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Right i'm off up my local Currys tonight as they've a deal on with 0% APR on all LCD/Plasma tv's and they are also throwing in free wall brackets.

So, What shall i go for basically. I can't have anything over 40" as there wont be room to hang it where we want too.

Also i've read that anything under 42" is best to get an LCD Screen?! True/False

i've been looking at this one and wondered peoples views?

http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1850641663.1223997265@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdiadefgjdhdelcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=12&sm=0&tm=1&sku=536063&category_oid=

panasonic do the best lcd tv's followed by sony.

so is this any good?

http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1850641663.1223997265@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdiadefgjdhdelcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=12&sm=0&tm=1&sku=172727&category_oid=#productInformationSection

saying i can't go 42" was obviously a lie. as long as the width isn't over 110cm i'm fine

Not strictly true, moreso plasma has a slight edge over LCD from 42" upwards.

The Samsung you linked to would do a good job, can't fault Samsung for LCD really.

Wheres Ralphy when you need him?

Magic, got your invite yesterday

hope you and the Mrs can make it dude

I have a panasonic TH42px80. its very good and was cracking value at just over £600.  They do a 37" version i believe.  

I've no idea if you would be better off getting a LCD for that size or not. I cant see that it would make all that much difference tbh.

I wouldnt bother paying the extra for a 1080p TV, unless you can get a really good deal. The difference seems pretty negligable to the naked eye.  

But it depends what you are going to use it for I suppose or if spending an extra £200 for a marginal improvement in picture quality bothers you or not.

magic. any models that take your fancy google them and then read the reviews.or go to avforums and read what is said on there.
panasonic is worth the extra spend imo.they are the best tv's on the market.
plasma is better than lcd but only on a big tv.they also cost more to run

so you think that 40" LCD would be fine?!

i'm going up to view them tonight to get a proper view of them.

Agree about reading the reviews.  Its possible to spend more on a TV thats not as good as a cheaper model of a different brand if you see what i mean.

Some decent brands seem to release TV's that get lukewarm reviews, yet at the same time release bigger / smaller ones that get good reviews. 

but having the 1080p format would suit when wanting HD movies etc in the future over the 720p HD?


i've done a few searches at work today and each one has good reviews but there isn't a comparison over Panasonic/Samsung for example.

check your pm

Yep.

All the big brands are much of a muchness really, they've got the same kind of technology and contrast ratios so the picture quality between them is negligible, what it really boils down to is reliability. Like arriba said, have a look at some reviews (AVForums is really good) and find one you like best.

for anything over 32 inch go for a 1080p.but the key thing about a tv is how its normal sd output looks.some are terrible so make sure you see normal feed tv stuff in the shop.not just dvd or hd as it wont show up its flaws.

Obviously it is better, but I dont think by anywhere near as much of a margin as 720p HD is over SD.

I guess you'll spend much more time watching SD tv or at best watching sky HD which aint 1080p anyway (??)

Depends on your budget really, if you are feeling minted go for it.  I put the money i saved on the TV towards a PS3

i've not seen AVFORUMS so will take a butchers. cheers guys.

I've noticed the contrast ratio for the 40" sammy is 30k over the 10k panasonic. This would make a big difference in picture quality wouldn't it?

There really is nothing discernable between 1080p and 1080i on a 32" set.

This review is pretty good: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6449_7-6810011-1.html

cheers for the heads up. i'll make sure i get them to show me the normal sd output


My budget is around £700 i'd say. If we get one a lot cheaper then a PS3 is a good idea. Even though the Mrs wants a Wii

Yes, very much so. Higher contrast ratio = deeper blacks = better picture.

thought as much but TV's isn't a strong point.
cheers

interesting.best option is to go with what other owners of sets have to say.
magic will find all he needs on the avforums.
some 1080p tvs are shit for sure,but some will be the best around.
research is the key to all this.dont rush into a purchase.some that claim deeper blacks dont deliver by the way.blacks is the biggest flaw on all lcd tvs.none have really got it nailed yet

yeah i've been looking for ages and want to take the plunge now.
reviews on that 40" samsung are all good. apart from 1/10 says the sound hasn't much base!!!!
to me that's not important

Sound on Samsungs is notoriously shit, mostly the speakers rather than the actual sound processing. If you buy one and find the sound from the speakers isn't to your taste then just buy a decent 2.1 pc speaker system and hook it up SPDIF out on the TV.

On a 32 " I reckon you'd have to be sitting pretty close to notice the difference in detail between 1080 and 720.


