LCD Tvs.....its all confusing!

punkrockprincess

Hey!

My mum and dad are on at me to buy a LCD tv. I don't really know much about nothing, they assume I do, but i dont. Anyway, My mum wants to spend just south of £500 and my dad wants a 37" tv. I have been looking around and around on the internet and keep hearing different things. We don't have any HD things, like dvds or a ps3 or anything and won't be getting any any time soon, but they want the TV to last a good few years (our last one lasted 15 years before they got sick of it).

I am pretty sure I am looking for the impossible here, but I found the following so can you guys tell me if they are worth buying?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-LE37A436T-Widescreen-Ready-Freeview/dp/B0015C95FI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1223915841&sr=1-2

http://www.directtvs.co.uk/Teco_TA3796RV_37_Inch__HD_Ready_LCD_TV_TA3796RV/version.asp

http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/content/products/details/?modelcode=DAE-DLT37C3FTB

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/3436317/Haier-37-L37A5A-HD-Ready-Widescreen-LCD-TV/Product.html

or could someone maybe direct me to a decent on i could buy?

Thanks hugely in advance to anyone who answers, i feel my head is about to explode with all this TV knowledge!

aliEnRIK

The ONLY one I would even consider there is the Samsung.
37" is quite large for 500 quid so I cant guarantee the quality. You should really be looking at around 6 to 700 for that. You get what you pay for. The cheapie ones will have BAD picture quality, and probably wont last more than 3 years.
It will need at LEAST 2 hdmis if you want it to last some time into the future (At least for the time being)
Dont look too much into the 'specs', specs dont really mean anything to ACTUAL picture quality. You really should be looking at the size, the inputs needed and picture quality (Look for reviews)

For LCD I would recommend SONY personally
Panasonic, Pioneer and Samsung are others id consider
Avoid the cheapie makes (Like the ones you posted), LG and Philips (Usually bad pic quality), Toshiba and Sharp (last 2 have had a lot of 'screen problems' after use!)

But I would really recommend THIS panasonic Plasma for quality ~ it will completely destroy the quality of the LCDs youve posted thus far
http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=PANA-TH37PX80

aliEnRIK

Heres a sony 40" at 600 quid
http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=SONY-KDL40V3000U

punkrockprincess

oh my mum says a 40" is too big :S lol thanks for the help muchly appreciated!

aliEnRIK

Maybe this for 570 delivered
http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/pl/2-1092532/TVs/Samsung-LE-37A558-Compare-Prices
I cant find actual professional reviews on it, but samsungs are never 'bad' and are built to last. Also has 3 hdmis, is FULL 1080 HD (A lot arnt) and built in freeview

If you DO buy one, goto the menu settings and turn all the extra c*ap off. They have all sorts of fancy 'extras' on that only destroy true picture quality.
Then calibrate it using a THX disc or similar. (setting up contrast, brightness etc)
Ask if you need any help

shown73

The difference between 37 and 40 is pretty small, I would have thought, but more important is the speed that you become accustomed to the size. What you thought was ginormous and overwhelming very quickly becomes quite normal. There's nothing quite like a great big screen! Lovely...

aliEnRIK

shown73 wrote: »

The difference between 37 and 40 is pretty small, I would have thought, but more important is the speed that you become accustomed to the size. What you thought was ginormous and overwhelming very quickly becomes quite normal. There's nothing quite like a great big screen! Lovely...

So very true. My 42" screen looks small at times

d900

go to:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-tv-should-i-buy/

u are not alone.

shown73

Tell me about it! I get barely controllable urges every time I walk past the 50" beauties in showrooms! I would never have believed that you could have something like that in a smallish living room without being overwhelmed by it, but the initial WOW doesn't last long. Still nice though! Even my little 42...

donnajunkie

i sympathise, it is hard to choose. i am currently trying to decide between a sony and a samsung to replace our current tv.
dont bother with lg, ours is lg and it broke down after 10 months. it is working at the moment but it is only 18 months old. dont bother with sharp either, my uncle had a sharp and it broke down 3 times in 18 months.
as far as hd goes you may not have any hd source now but if you plan to have the tv a long time then i would still go for full hd.

aliEnRIK

donnajunkie wrote: »

i sympathise, it is hard to choose. i am currently trying to decide between a sony and a samsung to replace our current tv.
dont bother with lg, ours is lg and it broke down after 10 months. it is working at the moment but it is only 18 months old. dont bother with sharp either, my uncle had a sharp and it broke down 3 times in 18 months.
as far as hd goes you may not have any hd source now but if you plan to have the tv a long time then i would still go for full hd.

Go with the sony Donna