lphaup Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Hi, looking to get a new TV, around the 40" size, but wanting to do some research first so does anyone have any recommendations of make/model and where to get it?Many thanks,Lewis
seawolf Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 That's a pretty open question. Do you want cheap or good? How cheap or how good? Features?
Zoom7000 Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Also, what is your budget and what features are you looking for? 3D? 4K? Freeview HD? Nowadays, I personally wouldn't pay extra for a smart TV because you could get so much more for about £50 by getting a Raspberry Pi and putting on XBMC.
sonofsanta Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 (edited) In general: get a proper brand. The random makes at Tesco/Asda/Argos always have awful user interfaces and remotes and are massively frustrating to use. I'm all for LG, personally - great value for money for the quality you get - but if you want to go all out, Panasonic plasma TVs have gorgeous images. Smart TV is also a good thing, having iPlayer to hand is very useful. EDIT: Contrary to what @Zoom7000 says both posted at the same time. It's a personal preference thing I think - my missus would get annoyed at dealing with a RaspPi XBMC, but iPlayer on the TV is easy to get to. It's probably not worth paying £150+ to upgrade to a smart TV - even AppleTV is cheaper than that - but if it's a matter of £30 on a £500 telly, I reckon it's worth having the option there. Edited June 12, 2014 by sonofsanta
Michael Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 I've got a Samsung F8000 40" at home, really good TV with lots of features
SYNACK Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 RaspberryPi XBMc drives me nuts, its just too slow, fine for some bits, painful in others.
Zoom7000 Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 RaspberryPi XBMc drives me nuts, its just too slow, fine for some bits, painful in others. The majority of Smart TVs I've come across (And I mean the big brands, Samsung, LG, Panasonic etc) have a terribly clunky, horrible and sloooow interface that makes Raspberry Pi look like a concorde compared to jumbo jet!
sted Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 The majority of Smart TVs I've come across (And I mean the big brands, Samsung, LG, Panasonic etc) have a terribly clunky, horrible and sloooow interface that makes Raspberry Pi look like a concorde compared to jumbo jet! depends what you want it to do y sony is fine (as was the old one) and it saves another damned box with a hdmi lead (and on my old tv it detested my raspberry pi even having it turned on screwed up other inputs. I supose it depends what interface etc you want im quite happy with a basic up down left right through folders dont want/need show info just want to go click click play
cobra427col Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Did you see the article on smart tv's the other day - it said that people are finding that features no longer work after a while because the companies wont/doesnt update. I'd go with a "normal" tv rather than a smart tv - I agree with Zoom7000
SpuffMonkey Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Well, the Which best buys are... Samsung UE40H6400 40" £449.00 Sony Bravia KDL-42W829 42" £533.99 Samsung UE40F7000 40" £786.00 Samsung UE40F8000 40" £999.99 Samsung UE46F6500 46" £625.08
SYNACK Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Samsung, all my tvs are Samsung, have network and DLNA, the UI does not matter if you are pushing media from a pc via your a phone app.
Michael Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 As with anything modern, upgrading the firmware on Smart TVs does make all the difference. I think most of the better known brands do make an effort to improve their OS and Apps. The biggest problem with all Smart TVs is the ability to organise channels. When you have hundreds is pants to do with a remote, but in the context of Samsung, you can download TV channels and export to a USB flash drive, use an application on a PC to organise the channels, then re-import via USB.
SiliconAlley_Sam Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 We have a Samsung one and absolutely love it.
Theblacksheep Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 (edited) Well, the Which best buys are... Samsung UE40H6400 40" £449.00 Sony Bravia KDL-42W829 42" £533.99 Samsung UE40F7000 40" £786.00 Samsung UE40F8000 40" £999.99 Samsung UE46F6500 46" £625.08 The W series Bravias are great gaming TVs with very good response time for such large screens/price. I've had Samsung and LG plasmas, friend has the 70" sharp LCD. I've now settled on 46w905 which is fantastic, although I needed a soundbar because of terrible speakers. DLNA on TV is great, less devices and less power plus no cinevera (cos of no BRD). No need to use a last gen console for DLNA now. Chromecast isn't much cop. Edited June 12, 2014 by Theblacksheep
plexer Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 For the smart side of things a roku or now tv box would be good allthough I guess most TV's are probably smart tv's these days. Ben
3s-gtech Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 My only comment with the Samsung models (this may be a couple of generations back now) is that the sound quality and volume is awful compared to other decent brands. Great screens though. We have a mix of LG, Sony and Panasonic units of 40" + here, they're great TVs.
jonnykewell1 Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 I don't use the smart apps on my tv anymore. I have an LG but now I have a chromecast and my sky box has Iplayer, ITV player etc.. I don't use it. I find the slow too and the only app of any use was the iplayer. After about 6 months of buying it no apps were updated on the tv anymore.
