Confused on TV set..

[ranj]

Hi All

 

Boy am I confused!!!

 

I am in the market to replace our aging Toshiba 2939DB set (very old, but what a great set it has been!)

 

I have always been a fan of Sony's but having been a former salesman in an electrical store (which will remain nameless!) I began to go away from Sony and found they were overpriced and just not build like they were in the 80's and 90's. I still consider Sony to be a great in other areas of electronics but I just not sure anymore with the TV sets.

 

I started to take great interest in Samsung sets and found the quality and price was appealing for what you got for you money so a few years ago I replaced my CRT monitor for my PC with a Samsung SM2032MW which I use as my monitor and for my PS3. Its been an ok set, great picture on HDMI and DVI but disappointed with how slow it is to navigate and some of the menu options and picture/sound settings not up to standard. Sound quality needs to be cranked up to hear anything!

 

I stuck with Samsung and also purchased a DVD Hard Drive recorder from Costco. The Samsung DVDSH855M (

Samsung DVD-SH855M - DVD Recorder 250Gb Hard Drive: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics) to this date this has to be one of the worst buys I have ever purchased. Problems with DVD playback, freezing and other issues have really put me off from Samsung, for the moment at least.

 

So now I want to spend about £800 max and want either a 37inch or 40inch set. I am really struggling which Brand to go with on this one. Even though we brought a Toshiba set years ago at that time it was the best set on the market and have not been disappointed with the set. Do Toshiba make good LED or LCD's. From reading reviews it seems like they are not as good as the competitors. Samsung make TV's at a good price with lots of features but my experience with the 20" hasn't been great and confused or do I take the plunge with either a Sony (with high prices, good features). I am also hearing good things about Panasonic these day's but never brought Panasonic, always been an admirer but never purchased.

 

The features I am looking for is best quality possible for PS3 gaming, Bluray and DVD playback, I am thinking of investing in the HD service depending if I stick with Virgin or move to Sky and I am seriously interested in utilising the DNLA features of the set as I have a Netgear READYNAS box and want to be able to stream DIVX, music files wirelessly to the TV from the NAS or even a PC or laptop. I am hearing the TV sets out are not that great with DNLA??? as its technology which is fairly new.

 

What sets would people recommend for £800 Max? Happy to purchase online and would prefer a 5 year warranty included. Also I am thinking to stay with LCD or LED? I am confused which one would be better for my uses. I would like good picture quality especially when watching Sports and documentaries.

 

I am hearing also the sound quality isn't great on these sets but is there one better than others?

 

I would be very grateful on peoples experiences based on my usage of a TV.

 

I been looking in detail with the NX series of Sony's. Mainly 603 and 703. I also found a Samsung with 3D in my budget range, cant remember the model but other people on various forums have said its a decent set for the price especially with 3D. Not looked in great detail with the Toshiba and Panasonics.

[SpuffMonkey]

I'd say Panasonic every time - lovely picture. My Mum bought a Panasonic (on my advice) and is very happy - but my Dad went off and bought a Samsung - and he's always regretted it.

[maark]

dunno about DNLA but i bought a £300 32" toshiba LCD from richer sounds HD high res picture and it has been superb.

Richer sounds sell extended warranty very cheap. If you go into their shop check web price first - shop price is dearer but they will reduce to the web price with no hassle.

[sonofsanta]

Panasonic are the tops, especially for plasma which (if you can live with the shortcomings) are superior for gaming because they deal with motion much better than LCD.

 

I have an LG plasma as well for my 360 and it's brilliant, dead easy to use for the OH and little 'un.

 

Inbuilt sound on a flatscreen will always be rubbish, but tbh you don't need to spend anywhere near £800 for a 40", so look to spend around £600 on a 42" plasma and spend the remaining £200 on decent speakers.

 

And enjoy, I love shopping for and getting a shiny new telly

 

/may edit later if I get bored doing work and decide I want to look around and pretend it's for me, in which case I will list a few I like the look of

[Rydra]

LG are always a very close competitor to Samsung, the internals are basically the same as I recall, made in the same factory in east Asia!

