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LCD TVs - a minefield even for the geeky

Nineteen Canteen

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Nineteen Canteen

Nineteen Canteen

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Need some advice please. For Xmas my family have asked for an LCD TV for our backroom to replace what was our old TV from the lounge. It's primary use will be for gaming, Xbox and PS3 and DVD's through the PS3 but not many blu ray DVDs - at least that is what a salesperson and I deduced in Currys because until then I hadn't really thought about it! It's also my source of TV entertainment when X Factor is on!

 

Anyway I was hoping to get a 32" LCDTV but was met with a whole load of questions about technical specifications re game lag, motion blur to name 2 I can remember. Nearly 3 years ago when I bought our Sony LCD TV I don't remember any of this stuff being asked and we are very happy with it but it appears tv's have moved on a pace so any help and advice would be appreciated.

 

I have a budget of £500 with some flexibility but not much and anything over that they are down to a satsuma and a walnut in their stocking so bear that in mind! I nearly choked at the cost of the latest models in Currys and this I believe is due to the increase from 50hz to 100hz and 200hz and 100+ being much better for motion blur but is this an issue for gaming? I was also told to think about game lag and though my eldest nodded sagely he did not have a clue what I was talking about but did say that is why he keeps getting shot because his gun isn't firing - gangs today eh?

 

Contrast ratios have gone off the scale since we got our Bravia but does it really make a difference having a ratio 5 times greater than what we have on our Bravia in the lounge and the picture is very good?

 

Reliability, ease of use / set up, ideal for gaming, FPS and racing mainly and most of it on line and the best picture for the money not to mention this whole 100hz issue - which seems to really bump the price. If we got a 50hz will it not support new games due out next year - need a degree of future proofing and I guess that is my main worry.

 

My head is spinning and on the net for every good review for a TV you can find a bad one for the same model. So my fellow forumites the joy of my family's Christmas is in your hands . I need a new TV that meet's our criteria and finally John Lewis are offering a free 5 year guarantee and that gurantees my peace until they go to colleage and beyond and that is worth the £176 Comet charge for the same cover!

 

Hope you can help.

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saint_stevo

saint_stevo

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got a couple of these.....pretty good, and pretty cheap and for an extra £30, 5yr warranty.

 

http://www.richersounds.com/product/lcd-tv/samsung/le32b450/sams-le32b450

Not 1080p though....

 

1080p, 40", in budget with 12month warranty

http://www.richersounds.com/product/lcd-tv/samsung/le40b530/sams-le40b530

 

Richer Sounds staff are actually very helpful, worth a visit and IMO much better than Comet, Curry's and any of the other Dixon's group companies.....but what do i know, i play golf

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Nineteen Canteen

Nineteen Canteen

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got a couple of these.....pretty good, and pretty cheap and for an extra £30, 5yr warranty.

 

http://www.richersounds.com/product/lcd-tv/samsung/le32b450/sams-le32b450

Not 1080p though....

 

1080p, 40", in budget with 12month warranty

http://www.richersounds.com/product/lcd-tv/samsung/le40b530/sams-le40b530

 

Richer Sounds staff are actually very helpful, worth a visit and IMO much better than Comet, Curry's and any of the other Dixon's group companies.....but what do i know, i play golf

 

Stevo being a golfer this may have passed you by ;) but you reminded me of something else. HD Ready and Full HD - is there a big difference and which is 1080p? Is that an issue for a TV that will be used for about 60% gaming 10% DVDs and teh rest just watching TV. I only went to Currys to get some advice as I was passing which i hadn't bothered tbh came out more confused than I went in! Games consoles don't transmit in HD do they ?

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saint_stevo

saint_stevo

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They do if you attach them via an HDMI cable, which i know a PS3 has capability for, not sure bout Xbox.

 

This might help clarify 1080 and HD Ready etc..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Ready

 

Take a trip to Richer Sounds. Or send a PM to OLYMPIC on here, he owns a TV repair shop, and very good he is too

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Nineteen Canteen

Nineteen Canteen

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They do if you attach them via an HDMI cable, which i know a PS3 has capability for, not sure bout Xbox.

