Confused on TV Set... Sony, SAM, PAN or TOSH??

isotonic_uk

Hi All

Boy am I confused!!!

I am in the market to replace our aging Toshiba 2939DB set (very old, but what a great set it has been!)

I have always been a fan of Sony's but having been a former salesman in an electrical store (which will remain nameless!) I began to go away from Sony and found they were overpriced and just not build like they were in the 80's and 90's. I still consider Sony to be a great in other areas of electronics but I just not sure anymore with the TV sets.

I started to take great interest in Samsung sets and found the quality and price was appealing for what you got for you money so a few years ago I replaced my CRT monitor for my PC with a Samsung SM2032MW which I use as my monitor and for my PS3. Its been an ok set, great picture on HDMI and DVI but disappointed with how slow it is to navigate and some of the menu options and picture/sound settings not up to standard. Sound quality needs to be cranked up to hear anything!

I stuck with Samsung and also purchased a DVD Hard Drive recorder from Costco. The Samsung DVDSH855M (
Samsung DVD-SH855M - DVD Recorder 250Gb Hard Drive: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics) to this date this has to be one of the worst buys I have ever purchased. Problems with DVD playback, freezing and other issues have really put me off from Samsung, for the moment at least.

So now I want to spend about £800 max and want either a 37inch or 40inch set. I am really struggling which Brand to go with on this one. Even though we brought a Toshiba set years ago at that time it was the best set on the market and have not been disappointed with the set. Do Toshiba make good LED or LCD's. From reading reviews it seems like they are not as good as the competitors. Samsung make TV's at a good price with lots of features but my experience with the 20" hasn't been great and confused or do I take the plunge with either a Sony (with high prices, good features). I am also hearing good things about Panasonic these day's but never brought Panasonic, always been an admirer but never purchased.

The features I am looking for is best quality possible for PS3 gaming, Bluray and DVD playback, I am thinking of investing in the HD service depending if I stick with Virgin or move to Sky and I am seriously interested in utilising the DNLA features of the set as I have a Netgear READYNAS box and want to be able to stream DIVX, music files wirelessly to the TV from the NAS or even a PC or laptop. I am hearing the TV sets out are not that great with DNLA??? as its technology which is fairly new.

What sets would people recommend for £800 Max? Happy to purchase online and would prefer a 5 year warranty included. Also I am thinking to stay with LCD or LED? I am confused which one would be better for my uses. I would like good picture quality especially when watching Sports and documentaries.

I am hearing also the sound quality isn't great on these sets but is there one better than others?

I would be very grateful on peoples experiences based on my usage of a TV.

I been looking in detail with the NX series of Sony's. Mainly 603 and 703. I also found a Samsung with 3D in my budget range, cant remember the model but other people on various forums have said its a decent set for the price especially with 3D. Not looked in great detail with the Toshiba and Panasonics.

cajef

My personal choice is Panasonic, I had a 28" widescreen CRT Panasonic for several years, with the digital switchover in this area I purchased a Panasonic 32" LCD TV and neither have given any problems and picture quality on both has been excellent, the sound is not fantastic but then I suspect you are not going to get superb sound quality from most TV's speakers, I feed the audio out into an Aux. I/P of my Teac hi-fi system so if I require good sound I switch the Teac on.

When I bought the TV 18 months ago I also purchased a Panasonic DMR-EX78EB digital DVD recorder with hard drive which has also been excellent and problem free.

Hammyman

isotonic_uk wrote: »

What sets would people recommend for £800 Max? Happy to purchase online and would prefer a 5 year warranty included. Also I am thinking to stay with LCD or LED? I am confused which one would be better for my uses. I would like good picture quality especially when watching Sports and documentaries.

Get a Panasonic TX-P42G20. Its a cracking 42" plasma which has a THX Certified display. It has an amazing picture both in SD and HD, built in FreeviewHD and FreesatHD tuners and if you hook up a USB HDD it'll work as a PVR as well. Got all the connectivity you'll ever need. I love mine.

http://www.avforums.com/review/Panasonic-TX-P42G20-Plasma-HDTV-Review.html

From Richer Sounds it is now £729 with trade in (any old working telly) and £802 with their 5 year guarantee

http://www.richersounds.com/product/plasma-tv/panasonic/viera-txp42g20/pana-txp42g20a

moonrakerz

I have had a 42" Panasonic plasma set for over 18 months. Bought it on the strength of reading reviews and much time spent looking at various TVs in showrooms. Currys, Dixons, Comet, Argos etc are all a waste of time, staff are ill informed, will do nothing for you - especially connect an SD input !!

John Lewis did everything I asked, the staff knew what they were talking about.

I bought the Panny from JL with a 5 yr warranty - a superb set on both SD and HD.

You will find that many of the retailers only stock a couple of brands, LG/Samsung often, solely because they have commercial arrangement with these manufacturers.

almillar

I was about to recommend the G20. My dad has one and has a great picture and features.