I reckon 80% of my viewing is SD, so as someone else said make sure you try both HD and SD sources when you try before you buy!


That's what I did, went for a Panny 768 line 42" plasma. Excellent compromise between acceptable SD and good HD. I'll re-evaluate in a few years but I doubt I'd get much more from a full 1080 set until my vieiwng is more HD than SD. Even then it's arguable I'd see much difference with my eyesight/distance from TV

well this is what i brought home with me this evening  :surf:

http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/store/cur_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1874320180.1224016839@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccgadefgljgfelcflgceggdhhmdgmj.0&page=Product&fm=12&sm=0&tm=1&sku=808403&category_oid=

Nice one. Good luck with the wall mounting, make sure you get some big mofo anchor bolts.

we haven't bothered with a wall mount as the size of the tv on it's stand is at a perfect hight for us.

But watching the golf on sky sports 1 last night was ace compared to the old CRT 26".
the picture was a bit dodgy at first with standard tv but a quick search on the net for optimum settings sorted that out.

now going to see if my sky + box has a HDMi cable output to get a clearer digital picture. if not a better scart lead as mine was only £1 from the pound shop!!!!

Your sky + box wont have a HDMI.   they want you to buy sky HD :nod:

You can get some decent scarts on the cheap though.  think i got some gold plated ones for about 8 quid.  They go up to stupid money though, £50 for a scart cable?   fuck off.

yeah just doing a search and there is one at over £50. fuck that i'd rather pay for Sky HD  8)

but saying that i've only just convinced the boss the get a 40" TV so i'll wait a couple of months before i suggest that one.

Another thing to look out for is the placing of the scart sockets. Both your TV and Sky+ box will probably have two, make sure the scart lead is in the RGB socket on both and check your Sky+ picture settings to make sure it's displaying in RGB.

i set the Sky+ box to 16:9 viewing too last night and it's already on RGB but haven't checked the position of the scarts themselves. I didn't think this mattered but it makes sense really.

I've a friend here at work who's selling all his old HiFi/TV stuff and he's got a £50 RGB scart lead which he said he'd sell for £15 to me. Result!!!!

Also, setting "scart control" to "on" (Sky+ picture settings)  should mean your TV will switch between 16:9 and 4:3 automatically.

For example, if you set the TV to 4:3 or "smart" aspect for 4:3 pictures, and switch to a widescreen picture the TV will automatically adjust the aspect ratio to 16:9.

yeah i noticed that so i turned it off so it stay as 16:9 all the time.

i'm now looking into a Blue Ray dvd player to compliment my tv.

PS3 is the way forward magicroundabout

cannot think of a better Blue Ray than going PS3 - does the job and you get the bloody brilliant game side of it built in for free......

fair point actually. PS3 = Blue Ray = Pro Evo =  :wotjump:

decent purchase magic.also glad to see you've found the optimum settings online.
you will love the look of the ps3 on your new set.
nice one!

cheers arriba.
thing with a PS3. is it Multiregion?
seeing as i have a huge amount of R1 DVD's i wouldn't want these to become redundant.

Fair enough, just be aware 4:3 broadcasts will look short and fat (or is it tall and thin?) if the TV is left in 16:9 mode permanantly.

PS3 is NOT multiregion and no hack exists. Also you may want to look at this. Sounds like BS and probably slim chance of picking one up even if true but....

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/258320/playstation-3-40gb-129-99-nintendo-/

Arriba,

thanks for the tip about AV Forums.Good board with plenty of info over a range of subjects and products.

Yeah i see what you mean about the short and fat or tall and thin affect but i've noticed most programes are in widescreen. well the one i watch are.

no way. i'm going to have to watch this one as that would be emense. And i'd definitely have one in my house by the 23rd Oct Cheers Batch.

Like I say, probably BS and if not the Asda staff will grab it!

today up near Wendsbury Currys Mega Store has a half price sale and thew queue is already back onto the M6 trying to get in.

First 100 customers can get £100 off a PS3.
Samsung 40" LCD @ £270

Sat Nav at £20 down from £199

it's madness

Should have been in Curry's Greenbridge 2 weekends ago :)

Picked up an 80Gb PS3 for £199 (down from £299 for first 25 customers) and a 42" Panasonic Plasma down from £750 to £499 - again for first 25-30 people.

Got there at 8.15 in the morning - out and purchased within an hour - blinding :):):)

Sheepshagger gets the cool stuff from Currys.
I bought a washing machine. Boooooo.

sorry :(:(:(

well i've ordered myself two of these as i ordered one and hooked it up and the difference was amazing so i ordered a second for the DVD player. Highly recomended.

http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/PGV7000.html

£23 for a 1.5m scart lead?!? You've been had.

