New TV - CRT or LCD?

jjm69

OK, so my 9-yr old 32inch standard CRT Sony has just died, clearly its not worth trying to fix. What are my options?? I have Sky digital.

CRT vs LCD/Plasma - its getting harder to find widescreen CRT tvs now, should I keep looking or is LCD so much better I have to get one. Space is not an issue.

Doesn't seem like you can get a HD ready CRT tv should i be worried if the TV is not HD ready.

Hope you can help me.

cheers
Jeremy

nickmack

jjm69 wrote:

its getting harder to find widescreen CRT tvs now

Is It? I would have thought it's harder to find a normal ratio CRT at 32".

should I keep looking or is LCD so much better I have to get one. Space is not an issue.

Doesn't seem like you can get a HD ready CRT tv should i be worried if the TV is not HD ready.

Obviously one of the main factors here is cost. You can pick up a OK 32" CRT for a few hundred quid. The same make 32" Plasma would be at least double that and LCD a little more.

LCD's are getting better but *generally* speaking Plasma's are considered better at the same sort of spec. Some AV experts are also of the opinion that LCD's/Plasma's are not worth bothering with unless you're prepared to spend over £2.5k. You really need to judge each TV by viewing it yourself though. I can recommend Richer Sounds if you want to have a look and get non-pushy, expert advice.

There are plenty of threads on here discussing LCD and Plasma. There are a few warnings about 'HD Ready' TV's as well, so take heed. Check out the AVForums (Google it!) they have some very knowledgable people.

wolfman

I believe Samsung do an HD ready CRT. It's around £400 from what I remember.

Personally I'd buy a second hand CRT. 28" or 32", make it last a couple of years then get an LCD as the technology will be more mature (better and cheaper) and High Definition should also be more readily available.

Astaroth

I can seriously not recommend richards sounds unless you want bad advice and pushy sales people. The one good thing about them is they generally sell last years model at knocked down prices - if you are the market for this rather than the latest/ current models

If you want to get onto the HD bandwagon now then plasma/ LCD is the way to go. The Samsung slim line sets frequently suffer from terrible geomotry problems.

If you just want the best SD picture then a CRT is the way to go.

jjm69

OK, I checked out AV forums for the samsung crt with HD.

It a 32 inch slim-fit CRT which is labelled HD ready (WS32Z409TQ). Seems that there is some variability in quality that is being reported, with most buying them to run XBox 360s. Feedback for just watching TV seems ok.

The price is around £425. half the price of a decent 32 inch LCD machine. Looks like mor research is going to be needed.

thanks
Jeremy

nickmack

Astaroth wrote:

I can seriously not recommend richards sounds unless you want bad advice and pushy sales people.

You're joking right?

I've yet to go to a electrical shop with better customer service. The employees are genuinely interested in the AV scene. Never too pushy. Nothing is too much trouble. They have a fair warranty offer. They may not have this months latest gear, but they have many decent pieces of kit.

I bought all my Amps, Speakers etc there, I was more than happy on every occassion. My mate recently bought a 42" Plasma, I went with him as he doesn't know much about TVs. They were extremely patient with him and offered to set up half a dozen TVs for him to view, he got a great deal and said he was very impressed with their sales atttitude.

heathen

wolfman wrote:

I believe Samsung do an HD ready CRT. It's around £400 from what I remember.

Personally I'd buy a second hand CRT. 28" or 32", make it last a couple of years then get an LCD as the technology will be more mature (better and cheaper) and High Definition should also be more readily available.

i have to agree completely;)

Astaroth

nickmack wrote:

You're joking right?

Not at all, and I have been in many times to 5 or 6 of their stores. They have all tried to up sell to the next highest model (unlike SevenOaks which has twice told me to buy a lower model) and have not known anything when I have asked them basic questions "does this DVD player have a component output?" - "sorry, never heard of component, what is it?"

Their one redeeming feature as far as staff is concerned is that I have never known them to out and out lie (like a number of other electrical retailers will).

The only reason I would go there or recommend anyone else to is either you want a basic but solid performer at a decent price or you are on a very tight budget. Of cause you can do the go to the decent hifi store, take up an hour of their time discussing options and having home demos of equipment then decide to buy off the cheapest online retailer but then to me that is a little unfair.

If you want anything more there are thousands of hifi stores which are massively more experienced, better trained and more friendly staff - but you pay a premium for this.

paullwill8

Its a fact that crt is better picture quality than lcd or plasma.
If space is not an issue then go for a Sony 100htz tv.
If you have good reception the quality will be much better than lcd or plasma.
Not counting HD that is.

Skiduck

stay clear of plasma, unless you want to bury that in 5 years time

Astaroth

Why? Most modern plasmas have a life span of over 30,000 hours... which over 5 years would require you watching 16 hours of TV a day every day.