Garacesh Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 I'll probably be looking to get a new TV in the coming months. Does anyone do TV's that aren't 'smart' anymore? Truth be told I don't give a monkey's about having on-demand playback on my TV. Realistically I don't even want it connected to my network/the internet given the stream of security flaws cropping up. I just don't trust them. So really all I'd want would be a 30-34" tv, preferably with Freeview built in. Everything else can do one.
Fleetwood Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 (edited) I bought an LG 42LN575V last summer from Argos for £450 at the time. 1080p Smart TV, built in freeview HD, built-in wireless so you're not forced to use ethernet to utilise smart/internet features and as far as I'm concerned the picture quality is beautiful and for built-in speakers they're not too bad a very good TV all in all and software/firmware updates are active and available with ease, I imagine there are newer models out now though. I'd recommend LG any day! Edited June 12, 2014 by Fleetwood
simpsonj Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 For a non smart TV, I recommend this: 50PN650T FULL HD PLASMA TV WITH FREEVIEW HD AND 600HZ | RLR Distribution Ltd can't comment on sound quality as I've got a sound bar, but the image quality is lovely and it's 50" for under £500.
mats Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 I'd echo the smart tv comments - bought a Phillips about a year ago. Great pic, dreadful smart tv software. The updates seem to have stopped too. I bought a roku.
fiza Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 I have a Samsung 6000 series purchased a few years back. I cant fault the Picture, it is fantastic. everyone who has been to my place has commented on it. A couple of peeps have bought Samsung after seeing mine. We use the Smart Apps all the time. Works fine for us, no speed issues. Only downside is when trying to use Youtube App. Using the remote to type is not the quickest way to do things! You can get a Samsung keyboard but I didn't think it was worth the money. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and I can screen mirror to the tv so any videos, photos I take on the phone I can show on the TV. I agree the sound is not the best but then I do have a 300W Surround Sound system which complements the TV nicely.
abillybob Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 My 1080p Sony Bravia 40" TV has been going strong now for 6 years never had a fault with it! I wouldn't buy any other Television unless it had Sony written on the front! Although they aren't normally the cheapest they last years and are always high quality and well made, my mum has a Samsung TV over the past 4 years it's failed on her twice and she's had to get it replaced it's newer than mine but those stupid touch buttons really is the weak spots. I always run a HTPC never bothered with Smart TV's I would personally go for a thin bezel, 1080p or 4k TV depending on what I could afford, smart design, sony for reliability, 3D (even though a bit of a gimmick) and a small computer running XBMC and DVBViewer for live satellite television, find a code for sky channels and you have free Sky and DVBViewer will broadcast to all clients on your network including the HTPC so you can watch live TV anywhere! Hope this helps!
hallb15 Posted June 13, 2014 Posted June 13, 2014 Hi, looking to get a new TV, around the 40" size, but wanting to do some research first so does anyone have any recommendations of make/model and where to get it?Many thanks,Lewis Get it from Richer Sounds. Their customer service is second to none, prices are keen and they'll match/beat any genuine competitor. They do free 5 year warranty too. For £350 you won't get better than this: Panasonic VIERA TX42A400B | 42 inch LED TV 1080p HD Freeview HD | Richer Sounds If you really want a Smart TV, the Sony user interface seems to be the easiest to use and most recommended, but you'll pay quite a bit more: Sony BRAVIA KDL42W705B Black | 42 inch LED Smart TV 1080p HD Freeview HD | Richer Sounds If you want more specific advice for your needs, please let us know what you intend to connect to the TV, e.g. console, Blu ray, Sky, VirginMedia...
seawolf Posted June 14, 2014 Posted June 14, 2014 If you are considering TVs for commercial use rather than in the home, then you should give the Sharp units a hard look. AFAIK, Sharp are the only company that still fully manufactures their own TVs, at least the mid to high end units anyway. This means quality control is in house and parts are usually available to repair them for many, many years. If they are installed in schools, Sharp even honours the 3 year warranty on consumer units. That's not something the other manufacturers will often do. The Sharp units also often have RS232 even in the consumer-grade models. If the TV is for the home, then I favour the better models from Samsung and Panasonic.
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