Advice on buying a new television

bev97

Hi everyone

We have just moved house and we looked in Comet today for a new TV. The choice is mind boggling. We currently have a Panasonic CRT 28inch so you can imagine we are a bit out of touch with the current technology.:o

We have a budget of around £500 and we have a big lounge so we would want over a 40 inch size TV, I suppose. But the choice seems to be between plasma, LED or LCD - I just don't know which one to go for. I don't think we would want a 3D TV as I don't want to bother with the glasses etc.

We had Virgin Media set us up at the weekend in our new house, with Tivo and we were left with a cable for when we upgrade to a HD TV.

Sound quality is an issue as I have seen a friends TV and although her picture is great the sound is worse than our CRT television!

Any advice would be much appreciated

robmar0se

If you have a Richer Sounds nearby, it is worth going in there and try - picture quality and sound are very personal things - one man's meat is another's poisin comes to mind.

You'll find the sales guys there very knowledgeable, unlike Comet/Currys etc.

I went there a couple of weeks ago to assess - we had two old CRT sets too! - We liked the Samsing 32d550 - smaller than what you want, but the sound and picture are good, plus Samsung have a good reputation too.

We bought at Sainsburys in the end as Richer didn't have stock.

http://www.richersounds.com/

Notmyrealname

All flat screens have poor sound. Its a limitation of having a thin TV.

Plasma uses more electricity than LED/LCD but gives a better picture.

Don't get hung up on 1080p when looking at TVs.

almillar

As above, these thin TVs have worse speakers than the cavernous CRTs, as there's less space. And guess what, the ultra-thin ones have even LESS space and even worse sound. I still prefer plasma, and go for the biggest size you can, Panasonic make the best ones and you CAN get 42 inch for £500.

bev97

Thanks for all your replies.

I think we will maybe get some advice in different independent stores, but I have just subscribed to WHICH for a month aswell (through John lewis website you get a £5 voucher:))

I will check out richer sounds aswell and see if I can get a Panasonic or a Samsung.

macman

By all means do some research in Comet or Currys, but don't buy there. RS every time.

wba31

I have just bought this TV from Richer Sounds http://www.richersounds.com/product/tv---all/samsung/ue40es5500/sams-ue40es5500

and it is fantastic. It's not 3D (3D looks blurry to me - with the glasses on!) it has a stunning picture, and looks smart in the corner of my living room. I cannot comment on the sound however as I have a soundbar which the tv plugs into.

I wouldnt recommend a soundbar, but this from Richer Sounds again http://www.richersounds.com/product/speaker-packages/onkyo/htx22hdx/onky-htx22hdx-blk but I understand that plus the TV I recommended has a big impact on your budget, so you may wish to look at a smaller TV, or wait and save for a speaker package?

alinwales

I bought a TV with freeviewHD tuner. I now think this is a bit pointless as we watch most telly through the PVR, so HD hardly gets used at all. Though most tellys at your price point would have freeviewHD anyway so a bit of a moot point.
(cheaper tellys have a 1080p screen, but standard freeview). Suppose you could get a cheaper telly and some kind of sound system to go with it if you're concerned about it.

hanwellmike

I have just bought a 32" Samsung with Freeview HD and I am very happy. Like previous poster I use the PVR mostly but when there is sport on BBC or ITV then I can watch in HD which is brilliant quality picture. Don't expect good sound from a flat screen - I have hooked my tv up to my hi-fi. I expect availablity of HD channels to increase over next few years so I would get HD now.