 

This might help clarify 1080 and HD Ready etc..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Ready

 

Take a trip to Richer Sounds. Or send a PM to OLYMPIC on here, he owns a TV repair shop, and very good he is too

 

Thx Stevo - thats very useful

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Nineteen Canteen

Nineteen Canteen

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Reviews i have read about Toshiba, Phillips and LG are a bit hit and miss and for every great set they produce some real guff. Samsung seem the best bet as Panasonic and Sony are out of the price range but the Samsung's specs and prices are not as competitive as the first 3 I mentioned but how do you sort the wheat from the chaff and protect yourself from buying some kit that will be out of date in a year or 2.

 

The 40in Samsung Steve sent me a link too is stunning but it is also far to big for our small room and also doesn't give key technical data about the 50 or 100hz issues or tv response times whereas I think LG do. But buy a H2000 and you might rue not getting a 3000 or a 4000 or a 5000...and so on.

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Nineteen Canteen

Nineteen Canteen

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Hows the Sony Bravia btw?

 

To be honest not as good as some friends of ours who have a Samsung 40" (ours is a 40) and my Mum's Panasonic.

 

When we bought our's even though it was pushing 4 figues I didn't understand the concept of the letterings V S and W in the model code. 1 of these letters had rave reviews and the others less so and guess what?

 

I suppose my main beef with it is there is motion blur especially watching football matches but if you sit head on looking at tv that eliminates it a lot but their is no way it lives up to it's viewing angle claims and by some way IMO. Fast moving BluRay films like Spiderman 3 I think are unwatchable although others don't think so. Generally though, the picture quality is superb but badly flawed at times and dependent where you sit.

 

The model we purchased I would have to say was very poor value for money as we could have got the same picture performance at the time for half the price but as it was our first LCDTV and it was so much better than our old CRT it took a while before we realised we hadn't exactly got a good deal.

 

I suppose hence my worry about making the same mistake twice.

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Nineteen Canteen

Nineteen Canteen

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in the OP you said you were very happy with it?!

 

If its for gaming and a bit of man tele/DVD's then get the £300 Samsung in my first link. It'll do the trick i reckon

 

My post above was aimed at Hypo, having sold him a 32" Bravia a while back.

 

There's happy and there's really happy. Its a good TV when we are on own and can chose your viewing angle and watching football on it is a bit of let down. I suppose I wish I had done a bit more research at the time. The subsequent niggles take the shine off it a bit.

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Nineteen Canteen

Nineteen Canteen

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For £500 you can get a good quality 40", nevermind 32.

I got a 42" flat screen HD for about £470 from Currys. Can't be bothered to check what make now.

 

Good for you - after today I wouldn't buy anything from Currys or similar stores as their experts just read off what's on the box and don't expect questions. You must live in a very big house if it's a long walk to your TV to check the make plus a short memory.

 

I have been told that you should sit a minimum of 1m50cm from a 32in TV - its a small room and I want to give my family a nice present not myopia.

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hypochondriac

hypochondriac

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Hows the Sony Bravia btw?

 

Can't go wrong for 70 quid! I had it about 2 weeks and the picture went all green which freaked me out a bit but I unplugged it and it's never done it since. Only really use it for TV and 360 with HDMI so not too bothered about the scarts not working. Surprised you sold it so cheap TBH.

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Saint_clark

Saint_clark

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Good for you - after today I wouldn't buy anything from Currys or similar stores as their experts just read off what's on the box and don't expect questions. You must live in a very big house if it's a long walk to your TV to check the make plus a short memory.

 

I have been told that you should sit a minimum of 1m50cm from a 32in TV - its a small room and I want to give my family a nice present not myopia.

 

:rolleyes:

19C, I disagree with a lot of your opinions to do with football but read them none the less, as that is what this place is for.

However I was merely trying to offer some advice and help you out, so don't really appreciate the tone of your reply.

