New TV - Can this be beaten?

[Mr Pants]

So with the new Xbox S on the way I need to get myself a decent HD TV in the bedroom to filly appreciate the games.

I've read good reviews on this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003H1048C/?tag=cliospnet01-21

I'm away for Leeds fest tomorrow so won't be looking to get the TV til I'm back on Monday but just wanted to see if anybody has this, or has seen it? Or if they think there is better TV's for that kinda money. I don't really wanna spend over £500 but could go a little higher if there's a sweet deal going.

 

[Louism]

I would always go for Sony, Samsung or Panasonic however LG is cheaper.

This is the current up to date tv if you go for an LG as it has 100htz

http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk/lg/42ld690-42-lcd-tv-1080p-100hz-hdmi-freeview-hd-low-cost-value.html

 

[Louism]

I would go for this as its worth the extra money http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk/sony...h-lcd-television-freeview-hd-ready-cheap.html.

IMO you would be better off dropping 2" and have a better picture, the 100hz will make a big difference to your gaming mostly. and you bluray. Wont really affect Sky HD as it is 720.

But some people would say you are paying for the name blah blah but I personally think the extra money is being used somewhere.

Samsung is like the Seat Leon FR and the Sony is the GTI, use the same parts but ones Spanish and ones German

 

[Mr Pants]

Thanks! Tbh I am a bit of a newb with TV's when it comes to the actual specs of them etc. We have a 42" LG downstairs which I got cheap from a guy at work. The picture in HD is really crisp but in SD it does look pretty average. (Especially when going direct from HD to SD but that's kinda a given).

Am I right in saying the likes of Sony etc will offer a better SD picture as they have more blacks?

That Sony one looks really nice too. Feel free to offer any other suggestions!

 

[Mr Pants]

Can get that Sony for £480 from Amazon!

 

[Norris_309]

I'd be interested to know how the SD pictures look aswell.
I'm trying to decide between the Panasonic G20 & Sony HX703.
Love the look of the Sony, but the panasonic allows you to record tv programs to an external Hard drive which would be good.

at the moment i'd be watching the majority of tv in SD so don't want to go spending all that cash only to find the standard picture is pretty crap. i'm coming from a 6/7 year old Hitachi LCD which has a very good picture (but i think thats more down to it being a 28" screen!! than anything else!!!!)

 

[Twisty]

I bought my TV about a year ago. When I looked around I thought the colours on the LG LCD's were no good at all - all washed out.
I got a Samsung 40B550 and the colours are ace and plays video from a flash drive if you hack the firmware. The other samsungs with higher refresh rate are now more affordable.

This forum has lots of useful info, and links to a good price checker

http://www.avforums.com/forums/tv-should-i-buy/

 

[Gally]

Buy a 50" Plasma. 42" is so yesterday.

 

[Norris_309]

^^ what does that make my 28" lol i remember when i bought it many years ago, i was the only person i knew with an LCD tv!
now i've got a larger lounge it looks like it should be in the bedroom, so need a bigger TV!

 

[David]

I'd be interested to know how the SD pictures look aswell.
I'm trying to decide between the Panasonic G20 & Sony HX703.
Love the look of the Sony, but the panasonic allows you to record tv programs to an external Hard drive which would be good.

at the moment i'd be watching the majority of tv in SD so don't want to go spending all that cash only to find the standard picture is pretty crap. i'm coming from a 6/7 year old Hitachi LCD which has a very good picture (but i think thats more down to it being a 28" screen!! than anything else!!!!)

I have a nx703 and a panny g10....

panasonnic will always win, every time.

 

[bigup7]

try find one at John Lewis, you pay a bit more but you get the 5 year guarantee which is nice

this is a good price comparison site: http://www.stockchecker.co.uk/

 

[Mr Pants]

This one looks pretty good: http://www.johnlewis.com/230925667/Product.aspx

It's £554 at Amazon, so you're paying like £45 for a 5 year guarantee?

 

[EllD90]

John Lewis would pricematch this: http://www.richersounds.com/product/lcd-tv/sony/bravia-kdl40ex403/sony-kdl40ex403

And give you the 5 year warranty.

Richer Sounds are usually cheap and JL price matched my TV with them.

I got a 42" Panasonic plasma, can't remember the model but it was £500 and very impressed with it. Much prefer it over LCD.

 

[bigup7]

John Lewis would pricematch this: http://www.richersounds.com/product/lcd-tv/sony/bravia-kdl40ex403/sony-kdl40ex403

And give you the 5 year warranty.

Richer Sounds are usually cheap and JL price matched my TV with them.

I got a 42" Panasonic plasma, can't remember the model but it was £500 and very impressed with it. Much prefer it over LCD.

John lewis are getting clever now they are getting manufactures to add an extra letter to the model numbers so price matching cant be done

their terms are, it has to be like for like model and in stock. Always worth a try though.

 

[bigup7]

This one looks pretty good: http://www.johnlewis.com/230925667/Product.aspx

It's £554 at Amazon, so you're paying like £45 for a 5 year guarantee?

Yep works out to be £9 per year guarantee lol

 

[Louism]

Be careful as JL when i have looked in the past have the slightly older version of that tv, i.e. and engine 2 when the engine 3 is out but if you do your research they can be very good.

