Baldrick Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 Am looking to buy an LCD tomorrow, about 23-32"-sized screen. Can any of you gadget-loving forumites advise on the highest quality and most reliable brand for the money? LG? Samsung? What about Panasonic? I'm looking at Richer Sounds and other websites, trying to find a decent telly. Am a bit of a novice with home entertainment, so would appreciate any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancs Lad Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 Am looking to buy an LCD tomorrow, about 23-32"-sized screen. Can any of you gadget-loving forumites advise on the highest quality and most reliable brand for the money? LG? Samsung? What about Panasonic? I'm looking at Richer Sounds and other websites, trying to find a decent telly. Am a bit of a novice with home entertainment, so would appreciate any help. GOT a SAMSUNG.......................... Dont bother with a 23........................or a 32...................get a 40.......................a mans telly..... Samsung LCD is TOP DRAW................was looking at the panasonic viera aswell,,,but sacked it off... Currently got a loan SHARP 32 AQUOS because the componet socket on my Sammy has gone faulty, woulndt buy an AQUOS though. Saw another samsung that matched my 40 after I had made a purchase for the spare room.....Ahh well......Its only for when I kick the wife in the back room..... So, my personal oppinon......................SAMSUNG.......................get a 40..........and get it wall mounted...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 I bought as Samsung 29" LCD HD Ready TV last year and am very, very pleased (I have HD TV through Sky). One of the reasons I chose this particular model is that it has the all black surround, I did not want a silver/chrome surround. Check out the prices very carefully. The best price I found was on Play.com . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oly Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 Quite a good one is Comet - I know it a main brand...and don't bother asking one of their spotty kids in store for help they know nothing ...but on their website you used to be able to refine the TV you wanted by spec...which is every handy Plus their prices are unbeatable (only when they have a deal on). My uncle runs a local TV shop and he says that he can't buy the same TV at trade price for the price Comet sell theirs at when they have a deal on - that said your killing little businesses by going to Comet...plus his pre-sale knowledge and after service is far better Stuff I found out when buying my last TV through my uncle: Panasonic are excellent build quality - probably best out there at the moment (what I ended up buying ) Sony - poor build quality in recent years - get many returned Philips - good on gadgets and new features, poor on build quality - again many returned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazzyboi Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-LE32R41BDX...W/dp/B000A0D8FY Either in the 32" or 42" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pin Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 Whatever TV you get, buy it from John Lewis and have them price match it. They give a free 5 year guarantee on all TV's they sell. The rules are the TV must be on sale in a proper shop (not internet only) and in stock ready to take away. I bought my plasma that way, saved over a grand on the price and got the 5 year cover to boot. Have a look on www.avforums.com if you need comparisons and reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonno 357 Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 Only one choice Sony Bravia 1080p, BUT expensive Jonno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pin Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 Honestly, and opinion is divided at the moment, you don't want LCD, you want a plasma. If money were no object then it would be :- Pinoneer PDP507XDE 50" - for my eyes it blows the bravia out of the water, so much so I just had to have one, you can pick them up for about two grand these days if you look hard enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandersj89 Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 Whatever TV you get, buy it from John Lewis and have them price match it. They give a free 5 year guarantee on all TV's they sell. The rules are the TV must be on sale in a proper shop (not internet only) and in stock ready to take away. I bought my plasma that way, saved over a grand on the price and got the 5 year cover to boot. Have a look on www.avforums.com if you need comparisons and reviews. I got a Panasonic Viera from them. Very pleased with it indeed. Great picture and lots of connections to hook up sky, VHS, DVD, etc. Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 we have been looking at a Sony Bravia 32", but they seem to do several different models, some in the shop had far better picture quality, dont buy the ones with a U in the name they have the bit that makes a sharper pic missing. I await this thread developing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazza Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 Only one choice Sony Bravia 1080p, BUT expensive Jonno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted March 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 Encouraging replies so far, thanks chaps. I will head to John Lewis tomorrow, and Richer Sounds. Sadly my budget does not stretch to a plasma, so there's no point me fantasising about that. I just need a small-medium LCD TV to replace my current box. No comments about LG? Am I mad even considering that brand (even though I heard that LG makes the LCD panels for Smasung TVs, and others)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonp Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 Honestly, and opinion is