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EastleighSoulBoy

EastleighSoulBoy

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Reviews i have read about Toshiba, Phillips and LG are a bit hit and miss and for every great set they produce some real guff. Samsung seem the best bet as Panasonic and Sony are out of the price range but the Samsung's specs and prices are not as competitive as the first 3 I mentioned but how do you sort the wheat from the chaff and protect yourself from buying some kit that will be out of date in a year or 2.

The 40in Samsung Steve sent me a link too is stunning but it is also far to big for our small room and also doesn't give key technical data about the 50 or 100hz issues or tv response times whereas I think LG do. But buy a H2000 and you might rue not getting a 3000 or a 4000 or a 5000...and so on.

 

Unfortunately you'll not be able to 'future protect' on any techie product, be it a TV, camera, phone, PC etc. The only real protection is not to look at anything after the product is delivered and installed!

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Patrick Bateman

Patrick Bateman

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Need some advice please. For Xmas my family have asked for an LCD TV for our backroom to replace what was our old TV from the lounge. It's primary use will be for gaming, Xbox and PS3 and DVD's through the PS3 but not many blu ray DVDs - at least that is what a salesperson and I deduced in Currys because until then I hadn't really thought about it! It's also my source of TV entertainment when X Factor is on!

 

Anyway I was hoping to get a 32" LCDTV but was met with a whole load of questions about technical specifications re game lag, motion blur to name 2 I can remember. Nearly 3 years ago when I bought our Sony LCD TV I don't remember any of this stuff being asked and we are very happy with it but it appears tv's have moved on a pace so any help and advice would be appreciated.

 

I have a budget of £500 with some flexibility but not much and anything over that they are down to a satsuma and a walnut in their stocking so bear that in mind! I nearly choked at the cost of the latest models in Currys and this I believe is due to the increase from 50hz to 100hz and 200hz and 100+ being much better for motion blur but is this an issue for gaming? I was also told to think about game lag and though my eldest nodded sagely he did not have a clue what I was talking about but did say that is why he keeps getting shot because his gun isn't firing - gangs today eh?

 

Contrast ratios have gone off the scale since we got our Bravia but does it really make a difference having a ratio 5 times greater than what we have on our Bravia in the lounge and the picture is very good?

 

Reliability, ease of use / set up, ideal for gaming, FPS and racing mainly and most of it on line and the best picture for the money not to mention this whole 100hz issue - which seems to really bump the price. If we got a 50hz will it not support new games due out next year - need a degree of future proofing and I guess that is my main worry.

 

My head is spinning and on the net for every good review for a TV you can find a bad one for the same model. So my fellow forumites the joy of my family's Christmas is in your hands . I need a new TV that meet's our criteria and finally John Lewis are offering a free 5 year guarantee and that gurantees my peace until they go to colleage and beyond and that is worth the £176 Comet charge for the same cover!

 

Hope you can help.

 

Firstly, forgive me for being picky, but it's almost as annoying as someone saying "can you put in your PIN number". Grrrr.

 

It's just "blu ray", not "blu ray DVD". They are entirely different formats, Blu Ray (BD) or DVD. Sorry, had to pull you up on that ...

 

Anyway, may I recommend this:

http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/530905/PANASONIC-TX-L32S10B?cm_mmc=Google-_-PPCPM%7c%7cProducts%7c%7cTv%20%26%20dvd-_-Lcd,%20plasma%20%26%20led%20tvs%7c%7cPanasonic%7c%7cPanasonic%20tx-l32s10b%7c%7c530905-_-panasonic%20tx%20l32s10b&_$ja=kw:panasonic+tx+l32s10b|cgn:Lcd%2c+plasma+%26+led+tvs%7c%7cPanasonic%7c%7cPanasonic+tx-l32s10b%7c%7c530905|cgid:1373985876|tsid:12089|cn:PPCPM%7c%7cProducts%7c%7cTv+%26+dvd|cid:41031516|lid:11862394034|mt:Exact|nw:search|crid:3868365486

 

As verified by this review:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-televisions/1012905-panasonic-tx-l37s10b-user-review.html

 

You'll have no problems with motion blur and it's JUST in your price range.

