Advice on tv purchase, reception and warranty please - confused

fireengine

I need to jump 30 years and get a new tv but am getting very confused with all the options.
I have been told panasonic 26" lcd hd tv is very good, toshiba 26" lcd tv is not as good but ok. The price difference is approx £100 and I am tempted to go cheaper, but will I regret it? Also, are there any others just as good which the sales person didn,t mention?

Also, if I buy through John Lewis I realise approx £100 of cost goes towards their 5 year warranty, but with these tv's, are they likely to go wrong in that timespan? (i.e. get it from somewhere else cheaper but with only 1 year warranty).

Also I do not have tv roof aeriel and currently channels 1-4 are fine, channel 5 is a bit dodgy (this is all on an an ancient old thing). Will the reception be similar with a new hd tv, or will I need to think roof aeriel (more money).

Really grateful for any help/advice you can give on this

gjchester

fireengine wrote: »

Also I do not have tv roof aeriel and currently channels 1-4 are fine, channel 5 is a bit dodgy (this is all on an an ancient old thing). Will the reception be similar with a new hd tv, or will I need to think roof aeriel (more money).

If you have poor reception now a new TV will not improve it per se.

It is possible if you use Freeview rather than analog (as I assume thats what this old set is using) you'll get a better signal, BUT I'd plan on getting a new aeriel installed.

Go to the Freeview website and put your postcode in, see what it says, it may be you won't get a decent signal and need to look at Freesat or Freesat from Sky, or it maybe your in a OK location and you just need a better aerial. After the digital switch over the Freeview signal will be increased in power, and the website will tell you what you should receve and what you'll get in the future.

May also be worth asking neighbours what there reception is like, if they have a good signal its certainly your aerial.

fireengine

Thanks for the advice. At the moment I just need to know that the reception won't be any worse than it is at the moment - what do you think?

1984ReturnsForReal_2

fireengine wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. At the moment I just need to know that the reception won't be any worse than it is at the moment - what do you think?

No one can tell you that.

It is dependent on the signal you get & the TV you buy & every TV is different & so is the signal in your house.

Pokerlad

If you plan to just watch terestrial TV (Ch 1-5) as you do now I dont think it will be any better or any worse. However, for the future, as you may know terrestrial will be switched off and at that point I suspect an indoor arial won't cut it. In the long run I would say you need to look at getting an external roof arial or dish set up.

TTste

you could check out what your digital signal would be like the digitalswitchover website (sorry im not allowed to post the link)

Have you considered trying a signal amplifier? theyre generally quite cheap and are easily installed between the areial and tv. we had a good signal on digital with our indoor areial through a settop box even tho the terestrial wasnt brilliant

scotsbob

Have a look at the Sony Bravia
In the shop try to see the tv tuned to what is being transmitted at the time on live tv, any tv can be made to look good running a promotional DVD.
Why not see if a neighbour is getting digital and see what their reception is like.
You have beter protection through the "Sale Of Goods Act" than through most warranties.

macman

In most surveys the Panasonic's and Sony's come out at the top time after time. Whether it's worth £100 extra is a judgement only you can make-the only way to decide it to go and look at them side by side. Personally I'd go for a Panasonic every time.
To get a decent digital signal you will almost certainly need a rooftop aerial, this will only cost maybe £20% of what you are spending on the TV. Pointless spending £500 on a new TV and expecting to get a decent signal on a tiny set top aerial. You will probably get the same analogue reception as now but in that case the'res not much point in changing your TV anyway.
Most electrcal goods are pretty reliable these days and if they're going to go wrong then it's likely to be in the first year or so. JL warranty is a good deal (Richers Sounds also-normally 10% of the purchase price) if you want the peace of mind.

fireengine

Thank you all so much for your advice which I will mull over.

I had discounted Sony as originally I was looking at 22" and thought the picture quality wasn't much good (much paler and flatter). I'll have another look.

Is a settop box one of those freeview ones where you get the extra free channels?

The advice about warranty (i.e. top brands shouldn't go wrong within 5 years unless they do so almost immediately?) is what I was wondering about, because althougth JL would give complete peace of mind, they are definitely more expensive than other suppliers who don't provide the warranty as part of the purchase price.

Reason I'm looking at new ones is that the old one is proving problematic with connections to new dvd player etc. (it has no scart connections).