divided at the moment, you don't want LCD, you want a plasma. If money were no object then it would be :- Pinoneer PDP507XDE 50" - for my eyes it blows the bravia out of the water, so much so I just had to have one, you can pick them up for about two grand these days if you look hard enough. I have to agree with the pinster on this one. We have a wall mounted 42" Pioneer PDP-406XDE (model prior to the 407) and quite frankly its the mutts nuts. esp when compared to LCDs (esp sony bravia IMHO). We're about to move house and if we get offered extra I'll leave the plasma... what will I buy for the new house... well the 407XDE of course (the 50" is just too big, even for me ) Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pin Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 It looked big to start with, but you soon get used to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonp Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 It looked big to start with, but you soon get used to it Could have wall mounted it you lazy *** :-P Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pin Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 It is now, but you know how impatient I am Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darebear Posted March 30, 2007 Report Share Posted March 30, 2007 if you are gonna go for something larger than 32" (eyes are just watering at the thought. and note i said eyes), just make damn sure the room is big enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEFTY478 Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 A lot of good advice has already been posted. Pin's right about John Lewis, very good customer service and warranty and about AV FORUMS, it's the mut's nuts for home entertainment. Here is another link to their 'LCD TV' FAQ's post. You seriously should look at Plasma over lcd, imo it's much better for fast movement; like football & formular 1, or the lastest gaming consoles. That said, 'good' quality LCD TV's are reasonable, but if you do go LCD get a fast 'refresh rate' - as much under 8milli seconds as possible. Pioneer & Samsung are about as good as it gets. Sony Bravia are (last generation) Samsung panels, with a Sony chip running the picture management. In your post you said you were looking for between 23" - 32". Keep over 26" or you won't get true HD. Lastly, have you considered a HD projector? This is the route I went down but I won't suite everyone. I've been able to convert a bedroom into to a 'boys' room with ceiling mounted HD projector, Sky HD box & AV amp. Means I have to suffer watching Football, in HD on a 92" screen with 850watts worth of Dolby making my fillings rattle. Projector, Sky and amp total costs in the region of £1.5k and sky HD boxes are now half what I paid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunganick Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 ive not bothered to read any of the posts, but i spend every saturday selling these things, i dont have a great knowledge of them technically speaking. However this is my take: Samsung: good picture, not the best built one, buttons squeak, but free view is good and easy to use, also looks great, however on the cheaper model (also going out of production to be replaced by a nearly identicle unit, so expect prices to drop) the sound is rubbish. Panasonic, very good picture, model change happening, new Plasma is a very nice tv, my fav plasma (i dont like plasma) LG, i do like alot, better looking than the others. However dont like their sub 32" range as they are bulky and ugly. Picture wise they are as good as the source you give them. Sony, Not all that great, pain in the **** to setup, have some funny scart prefference issues in my experiance, very sensitive to poor quality Scarts. Very good contrast ratio. Over priced by £200, but prices have shot down. Already reduced where i work by £100 and they have only been with us 2 months. Philips: dont bother, nice tv's but not my cup of tea. Wish they would make a decent LCD. Pick of the bunch has to be the new 42" sharp (i know your not interested in this size) but its much much better than LG or Samsung. I dont know if technically this makes sense, but im in the pretty unique experiance to see and setup all of the above tv's on all sorts of sources most weekend. HD/Blueray, dont waste your money for the time being, HD is just about becoming financhially worth doing, but its still over rated. A good CRT Tv properly setup with a quality set of scart leads can still hold its own against any plasma or LCD. forgot to mention pioneer, not a new TV by any means, but still as good as all but maybe the sharp and its the best looking tv by far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 Whatever you get make sure your room is big enough, everyone seems to go for the biggest screen but there is nothing worse than walking into a room and the bloody telly takes over because it is too big. Colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naddan28 Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 I brought a "budget" polaroid 26" tv (now £350 from PC World) The specs are good, pic sharp as anything and becuase polaroid are not known for tv's price is pretty cheap. Easily the best sub £400 Medium Sized TV! LG are not bad good pic and reasonably attractive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snyper Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 LG is a very good make. The rule of thumb is, LCD for anything upto 42" and Plasma for 42" and over but what every you get aint worth **** unless its got a HDMI slot If you havent bought yet, Argos have a 1/3 off sale on there lcd's at the mo ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 I got dragged out yesterday, and bought a 32" samsung, and a multiroom thingie for sky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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