New TV Advice

[albionite]

"A couple of years"...

How long have you had that CRT for?

Will Mrs PL allow you to upgrade the still perfectly functional 2014 TV to a 4k TV in 2 years time?

Funny how with crt people had same tv for 10years plus or untill it was cheaper to replace than repair. Suppose that was more to do with not much changed you either had good tv reception or not.

Pc's ,tv's ,iPhones etc all go out of date within a year or two now.

 

[Easy 10]

If you like sport and films on your tv and you are fussy about the picture, which I suspect you are not as you still have SD(!), then go for plasma. I got talked into an LED and knew I would regret it, which I did almost immediately.

With regard 4K, as mentioned above, they have come down to around £500, so if they are smart tv's as well, how can you go wrong?

On a side note, are 4K tv's all in LED or can you get Plasma?

Thats crazy talk. Why on EARTH would you choose a plasma over LED ? The sets weigh a ton, they get hot, the screens are horribly glassy meaning you've got reflection CENTRAL with any light in the room, and they are more susceptible to screenburn (particularly if like me you have SSN on a lot).

I wouldn't touch a plasma with a shitty stick.

 

[AmexRuislip]

John Lewis do a five year guarantee on all of their TV's, and do a price match, but not on internet deals

 

[Marshy]

Thats crazy talk. Why on EARTH would you choose a plasma over LED ? The sets weigh a ton, they get hot, the screens are horribly glassy meaning you've got reflection CENTRAL with any light in the room, and they are more susceptible to screenburn (particularly if like me you have SSN on a lot).

I wouldn't touch a plasma with a shitty stick.

Christ.... do people actually buy Plasma !... I am suprised manufacturers bother making them still

 

[Birdie Boy]

So, you telling me your LED tv does not have blocky pixels following behind the ball? What difference does weight make when the tv is on a stand or fixed to the wall? The only reason as far as i can see for LED is the tube/screen may last longer. May also be a saving on electricity.

As you are clearly in doubt here's a link,
http://www.which.co.uk/reviews/televisions/article/advice/led-vs-lcd-vs-plasma-tv-

 

[jackanada]

So, you telling me your LED tv does not have blocky pixels following behind the ball? What difference does weight make when the tv is on a stand or fixed to the wall? The only reason as far as i can see for LED is the tube/screen may last longer. May also be a saving on electricity.

As you are clearly in doubt here's a link,
http://www.which.co.uk/reviews/televisions/article/advice/led-vs-lcd-vs-plasma-tv-

If you want seriously amazing definition and no motion blur nothing beats a high definition CRT set. Sadly no-one seems to make them anymore.

 

[Soulman]

I brought a Sony 40" a few years ago, i got one that had Freesat, so i could use the Sky dish, which was still functional even though i had binned Sky a few years back. So i got many channels in HD that way, great set.
I have a Samsung in the bedroom, and my mother also has a Samsung and the sound is non to clever.
I had a bad experience with the LG 42", i brought one for the now ex, i was looking forward to watching MOTD and the FL progs on a Sat night. Unfortunately i only got to watch for a few weeks, on my own actually, before we split.....to cap it all she went off with a Palarse fan....i really missed the TV though, nice picture.

 

[BlockDpete]

I've still got my CRT and its still going strong. Must be about 16 years old now.

I don't watch a lot of telly, so thinking of keeping it until it goes "put"

 

[perseus]

Samsung have the grip on the market right now. Personally I would visit Tesco, Currys etc and look at loads until you find a model you like. Make a note of it then visit Pricerunner website for best price. Places such as Hills of Hove will often try to match where they can AND they know what they are talking about.

Agree. I bought a Technika at Tesco as I still wanted a VGA connection. Otherwise Samsung looked like the best buy.

 

[perseus]

I've still got my CRT and its still going strong. Must be about 16 years old now.

I don't watch a lot of telly, so thinking of keeping it until it goes "put"

Mine was over 30 years old and still working perfectly. Sounds was better on the old one, but I am glad I replaced it.

Then I managed to get rid of the old one on freecycle. Later I saw it on sale. It was great TV but no patch on the new one. (I did not think we were going to Wembley so I splashed the cash.)

 

[spence]

CRT's were built to relative high quality - modern electronics are not.

If you get 3 years out of any low or mid-range electronic item these days, you're very lucky.

So when shopping for any modern consumer item, from a TV to a toaster, we should really expect it to break after a few years - because that's what they're designed to do.

