350 budget. Looking for something to watch Virgin Tivo on, PS3 and movies from USB/Laptop or DVD and Blueray

Don’t need Freeview but not fussed comes with.

Erm… 40″ Hannspree LED from eBuyer any good? Prefer pic quality to size but looking at > 32″

thankyouplease.

I have a 32″ Hannspree 1080p LCD & picture is great (to my eye). They’re a bit “industrial” looking, but that doesn’t bother me. I have a Technisat HDFS freesat box & Toshiba Blu-ray, and the HD picture quality is very good. Sound is so-so, but I feed mine through a spearate speaker set up.

Go for it I say 🙂

Yeah I’ll probs run it through my hifi rather than the built in speakers.

Doesn’t look too bad.

Big panasonic just over your budget:

try and push your budget up to £400ish – there seem to be a lot more sets at that price point.

Get a Panasonic and/or get the set from John Lewis on price match to get the 5 year warranty.

Ebuyer have 32″ Toshiba 1080p at £265.

Otherwise Richer Sounds

Turnerguy – thats a plasma, non?

My wife’s terrible at pausing tv and wandering off into her own little world for a few hours. I think plasma’s not the best option for us but I’ve seen some cracking deals on 42″ + screens for silly money compared to what plasma’s were a couple of years ago.

It’s got to be LED or LCD I reckon. I’m just gonna take a punt at the Hannspree I think.

I wouldn’t, I’d go for a low end Panny/Tosh or similar.

See I’d never even considered Toshiba (yet I’m sitting here using a toshy laptop that’s been bombproof!)

Spose at the end of the day, I’m currently using a 32″ panny quintrix crt, pretty much ANYTHING will look better…

My only real experience of Hannspree is a mates 37″ that he bought 3+ years ago that looks darn good and has lasted incredibly well. eBuyer dudes seem to like Hannspree too.

Grr…. Wish I could just go out and buy off the shelf. Damn the internets, forums and choice.

LED and LCD are the same really, LED is just referring to the back light used, which in the LED case in a lower energy, also makes them thinner.

If you go for Sony or Panasonic it will be fine, even Samsung is good.

What do you mean ‘even Samsung is good’? I think you’ll find they are about the best out there

My wife’s terrible at pausing tv and wandering off into her own little world for a few hours. I think plasma’s not the best option for us but I’ve seen some cracking deals on 42″ + screens for silly money compared to what plasma’s were a couple of years ago.

I have 2 kids who out the TV on and wander off for hours with it running and paused. No burn after in almost 6 years, my one for the computer does have a small amount in line with the Firefox explorer bar it’s not really noticeable, that’s about 4 years old and runs almost 24/7.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/panasonic-42-full-hd-plasma-tv-600hz-5-years-warranty-469-99-panasonic-store-1038784

5 year warranty on that panny for a little over budget

Well, the actual panels are made by the same manufacturers (LG, Samsung, etc) just badged up/put in different enclosures according to braynd. A bit of research will reveal that X model by X brand uses the same as Y model by Y braaynd. I have a Hannsg and a DGM monitor which use the same actual screen panels as ‘bigger’ braynds, but cost loads less*.

Buying a ‘trusted’ braynd should be reliable, but just remember you will be paying a premium for the name.

*Some braynds may use better speaker units, better quality enclosures, stuff like that. Nowt that affects picture quality though.

If you’re planning on running audio through the hifi, check the spec of the TV to make sure it has a connector compatible with your amp. Mine didn’t, and when I run audio from the DVD player there’s a bit too much lag for comfort. (Samsung telly, has optical audio out but no RCA sockets)

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/20019620/-/Product.html

Sony Bravia,
40″
£419
with £100 cashback

hmm… Saw that one in Currys today but it was 399 with the cashback. Think it was the same model.

We have two Sony Bravias of differing quality. Both fab

Well, the actual panels are made by the same manufacturers (LG, Samsung, etc) just badged up/put in different enclosures according to braynd. A bit of research will reveal that X model by X brand uses the same as Y model by Y braaynd.

Hannspree make their own screens, they got fined last year for being involved in a price fixing racket with LG, & Samsung.

The advantage of buying a “premium” (i.e. Sony/LG/Samsung) brand LCD telly is that you stand a better chance of getting a decent picture. You do pay a price for the name, but usually you get a better telly too.

Things to look out for are ghosting in fast moving scenes, which can be annoying (especially playing games on PS3 or watching sports), blacks not being very black (washed out grey), and scaled images from standard definition signals like DVDs or freeview/freesat/virgin looking blurry, jaggy or oddly pixalated.

Everyones eyes are different, and I’d suggest going to somewhere like Richer sounds, or curries, and having a look at the pictures on the screen.

Thanks for the info there.

So, £400 seems the better price point. I’m sure the finance officer in the house won’t have a problem with another £50. If I can get a £500 telly with £100 cash back then I think we’re winning. She wanted an “internet” TV but I said it was more expensive – that plus Skype I reckon I can swing it.