Recommendations for a new TV please

Andrew1472

TomsMom,
Do you have a stereo/Hifi in the same room?
If the TV you buy has audio out connectors like the one pictured in this review http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panasonic-tx-l37v20b-txl37v20b-20100910848.htm, you may be able to rearrange the room and just buy a long enough cable to run from the TV to the stereo.
Cost, next to nothing!

TomsMom

rizla01 wrote: »

No need for the composite.

Do as TOG says.

Also, (Dunno if you did this before) you might (Should) be able to set the Sky remote to turn new TV on & off and control volume with it.
That'll impress the ol'man.:)

Yes, Sky remote was set up for this with the old TV, very handy!

vyle wrote: »

Oops didn't see the price on the qtv site. Last time I saw one in the flesh it was about £150 and it sounded decent enough. I can't stand the sharp soundbars, though. To me they sound like angry flies by comparison.

OP, when looking for audio equipment, see if you can find anywhere with a listening room (hughes branches usually do) and don't let them demo it with music. So much audio equipment is great for music, but is terrible for TV. You could wind up with something like an Orbitsound bar, where you won't be able to hear anything being said on TV, because it's loses the voice track, and emphasises everything else.

The shop has a "Panasonic room" apparently but only got two 32" TVs in, one is purple so that's out of the question and black is not one of the other options, the other model is the 32S20B. Will go and have a look and listen. They also said some of the other models would be available in 32" so could get one of them, but that's not the same as listening to it in the flesh. Would the 32" have smaller speakers than the 37"? I'll make sure I don't listen to music on it, just the TV programmes.

The shop is very competitive on price and gives excellent customer service, it would cost very little more to go with them rather than buy online. They're the authorised Panasonic service centre for our area too.

Whatever is decided I think I'll go with the TV as it is and see how it sounds in the lounge, then if not satisfied will look at sound bars.

Andrew1472 wrote: »

TomsMom,
Do you have a stereo/Hifi in the same room?
If the TV you buy has audio out connectors like the one pictured in this review http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panasonic-tx-l37v20b-txl37v20b-20100910848.htm, you may be able to rearrange the room and just buy a long enough cable to run from the TV to the stereo.
Cost, next to nothing!

Yes, hifi is in the same room but it would mean running a cable over the carpet as the room can't be rearranged. Just recently bought this house and refurbished it so can't exactly hide any cables under the carpet now. It would have been better if the old TV had given up the ghost a couple of years ago :rotfl: .

Am off to the shop tomorrow, will pick their brains and not rush into anything.

Got the HDMI/Scart socket thingy sussed now - I didn't really understand the HDMI bit before but I'm clear on that now and there doesn't seem to be a problem with connecting the two boxes to the TV.

Thank you all for your help and advice, being kind and not talking down to me, and educating me in the ins and outs of new TVs. My strengths lie elsewhere, not in technology .

Andrew1472

The S20 is a good TV. 37" is reviewed here http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panasonic-tx-l37s20-tx-l37s20b-20100407221.htm
The 32" should be pretty much identical in peformance.

Hope you find what you want:)

Toxteth_OGrady

TomsMom wrote: »

My strengths lie elsewhere, not in technology .

TomsMom, just doing what your forum name says is strength enough. :T

Toughest job in the world. :beer:

TomsMom

I'm back from the shop! Just thought I'd let all you kind peeps know what's going on.

The "Panasonic room" wasn't quite what I was expecting but there was a good selection there, all on and I could see the pictures and hear the sound fine.

The purple 32", model TX-L32D28BS actually had the best picture and when I said no because it didn't come in black, only purple, silver and white, he showed me the "silver" on a different model and it is actually a gunmetal grey, quite dark, and this looks quite nice. He would do it for £499, increase the standard 12 month guarantee to 3 years and throw in an HDMI cable. He would have to wait for the grey to come into stock so couldn't give me a date.

However, he did suggest, as some of you on here have, thinking about a 37" and has offered to lend me one and give it a try, if I don't like it then I can keep it until the 32" one comes in. It will be delivered and installed tomorrow. I don't have the model number but it's another grey one. He normally sells this 37" one at £699 but as it's a showroom model he will do it for £629 (I would ask and try to get this down to £599) and again increase the guarantee to 3 years and throw in the HDMI cable.

Both have built in Freeview, the 37" has built in Freesat and it looks like the 32" has Freesat also, according to the Panasonic site.

