New TV..........

[engybenjy]

I bought a 40" sony bravia lcd off Ebay for 500 notes.......should have been 1260!!!! So a proper bargain!
Gotta say, Its ace!! Picture/sound the lot. Its got a decent contrast ratio at 18000. Which is important as it makes the colours more vivid.
I would deffinately(sp) recommend a sony bravia to anyone!!!

 

[Sparkey]

Ah, the pussycat is purrring again....

 

[MrFluffy]

Heh, a long time ago we went the projector route, but not a lcd dinky do effort, but a bloody big tri tube celing mounted crt. That was my much loved barco 600, which i paid about 100 quid for years ago.
When it arc'd out and died a year ago, we went out and bought a second hand barco 800 digital. Automatic convergence, easy digital setup (no more tweaking everything with a plastic screwdriver stood under it) and its about half the weight and size of the old 600. I think we paid less for the unit + a retractable screen than the screen alone would cost...
They DO take a lot of setup, but its not rocket science. Im always amused when people ask me what resolution it is... er... its analog... its infinate...
For screen size, we had it set up in the last house of 2.5M across, I think we're going for 3m this time when the projector room is finished.
We also made our own rigid screen, and theres a company called goosystems who will mix you paint and primer in a kit to EXACTLY match the light chars of your particular crt projector unit, and the contrast improvement has to be seen to be believed, although it cost 150 quid including shipping from canada so you might suffer heart attacks when your kids put sticky handprints on it afterwards. For that reason we had a sheet of white melamine when they were around
Id put my old barco up against any plasma or lcd, the only real issue is we sit so far back because of the 2.5M screen, sometimes the wii bar goes a bit out of range when the batteries start to run down...
For 400 quid and some strong brackets, you can put together a system that will kill dead any plasma/lcd telly, and you can expect 10,000 tube life without issues out of the more reputable makes (barco, sony etc).
Porn is scarey at 2.5m though

 

[matt1978]

Heh, a long time ago we went the projector route, but not a lcd dinky do effort, but a bloody big tri tube celing mounted crt. That was my much loved barco 600, which i paid about 100 quid for years ago.
When it arc'd out and died a year ago, we went out and bought a second hand barco 800 digital. Automatic convergence, easy digital setup (no more tweaking everything with a plastic screwdriver stood under it) and its about half the weight and size of the old 600. I think we paid less for the unit + a retractable screen than the screen alone would cost...
They DO take a lot of setup, but its not rocket science. Im always amused when people ask me what resolution it is... er... its analog... its infinate...
For screen size, we had it set up in the last house of 2.5M across, I think we're going for 3m this time when the projector room is finished.
We also made our own rigid screen, and theres a company called goosystems who will mix you paint and primer in a kit to EXACTLY match the light chars of your particular crt projector unit, and the contrast improvement has to be seen to be believed, although it cost 150 quid including shipping from canada so you might suffer heart attacks when your kids put sticky handprints on it afterwards. For that reason we had a sheet of white melamine when they were around
Id put my old barco up against any plasma or lcd, the only real issue is we sit so far back because of the 2.5M screen, sometimes the wii bar goes a bit out of range when the batteries start to run down...
For 400 quid and some strong brackets, you can put together a system that will kill dead any plasma/lcd telly, and you can expect 10,000 tube life without issues out of the more reputable makes (barco, sony etc).
Porn is scarey at 2.5m though

I am sure thats very true mate, we have a fancy HD beamer at work, that I have thought of borrowing a few times, but I dont have any rooms anywhere near big enough in my house to warrant one

I was in Currys yesterday, they got some really big plasma, god knows how many inches and the price...........................£69,999!! Who spends the best part of £70k on a bleedin TV! And if you could afford to spend that much money, I seriously doubt that you would be shopping at Currys in Wednesbury

 

[hareng]

Matt 14/15 months ago i went through the same ordeal, i wanted something watchable, what price, good looks, size, etc
Thing to do is have a trip to the retail park up Wolvo, ignore prices and note down model number and whats a good tolerable piccy. Go elsewhere and same again and so on.
Sooner or later you will end up with around 6 models worth pursuing, try and get as many together side by side (the hard part) playing exactly the same thing. Dismiss appropriately you may find many hyped up brand names going.
Curries J9 Bescot have a good selection but dont all play same thing.
Dixons online was the cheapest for me last year with alloted delivery times and three dates inc a Sunday to choose from, settled on a Friday 3 days from order.

Phillips had trouble in the past with warranty but exceptional piccies.
Sony aftersales non existent after two years or until the spares run out! Been stung scrap tv etc vowing to never have anything Sony again, be warned.
Pioneer should be on your list.http://www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/products/62/63/413/KRL-46V/specs.html
Panasonic LCD 100hz are good but immediately noticed the diagonal stobing and duly dismissed.

