Hello,

Thought I would pick the brains of STW about a new TV.

Looking for around a 42-46 inch screen, HD. Not fussed about 3D or smart (due to using a fire stick).

Is it worth spending the extra for say a Samsung?

Any good suggestions on what to go for?

Thanks in advance

Jon

Samsung / Panasonic / Toshiba.

Don’t pay extra for 4K. Don’t pay Sony tax. Don’t buy a cheap no-name brand.

If you want a “smart” TV, get a dump TV and Something Else to do the smart bit. (Oh, wait, you just said that, as you were.)

If you have room get the next size up.

As for Sony TV – got a 50″ W8 series here and it’s fantastic. Didn’t pay anywhere near the normal retail price for it either and tbh most TVs now are “smart”, except the bottom spec ones. Even though we have a youview box the smart features on the sony come in handy, I can flick through the TV guide on my phone and switch the TV, record to a usb drive and send youtube videos from any phone or PC straight to the TV.

I went out looking for a cheap £400 50″ dumb TV but ended up with a much better one for a little over £500. My only regret is not getting a 55″ but at the time we thought it would be too big. going from a 32″ CRT you get used to 50″ very quick. 🙁

OP I agree with your strategy of keeping the “smart” stuff outside the TV, that way you can upgrade that as the tech changes quickly. Also agree with comments above about getting a decent quality set (yes Samsung are v good, Sony excellent rout very pricey imho) and going for max size. You do get used to the size very quickly so if the room/TV spot has the space go for as big as the budget will allow

This is the current favorite.

http://m.johnlewis.com/mt/www.johnlewis.com/samsung-ue48j5500-led-hd-1080p-smart-tv-48-with-freeview-hd-and-built-in-wi-fi/p1939960?un_jtt_v_pdp=yes&un_jtt_v_from_product=un_product_2#page_loaded

Any better suggestions?

Thanks Jon

Samsung have the best range of ‘apps’ on the smart bit. I know you said that wasn’t important, but if you’re going to be hard pushed to get a dumb telly, you may as well get the best you can. We bought a Sony earlier in the year, great telly, but it has to be augmented with a NowTV box to get ITV and Channel 4 catch up.

Also, think about the sound and perhaps budget for an external speaker set/sound bar. The thin cases of modern TV’s, (and probably budget speakers) are crap for sound reproduction.

John Lewis – good call. Prices should match anything you can find on the high street, and you get a free 5 year warrantee.

Don’t pay Sony tax.

wtf are you on about? Is that the extra you pay to get better color rendition ?

Panasonic is probably a safe bet – Panasonic have a good rep for reliability (not Samsung according to a few threads that have been on here) and they upscale SD pretty well (which Samsung do not imo).

The stock settings on nearly all TVs are hopeless – I bought my MIL a Humax Freeview box and the pictures through the unadjusted hdmi input on my W9 Sony is poor – but through the adjusted one it is leagues better.

So unless you are going to have the TV calibrated it is a good idea to find a set that has had a comprehensive review on one of the decent internet site where they have calibrated it and list the settings.

Then you can just apply them and get better performance, or use that as a base to tweak from.

Sets that provide access to the low level settings are normally a better bet for that reason.

Look at reviews on the specialist sites rather than ask here – you will just get uninformed opinions saying that their XXX set is great, just like the ‘what bike’ threads were everyone recommends what they ride.

we have that very John Lewis Samsung one you linked and are very pleased with it. Matched it up with a Samsung soundbar and bluetooth subwoofer, all from John Lewis, about 4 months ago.

Had Sony Tvs for decades. Last time we bought a TV we went with LG. Its every bit as good as the Sony equivalents. Sony lost its position as the best mainstream tv manufacturer when people moved from the old conventional type Tvs to LCDs.

LG, Samsung et al are all pretty much at the same level Sony are nowadays.

For smart functionality – is the ITV player and All 4 available in HD – I didn’t think it was?

If not then you would be better off making sure you had enough PVR functionality to record anything from those channels in realtime and HD.

I know you said that wasn’t important, but if you’re going to be hard pushed to get a dumb telly, you may as well get the best you can.

I’m not sure as I follow the logic there. If you’re going to get something you’re not going to use you should get the best unused features you can?

wtf are you on about? Is that the extra you pay to get better color rendition ?

Typically, they’re overpriced. Like for like, a Sony product will usually be more expensive than their near-identical competitors.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve nothing against Sony, it’s often good kit (I’ve had plenty myself over the years). It’s sometimes worth the premium, but not always.

Look at reviews on the specialist sites rather than ask here – you will just get uninformed opinions saying that their XXX set is great, just like the ‘what bike’ threads were everyone recommends what they ride.

When I bought mine, I went and looked at loads of sets in a variety of different stores (because shops can set up a TV well or badly). I’m happy that the set I bought was the best available at the time, and that was a Toshiba. I recommended Tosh, Panasonic and Samsung because they were all reliably better than anything else out there when I was looking, by a long way.

@ Cougar

“Don’t pay Sony tax”

What are you on about?

Have a look on richer sounds. Always some great deals on there.

I’m in a similar position here though use a Sky box for all the feeds. Currently have a Samsung 36″ and want to go to a 45+” and JL have a lot of Sony’s in at present.
I’ve a small Sony in the bedroom 26″ thing that I’ve had for years and will replace that with the larger Samsung from downstairs.
No intention of fitting it to a wall, it’ll stand on a unit with soundbar/surround and Sky box all nearby.

So, Sony? Look like good deals at JL at the present.. which means I might just buy a present 😀

Had similar requirements to you OP, and have just picked up a 42″ LG, dumb TV from argos for £239.

Samsungs (not sure if all) do come with the redbull tv app which is nice.

Samsung do have the best smart features BUT youview is better for channels and they are introducing apps.

The new Sonys with build in android and youview should beat anything in terms of what is available and going on their latest TVs they are better quality but it will be expensive until next spring when they sell them off. Whether you notice it or not or care is up to you. Size and good image are the most important things.

I too was in the “just get a dumb TV and use an external box” but having one remote not two is nice and the dumb TV I got and took back as it didn’t have basic things like control over HDMI (I wanted this specifically for integration) or audio out over HDMI to the amp – a small thing but modern amps seem to be limited to only one or two digital inputs so it’s nice to keep them available. Sony have now added Plex and another nice thing about some Sony, Samsung and Panasonic TVs is they often have DVB-S input so if you have a sky dish you are not using then you can plug that into the TV. We have a dodgy aerial so it’s nice to be able to use the sat as well so we have the TV set to DVB-S and the youview box DVB-T. Some of the TVs will have dual tuner so you can connect to both DVB-S and DVB-T (ours cannot as only single) and some like the Panasonic have Freesat which means they can get the Freesat TV guide which is a lot quicker than the Gracenote we have to use on our Sony as they don’t pay the extra for Freesat. It might be slow as our internet is slow or the Sony doesnt really have the fastest processor (latest Samsungs are much faster).

When you go to test TVs turn off all the motion processing. It is a horrible bodge and I can’t stand watching TVs with it on.