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!!
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
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.
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
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
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.
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.
> 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?
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.
> 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!
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.
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
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!
http://whathifi.com/BestBuys/TVs-BestBuys/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!
> > 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.
A little bit off topic and a bit long, but interesting none-the-less:
> Who really makes your Plasma HDTV?
Very few Plasma TV manufacturers actually make their own plasma TV. Most use a system called rebadging. Basically they buy from a Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), claim to have a secret extra special feature then stick a new sticker on it and bill you thousands extra for the sticker. If you really want to pay thousands for a sticker please call our sales dept and we will sell you a sticker with our website logo for much less then the couple thousand you will pay Fujitsu or Runco
THE MAJOR PLASMA TELEVISION MANUFACTURERS
NEC - Nec is a OEM manufacturer and is now owned by Pioneer. Although owned by Pioneer they still operate under a separate label. NEC has commercial units and home units. They also supply screens to Marantz Runco and several other companies. NEC sold their plasma factory to Pioneer and now buys their panels from Pioneer and installs their own electronics.
Panasonic - Makes the complete units, Supplies Toshiba, JVC, Fujitsu and more
Pioneer Plasma - Pioneer owns NEC and has switched production to the NEC lines. The new 50 inch and the 42 inch units are all NEC glass. To tell if a 50 inch is Pioneer or NEC, check the resolution, If 1280 it is Pioneer , If 1365 it is NEC . 42 inch Pioneer Plasma TV is NEC . 43 inch Plasma TV is Pioneer Glass
Fujitsu Plasma - Only makes their own 42 inch in partnership with Hitachi . 50 and 61 inch Fujitsu Plasmas are Panasonic and NEC but the 42 inch are their own. Note Hitachi plasma screens are identical to Fujitsu and cost thousands less, 55 Inch Fujitsu is same as Hitachi,
Sony Plasma TV - Makes their own boards and chips but uses Fujitsu/ Hitachi plasma screen glass for 42 inch, 50 inch is NEC, 42inch EDTV is NEC
Hitachi - Owns 50% of plasma screen factory with Fujitsu. Makes own internal components. 42 Alis screens are Hitachi as is the New 55, 50 inch are Pioneer and 42 EDTV is a NEC screen
Philips - Uses Fujitsu/ Hitachi glass screen and most internal components as well. However, Philips makes its own bezel with built in speakers.
LG / Zenith - Make their own glass in Korea
Samsung - Makes its own components in Korea
THE SECONDARY MANUFACTURERS
RCA/ Thompson - Partners with NEC to OEM its product. Just a NEC with a new bezel.
JVC - 50 inch is Panasonic, 42 is NEC
Toshiba - OEM from Panasonic.
Sharp - OEM product through Pioneer for 50" and 42 though they may make some internal component changes.
Runco - OEM 50" from Pioneer and 42" from NEC,
Marantz - OEM plasma monitor from NEC. It is our understanding its just a sticker job
Studio Experience use a Samsung panel but custom electronics
Viewsonic - OEM 50" plasma screen from Pioneer ( old 502 ).
Sampo - 42v3 is old Fujitsu, 42v6 is Samsung Plasma,
Gateway: Units are rebranded Sampo
Norcent Units may be rebranded Sampo
Maxent is Sampo, There seems to be a rumor spreading around that maxents are actually Panasonic panels. These seems extremely unlikely as Panasonic cannot keep up with there own requirement. We suspect that maxents are actually LG glass with their own electronics.
> > > 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.
you seem to be excessivley unlucky with your electricals. do you generate alot of static? do you find little sparks come off you?
I have had an old 28inch jvc tube tv for the last 8 years, I keep wanting to buy a big lcd but 1. there’s alot of *poop poop* onthe tv these days, all repeates, 2 the jvc still looks fab. It was a recommended best buy in what hifi and that would have to be my advice, get what hifi, look at their recommendations, then go and have a look your self. Check google, you will find reviews etc.
Z
We’ve had a big old 28" Toshiba CRT for about 15 years now, maybe a bit longer, has been a trooper! Bare in mind that What Hifi, or generally any review can only judge a TV on it’s performance over a few minutes, hours or maybe days, it can’t tell you the likelihood of it breaking after a few months. There’s a lot of people over on Pistonheads who’ve had LCD/Plasma TVs for years and quite a number who seem to have been “unlucky” with Sony stuff. Well worth a search on there and a read.
If something is cheap enough and has a warranty then fair enough (but think about whether you can be bothered with the hassle of repairs), but I wouldn’t pay extra for Sony stuff, and I wouldn’t pay an ‘average’ price for Samsung stuff.
I havent found any of the warrentys that give you a replacement TV while yours is been repaired. Some of the warrenties are just for repairs, so you might never get a new replacement or exchange. So if it breaks every week and they take it away each week, your going to be left with no tv and alot of complaining and hassle to do. Make sure you read your warrenties.
i have a samsung 32" in my room and thats good enough for me it cost £440 about 15 months ago
downstairs in the living room we have a 42" pioneer that is truly awesome
i noticed that even on blueray dvd`s there was a slight ghost on my screen behind a bright object but on the pioneer it is absolutely pin sharp
it feels like you are looking out of a window that is how clear and crisp the image is.
imho go for a pioneer as people have said, they are reliable, the picture quality is superb and they look good too.
