TV Gone Bang

[JBR]

Does anybody have access to Which? for the best buys in TV's?

I think I can help here; I'm a Which? member.

There are only two 'Best Buys' for the sizes you mention (32" - 40"):

Samsung UE40F6320 at £479 (Amazon), and
B & O Beoplay V1-40 at £2500! (Direct from B&O) (OK, now you can get up off the floor).

I'm not sure whether I can post links on here, or even whether they will work if you are not a member, but here goes:

Samsung: http://www.which.co.uk/technology/t...Qw/low-/high-/appliedglobal-true-false-false/

B & O: http://www.which.co.uk/technology/t...Qw/low-/high-/appliedglobal-true-false-false/

I could copy and paste some information, but there are reams of it and I'm not sure whether that would be acceptable on this forum, but if you have any specific questions I'll do my best.

 

[Dextraneous]

Such a shame JBR - the links don't work for non-members. Nice idea though

 

[JBR]

I thought so, but if any specific information is needed, and which won't require more than a reasonable amount of space, I'm happy to oblige. Or, I suppose, you could just rely on the trustworthiness of Which? and look up details on the manufacturers' web sites.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the B&O, though, unless you've just won the lottery!

 

[securespark]

Thanks again, esp. to JBR, WRT the help with Which?

I had a hint there were some Samsungs in the Which Best Buys.

Rob's experience seems to back up Which's reports.

I'll probably go for a Sammy, then, but I'm not convinced about the 3D.

Anyone???

 

[Brigadier]

If you're not convinced you'll use the 3D Secure, I would be of the opinion that it is another piece of tech to go wrong - simpler is better, imho. I'd also go for the 40" - very quickly, 30" will look lost, and 40" will not look stupid, in a lounge of your size.

Big Tone - I think yours is a problem of a disappearing age nowadays - HD ready tvs can display full HD channels, but rely on an external freeview HD receiver or similar. "Full HD" was what you were supposed to know about, and buy (so that the receiver was in-built)............I think that "Full HD" is now de facto standard in all but the very cheap stuff, but I stand to be corrected.

One last thing; for me, any TV watching is greatly enhanced by the sound quality; in truth, the picture (daft as it sounds) is secondary in the viewing experience.
As all of these slim TVs weigh very little, the sound output suffers dramatically at increased volumes. Not a problem i9f you have good hearing, and don't have a wife and/or kids, but otherwise.....

You might want to consider a soundbar - external speaker unit, that sits under your telly. some excellent ones for the uninterested, at around the ton mark (you can go silly, and spunk much, much more).

One last, last thing - if you have kids, consider mounting tv on wall, out of harm's way a bit - CRT screens were bombproof; to my great cost, I found out that Sony LCDs are not!

 

[Brigadier]

http://www.richersounds.com/products/hi-fi-separates/speakers/soundbars

Yamaha at £149 gets very good reviews........

 

[Whitespirit66]

, along with an Amstrad VCR4600. Eeeh.

I had one of those. Think I paid over £300 for it in mid 80s. Was a right faff to programme - on your knees trying to see the tiny buttons under the flap. Those were the days.

People used to knock Amstrad quality, but I got 16 years out of it before it gave up. Well done Srrrallun/Lord Sugar.

 

[JBR]

Some more excellent advice, although I have to admit that our new telly (Sony) that we got through insurance after a disastrous water leak from the loft (old lead pipes) is 3D. We don't watch 3D often, mainly because they don't broadcast any more (on freeview, anyway), but I have 3D recordings I made of Last Night of the Proms last year and a documentary about the Queen. Also, we have a few BlueRay discs in 3D: The Hobbit, Hugo, and a few others which do look fantastic in 3D. Yes, the glasses are a bit of a nuisance after a while of wearing them, but nothing I can't manage.

As for sound, I completely agree about the poor sound quality of flat screen TVs. We got a Sony sound system, discounted as discontinued items (again after 'the flood'), and which has a thumping great sub-woofer which makes all the difference. In fact, the bass is turned down a bit for normal use as, when on mid-setting it can shake the whole room. Yes, I'd say that a sound bar or separate speakers (like ours) is almost a necessity if you are bothered about sound.

PS: Although Samsung frequently appear at the top in ratings, I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole after experiencing their (lack of) customer support when our fridge developed a fault.

 

[securespark]

Thanks again, fellers.

http://www.richersounds.com/products/hi-fi-separates/speakers/soundbars

Yamaha at £149 gets very good reviews........

Got a good stereo. Can I output the audio into that?

Got the TV on an antique deep chest of drawers. If I push it towards the back, the kids can't reach it and it is sturdy enough not to be knocked over.

JBR, take your point about Samsung CS... seems they are like that for smartphones too, although I haven't experienced it.

[furiously raps desk with knuckles......]

As I have poor eyesight, I listen to the TV more than watch, so the sound is important to me and I am moderately to severely deaf in both ears to HF sounds, so an audio upgrade would be good.

But I am considering a loop system too.

WS66: My Amstrad lasted 20 years almost to the day! Even then, it didn't die, it just wouldn't play NTSC format.

 

[JBR]

Got a good stereo. Can I output the audio into that?

Got the TV on an antique deep chest of drawers. If I push it towards the back, the kids can't reach it and it is sturdy enough not to be knocked over.

JBR, take your point about Samsung CS... seems they are like that for smartphones too, although I haven't experienced it.

[furiously raps desk with knuckles......]

As far as I know, connecting most modern TVs to a stereo set-up is perfectly possible. I'm afraid I don't know how to go about this, but I'm sure that information would be available somewhere on the internet. Probably phono plugs.

I'd recommend a stabiliser something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Peerless-AC...&qid=1388448842&sr=8-1&keywords=tv+stabiliser (I think that's the one we got) will prevent your kids pulling it over on to them. TVs are expensive to replace!

 

[plugwash]

I am not too bothered about HD

I don't really care about HD either.

Unfortunately TV program production has shifted aspect ratios. In the old days programs were produced for a 4:3 ratio. Then for a few years they were produced in 16:9 but with the important content kept in the center of the screen so they looked fine on 4:3 sets.

However more recently this seems to have stopped happening, towards the end of the time I had a 4:3 TV I was seeing programs that were noticablly cut off when shown on a 4:3 TV.

And while there were a a handful of non-HD widescreen CRTs arround afaict most wide screen TVs are HD flatscreens.

P.S. TVs are measured by diagonal but IMO when getting a new TV then (if you think your existing TV is the right size) you should be looking for a new TV about the same height as your old one. So if you are moving from 4:3 to 16:9 then you want to be looking for a diagonal about 25% bigger than your old set.

 

[captaincaveman1]

If you go for 3D you need to make sure you have the glasse's which are powered and not the standard one's as they cancel something out which prevent's you getting a headache or eye strain apparently. It's also worth noting LG make the screen's for a number of different make's but then I agree that Sony or Samsung are best. Samsung are carp at making fridge/freezer's though !!!

 

[EddieM]

Also worth noting the beeb has cancelled plans for 3D broadcasts. 3D seems a bit of a beta max scenario to me.

 

[rjm2k]

If you go for 3D you need to make sure you have the glasse's which are powered and not the standard one's as they cancel something out which prevent's you getting a headache or eye strain apparently.

I prefer the passive "Cinema" 3D provided by LG screens, glasses are unpowered, lighter and work through polarization rather than flickering like the active ones do.

 

[masona]

I have been living off recycled TV's for years!

I'm very wary of old TV's, a few years ago my TV caught fire and luckily the smoke alarm saved us in the middle of night, the way I'm feeling it's safer to buy a new one

Would you believe we was watching London Burning that evening