 

Panasonic are also a good bet. From what i've seen, Samsung are great at making TV's, but these things are frequently not that good when it comes to other devices. Their monitors almost always lack one feature, never quite managing to get the full set.

I have a Samsung 37" TV, one of the ones they released just before the super-slim LED tv's (which i just couldn't warrant/afford at the time). It has the works of DLNA etc, but I don't use it really, as I have a media server running on my main PC, and I use the PS3 for streaming, as I found it a more reliable platform to work with, but it did work well enough.

 

Remember to buy a TV of the right size for the room. Buying a 50" TV for a 8ft x 6ft bedroom will look awful; you will be sitting too close to it, and it will always look pixelated, and probably require you to turn your head to take it all in. On the opposite front, if you've got a 20ft long living room, a 27" TV just won't be big enough!

 

Sony and Samsung frequently use the same internal components, and in fact Samsung at least at one point were building the LCD's for Sony! so you could get the same LCD as sony, for £200 less by buying a samsung.

[CHR1S]

Cant go wrong with Samsung or a Panny.

 

I have a Samsung myself and its great! The new LED backlit screens that are as thin as a thin thing appeal to me at the moment but its down to personal choice.

I got mine from TVs | Televisions | LCD TV | LED TVs | Cheap LCD TVs, Plasma TVs and HD Ready TVs from Direct TVs who were the cheapest when I was looking and gave me a good service.

[stitch]

I always go for Panasonic if I can afford it.

[maniac]

I'd also recommend Panasonic! My parents have a 42" panasonic flatscreen, and it's quite simply brilliant. They also brought a panasonic DVD recorder/Video player/Hard drive recorder to go with it which has been faultless. As others have said, the built in speakers are usually pretty poor on flat screens, so I'd buy a decent set of spakers to go with the TV - my parents got some samsung ones which also had a DVD player built into them which is handy. Still by far the best quality images I've seen from a flatscreen TV.

 

I have a very old Sony 28" CRT T.V in my house, the damn thing just keeps going - 8 years old now and it still works as well as the day I got it. Until it goes wrong I can't justify replacing it, looks like I may have it a while longer I think. Saying that, for watching DVDs and normal TV it's absolutely fine, even if it does take up quite a bit of room.

 

Mike.

[tommej]

Sony Bravia KDL40EX503U 40-inch Widescreen Full HD: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

 

I would pop to richersounds though and check it and other similarly priced tvs out and compare them in person too.

 

Spend the money you saved on some decent speakers 8)

 

Actually I'd recommend purchasing from richer sounds for the 5 year guarentee!

 

http://www.richersounds.com/product/lcd-tv/sony/bravia-kdl40ex503/sony-kdl40ex503

Edited September 20, 2010 by tommej

[sonofsanta]

/may edit later if I get bored doing work and decide I want to look around and pretend it's for me, in which case I will list a few I like the look of

 

Of course I couldn't stay away.

 

The Panasonic TX-P42G20B 42-inch Widescreen Full HD 1080p 600Hz Neo Plasma TV with Freeview HD and Freesat HD looks lovely

[Homer]

Panasonic vote here - Have a Panasonic 40" Plasma and it is *amazing*

 

NeoPDP panels are pretty special

[glennda]

I have to say i purchased aFoehn & Hirsch 32" lcd from ebuyer - although cheap the picture quality is really good - although i have only had it 3 weeks so the reliability really hasnt been tested that much - although personally i would if i had the money for an LG or Panasonic

[kevbaz]

Got a lg myslef and was blown away by the quality of it, compared it sidebyside to a tosh and samsung and it blew them away, the picture was so vivid and the colours brillianlty vibrant... superb! full 1080p and no lag in hd watching sports unlike my mates samsung which gets a gittery football when were watching it

[arwen]

If you go into comet/curries and have a look at the LED tv's you will instantly see the difference, they are superb! Although with the samsung ones, you do have to play around with the settings to get it looking that good when you get it home. The defaults are horrible :-/

 

Plasma Pannasonics also get my vote!