 

I have a Panasonic plasma with built in Freesat HD and it's a superb TV, so I would have no hesitation in recommending a Panasonic.

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OLYMPIC

OLYMPIC

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Right well i have been reading everyones comments on here and thought i would put my perspective on what to buy,i repair most of the makes that have been mentioned on here so i will give you my views on them.

 

Sony-always good quality but over priced and still paying for the name,customer service is ok but alot of the spares are far more expensive than other makes.

 

Philips-Most of their sets are ok but would not be top of my list because the customer service is terrible and the cost of spares is stupid.

 

Toshiba and Panasonic-i would recomend both of these makes to anyone,they have good build quality and performance,also their customer service is excellent.I have had both of these manufacturers replace sets outside of warranty,in their own words so as not to loose a valued customer.Also if spares are required normally they can have them with you next day and at a decent price.

 

LG-formerly Goldstar-Their sets are ok average build quality but if it goes wrong customer service can be a bit hit or miss it seems to depend on what mood the person is in that answers the phone.Spares ok to get hold of but tend to be a bit slower than most.

 

Samsung-At the moment this make seems to of got things about right,they are doing some very good deals but be warned the build quality of the cabinets can look a bit cheap.Saying that customers of mine have been very impressed with the picture quality and remeber in some cases this is on a set half the price of some of the competition.I have seen though on some of their 32 inch sets only 1 scart socket and HDMI socket,this can be a pain but a switching box for about a tenner over comes this problem.All of their 40 or 42 inch models have multiple sockets as you would expect.

Customer service is ok and spares easy to get hold of,but they are not keen to replace a set.

 

Anyway hope the above helps out a bit.

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Nineteen Canteen

Nineteen Canteen

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Right well i have been reading everyones comments on here and thought i would put my perspective on what to buy,i repair most of the makes that have been mentioned on here so i will give you my views on them.

 

Sony-always good quality but over priced and still paying for the name,customer service is ok but alot of the spares are far more expensive than other makes.

 

Philips-Most of their sets are ok but would not be top of my list because the customer service is terrible and the cost of spares is stupid.

 

Toshiba and Panasonic-i would recomend both of these makes to anyone,they have good build quality and performance,also their customer service is excellent.I have had both of these manufacturers replace sets outside of warranty,in their own words so as not to loose a valued customer.Also if spares are required normally they can have them with you next day and at a decent price.

 

LG-formerly Goldstar-Their sets are ok average build quality but if it goes wrong customer service can be a bit hit or miss it seems to depend on what mood the person is in that answers the phone.Spares ok to get hold of but tend to be a bit slower than most.

 

Samsung-At the moment this make seems to of got things about right,they are doing some very good deals but be warned the build quality of the cabinets can look a bit cheap.Saying that customers of mine have been very impressed with the picture quality and remeber in some cases this is on a set half the price of some of the competition.I have seen though on some of their 32 inch sets only 1 scart socket and HDMI socket,this can be a pain but a switching box for about a tenner over comes this problem.All of their 40 or 42 inch models have multiple sockets as you would expect.

Customer service is ok and spares easy to get hold of,but they are not keen to replace a set.

 

Anyway hope the above helps out a bit.

 

That more than helps Olympic and thanks for taking the time to reply. I think I'll concentrate on Toshiba, Panasonic and Samsung and go for the best spec possible within my budget. At least it narrows the search down and you have confirmed my long held but layman's opinion that Sony actually don't deliver a better product and its for lazy people like me who previously believed they were buying 'peace of mind' and the 'best available'.

 

Any help on the need for 100hz as oppose to 50hz would be appreciated. I read somewhere that 100hz tv's can actually cause 'lag' for gamers because the TV in an effort to reduce blur can insert and extra half or full frame than intended by the broadcaster be it the TV Signal, DVD or games console. For the latter it seems a big issue but is it really just geeks going a bit too nerdy or is a TV with a switchable FPS rate between 50 or 100 or a game mode function best, any ideas? I may sound like I know what i am talking about but I don't have a clue and if anything confused and a bit worried I end up going for a big spec full HD ready 100hz tv (Budget allowing) and the gaming is rubbish. I will be more stuffed than the turkey on Christmas Day!

