OK my ancient TV (about 20 years old CRT / big boxy style) is finally starting to give up the ghost and flickering a bit. So time to get a new one.

One quick google was enough to leave my brain in a bit of a spin – too many options! what happened to just buying a telly?!?

So, shortcut to advice needed via STW. Without blinding me with techno details, what should I be looking for that is:

– reliable (which makes have the best reputation?)
– not too big (small room and I’m not interested in having something that dominates the lounge)
– option to wall mount
– maybe run iplayer / tv catch up through it?
– future proof (I don’t want to be replacing it for years)

Oh, and at the moment my reception comes though a sky satellite dish, which connects to a sky box, which connects to the TV. Would I still need to do that? (I don’t use paid for sky packages)

Any advice / recommendations etc much appreciated!

Buy a Samsung

This one

Really you can’t go wrong with a Samsung.

All the 6000 series models are “Smart Hubs” which is what you need if you want to watch iplayer through the TV – they connect wirelessly through you router so its a really neat solution

TV size ought to be based on the distance between your chair and the TV.

Usual thought is “Distance / 2.5 = Screen size”

Really you can’t go wrong with a Samsung.

Mmmm, the screen went in our 42″ LCD when it was just under 4 yrs old. Luckily it was covered by John Lewis guarantee but if it has been a month or two later we’d have been shelling out for a new one.

Plenty of others have had the same issue as shown by a quick google.

see one you like . . . buy it!

+1 for Samsung, great tv’s.

Oh, and at the moment my reception comes though a sky satellite dish, which connects to a sky box, which connects to the TV. Would I still need to do that? (I don’t use paid for sky packages)

To remove the Sky box you would need to look at a TV with a FreeSat tuner. This is different to a FreeView tuner which is for signals from an ariel rather than a dish.

The big 3 brands of Samsung, Sony and Panasonic are normally a safe bet, Richer sounds are good for pricing and that samsung linked in the second post lookls to be pretty much spot on.

If you don’t mind spending a bit more Panasonic.

Edit: More specifically if you’re buying a high end TV buy a Panasonic.

+another for Samsung (especially the newer smart TV ones). Size is your own choice but I guess somewhere between 32″ and 40″ from what you describe. As above, buy from John Lewis for extra warranty (they should price-match local shops to).

Once you’ve got it then Google the model for recommended picture settings, someone out there has likely spent ages working out how to get the best picture so saves you faffing about.

Not really sure on the Sky box thing as I’ve always had Sky TV but I imagine if your aerial is a satellite dish then you’ve still need a box in between (whether a Sky or a freesat one), I could be mistaken though and some freeview TVs might be able to accept a direct satellite dish feed…

Going back a few years they had an issue with capacitors but I doubt this is still the case (when mine went I just followed one of the YouTube instructional videos and replaced the capacitors inside – I was amazed when everything worked after especially as I was ham-fisted with the soldering, it’s been fine for 18 months since).

Plenty of others have had the same issue as shown by a quick google.

the Samsung I recommended to my sister lost portions of its screen just after the warranty was up.

Plus the picture processing on Samsungs is dire in my opinion, which is important if you are not going to watching blurays all the time.

I never really trust Sony gear either, although I have some.

Buy from John Lewis for the 5 year warranty – and price matching.

Buy a Panasonic as they have a reputation for reliability and also for some of the best picture quality.

Don’t be tempted to buy a huge screen, choose something appropriate for your viewing distance – I think the online guides are too optimistic myself.

If you are too close to a large screen you can see all the nasty picture processing going on (unless you have a 1080P source), and it is unpleasant.

If you watch standard definition or broadcast HD a lot, and don’t need the screen to show output from a computer, consider a 720P (HD Ready) screen instead, as the fewer pixels act to ‘smooth’ out the picture and the TV has less processing to do (and mess up).

In order words, a standard definition picture has 576 interlaced lines of information, and broadcast HD has either 720P lines or 1080 interlaced lines (alternating 540 lines every frame), and as this is less than 1080 on its screen it has to process this information and guess what to show on the missing lines.

With a 720P TV there is obviously less to guess (and mess up).

In some stores you can see 720P and 1080P screens of the same brand next to each other. Get the assistant to put normal TV on compare them.

I recently bought a 32inch Sony LED and it’s great. I think they slashed the prices due to company financial trouble so it’s packed with features (3D, smartTV) and was just over £300 on Amazon. We have Samsungs at work and while they’re thinner and more attractive, I find the remote/interface on the Sony a lot more intuitive.