Author Topic: How do you choose a new tv?  (Read 8900 times)

border-rider

Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #25 on: 30 September, 2008, 02:13:01 pm »
I suppose that they want to be there even less than you do.  At least you have the option of going home and never returning :)


Really Ancien

Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #26 on: 30 September, 2008, 02:41:42 pm »
We had a similar problem a while ago, I found a small TV retailer and rental shop in Preston which had a recent ex-rental 32 inch Cathode Ray Tube JVC for £89, the sound is good, but it is huge, but it was going into the corner of a large room with windows at each end and a big fireplace in the middle so it all makes sense. Result, big telly now at no cost to the planet and the chance to pick up a good HD 1080p set when they are a good price. By that time I may be tempted by a projector.

Damon.

Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #27 on: 30 September, 2008, 03:05:04 pm »
Just wondering... will the bandwidth of digital TV via aerial ever be sufficient to broadcast in HD - 720p or 1080p?  And if it does, will it be when analog dies and they turn up the digital transmitter broadcast power?
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

border-rider

Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #28 on: 30 September, 2008, 03:15:09 pm »
Just wondering... will the bandwidth of digital TV via aerial ever be sufficient to broadcast in HD - 720p or 1080p?  And if it does, will it be when analog dies and they turn up the digital transmitter broadcast power?

Yes, to both.  There are already some HD Freeview trials but the extra bandwidth available when analogue goes may help a bit

Mrs Pingu

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Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #29 on: 27 December, 2011, 05:30:18 pm »
It's been quite interesting having a squint at all of this tonight.....
The old one will probably wobble on for the next 10 years now just to spite me! ;)

Bloody hell, I started this thread over 3 yrs ago and the damn thing's not dead yet! ;D
It's getting close though & I think even Pingu has resigned himself to a new one.
Thing is it's quite difficult trying to sort out from the reviews what's got a good picture and what's not.
It's likely to be a Sony or a Panny, the last few Sony reviews I've looked at weren't that great though... apart from the 3d set that said it had shit 3d but a great 2d picture.
It will be 32" (no room for anything larger at Pingu Towers) and doesn't need 3d or good speakers (as it goes thru the amp anyway).
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Mrs Pingu

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Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #30 on: 27 December, 2011, 11:26:04 pm »
OK:
Panasonic TX-L32E30B or
Sony KDL-32CX523 or
LG 32LV550T

Any comments? I'm leaning towards the Panasonic at the moment, but that'll probably have changed by tomorrow morning...
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Valiant

  • aka Sam
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Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #31 on: 28 December, 2011, 01:17:26 am »
I can highly recommend the latest Samsung models.
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ed_o_brain

Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #32 on: 28 December, 2011, 01:32:55 am »
At one point I inherited a Panasonic 28" widescreen CRT TV and it was the dogs nadgers in terms of sound and picture quality.
Far better than the Toshiba HD set we have now - but that fits in the living room and works well with HDMI/VGA inputs.

Having had some poor experiences with Sony electricals, I'd be tempted to lean toward the Panasonic.

Wombat

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Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #33 on: 28 December, 2011, 07:33:01 am »
And having had 2 truly appalling examples of poor reliability and crap service (2 months out of warranty and its totally useless, we don't care) we won't touch Panasonic, so take your pick.  We've got a lot of Sony stuff, but they failed on the AV amp as their amps can't cope with the output of their own blu-ray players on SACDs (but Onkyo amps can).  Sony UK are not great communicators, though...  We are still aiming at a Sony TV after the TV folk eventually get off their fat lazy incompetent arses and give us HD Freeview (and maybe then I can stop shouting LIARS! at the TV every time the BBC advertise something as being in HD...)  However, we looked at the KDL EX524, which ticked all the boxes, and recently we saw one in a shop, thought it actually looked quite nce, and then I grabbed the remote, and promptly dropped it.  It is such an appalling un hand-friendly shape!  Sharp corners on the back, and a concave rear.  What idiot designed that?  We're hoping for a new model soon, and hopefully WITHOUT stupid analogue options which are no use to man nor beast, but clutter up the remote and add needless cost.

Don't forget that some of the options are about the method of screen backlighting.  We want an LED backlit one for its somnewhat enhanced energy efficiency. We also want internet connectivity, and the ability to record to an attached USB hard disc.   This will save buying a new HD hard disc recorder for the few progs that are actually HD and worth the trouble to record in HD.  the function of a telly seems to hve changed, its now for watching Youtube and iplayer, as well as viewing your photos.  I spent an excessive amount of time watching Youtube videos of new Zealand steam engines, as our blu ray player already has access to this stuff.
Wombat

vorsprung

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Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #34 on: 28 December, 2011, 07:41:19 am »
we didn't want a large tv dominating our living room so we looked for the smallest size available ( is it 19"?) and then saw what Argos did.
Then we looked at reviews online, moneysavingexpert.com etc and bought the one that was the winner
It's not the greatest tv in the world but then again it's just a bloody tv

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #35 on: 28 December, 2011, 08:38:25 am »
Wowbagger's page 1 post was right but there are DVDs, so...

