TV Buying advice

joneve

Evening chaps Looking to upgrade our tv. Currently have a 32" Sony 720p HD, which is about 6 years old and has done a good job, but want something a bit sleeker and full HD. Budget is around £500-£600 ideally, but cheaper the better. What can you recommend? Ta!

joneve

Should have mentioned...looking at 42"

EricTheWeary

joneve;13465" said:

Should have mentioned...looking at 42"

[ insert penis joke]

I keep thinking about something similar (tv, not penis) so will follow this with interest. 3D or not 3D I guess is the first question, although in my case the answer is not 3D.

Grumpyrocker

I recently bought a 32" LG for my study and I'm really delighted with it. A lot cheaper than many rivals - yet if you pay more for a Samsung you're probably getting an LG panel in it anyway.

bertie

if yer rooms not that  big, and you really think 32 isnt big enough - go 37.   42 will offer you more choice granted, but for non HD broadcasting.........it'll be a bit meh unless you're miles away.........

Panasonic.  FTW  (though I did see a new Sony in Tescos last w/e that was stunning)

strumjoughlamps

we went from a Samsung Plasma to a LG 42" Smart LED a few months ago and the PQ is superb, whatever the motion tech is that they use its awesome, watching films, footie, F1 is nothing like I had experienced in the past..

having looked at smart TVs in the past I wasn't convinced but it was on offer so I thought chuff, now I have it I use it quite a bit for Netflix and throwing images/video from my phone/tab and streaming from pcs.. its a handy thing to have if the price is right.

I would at least put LG on your list of candidates.

Sporky

Grumpyrocker said:

if you pay more for a Samsung you're probably getting an LG panel in it anyway.

I'd say that's extremely unlikely - Samsung are one of the biggest panel makers.

stickyfiddle

Having looked at a shitload of TVs a couple months ago.. Go for a Samsung, LG or Sony LED and don't worry about the details. modern TVs are all fricking brilliant and you really have to split hairs to choose between them. We said fuck it and got a 55", 2D "Dumb" Sony. It's awesome

randomhandclaps

Bang for buck, LG's are phenomenal.

Back in my teen years when LG first launched I was working in the entertainment section of a supermarket,  At the budget end we had Goodmans & Bushs et al.  We used to get about a 25% fault return on most budget-end models - which I thought was unacceptably high.  LG suddenly arrived and we were of the opinion it was more cheap end crap.  When LG came out it rivalled them for prices, was far better quality and never had a returns problem.  I have only ever bought LG tvs since.  Yes the latest Sony model looks great, but not three times the price great.

Interestingly, when LG first launched they distributed via Germany and their marketing subtlety suggested they were German.  People bought into the efficient German precision angle.  Alright you could argue it was marketing bullshit, but no-one ever questioned the quality.

 

ICBM

Panasonic LED. Best picture, best additional features, one of the least expensive, and almost ridiculously low energy consumption.

thumpingrug

We got a 42" LG with 3D (though its a bit of a gimmick) smart TV this time last year.  Stunning picture, looks great and my only negative would be the sound is a bit weak, but thats a factor for all flat Tellys. Currently researching a sound bar but in no rush as its good enough.

PS.  got ours through amazon.  Went to PC world/currys and would have bought from them but the salesman was unable to answer a simple question and instead of admitting he didn't know he bullshitted until he had tied himself into a mess.  I let him go on for about 5 minutes and told him he had lost the sale for being an arse.

strumjoughlamps

@thumpingrug if you want to go surround sound there is nothing to compare to this for the price, absolutely amazing for £130 sniffs

http://www.richersounds.com/product/home-cinema-systems/lg/sr906/lg-sr906

boogieman

thumpingrug said:

We got a 42" LG with 3D (though its a bit of a gimmick) smart TV this time last year.  Stunning picture, looks great and my only negative would be the sound is a bit weak, but thats a factor for all flat Tellys. Currently researching a sound bar but in no rush as its good enough.

 

Not quite true. I've got a high end Phillips 32" set and the sound quality (and the picture) is excellent. The decent sound quality was one of the selling points for me. Mind you it cost £800, so it bloody well should be good.  

thumpingrug

@strumjoughlamps looks impressive.  Our house doesn't enable the hiding of all the wires very well so may have some difficulty twisting the other half's arm.

@boogieman   Im more than happy to sit corrected.