26 replies to this topic

[89red]

Hi guys,

Looking to get a new 40 inch t.v

In your opinion whats best and do you know of any cracking offers on at the moment?


Thanks in advance for your excellent info!!

[Hannioli]

Currys are doing 40" lcd LG tvs for £599 or thereabotus, changes from store to store but it's a bloody good deal!

I'm tempted by one

[Jordie]

Dont get a samsung

We had nothing but faults with ours and the customer service was disgracefull.

Got a 42" LG HD 1080 100hz thing now, its brilliant. Think they are about £700 though. Theres cheaper 42" televisions out there, but some are only HD ready and not full hd.

[ZED]

if you see sony, that's a good place to start, but make sure it says 1080 full hd, 100 hz or you may be disapointed
I would hold back a little while though because the prices are going to plumet very soon

cheers

Z

Edited by ZED, 04 January 2009 - 05:54 PM.

[yorkshirechris]

Here's my tuppence... always get a DECENT brand.

Try a place called Richer Sounds, there might even be a branch near you.

I got mine a good 4-5 months ago now, and it is a Sony 40" 1080p one, I also got a piano black stand with it (decent one worth £200), a 5 year on site warranty, and a HDMI cable worth £40... and I got all that for £825... and they even delivered it on a saturday for me at a specified time for FREE! In contrast, at the time the same TV in the Sony Centre itself (two doors down ) with a 5 year warranty and a cheaper stand was £800 and they wanted to charge me £39.99 for delivery!

The guys in the stores (in every store I've been in) are really friendly, decent people and will price match anything usually.

Things to look at - obviously whether it's true HD (1080p) or just "HD ready", also look at the contrast ratio... a lot of the cheaper ones from ebuyer and the like are say 800:1, but the bigger the ratio the better, I think mine's 16000:1.

And haggle with them for free bits such as HDMI cable, money off a stand, etc. In the current "climate" they should be willing to throw something in for you to get a sale

The only thing I do regret is not getting a bigger one, I would like a 46 or 50" now, but that's just greedy I suppose

There isn't really much point in waiting until prices come down though because you'll never get one!

This is like mine but a newer model. It's £700 and is a 40" Sony True HD 1080p CLICKY.. if you go into store and be nice to them and make it look like you're actually going to buy one but say you've seen it cheaper elsewhere, they'll most likely do you a deal with a stand/cable/warranty

Edited by yorkshirechris, 04 January 2009 - 06:08 PM.

[Jammy]

Will have to disagree with Chris about Sony, they used to be quality, but for some time now they've just shipped sub-standard components that break in 1-2 years. You generally pay for the brand with Sony (unless you want to try your luck with the ultra-cheap Sony stuff Tesco are currently selling). Agree with Jordie that Samsung are pap too. They might look quite nice, but the components inside are just about the cheapest you'll find inside a TV.

I've been looking at getting either a 37" or a 40" TV, though 42" are generally about the same price too. For this size of TV I prefer a plasma, just as cheap, but the colour and brightness are much much better, and don't believe the rumours about re-gassing or expensive repair bills. Pioneer are a very good make, but I believe they only do 50"+ now, so any Pioneer TV in a suitable size would have to be second hand. Other makes I've been looking at have been Toshiba, LG and Panasonic, all decent quality and feature very similar spec lists. For £450 you should be able to get a 37-40" plasma or LCD TV in the sales, I've been trying to hold out for one at £400, but so far only seen budget makes at this price.

[coopermpi]

Buy What hi-fi magazine. Tells you everything you need to know.

Ive got a sony one, was the top of the range, and got Best Tv award in the mag and ive never had any trouble, and like said came with a five year warranty, think it was like for like basis too.

[yorkshirechris]

Will have to disagree with Chris about Sony, they used to be quality, but for some time now they've just shipped sub-standard components that break in 1-2 years. You generally pay for the brand with Sony (unless you want to try your luck with the ultra-cheap Sony stuff Tesco are currently selling). Agree with Jordie that Samsung are pap too. They might look quite nice, but the components inside are just about the cheapest you'll find inside a TV.

Where have you got this information from?

[Jordie]

When samgsung sent the TV repairers out to collect our TV. The guy from the tv repair company said, they are all basically the same. The sony's and expensive brands use the same internals as the samgsung's and albion type makes that you get in Aldi and Netto. After the 3rd time he visited, we asked what brand was the best to buy, in which wouldnt break etc. He said pioneer.

[coopermpi]

When samgsung sent the TV repairers out to collect our TV. The guy from the tv repair company said, they are all basically the same. The sony's and expensive brands use the same internals as the samgsung's and albion type makes that you get in Aldi and Netto. After the 3rd time he visited, we asked what brand was the best to buy, in which wouldnt break etc. He said pioneer.

Agreed! most companies us the same components. Pioneer are great, but they're like £2000 plus!

[jwb_moto]

Ive got 2 samsung tv a 40" and a 32" (told her it was for watching telly in our room but has my xbox on instead LOL) and i havn't had any problems what so ever (touch wood) my mate who works for a tv repair place did say that the speakers in samsung arent very good (especially if turned up loud) but i run the 40" through a surround sound and only have the 32" at lower volumes so isnt a problem.

I got my 40" from currys and got a 3yr warranty incl accidental damage chucked in (at the time in total i saved £360 when compared to elsewhere i paid £800 but that was nearly 2 years ago)

i got the 32" from John lewis' in september for £375 incl a 5 year warranty which is really good.

When researching look for the cheapest with the best atfer sale/warranty cover or if its the same model as somewhere like john lewis' stock but its cheaper get John lewis' to price match it.

[Jordie]

Dont forget to shop around. If you find the model u want, check it elsewhere. I am sure PCWorld now do a price match thing. Sure ive seen someone mention it on hotdeals website. Other shops may do this too.

Jordie

[chappy]

go and find a local independant electrical and tv shop,

one near mine is a panasonic shop, and managed to get a B Grade 37" Viera Plasma screen for just over £350...


the meaning of B Grade Varies, But for me it just ment a bit of a squashed corner on the box...


soo perfect TV for less than half the price!


SORTED!

[Mr Duck]

http://whathifi.com/...s/best-buy-TVs/

Does exactly what the url indicates!

Oh, and I got mine on Boxing Day, a Panasonic TH37-PX80 from Richer Sounds too. Really can't complain in the slightest either about the service and level of stock that they had!

[Jammy]

Will have to disagree with Chris about Sony, they used to be quality, but for some time now they've just shipped sub-standard components that break in 1-2 years. You generally pay for the brand with Sony (unless you want to try your luck with the ultra-cheap Sony stuff Tesco are currently selling). Agree with Jordie that Samsung are pap too. They might look quite nice, but the components inside are just about the cheapest you'll find inside a TV.

Where have you got this information from?

The Sony Hifi we had has just been in for repair (CD kept skipping), the Sony Vaio laptop we have keeps telling us it can't detect an OS every second time you turn it on and a Sony portable DVD player we got broke within the first 6 months. There have also been a number of 'What TV' threads on Pistonheads where a lot of people have berated the Sony stuff they've bought that has gone on to break. There is also a guy over there who runs..... Sound and Vision.co.uk (or similar) he is of the opinion that only Samsung is worse than Sony amongst the named brands.

I believe Toshiba and Pioneer and LG make their own stuff, and possibly Panasonic, everyone else just buys components and simply bolt them together.