I'd want iPlayer capability (most have wireless LAN connectivity so you can get to the Internet through your broadband router) and the lowest possible energy consumption - lower than our current 28" CRT, anyway.  Beyond that, it's all about the picture.  Most are still terrible in the shop displays* I see although they have improved in the last 5 years.

Full HD is probably essential for Blu-Ray discs and for futureproofing (are any SD or 1080i tellies still sold?) but, having watched SD and HD material on my parents' 32" full HDTV, I'd need a bigger screen than that to be able to appreciate the difference between them.

*apparently a lot of this is because the spotty oiks in Currys don't know how to adjust the picture properly, but would you take that chance?
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #36 on: 28 December, 2011, 08:51:53 am »
I've been very happy with Panasonic.  One more than 12 years old and a new one about one year old.  Samsung otoh - poor quality and nonexistent service.  It was supposed to be under warranty but 3 attempts later we left it with them and wrote it off.
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Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #37 on: 28 December, 2011, 09:03:21 am »
We have a couple of Sonys (1 year old now) a 40 inch in the lounge and a 32 in pcolbeck juniors room for Xbox. Very pleased with them. They are LCD not LED but seem fine to me. I don't have Blue Ray or HD Freeview yet in this area but the picture looks good. Excellent clear electronic program guide and good iPlayer integration. I don't do home cinema so cant comment on how they work with AV amps etc.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Mrs Pingu

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Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #38 on: 28 December, 2011, 09:14:55 am »
I don't see the Samsungs scoring very highly in the best buy type tables.
I'm not that fussed about iplayer/internet/you tube etc capability because we've already got all that on our recent HD PVR purchase. The only time we'd be watching directly thru the telly tuner rather than the PVR is if the PVR or the amp went 'woof', but most of the tellies I'm looking at will have it anyway.

I've read enough telly pr0n to have seen all about the calibration nonsense and that's another reason why it's probably pointless going to Currys to look at the picture, they're unlikely to have it set up properly as you say RZ (I wonder if John Lewis will be any better - I have to go in there today anyway so will take a look). This was an area where the CX523 didn't appear to rate particularly highly - not as tweakable as some.
I'm also aware that nothing's going to look as good as a CRT for SD broadcasts becuase of the upscaling, but nobody makes CRT's anymore (well not in the real world anyway) so that's a moot point.
We don't have a BluRay player and are unlikely to be getting one in the future - I'm not even sure our DVD player has been on in the last year!
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Jaded

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Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #39 on: 28 December, 2011, 09:17:08 am »
We got a 1080p lg earlier in the year and are happy with it. JLP were very good at advising and knew how to set the things up of. We got good advice there.
It is simpler than it looks.

Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #40 on: 28 December, 2011, 09:21:15 am »
Oh and I did think about a Panasonic but the gits put adverts in their EPG and thus squash up[ the space left for the EPG.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #41 on: 28 December, 2011, 10:42:01 am »
OK:
Panasonic TX-L32E30B or
Sony KDL-32CX523 or
LG 32LV550T

Any comments? I'm leaning towards the Panasonic at the moment, but that'll probably have changed by tomorrow morning...

As per Sam's comment, look up Samsung UE32D5520 (ok, not THE latest 6000 series, but not that old, and they supply the panels to Sony anyway). Do you mean E30B or E3B for the Panasonic btw?

If you check trustedreveiws you'll see a Sammsung was runner up (the 32" 5000). It has no built-in freeview tuner though.

I've got a similat shortlist to you, basically because I also got the HD Humax, so an HD TV would be good, plus we've lost the analogue signal now, so if we're recording 2 channels (1 from each mux) want a TV with built-in HD tuner to watch the third.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Mrs Pingu

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Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #42 on: 28 December, 2011, 10:54:52 am »
I meant the E30B, hadn't seen the E3B,  more confusion! JLP has an E3 same thing?
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

redshift

  • High Priestess of wires
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Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #43 on: 28 December, 2011, 11:53:48 am »
We're finally thinking of retiring the CRT, so it's interesting that this thread has been resurrected. AVforums has some useful stuff (admittedly some of it a rather idiosyncratic translation) about the origins of the LCD matrices used by each manufacturer, along with various examples of how to work out who made your particular model, regardless of the badge. Vestel seem to be the manufacturer of choice for a number of the cheaper panels, and carry many badges. It appears Sharp no longer make panels below 52" in house. Sony have just sold their stake in matrix manufacture back to Samsung, but will probably continue to use the Korean matrices until someone else gives them a better deal, or they go fully OLED or FED (if they can ever get that mass produced). There's also a very useful set of diagnostics on there which allow you to translate the incomprehensible list of letters and numbers each manufacturer uses to create the model name. I find that the most useful bit of that is knowing which letter the manufacturer uses to designate the cheap/decent/good/expensive/we-saw-you-coming ranges...