 

[Louism]

Also make sure you look at the Letters, I thought I found my tv with JL which was cheaper which was a V series, when i looked closer the newer one was W.

As gally says tho, if you can afford plasma then they are a better tv but much more expensive. Waste of money imo as 3D tvs are coming out now.

 

[Twisty]

Yep works out to be £9 per year guarantee lol

I wouldn't pay that. If you consider the strong depreciation of electronics you only get payback if more than 1 in 5 of your electronics purchases breaks outside of the standard manufacture warranty.

 

[EllD90]

You wouldnt pay £45 for an extra 4 year warranty? Fool.

 

[Mr Pants]

Just got this! http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/621838/SONY-KDL40EX403U

Managed to get the price down to £575. Decided that the standard warranty and that would be alright. Amazon would have been roughly the same after delivery and it was much easier just to collect in store and load into the Clio.

Will be setting it up when I get home and hopefully it will be decent!

 

[AKFM1]

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/0871435/Trail/searchtext>PANASONIC+LCD.htm

This is a bargain! also comes in 37 inch for like extra 70 pounds, cracking deal

 

[EllD90]

http://www.froogle.prcdirect.co.uk/...s/40-inch-lcd-televisions/kdl40ex403u/product

 

[chimpsinties]

I
I'm trying to decide between the Panasonic G20 & Sony HX703.

I can strongly recommend the Panasonic G20. I've got the TPX42G20 and it's totally stunning. The picture on both SD and HD is amazing. It does a great job at handling even badly encoded SD content from an external hard drive (most of my SD viewing) I'm just constantly blown away by the quality of it.

Set it to THX out of the box and it's near perfect from the get go. Set it to Game mode for games and you're away. Happy Days. It looks 10,000x better than any LCD but you are paying a bit more for this screen. It's known for being one of the best screens before you start getting into silly money and I promise you won't be disappointed.

 

[McBunny]

You wouldnt pay £45 for an extra 4 year warranty? Fool.

nope i wouldnt either never do extended warranty's who wants a 5 year old tv ffs

 

[EllD90]

So you only keep your TV for one year at a time, for as long as the warranty runs? I'm not a TV geek, therefore I'm not bothered about it being out of date etc.. I've bought a 42" Plasma recently, why would I need to change it in 5 years time?

 

[chimpsinties]

nope i wouldnt either never do extended warranty's who wants a 5 year old tv ffs

What?! So 2 years after you've just paid £900 for your new telly something goes wrong and it breaks, you don't mind shelling out on a new one?

Some of the warranties are really well priced. I know RicherSounds do it for 10% the cost of the item. I've taken an amp back to them that broke after about 4 years and they just replaced it with the latest model no questions asked. If they have to replace it you get the one nearest to the price and spec at the time, not necessarily the exact model you bought.

I got my 5 year warranty for free when I got my telly at the Panasonic shop. Always worth shopping around for a good warranty if you can get them cheap on the more expensive stuff. Just imagine how annoyed you'd be if it broke after 25 months.

 

[McBunny]

if i was you id read up on your consumer rights

and tbh yes i would buy another tv after just 2 years

actually ive never had any electronics fail that havent been covered even out side of the warranty

 

[chimpsinties]

if i was you id read up on your consumer rights

and tbh yes i would buy another tv after just 2 years

actually ive never had any electronics fail that havent been covered even out side of the warranty

So you're saying that if you took your telly back to Panasonic after 2.5 years and there was a big black line down the middle of the screen, they'd just fix it for you gratis? Under a standard warranty? I know a lot of them tell you it's 1 year guarantee where as actually it's 2 years minimum by EU law but come on, be realistic.

Can you give us examples of stuff you've taken back outside of official warranty please.

From my experience the only extended warranty I've taken out has been well worth it and I'm happy to have got one on my new telly. Like I said I took a blown 4.5 year old AV amp back and they just swapped it there and then for a brand new one (with a new 2 year warranty) I think you're mad to be changing before 5 years. Why not just buy something decent that will last in the first place. It'll save you a lot of money.

 

[McBunny]

i am been realistic the law is on your side they have to last a reasonable time 2 years isnt reasonable for a tv

 

[JonnyK]

I just bought this

http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/630896/SAMSUNG-UE37C5100

 

[Twisty]

You wouldnt pay £45 for an extra 4 year warranty? Fool.

Sorry if I sounded harsh with what I said - just wanted to share what I thought after a bit of mental arthmatic.
I
f I just look at a single purchase then the warranty does look attractive prospect at covering risk. However, when I look at the bigger picture and consider all the electronics purchases I will probably make over a lifetime then I think buying warranties (esp. at ~10% of goods value) will cost far more money than the cost of breakages. Some cons of extra warranties

• Modern electronics have low failure rate within 5yrs.
• Most electronics are covered by a blanket 2yr statutory warranty and often you can benefit from some good will outside of this timescale.
• The value of electronics depreciate rapidly, and improve in capability every year. It is not going to be a great shame if a TV breaks in 4 years time as it won't be worth much and will be a great excuse to buy a nice new 3d one
• Broken electronics can often be fixed for a reasonable price (esp if you are handy with a soldering iron )

Or looking at another angle - would the retailers sell the warranties if they didn't make a margin on them? I've been told that the big retailers make more gross margin on the warranties than on the actual goods!