Panny plasmas pretty good TH42? made semi final with me but suffered from smudging where browns and greys fade in to black, plus lacked edge to edge detail and looked generally dark side bt side with below.

Samsung LE 100hz LCD's have a butchers, wipes the floor with Panasonics LCD's and more in line with Phillips and Kuros at much cheaper price, why pay more. Samsung tv use same LCD screens as Sony! Only the electronics and hype differ, no diagonal strobing with 100hz models, old mans got a lesser model Sony i cant watch it same with mates Hitachi and LG junk, yep that bad.

Sounds like your minted so order a Bang&Olufsen

 

[snowcat]

I know em all mate, songs, characters..who lives in which coloured house...the lot

mate of mine with 2 kids, swears there the same episodes with different titles.... drives him slowly insane..

 

[Marky]

A kid came up to me the other day and asked, "Which is your favourite Telly Tubby?"

"Probably the new samsung Widescreen, you cheeky wee s***."

haha lol

 

[Jodel]

For more information than you could ever want on TVs and other A/V hardware, have a look at this site: http://www.avforums.com/forums/index.php

I ended up with a Panasonic plasma set as I prefered the image when watching DVD movies. I wouldn't worry about which is 'better' between plasma and LCD - just go with what you prefer as there are good / bad points for either technology.

 

[JimM]

Following up on Jodels reply I also did a load of reasearch via avforums and also ended up buying a Panansonic Plasma

Haven't read every post in this thread so this may have been mentioned already but

Plasmas are the best option for standard def stuff especially movies Give better blacks (although newer LCDs are comparable) and tolerate different lighting conditions better

LCD are the way to go if you'll be watching mainly HD and definitely the best option for gaming

One other thing to consider is not to skimp on the audio side of things. In my opinion at least 50% of the viewing pleasure is what you hear so if your budget will stretch to it get a decent amp anmd speakers. Nothing like watching a movie and feeling the sofa rock with the bass


HTH

JIm

 

[gavuk]

Sorry matt not at home so can't post a link , have a look at the gadget show channel 5 ,they have good reviews there

 

[JimM]

Sorry also should have mentioned that it's no good going to Currys etc to look at TVs you need somewhere that has a decent feed to each TV and has enough space so that you can move back to your normal viewing position. Trying to assess a TV whilst standing 2 feet from it is pointless.

I'd recommend Sevenoaks Hifi if there is one near you, the guys in the shops seem to be pretty knowledgeable, there's no hard sell and will point you in the right direction of what's best for you not necessarily what is the most expensive you can buy.

 

[hareng]

With the advent of the 2009 range of Samsung a few days away there will be plenty of 2008 models to off load at low prices. Mind you twin USB ports and ability to play almost anything would be high on my list now. Record to pc, easy play back via HDMI or USB , no need for Hard Drive recorder.

Its regarded that plasmas are the choice over 37" but the likes of the better LCD from Samsung, Sony, Phillips, Pioneer, B&O models etc outstrip in almost every area even on 50"+ More detail, less blur, sharper, no fade off, no grey or brown fade in to black smudge, real black and definately no diagonal strobing on names listed, Panasonic highly regarded 100hz do strobe.
Compare side by side off same feed.

True need to get at least 5 foot away bare minimum else it pixelates.
Magazines are usually biased towards who ever advertises with them, plus the odd freebie.

 

[Robotstar5]

Sorry also should have mentioned that it's no good going to Currys etc to look at TVs you need somewhere that has a decent feed to each TV and has enough space so that you can move back to your normal viewing position. Trying to assess a TV whilst standing 2 feet from it is pointless.

Had a salesman trying to impress us with the surround sound effect of a TV 'til I pointed out it was the TV's behind us we could hear!

PS bought a 32" Sony Bravia and quite happy with it

 

[matt1978]

Well, I have just been down to the Comet Clearance place by me and they wouldn't budge from £1300.............even though you can get brand new, unmarked one off the net for about £1200-£1300 with a 5 yr warranty, so I promptly told him to stick it!

I was kinda hoping I could of got it for about £900ish as I know at that place, they are allowed to give up to a maximum of 50% discount off the original sales price (Which was £1710.)

Oh well, I am in no rush, I will take some time and look into it properly.

Thanks for all the posts anyway.........

Matt

 

[seriesonewelder]

In Walsall there is an oulet called 'Clearance Bargains', where Argos sells off stock, you may not get the latest kit but there is lots of discount with mountains of TVs etc.
I do wonder about warranty though as you cant take items back directly.

It is also good for DIY drills/sanders etc.