 

Thanks to everyone so far for their suggestions.

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Nineteen Canteen

Nineteen Canteen

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Firstly, forgive me for being picky, but it's almost as annoying as someone saying "can you put in your PIN number". Grrrr.

 

It's just "blu ray", not "blu ray DVD". They are entirely different formats, Blu Ray (BD) or DVD. Sorry, had to pull you up on that ...

 

Anyway, may I recommend this:

http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/530905/PANASONIC-TX-L32S10B?cm_mmc=Google-_-PPCPM%7c%7cProducts%7c%7cTv%20%26%20dvd-_-Lcd,%20plasma%20%26%20led%20tvs%7c%7cPanasonic%7c%7cPanasonic%20tx-l32s10b%7c%7c530905-_-panasonic%20tx%20l32s10b&_$ja=kw:panasonic+tx+l32s10b|cgn:Lcd%2c+plasma+%26+led+tvs%7c%7cPanasonic%7c%7cPanasonic+tx-l32s10b%7c%7c530905|cgid:1373985876|tsid:12089|cn:PPCPM%7c%7cProducts%7c%7cTv+%26+dvd|cid:41031516|lid:11862394034|mt:Exact|nw:search|crid:3868365486

 

As verified by this review:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-televisions/1012905-panasonic-tx-l37s10b-user-review.html

 

You'll have no problems with motion blur and it's JUST in your price range.

 

I have a Panasonic plasma with built in Freesat HD and it's a superb TV, so I would have no hesitation in recommending a Panasonic.

 

Patrick TV looks great but the link from the AV forum no help at all? Who are these people? I thought I was going to get an answer to the 50 vs 100hz and they start asking each other to quantify what they mean by judder or a bit of a wobbly picture to you and me. These are the reviews that I referred to in my OP that do more to confuse than help make a decision - they make brain surgery seem like childs play!

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Nineteen Canteen

Nineteen Canteen

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Hope this helps:

 

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080824001157AAwbrkw

 

Seems like 100Hz is fine for gaming? Not being a game player myself, I wouldn't know.

 

Thx, I don't uses games consoles either just mindful that will be it's primary use. From your attachment then it does appear it will be ok but on the AV forums you'll find people saying you need to be able to switch for some games as they are 'unplayable' at 100hz.

 

Again from reviews it seems Panasonic can't switch but LG can and Samsung have a games mode to select when playing to make the TV perform better. No idea about Toshiba because until Olympic's post I hadn't considered them.

 

My gut is to go for a Panasonic but worried its not really geared up for gamers and is more for purist for a quality picture and make good use of their dvds etc.

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Pancake

Pancake

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Unfortunately you'll not be able to 'future protect' on any techie product, be it a TV, camera, phone, PC etc. The only real protection is not to look at anything after the product is delivered and installed!

 

I dunno, Ive recently been shooting on a camera that is 2 years older then me...

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Nineteen Canteen

Nineteen Canteen

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Advice like this?

 

 

 

How helpful.

 

Is it not odd that having just spent £470 on a TV that no doubt blocks the light from his bedroom window he can't remember the make. Most TV's have it emblazoned on the surround somewhere so it's almost impossible to forget.

 

Mind you in the motoring forum a while back I was asked what car i drove and I had to stick my head out the back door to check . I didn't mind though as it was only a short walk of about 30 steps and it eliminated the developing pins and needles in my backside.

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Trader

Trader

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Look, get yourself a nice second-hand TV from the classified ads in the Echo - I hear some of them are colour these days.

Gaming? - Bagatelle board and maybe a second-hand Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit.

 

Then **** the change up against the wall in your favourite boozer.

 

Result - a Merry Xmas was had by all!

 

HTH

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