At work, we currently have a demo of the Sony PVM-2541 OLED, which is a good panel, but still quite small and stupidly expensive. It knocks the spots off our £16000 Barco LCDs, whilst being a mere £4000 or so. Domestically, I think it'll be a while before such good panels are affordable, especially in 40-42", which has become the 'sweet spot' for domestic panels.

Setup in the shops is rubbish.  If you demo, then switch as much of the processing off as possible, and consider doing something boring like taking a test disc or usb key.
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Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #44 on: 28 December, 2011, 01:44:41 pm »
I meant the E30B, hadn't seen the E3B,  more confusion! JLP has an E3 same thing?

The E30 and the E3 are (I think!) different - though without going on Panasonic site I wouldn't be confident what the difference is.  I asked 'cos the 30 is that bit more expensive than the 3 - I'd been looking at the 3 myself.

Right, the 30 has 200hz refresh rate and 900 lines resolution, the 3 50hz and 300 lines, and the 30 has smarter screen driver software, so is the higher spec unit.

The 30 is £150 more than the 3 on the JLP website. £500 as oposed to £350-400 for the others you're (and I'm) looking at - oh except the LG which is comparable and has 500hz refresh, so the "best" spec.  There are lower range LG's with lower refresh rates. Looks like the final "T" means freeview HD tuner - and the 550 is the latest range too.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Kim

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Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #45 on: 28 December, 2011, 01:49:32 pm »
*apparently a lot of this is because the spotty oiks in Currys don't know how to adjust the picture properly, but would you take that chance?

Having briefly worked in a place with a far higher standard of oik than Currys, my understanding is that they often do know how to adjust the picture, but adjustments are made in order to maximise sales of the models they want to sell, and that means utterly hideously bright and over-saturated pictures, and to hell with the aspect ratio, because that's what lusers seem to want.  This is also the basis of sticking the latest Disney movie on a continuous loop, because animation tends to be extremely forgiving of this sort of abuse.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #46 on: 28 December, 2011, 01:56:03 pm »
We have a couple of Sonys (1 year old now) a 40 inch in the lounge and a 32 in pcolbeck juniors room for Xbox. Very pleased with them. They are LCD not LED but seem fine to me.
No affordable* mass market TVs are LED rather then LCD.  They're all LCD or plasma, but some LCDs have LED rather than cold cathode (which is basically a type of fluorescent lamp) backlighting.  LCD, being a subtractive technology, needs a mega-powerful backlight.  Plasma is an additive technology, i.e. each pixel makes its own light.

OLED TVs will arrive on the mass market one day and are fantastic; these have an LED for each pixel so are like plasma but with much lower power consumption.


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Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #47 on: 28 December, 2011, 02:10:06 pm »
Hmm to JLP (with their "free" 5 year warranty) or not??  The LG32LV550t is an "online exclusive" (exclusive how?- I guess they mean online only) on JLP @ £529.  At Amazon with stadard warranty it's £402 - and an extanded warranty to 5 years is an additional £110.  :-\

OTOH aren't TV's supposed to last a "reasonable time" - something arounnd 6 years - without fault?
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Mike J

  • Guinea Pig Person
Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #48 on: 28 December, 2011, 03:12:51 pm »
Went into Tesco's and bought one - don't want a massive screen I think ours is 19".

Re: How do you choose a new tv?
« Reply #49 on: 28 December, 2011, 04:18:10 pm »
Hmm to JLP (with their "free" 5 year warranty) or not??  The LG32LV550t is an "online exclusive" (exclusive how?- I guess they mean online only) on JLP @ £529.  At Amazon with stadard warranty it's £402 - and an extanded warranty to 5 years is an additional £110.  :-\

OTOH aren't TV's supposed to last a "reasonable time" - something arounnd 6 years - without fault?

When I bought mine a couple of years ago I got John Lewis to pricematch with the cheapest bricks and mortar store price that I could find and I got the 5 year warranty 'free'.  Not sure if they still do this though.