Not convinced by that. I've had microwaves,toasters,washing machines,tvs that have lasted years and years. The only items i find that tend to break down are mobile phones.
What i don't do is buy insurance. It's a con unless the item is excessively expensive which rules me out anyway

 

[Creaky]

Before buying have a look at the Finlux Direct site - you may not recognise the name but Vestel who own Finlux manufacture 25% of the TVs sold in the UK. Finlux Direct are their direct marketing arm.

Their prices are very competitive and I've been very happy with the two I've bought from them. For instance they are currently selling a full HD 50" Smart TV for £399

http://finlux.co.uk/smart-tvs/50-full-hd-smart-led-freeview-hd-tv-50fme242b-t/invt/50fme242b-t

 

[WSU]

I purchased a new TV about 10 months ago to replace my 10 year old 42" Hitachi plasma (my last 'approved' purchase before our son was born!) - I am a bit geeky when it comes to new technology - I'm no expert but buy magazines like What HiFi etc. for months before which gives a good idea about what's out there.

I had a budget of about £800 and chose an LG 47" LED with good reviews. I had it for about 36 hours and was massively disappointed in the picture quality regardless of how many times I adjusted the settings. That set went back a week after buying it.
After more research and a trip to Richer Sounds demo room, I ended up with a 50" Panasonic - the last plasma model they were ever making (over my budget but Mr 0% Tesco Credit Card helped out) Turns out that my complaints weren't with the LG but with LED in general.

I'm glad to see the Plasma vs LED debate is still alive, I love the picture on my plasma and would take that over LED every time but ultimately the final decision MUST be yours as you'll be the one staring at it, so get down the show rooms and demo rooms and try loads out - the difference between them all is massive! Have fun.

 

[MF'84]

It's a real shame that all the manufacturers are pulling out of Plasma as it's by far the best option for sport and fast moving images. I'm hoping by the time my current Panasonic plasma bites the dust that LED / AMOLED / OLED / whatever they come up with next technology has improved - what good is 4K if the images still blur?

 

[Birdie Boy]

I purchased a new TV about 10 months ago to replace my 10 year old 42" Hitachi plasma (my last 'approved' purchase before our son was born!) - I am a bit geeky when it comes to new technology - I'm no expert but buy magazines like What HiFi etc. for months before which gives a good idea about what's out there.

I had a budget of about £800 and chose an LG 47" LED with good reviews. I had it for about 36 hours and was massively disappointed in the picture quality regardless of how many times I adjusted the settings. That set went back a week after buying it.
After more research and a trip to Richer Sounds demo room, I ended up with a 50" Panasonic - the last plasma model they were ever making (over my budget but Mr 0% Tesco Credit Card helped out) Turns out that my complaints weren't with the LG but with LED in general.

I'm glad to see the Plasma vs LED debate is still alive, I love the picture on my plasma and would take that over LED every time but ultimately the final decision MUST be yours as you'll be the one staring at it, so get down the show rooms and demo rooms and try loads out - the difference between them all is massive! Have fun.

 

[WSU]

It's a real shame that all the manufacturers are pulling out of Plasma as it's by far the best option for sport and fast moving images. I'm hoping by the time my current Panasonic plasma bites the dust that LED / AMOLED / OLED / whatever they come up with next technology has improved - what good is 4K if the images still blur?

I agree. I was told that OLED should have the combined benefits of both LED and plasma - hopefully this means the fast moving images won't blur. We will just have to wait and see I guess...

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Having just bought a new smart TV (a cheap Samsung 22" jobbie for the bedroom), I'd like to put in a good word for the excellent delivery service from John Lewis.

The order was placed on-line at 15:13 yesterday afternoon. At 13:19 today, I received a text message advising me that the TV was ready for collection at Waitrose in Lewes.

The advertised deal is that an order placed after 2pm on a Friday will be delivered after 2pm the following Monday at the earliest. This delivery took less than 24 hours and was more than two days earlier than promised.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Christ.... do people actually buy Plasma !... I am surprised manufacturers bother making them still

Production has ceased in the Far East but there are still residual stocks. For AV purists a calibrated plasma TV still wins hands down on picture quality compared side by side with a top of the range LED TV.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

I agree. I was told that OLED should have the combined benefits of both LED and plasma - hopefully this means the fast moving images won't blur. We will just have to wait and see I guess...

OLED is the true successor to plasma. LED is a misnomer , basically you're buying a LCD TV with LED around the edges or in a matrix pattern across the screen.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

"A couple of years"...

How long have you had that CRT for?

Will Mrs PL allow you to upgrade the still perfectly functional 2014 TV to a 4k TV in 2 years time?

It's a good point.

What I will probably do is wait until the New Year and see how the 4k TV prices are then. I'd guess prices are steadily dropping, so there will be a point at which I could get a good size 4k TV within my budget then.