Another TV thread...

TiTheRev

Sorry, but Ive done some searching already and cant quite seem to see the answers im looking for!

My current 33" CRT box is shutting down and having some blue screen moments every now and again, so I need to start looking at a new box before the old girl gives up!

Im wanting (for the right price of course!), 37" LCD, 1080p if poss but little else is essential. Any recommendations? Regza and Samsung have been mentioned as good screens, but do they put them in any of the cheaper brands? Am hoping not to have to spend more than £400-500 but if needs must i'd rather get something decent that will last & give a better picture.

Discuss...

penrhyn

No real substitute for going and looking at a few sets, make sure you see them operating with both standard definition and high definition sources. I'd check out Sony and Panasonic sets.
IMHO its not worth paying the extra for a 1080p set for anything less than a 40" screen as you probably wont notice any difference.

BillScarab

Don't rule out Plasma TV's. The pansonic Plasmas come in 37" and have a great reputation.

ComplyOrDie

Panasonic plasmas are absolutely beautiful, I'm looking at one right now and its great!

aliEnRIK

Panasonic, Sony or Samsung id go for.
Look for ones with at LEAST 3 hdmis on (To be future proof)
Dont bother about wether or not its 1080 as 720 will more than likely look better in your price bracket

Whats to be plugged into it?

moonrakerz

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Look for ones with at LEAST 3 hdmis on (To be future proof)

......and all on the back !!!

Marty_J

moonrakerz wrote: »

......and all on the back !!!

One on the side can be handy. It depends what you're going to do with it.

To the OP, if you decide to go have a look at TVs, ask them to turn all the fancy picture processing crap off. It's designed to look good for 30 seconds, and it hides what the TV is really capable of.

TiTheRev

Thanks for the info guys

In answer to some of the points raised above:

IMHO its not worth paying the extra for a 1080p set for anything less than a 40" screen as you probably wont notice any difference.

Will there not be any 'free' HD channels through Freeview etc any time soon, or will 720 still do these justice?

Don't rule out Plasma TV's. The pansonic Plasmas come in 37" and have a great reputation.

Been steered away from Plasmas because of screen burn, higher running costs & 'apparently' they only look better on 40/42" or bigger???

Whats to be plugged into it?

Only a DVD recorder and possibly Freeview atm, but also want to be flexible to add more at a later date if the need arises

if you decide to go have a look at TVs, ask them to turn all the fancy picture processing crap off. It's designed to look good for 30 seconds, and it hides what the TV is really capable of.

Interesting :shocked: thanks for the info!

I hope to be scouring a few shops tomorrow, but have spotted a potential deal on a Sony Bravis 37" (U4000), which will be in Sainsburys this weekend at about £100 off, so will be £330ish. Verdict anyone? I can use my Nectar points to save a few extra too

aliEnRIK

HD is coming to freeview 'SOME' time in the future. But any tv you buy now wont be able to accept the HD signal anyways so I wouldnt even be concerned about it (But yes ~a 786 panel would do a 1080i signal justice)
Screen burn barely exists anymore (Unless you left it running for days on a static picture)
The Pan' 37" plasma will almost certainly look better than the sony

"you get what you pay for"

Fifer

TiTheRev wrote: »

Thanks for the info guys

In answer to some of the points raised above:


Will there not be any 'free' HD channels through Freeview etc any time soon, or will 720 still do these justice?

I think the likelihood of 1080p HD transmissions during the lifetime of any TV purchased today remote.

TiTheRev wrote: »

Been steered away from Plasmas because of screen burn, higher running costs & 'apparently' they only look better on 40/42" or bigger???

I don't think burn is an issue with many current Plasmas (not Panny anyway) although some people take care during the first 200 hours. Plasmas give better black performance at all sizes and all current Panny plasmas are 100Hz.

moonrakerz

Marty_J wrote: »

One on the side can be handy. It depends what you're going to do with it.

Agreed. The reason I said what I did was because my Panasonic has two on the back and one on the front. If you use the one on the front you need to hinge the panel up and then have cable sticking out of the front !
A brilliant TV, whose looks can be spoilt by a really stupid piece of design.