I have no intention of spending £1000+ on a TV.

So are these supermarket tvs at the £300ish price any good?

Ie 48″ HD blaupunkt TV from tesco.

Currently got a 32″ HD Sony that is about 8 years old but fancying an upgrade in preparation for blue planet II

They don’t get great reviews generally (picture can be ropey, colour reproduction usually poor, often inconsistent backlight etc.) but also at the same time perfectly watchable (unless you get a really dodgy one). The smart features are often either non-existent or poorly implemented so if you’re looking for those get an external box to do them rather than relying on the TV.

You don’t need to spend £1000.

I would probably spend about £400 – £500, you might find going cheaper isn’t going to be much of an “upgrade” from your Sony.

Have a look at John Lewis and Richer Sounds, both give you 5 yr guarantees as well.

You’re better off finding an older model from the bigger brands than a supermarket special.

£300’ish will get you a 42” Samsung from Amazon

black friday, if you can wait – just be sure to check what you’re buying rather than just joining a mosh-pit at your local ASDA

Check the spec details carefully we did when looking at some in Tesco last year and walked away.

We found they are often lower spec than /lacking features of similar looking models in electronics stores. Whether that’s smart functions and apps or in some cases not being full HD/1080p (Were described as HD ready which is lower quality)

My best guess is either they are old stock or price point specials.

As with most things, you get what you pay for, and there are diminishing returns once you get past a certain level. The TV from Tesco will be crap compared with more expensive options, but only you can tell if that makes a difference to you. Worth noting that, since you are going up in screen size, any difficiencies in visual quality will be more obvious with a larger screen (obvious, I know). Low cost screens will struggle with motion, colour, and dark scenes can look poor. Check it has all the connectivity you need too. These things are compromised to make them cheap to produce.

As above, Richer Sounds a beter bet.

https://www.richersounds.com/lg-49uj630v.html

A good lump more than £300 but far better than supermarket deals and comes with a 6 year warranty.

If you want to stay smaller and closer to your budget.

https://www.richersounds.com/lg-43-inch-4k-ultra-hd-hdr-smart-led-tv-freeview-play.html

Haha, yep, nearly 60% more. Sod it, spend £2500!

The (/a) Blaupunkt is on Amazon, and getting mediocre reviews.

I agree with others that i’d Go for an older ‘mainstream’ brand model. I went from a high end 32” Bravia to a cheaper (in real and relative terms) 40” Samsung, and whilst elements of the Samsung are better there were things the Bravia did better too, I can only imagine the deficiencies would be even more marked on larger screens.

Haha, yep, nearly 60% more. Sod it, spend £2500!

Indeed hence why I posted another option too.

Thanks all. I like the look of that LG from richer sounds.

I’ve not been in a richer sounds since I bought my nad speakers 25 years ago!

We typically buy a copy of what hi fi and trawl through their reviews.
Quite often find the cheaper sets that they review are in Supermarkets – but 1. more likely to be £450 or so, 2 cheaper in John Lewis….

I’ve not been in a richer sounds since I bought my nad speakers 25 years ago!

You will find they are more interested in TV’s than Hi-Fi these days!
Still a good place to buy for the guarantee though.

I bought a cheap no-name brand TV from the local supermarket a couple of weeks ago – on offer, less than 200€, no smart tv and HDR Ready. The first model I got didn’t work, and I had to change it. Second one works fine, but it’s noticeably cheaper than the 500€ LG TV I bought last year. Cheaper plastic, poorer quality picture, sounds not quite as good, etc. It’s for a holiday home and won’t get that much use, so I’m quite happy with it, but as a main TV it’d be a bit crap.

+1 for Richer Sounds.
We got a 48″ Sony TV for £499 2 years ago which has been great – 6 year warranty as well.
I just walked in and said “what is the best TV around 50″ you have for £500” and ended up with this.

I’d rather have a smaller TV from Samsung/Sony/Panasonic than a bigger no-name TV from ASDA.
The 6 year warranty is a no-brainer as well.

I got a 40″ Aldi one about 4 years ago, I’m sure it was less than £200. It was one of those jobs where they wanted hundreds of people queuing up outside at 9am so they could take loads of PR shots outside a new store.
It’s pretty much as fuzzywuzzy ^ says, the picture and sound quality isn’t brilliant, but quite watchable and functions. It isn’t until I go to other people’s houses that I get reminded.
I’m sure if I was a regular TV watcher I’d probably have something else by now, but I’m not.