I paid £18 for a 5m gold plated scart lead.

are scart leads made of gold???

No.

 :doh:

and diamonds

I meant like inside the black bit

there were more expensive ones around but this one had top reviews so thought why not.

Yes, Solid Gold.

And the moon is made out of cheese.

I knew about the moon already!  ::)

There were penguins on the moon.

Gold plated means the metal parts have a thin layer of gold on top.

I suspect that if you looked in your jewellery box, at your Elizabeth Duke jewellery, half of it would be gold plated and the other half rolled gold.

Isn't that the colour of Wolves kit?

I dont even wear gold you minger!

*Bump*

So, my turn...

I've decided it's time to upgrade my tv, I'm not exactly flush and it's only for my bedroom - I don't have an xbox 360 or a ps3 but I dare say I'll invest in a ps3 at some point this year.

I'm not at all arsed about getting an all singing all dancing beheamouth of tv but I suppose I'd like to get the best I can for my money.  Looking to spend about £300 - £350 I suppose and only really want a 32"er.

Any suggestions?

I've been looking today and found this:

http://www.directtvs.co.uk/Samsung_LE32A436T1D_32_Inch_HD_Ready_LCD_TV_LE32A436T1D/version.asp

...which I think suits my needs.  Can anybody who knows owt about this sort of thing let me know if there's anything I should be avoiding at this price range?

I don't expect to be blown away by whatever I get just want something that I can use for the next few years without to many issues.

Cheers. x

For £350, Tescos are doing the Sony Bravia 32" and IIRC Richer sounds are doing them at £300. Cue parade of people who know what they're talking about explaining why the Bravia's shit. I'd also be interested in any responses - looking along the same lines as KT ie around 300 quid, 32", 720p

sonys aint shit.panasonic are better though

normally a tight-arse, i was flabbergasted when my dad went out on boxing day and came back with a 42" LG to replace our 21" Panasonic (15 years old). its a real difference, films are ace on it.

tom how about this jobby:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/131916/show_product_reviews

its basically a samsung with a different badge, £50 cheaper if you can cope without the trendy name. its 1080 instead of 720, which is better somehow i'm told.

I had looked at that OF but reading the reviews there is a problem with the remote generally, a bit picky I know but the distance from being in bed to tv is fairly significant and I know it would do my head in.  Also it only has one scart socket which isn't ideal, again a bit picky but those little things are what makes me annoyed...

i aint really checked prices recently for tv's,but if i couldn't get a panasonic for my budget, a sony would be the next on my list,followed probably by a samsung.for a budget range tv, goodmans lcd tvs are decent and imo better than some bigger name sets(my parents have one)

At that price I'd snap their hand off.

Looks like a good LCD TV for the money by all accounts. I haven't seen one in action, but for £350 reports on the net are favourable.  My mum nearly bought one over xmas. OK it's not full 1080 resolution, but on a  32" are you going to tell at more than 3ft away? Almost certainly not. I guess better are available, but generally cost more.

Anyway the Tesco deal is good, but be aware this Bravia is a Tesco exclusive KDL-32U4000 and not a KDL-32V4000. As far as anyone can tell the difference is only cosmetic, but noone seems 100% sure.

Up to a few days ago Amazon were selling the 'V' for £349 with free 3 year warranty. Buggers have upped that to £370 now. No idea how good the 3 year warranty is (not read small print), though it is a Sony offer (via 3rd party).

Richer Sounds seem to have run out online, but seem to have a few instore (see http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct_clearancebargains&pid=SONY-KDL32V4000U) .

 M&S who were selling for £349 with free 5 year warranty but no longer available online. Might be worth checking in store M&S if you can - do they even sell TVs in Swindon?

John Lewis is always a sometimes a good choice to buy your TV from. They will price match any in-stock  bricks and mortar seller and provide a free 5 year warranty.

yeah they say the sound is extra poor too.

picky is good, if you're spending 300 smackers you should get something which you are completely happy with.

Just checked out Richer Sounds on the net, they've a couple of Samsungs on sale at the same sort of price and there's one just round the corner from work - think I'll drop in and see what they've got to say for themselves.

With Richer Sounds the TV's should be set up in-store with the best settings too, unlike Curry's/Comet etc. which are just plugged in and switched on with the default (worst) settings.

What Richer Sounds have you been to Sam? The ones I have been in the salesmen were still useless.