LED tv - worth it or not?

shortchanged_2

Kate0208 wrote: »

my oh wants a new tv - we used to have a samsung 40 inch lcd which was fine i thought but anyway - we went to the shop today and he likes the thiness of the led tv's (i think he wants to stick with samsung as it always been good to us but willing to change brand if anyone has any recommendations)

Try finding out the reason why he wants to change the tv. Is it faulty? Does he want full HD or something?

Otherwise save your £800. What's the point in changing it if it's not broken. Particularly as you said you don't do much hi tech stuff.

Kate0208

hiya
thanks for the replies so far
the tv we had was fine but we have moved from scotland to london and are trying to sell our house at the moment so the tv was just left sat in our house so in the end we sold it to a family member as we couldnt get up there to get it and they needed it, so actually we have no tv (which is fine at the moment as staying with family before we move again) but the previous tv i thought was fine, i think just your standard samsung lcd.

im even more confused now to be honest, i think i like the thinness of the led alot, we would like to hang it on the wall in our new house as we have an adventuous toddler so out of arms reach would be a nice idea. but i appreciate that you can also hang lcd's so really just wanted to see if the difference in price was worth it for something other than aesthetics

i have just done a little reading into lcd and led so i get they are pretty much the same, but in a year or so will all tv's be led or are they just a gimmick?

does anyone know of any really good deals on anything out there?

re the plasma - i was under the impression that plasma were not as good as lcd's and didnt last as long. if your not techie minded would i be able to plug and go with a plasma or does it require lots of intelligent fine tuning to get it good?

its so hard to know what to do when youre as clueless as me lol! we could do with saving the money and getting a cheaper one but on the other hand my husband never asks or wants anything and now he wants a good tv so i just want to get the best our (little amount of) money can buy him!! i want him to be able to be proud and show it off since he never really wants anything do you know what i mean?

thanks for your help so far - im eagerly awaiting any suggestion of the best tv's in our price bracket (i have noted the previous plasma at richer sounds down - will take a look -thanks!) any others?

kate x

Kate0208

p.s any views on this from richer sounds

samsung UE40C5800 - £549??? good deal, good tv??? any ideas?

kate x

Hammyman

wymondham wrote: »

Hammyman, assume you have this TV? any bad points as I've been on the edge of getting this TV for a while now...... thanks!

Only the fact its now £250 cheaper than when I bought it, :rotfl::rotfl:

No, its been fine. There was some initial concerns reported about contrast variance where for example you'd watch rolling credits on a black background and you'd see the brightness of the text change but you really had to be looking for it and it was only in that that I noticed it, not in normal programme watching. There's been 4 firmware updates since I bought mine and I've not noticed the aforementioned issue.

If I have a complaint, its that the EPG isn't the best (spoiled by Sky boxes, lol) and has an annoying advert strip down the left side. We have LGs for the kids and I'd say the LG had a better EPG.

Hammyman

Kate0208 wrote: »

hiya
thanks for the replies so far
re the plasma - i was under the impression that plasma were not as good as lcd's and didnt last as long. if your not techie minded would i be able to plug and go with a plasma or does it require lots of intelligent fine tuning to get it good?

Whoever told you that didn't have a clue. The early ones did have issues with screen burn but thats not been the case for years. As for lifetime, its like for like. All I'll say is that on the AVForums review list, 6 out of 47 LED/LCD TVs have Excellent rating, the rest being good, average or poor. 13 out of 26 Plasmas (virtually all Panasonic BTW) have Excellent rating, one has Reference (best possible) and the rest are Good.

A plasma is exactly the same as a LCD/LED to use - plug in, turn on, watch. You can get someone out to do ICF calibration if you wanted but there's no need unless you're a real purist and you'll get nearer to perfect with a Plasma than a LCD. LCDs have real problems with image detail in dark areas and when you're watching something such as Avatar, you really notice the difference - especially in the scenes when they're walking through the woods at night and the plants go brighter when they step on them. On the LCD, those bits just get a fair bit brighter and on the Plasma they appear to glow, just like it was when I watched it at Imax. Can't beat Avatar in 3D on a full sized Imax screen.

almillar

The Panasonic G20 is an excellent TV, my dad has one, and I have the previous model, the G10. £500 is a great price for one. The only thing I would say against it is it will be heavier than an LCD TV (LED backlit or not). Plasmas will last as long as LCDs, anyone who says otherwise is repeating old gossip about even older screens.
I personally don't see the point in these ultra thin TVs when you've got a load of stuff in a cabinet below anyway!

OK_Sauce

Hammyman wrote: »

If I have a complaint, its that the EPG isn't the best (spoiled by Sky boxes, lol) and has an annoying advert strip down the left side. We have LGs for the kids and I'd say the LG had a better EPG.

That's interesting. I have the 46" G20b and although it has the advert box, it doesn't contain any ads! I've heard over on the AVFororums that this may have something to do with the location/postcode you put in when setting the tv up.

OK_Sauce

almillar wrote: »

I personally don't see the point in these ultra thin TVs when you've got a load of stuff in a cabinet below anyway!

Good point. Mine's on a glass stand which means I can bring it about a foot from the wall, effectively making the screen a bit larger to the eye!

almillar

My G10 has the ads as well as the G20 - they are made by the providers of the EPG software, and don't really get in the way in my experience, and they are ONLY in the Freeview EPG of the TV, NOT the Freesat one.