Televisions

[GridGirl]

My dad kindly bought me a nice 40" Sony Bravia televion about 15 months ago. Earlier on this year it developed two black lines that went almost from the top to the bottom of the screen. My dad in his wisdom had extended the guarantee on it so I called them up and got them to send some engineers out to have a look. To cut a long story short, they said the screen was knackered and took it away with them. Two weeks down the line I'm still television less...and have a nice voucher to the value of £900 to buy a new tv from the shop it was purchased from

My problem is now what to buy as I thought Sony Bravias were supposed to be pretty good. Well I thought they were supposed to be the best to be honest but now I'm not so sure. My minimum specification is that is has to be a 1080p.

What does everyone else have and what would they like? Recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I also don't mind spending a little more money. :)

[MrJan]

27 inch LG thing. Apparently HD and very good, especially given the low price. One problem is that my PC is linked up to it and flickers occassionally. Could be solved if I fiddled with the cable but that involves getting up ;)

[Daniel]

Sony's can be good but there are different spec levels. So you get what you pay for basically. I'd ask Dave Brockman. He seems to know about tv's and such :)

[Dave B]

You rang? :wave:

Up until recently I'd have said Sony too, but since playing with my dad's Panasonic Viera I'm converted. If it can make Midsomer Murders on ITV3 look good then it can do anything.

You already know to avoid the "generic" makes (Wharfdale, Bush, Technika, Acoustic Solutions, Goodmans, Durabrand, etc); other than that it's personal choice. Ensure you see a proper demo in a well-lit room, don't be fooled by special demo rooms with poor lighting that will make even a crap screen look good! And make sure they agree - in writing- to an exchange if it doesn't look good when you get it home.

Have a look at the Home Entertainment forum on Digital Spy - there are some knowledgeable chaps and chappesses on there. :)

It's a shame you're tied to a particular store: John Lewis include a 5 year guarantee as standard, and will price-match any physical retailer.

[pino]

A month ago I've bought a new Sony Bravia 46" KDL W3000 Full HD, It works perfect and it's the best TV I've owned in my life. Especially the picture and the surround-sound are amazing :up:

[Drew]

27 inch LG thing. Apparently HD and very good, especially given the low price. One problem is that my PC is linked up to it and flickers occassionally. Could be solved if I fiddled with the cable but that involves getting up ;)

Fool, she had a 40" she's not going to go back to a 27" :p :

[MrJan]

Don't see the attraction of giant TVs that dominate a room. Mine looks very nice in the corner and, shock horror, I can still see it. One of my mates had a 56 or something stupid inch and it took up half the room, me I like to be able to relax listening to music or reading so don't really want to just see TV.

[Dave B]

Stick with the generally accepted rule that the viewing distance should be ~2.5x screen size and you won't go far wrong. I agree that some people have stupidly large screens for their rooms, and they can't be reaping the benefits. I want to see a picture, not pixels.

[GridGirl]

I did like the picture quality on my old Sony Bravia. I just dont want to go through all the hastle of it breaking X months down the line again. I have heard good things about Phillips one but don't have the model number to hand.

Thanks for the advice so far guys. I don't know about a big tv looking out of place. Having no tv in your front room let alone having no tv in hour house is quite an enlightening experience. :)

[Bezza]

You rang? :wave:

Up until recently I'd have said Sony too, but since playing with my dad's Panasonic Viera I'm converted. If it can make Midsomer Murders on ITV3 look good then it can do anything.


.

Now then, Brockman. A few months ago when I said I had one of these beauties, you scoffed a such a product saying something along the lines of "thats very large - surely it can't be good". ;)

GridGirl - you can't go wrong with Panasonic. Plasma Viera HD Ready 42" is mine, needs to be in a big room - otherwise it looks silly - but it is immense for DVD's and PS3, along with the Panasonic Home Cinema System it frustratingly stops me from going to the gym ;)

[Andrewmcm]

Samsung LCD TVs are pretty nifty in my experience.

[Mark]

and also more expensive than most other makes.

[leopard]

I never used standard speaker of the TV. There must be vibration that may effect the components so I'd rather set the sound system separately.
Plus, if you set additional speaker or bass booster never put it nearby the TV.

[Daniel]

I never used standard speaker of the TV. There must be vibration that may effect the components so I'd rather set the sound system separately.
Plus, if you set additional speaker or bass booster never put it nearby the TV.
Well speakers don't have any magnetic effect on LCD or Plasma TV's :) Plus most home theatre stuff is magnetically shielded so won't do anything to your CRT set.

[leopard]

Well speakers don't have any magnetic effect on LCD or Plasma TV's :) Plus most home theatre stuff is magnetically shielded so won't do anything to your CRT set.
The bigger bass can shake up the LCD and CRT from vibration resulted that shortens its life, if not magnetic effect. :)

[turves]

Panasonic Viera.

I used to have a Sony Plasma, which wasn't HD. When I upgraded to HD I went with the Panasonic Viera as it was better value for money, and I can't fault it. Mine is 60 inch and the quality is amazing.

I would say at the moment, my list would be

Panasonic
Samsung
Sony