These prices are delivered and installed by their own chaps, they're only a phone call away for any of my questions (however daft ) and if any servicing is required they come to your home and if they can't fix it there they take away and bring back. Sounds good for my situation.

So, I've got a nice new TV coming tomorrow, can see if I'm happy with it and if not can ring up next week and tell him to order the 32". One happy bunny here unless someone knows something to burst my bubble :rotfl: .

Thank you all again.

Toxteth_OGrady

TomsMom wrote: »

The purple 32", model TX-L32D28BS actually had the best picture and when I said no because it didn't come in black, only purple, silver and white, he showed me the "silver" on a different model and it is actually a gunmetal grey, quite dark, and this looks quite nice. He would do it for £499, increase the standard 12 month guarantee to 3 years and throw in an HDMI cable. He would have to wait for the grey to come into stock so couldn't give me a date.

That's a pretty good deal, especially with the 3 year warranty. Cheapest from a quick search online (with only 12 months warranty) is £538. Plus he's lending you a TV for free til it comes in stock.

Edit: He's obviously pretty hungry to sell. If you end up liking the 37" ask him what the best price he'll do for a BNIB of it - I bet he'll come down from his £699. Be useful if you post the 37 model number when you get it.

TomsMom

Toxteth_OGrady wrote: »

That's a pretty good deal, especially with the 3 year warranty. Cheapest from a quick search online (with only 12 months warranty) is £538. Plus he's lending you a TV for free til it comes in stock.

Edit: He's obviously pretty hungry to sell. If you end up liking the 37" ask him what the best price he'll do for a BNIB of it - I bet he'll come down from his £699. Be useful if you post the 37 model number when you get it.

Right, the 37" TV has just been installed. It's the TX-L37D28BSA (the SA is the silver). It is the 37" version of the one I mentioned yesterday.

The silver colour is lighter in the house, like a mid grey, it was quite a darkish grey in the showroom but the lighting was quite poor in there. It's on my previous matt black cabinet which I'm keeping so isn't the nice match that there was with the old CRT TV. If it was possible I'd go for matt black but it's not an option. I need to decide if this mid grey colour is more acceptable to me than the dust attracting glossy black.

Both models have Freeview and Freesat so I can get rid of the old Sky box, in fact the Freesat's channels are in a more logical order than Sky, just a little thing but I prefer it.

Seems easy enough to use, I'm used to some of the controls from the Panasonic DVD recorder.

I'm not a purist so might not see what some people see, and only want it for watching TV and DVDs, but I'm very impressed so far.

The viewing angle is really good. There is no loss of quality of picture if you stand to the side (this happens on my son's Samsung flat screen but it's a few years old now, sort of goes negative).

The HD channels are excellent picture quality. The SD obviously not so good, I'll need the weekend to do a bit of viewing and see what the SD ones are like.

What's surprised me most is the sound, it is actually better than I imagined. There might be no need for a sound bar after all. Will see how I feel after the weekend.

Only problem now is to choose between the 32" and the 37". The cabinet has been pushed as far back into the corner as it will go but it still seems a bit overpowering. A lot of picture and not much surround. The chap said you get used to it, I'm not sure I want to get used to it, I'd rather go with is the size right for the situation.

The width of the 37" is 917mm with a screen width of 820mm. The width of the 32" is 795mm but I didn't measure the screen width in the shop, I might ring up and ask before I make my mind up.

I only got the bog standard HDMI cable, not the gold plated one, not sure if that would make a difference to anything.

Looks like a busy weekend of TV viewing for me then :rotfl: .

Toxteth_OGrady

TomsMom wrote: »

I only got the bog standard HDMI cable, not the gold plated one, not sure if that would make a difference to anything.

Not one single bit (for the techies - excuse the pun :rotfl:).

Ask your nice friendly salesman if he will lend you a blu-ray player and a couple of movies to try out with it. You'll then see the full benefit of 1080p HD.

Andrew1472

TomsMom wrote: »

The width of the 37" is 917mm with a screen width of 820mm. The width of the 32" is 795mm but I didn't measure the screen width in the shop, I might ring up and ask before I make my mind up.

32" screen size will be 708.5mm wide X 398mm high.

A sheet of cardboard or paper cut to that size makes a much easier to see how much difference there will be.

TomsMom

Andrew1472 wrote: »

32" screen size will be 708.5mm wide X 398mm high.

A sheet of cardboard or paper cut to that size makes a much easier to see how much difference there will be.

Thanks for that Andrew, that should give me a good idea of how it would look.