new tv help please

AuntyCat

I need to buy a new tv and would appreciate advice.

i'm not very techy so bear with me. i don't have a fortune to spend and don't need loads of extra complications.

So far I've found that all have HD and most are Smart, some with Freeview. Will any of these options help me reduce my Sky subscription?
We watch a lot of sports, and quite a few programmes on Alibi. Can i get Sky sports elsewhere?
Also, if we don't have Sky how do we record programmes?

I've had a look at the back of the old tv and the dvd has a scart connection, new tv's don't seem to have scart sockets, how does that work? Same with the Wii, what connection do i need to have to connect that?

Any advice or recommendations will help.

Thanks

JJ_Egan

Socket usually HDMI now .
Have a look at Richer Sounds ( 5 year warranty )
http://www.richersounds.com/

Smart >> not really smart but it means they can connect to WiFI for some internet services .

Freeview will just give you the basic Freeview UK channels .

Sky Sports is paid for .
One alternative is for BT TV .

Record a PVR is what you want .
http://www.richersounds.com/product/digital-set-top-boxes/humax/dtrt2000-500gb/huma-dtr-t2000-500

AuntyCat

Thanks I'll look at that later.

VisionMan

The one piece of advice I can give you is don't buy a Samsung. The build quality and reliability of these TVs have dropped through the floor recently. Used to love Samsung. I currently own 2 which are rock solid but the new ones? Err, no.

Or, as my local RicherSounds manager put it, "CRAP".

AuntyCat

Thanks, not Samsung then.

[Deleted User]

Don't know where Samsung suddenly got this bad reputation? In my experience, buyers get what they pay for and the only TVs to avoid are the Supermarket cheapies which are often branded with big names but use cheap components and build quality...

VisionMan

LG are a good make. Strong lifespan, reliable and cheap.

Re Samsungs - They're using the same panels (aren't they all? ) but the components and shells they are using now are of poor quality and reliability. My local RicherSounds set up 3 showroom demo models, a HD, a 4K and an OLED. The OLED kept going but the former failed after only a week and had to be replaced. Twice, he said.

My main TV is currently a Sony Bravia YouView 43" 4K. Its bang on but I'm not going to recommend it here because it isn't cheap.

AuntyCat

Thanks all. I'm going to call in to Richer Sounds today as i'm in that area.

I guess it's all about balancing what you want and what you can afford.

I'm still a bit confused over the scart / hdmi business. If everything i have(sky, dvd & wii) is plugged into my old tv it must have scart connections as they didn't have hdmi then. So do i need new leads for them all as the new tv's don't have scart sockets?

JJ_Egan

Scart to HDMI convertor ask in Richer Sounds they should have them .

almillar

If your Sky box isn't HD, you should ring them and threaten to leave because your box has broken (even if it hasn't). It's so ancient you shouldn't be using it any more. A Sky HD box, which would have both SCART and HDMI, will work great with your TV. Don't dare use SCART though, that would be a tech crime. Buy an HDMI lead from Poundland and the like if you need to.

AuntyCat

Went to Richer sounds, they recommended a Samsung.

The three lads in there had conflicting views about the connection of a Wii to a new tv, and advised me to buy a blue ray player to replace my old dvd.

I think i've now established, with all your help, that if i get a new basic smart tv with one scart socket I can plug in my dvd. My Sky plus box is only two years old so should have a hdmi lead with it, but if I can't find it I can buy one from a pound shop.

The only question remaining is can I attach a Wii to a hdmi socket? I don't want to share the one scart socket between the wii and dvd - both are used daily.

I dread to think the questions I'll have when I try to set it up!

Thanks all.