Big new telly – suggestions please

Got about £500 to play with, want 1080p with a couple of hdmi slots, would prefer LED but LCD is ok if the blacks are black enough, inbuilt freeview would be handy. Moon on a stick not required but any suggestions that fit most of the above?

Morphy Rchards Xr6i berrling. it's £560 in Currys at the mo'. Shit hot spec.

After a lot of research, I went with a 42" Toshiba. £550, with a £100 mail in rebate, bargain.

Came down to the Tosh or Panasonic for me; I looked at a lot and nothing else came close apart from the uber-thin Samsung and that was twice the price.

Panasonic whatever.

Look in shops, research, and buy online it's so much cheaper.

Again, I'll recommend John Lewis outlet in Swindon, loAds there mucho bargaino

+1 for Panasonic.

Sony EX403 series excellent value for money. Spending more money only gets you 100Hz or 200Hz processing, a spectacular waste of money if I've ever seen one.

Panasonic. John Lewis pricematch (check avforums). Job done.

http://www.johnlewis.com/230929759/Product.aspx

LG42ld690 for £499 from richer sounds

Panasonic, Samsung and Sony are my recommendations.

If your a Costco member worth looking in there as prices are sometimes same as online or sale prices and you get a 5 year warranty as standard.

Also check out Hotdeals UK for bargains.

For example http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/panasonic-tx-l37s10b-37-inch-full-h/743620

I got a Sharp on a deal (they sponsored an event we did so had special offers), John Lewis had their own special offer going on at the time so I ended up with a full HD, LCD Sharp + a Blu-Ray DVD player for about £600 (RRP at the time was nearly double that!)

Mine is over a year old now though so no idea on current specs or prices. The Sharp is a really nice TV though.

Buy through John Lewis, they price match everything and you get a free 5-year warranty.

Richer sounds for me all the way.

Sony Bravia. End of.

If you can push it to £600 you'll have a pound change, a 5 year guarantee and Sony Bravia EX703U from . . . . John Lewis!

Forgot to say, 32" & LED

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sony-bravia-kdl40ex403u-40-inch-wid/747139

I saw the sony bravia next to a panasonic in the shop and the picture was better on the Panasonic. The viewing angle was wider too. Still a great TV though.

Have a Sony Bravia and based on picture quality wouldn't buy again.

I went from a Samsung LCD to a Panasonic Plasma—like it much better. Color saturation/richness is really unbelievable. I went the extra and had it professionally calibrated and it does make a difference
Was originally going to buy a LED, but just liked the plasma picture better and viewing angle is much wider
At the end of the day, it's which picture you like best. Don't think you can go terribly wrong with any of the top-tier manufacturers

We had a 3 year old toshiba that was stolen in a burglary earlier this year. It was only hd ready not full hd. It was a decent telly but the remotes are crap. We have just replaced it with a panasonic plasma which is superb. I think you still get a free 5 year warranty at john lewis as well. We had to use comet 'cause of insurance voucher.

Panasonic are excellent it's what I have.

Grim they can't force you to use a certain shop, too late now I know but you could of said no thanks.

don't get anything resembling the enormous non HD toshiba that a friend of a friend donated to us the other day… its the same size as an old mini and weighs exactly 4 and a half medium sized greengrocers.. not fun to carry up to the third floor..

how big is the room it's going in ????

if you have a small room don't get a giant panel as you need to be a long way away from it to get the best view

btw, we have a panasonic, the 100hz ones are great but you don't necessarily need 1080p for a 32in screen

4 and a half medium sized greengrocers

Is this a new unit of measurement? What happened to the metric system?

Still prefer the picture quality of my 28" sony CRT over the LCD/plasmas, until they stick HD stuff on it. Normal viewing on LCD is not fun. Shame it takes over half the room!

edhornby – Member

if you have a small room don't get a giant panel as you need to be a long way away from it to get the best view

You couldn't be more wrong I'm afraid dude. If you're getting 1080P you need to be relatively close to see the benefits.

For example if you've got a 42" 1080P TV then if you're further than 5.5ft away you won't see the full benefit.

If I was the OP I'd look for a plasma from John Lewis or Costco – who both give you 5yr warranties or also Richer sounds who do a cost effective 5yr warranty and price match too.

That graph is talking about resolution but would you really want to sit 5.5ft away from a 42" screen? I've been to peoples' houses where they've had 50" of TV squeezed into the corner of a rather modest sitting room and they do sit about 6 or 7 feet away from it but the room looks rather odd IMO – don't know hoe comfortable it is to watch Noel's box game at that distance though.

Fair point tiger – I wouldn't want to sit 5.5ft from my telly either but you won't see the increased resolution otherwise so you're wasting your money on 1080p and Blue-Ray. THere's much more to a good picture than just resolution of course but I laugh when folk are advised of the benefits of a 24" 1080p TV.

If you're bothered about a decent picture you need to set up your set properly and calibrate it with a settings dvd at least. Most tellys come set far too bright with far too much contrast which gives you an initial "wow" factor but becomes tiring on the eyes and lacks the depth and detail which you'd notice on a properly tweaked set.

I sit about 12ft from my screen but it is 100" so it works for 1080p.

+1 for Panasonic.

Have had a 42" G15 Plasma for about 6 months now and it really is great.
Got it for about £700, and with the new G20 models out now you should be able to get it for about your budget.

thanks guys, lots to look at. I work near a richer sounds so will have to have a look – should get a bit of 'Park street' discount too….