Looking to buy an HD TV - any recommendations?

dogbower · Post by **dogbower** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 5:57 pm

I would sugest buying one of the specialist magazines with a review section.
Also as previously suggested be very clear how many inputs you need and then get one more.
And then have a look at richer sounds, they used to just do hi fi but now have most of the stores given over to TVs. Price promise and offer a great guarantee.
I bought an LG 5 years ago and has been very good.
Stuart.

74rsman · Post by **74rsman** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:37 pm

kdl40v sony bravia
best price for size/features.
i just bought a 32, 37 and a 40 and the 1080p 40" is fab
about £500ish

Lightweight_911 · Post by **Lightweight_911** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:08 pm

red964 wrote:
i just bought a 32, 37 and a 40

DIRKBROWNFINGER · Post by **DIRKBROWNFINGER** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 9:10 pm

I bought the Pioneer 42 plasma with built in freeview and 3 hdmis - it won 5 stars and top set in what hi-fi awards. Superb!

They all look superb in the showroom when hooked up to Sky HD though! So do ask to see your set with terrestrial signal if thats what you will be watching.

74rsman · Post by **74rsman** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 9:10 pm

aha
i got the 32, 37 for the mother in law and the 40 for my mum.

(It helps i work for Sony aswell ;o) )

smallspeed · Post by **smallspeed** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 9:25 pm

im a bit backwards in the tv department, i get my best mates cast-offs so im currently watching a 32" sony trinitron CRT telly

my mrs on the otherhand is a bit more high-tech and has a samsung 27" lcd tv and i think the picture is far better than my parents 32" sony which cost nearly double. Its especially good at fast moving things whcih seem to mess with LCD's minds; if you look at football (which i rarely do) then you can see lots of fuzz around the little spikey haired men running around the place.. On the samsung its far better and theres a lot less pixelation. Presumably this is a software/decoding hardware thing??.. Either way the pictures really impressed me, esp on non HD sources, which virtually everything we have is

I think there are lots of versions of the sony tv's and they're all virtually identical apart from the insides and the numbers so make sure you're comparing apples with apples..

ben

Disco · Post by **Disco** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:01 pm

Nick,

Sony Bravia is the way forward: - unless you have B&O money to spend, if you do, then I would go for one of them.

Someone mentioned John Lewis - Ouch ! - I agree that you get the warrantee, which is worth its money in salt, but here are a couple of options:

http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk/ - 3 years free

or

http://www.richersounds.com/splashpage.php

they'll throw in a 5 year one for 10% of the value of the TV.

failing that, and if you just want to go for a the standard TV with 1 year warrantee ring this number - 0844 444 5128 ext 72535 and ask for Jaya.

she works for Dell comercial, I can get a deal through them with my company - ( I dont think working for my place is a limiting factor though ) and I have been negotiating with them recently - so it means that for example I can get the Sony Bravia 52W4500 for £1558.68 ( after a bit of haggling ) quite a substancial saving.

good luck.

p.s - Smallspeeds Mrs reckons that the Samsung is better than the Sony - well the screens are the same, but the mechanics underneath are what you pay for - hence the price of Sony ( which I personally believe to be better ) sorry Mrs Smallspeed.!

so to bring this back to porsche speak. think of the samsung as a 911 T, a Sony Bravia W 4500 range as an E, the Sony Bravia Z 4500 range as an S and the B&O as the RS....

smallspeed · Post by **smallspeed** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:11 pm

It was me that thought the samsung picture was better than the Sony but then to be fair I was comparing a 3yr old Sony with a brand new samsung..
Pixelation really puts me off lcds right now although I watch almost all standard def sources which probably doesn't help!

As for john lewis they will price match so don't write them off and having a new for old replace warranty with them is a lot nicer than having to battle with Sony or someone over a reconditioned replacement unit or repair!

Disco · Post by **Disco** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 6:43 pm

You are right about the pixilation, but I think we are some way off the technologhy of the crt - that went through 20 -40 years of RandD ... I spoke with the b and o chap about the avant, possibly the best crt made, and he was saying that the quality of their 7k tv wasn't up to the same standard - the avant is almost 20 years old now. Agreed with john lewis, but I found, as did one of my mates, that the never knowingly undersold isn't quite what it reports to be - ie they won't price match, even if its a retailer not a website... But you might have better luck than us.
That said, if you get a deal with them, its worth going with them - superb customer services, first hand experience !

Sorry to have brought mrs smallspeeds name into disripute incorrectly !

smallspeed · Post by **smallspeed** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:01 pm

Disco wrote:Sorry to have brought mrs smallspeeds name into disripute incorrectly !

hehe.. she can do that herself without any outside help

agreed with crt, although i only have crt's because i'm tight

I do think the picture on my mid-range sony trinitrons are way better than some of the expensive LCD's and Plasma's however if you have a nice HD source that can do all the processing for the screen (ie xbox360 / PS3) then the results are amazing! not sure what sky HD looks like as I dont know anyone with it

B&O do make some amazing telly's and the CRT's are available for bargain prices these days.. Also have always had a bit of a soft spot for Lowe tv's although I know nothing about them..

b

RichiRich · Post by **RichiRich** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 9:08 am

Have a look at the reviews here, they should help:

http://fwd.five.tv/gadget-show/bestbuys/tv