 

[zardoz]

I dont know if they are still the same these days but Panasonic, certainly used to make tvs that lasted forever. I and a pal both bought a 20inch tv from a rental shop, that was already 5 years old. Fifteen years later we both still have them, and working perfectly. Also there was a guy on a tv show a while back talking about televisions. He was stating that the (National) Panasonic tv's were built to a very high standard and really had a good reputation for lasting for over a decade, at least.

Toshiba used to be good, dunno if they still are. Around the same time that i got my bedroom tv,(15 years ago) my mum won a top of the range Toshiba surround sound sound telly, which cost £1000+ back then a lot of money for a telly. Its still going, though it does very ocassionally refuse to switch on for a minute or two. So we will be getting a new one this Spring. I will be taking my time though, its a buyers market, as i see it. If they wont give you a deal then go elsewhere. I predict that they will be getting desperate again after the end of January.

This goes without saying of course. But dont anyone fall for any of those "extended" gurantees that you get sold as extras. These days many salesmen will try to sell you one in one breath stating how you really need one as these things are so expensive to replace. Whist prior to this they have just spent five minutes telling you how super reliable they were.
In any case you rarely need them as a three year gurantee is often what you get with many of these televisions Or even a five year gurantee for the better known names. (as long as its not a cheapo chinese import)

PS: have heard rumours about Sony. Fine till the 2Yr gurantee runs out, then very poor aftersales ervice.

 

[TVT]

I ended up with a 40 inch Samsung - the size was dictated by the recess it had to fit into, and the Samsung had the largest screen in the smallest surround, if you see what I mean.
Over here, Sony and Panasonic are going through a bit of an image problem, while LG and Samsung are now considered at least their equal - I don;t know if it's something to do with their respective costs?

Anyway, I first went the LCD route when we lived in the UK in about 2003/4, and I bought a 15 inch LG. Cost me something like 800 quid.
Then I got a 20 - I thought that was HUGE for an LCD for about 1300. I still have both, and they still work great.

One thing I would say....Unless whatever you're watching is actually proper HD, the picture quality varies significantly, and many times, I'd rather be watching the 20 incher - at least the pixels are smaller, so it gives the illusion of clarity...
The other thing - and this might just be a North American thing, but it's worth checking out - a lot of broadcast TV is still in 4:3 mode - so you get the blackouts either side. I can live with that.
Additionally, sometimes you'll get a show that is very widescreen, and you get the blackouts top and bottom. Fair enough.
But a hell of a lot of the time, you get blackouts top and bottom, AND both sides, so I find I'm watching a 24 inch picture in the centre of a lot of blackouts.
It seems almost irrelevant how high the TV's contrast may be, the quality is entirely let down by the broadcasters....

Anyway, sorry for the rant, and I put in a vote for Samsung.

 

[zardoz]

The other thing - and this might just be a North American thing, but it's worth checking out - a lot of broadcast TV is still in 4:3 mode - so you get the blackouts either side. I can live with that.
Additionally, sometimes you'll get a show that is very widescreen, and you get the blackouts top and bottom. Fair enough.
But a hell of a lot of the time, you get blackouts top and bottom, AND both sides, so I find I'm watching a 24 inch picture in the centre of a lot of blackouts.
It seems almost irrelevant how high the TV's contrast may be, the quality is entirely let down by the broadcasters....

In the UK its probably the same ? We still have a large 4:3 toshiba and all I know is lots of the time the main actors seem to be cut off on the sides of the screen.
However i am puzzled by the bars on both top and sides of a screen, surely the tv should cancel them out. Or is this a broadcast flag ? Do any tv broadcast heads know about this ?

 

[runnach]

I recently purchased a Toshiba Regza 40XF355D (LCD). Delighted with it so far, it does look larger than a 40" because of the very thin bezel surrounding the viewing screen. And it is very slim, not like some of the bulkier models out there.

Thing is Matt, I personally believe LCD/Plasma tellies will go even lower with the current climate, just a case of do you go for it now, or wait for a couple of months...........tricky decision!

 

[Sparkey]

In the UK its probably the same ? We still have a large 4:3 toshiba and all I know is lots of the time the main actors seem to be cut off on the sides of the screen.
However i am puzzled by the bars on both top and sides of a screen, surely the tv should cancel them out. Or is this a broadcast flag ? Do any tv broadcast heads know about this ?

Aw, yeah i hate it when that happens!!!! We have an old chunky HUGE tv too...always the sides of the pic chopped off, horrible...
It almost seems like the broadcasters are forcing us to buy a big expensive lcd or plasma screen... (i've seen people getting loans at the bank to buy themselves a fancy surround system big screen telly thinghy....aaaaaarrgh!)ok...rant over now...