point:

Make sure you go to somewhere like comets or currys where they have them all lined up in size order for you so you can physically see the picture quality. They all run them off a crappy source generally, so you'll be able to see straight away which one offers the best picture and sound.

As Jakey said, look at the sources you're going to attach - how many HD devices do you have or intend to have should dictate how many HDMI ports you need. For example, I have a Sky box in standard def but may want to get teh HD later in the year, so that's 1. PS3 makes 2. That's it. 2 for me is therefore fine, never going to need more than that.

Whichever particular model you decide on in the shops, note it and go hunting online. If you've seen one you like in Comet, be sure to check the Comet website first as often they knock £100 - £150 off the store price just for reserving it online, meaning you can go straight back to the store and collect .

Also worth checking are play.com (yes they do tv's now), amazon, argos have been getting more competetive on some models, and also check out price scrapers like kelkoo.co.uk and shopping.com.

I like to think I know every trick in the book at getting better prices

 

[aaronandterri]

We have the phillips 37 one in the bedroom and the 42 one in the front room both excatly the same, very good tvs.

the boys have the samsung one also a nice tv.