ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I wouldn't buy a TV based on what a magazine said full stop

Similar to what magazines say about cars (I already made that mistake...once bitten )
It's ok to use it as a guide to make a shortlist though...remember the journos that write them are just mere humans

corradoboy

My opinions on What HiFi! are based on events many years ago which may now be outdated, but mud sticks. They used to rave about a speaker called a Gale 4. It was a 2-way, bi-wireable, floorstanding, mass-fillable unit for IRO £130 IIRC, that they gave 5*'s in every review it was ever in, whether it was against £70-150 bookshelf speakers or £100-300 floorstanders. We got some to try and immediately took them to our local specialist to compare them against many of the units they had beaten in What HiFi! reviews. They were woeful, awful, dreadful, shockingly bad. There was no bass to be had whatsoever, and if fed anything with a reasonable low frequency they'd distort and threaten to spit their paltry excuse for a bass-mid unit across the room. There was absolutely no soundstage and the treble was shreaky. After 3 hours and direct comparison with their contemporaries, we returned them. My letter regarding them to What HiFi! went unanswered, but funnily enough Richer Sounds, their biggest advertiser, kept selling them and they kept getting good reviews

kbsub

So where the hell do you start in buying a new TV ?? You certainly cant rely on the demo's in Currys Comet etc etc IMHO mag reviews are a great starting point to draw a short list up and AVforums an other good place to make an informed decision.

jonnyrex

Its a shame that CRT tubes are on the way out after freeview was starting to be built in,better picture and lower prices,,but then its cheaper to ship thin/lighter tv's from across the oceans ....I do find it hard watching fast sports on lcd's due the refresh rate .now wheres that paint drying programme..

davegtt

kbsub, first place is the local dealers, we have a panasonic dealer in town, you'll get AV shops that specialise and set the TVs up correctly under proper lighting unlike comet, Id never buy a TV based on what Id seen from a large store like Comet/Dixons etc...

GC8

Id suggest using a magazine review to help me whittle down the list as itll (probably) accurately describe the poor performers and itll list features too.

Simon

kbsub

I was in Sony centre in Leeds yesterday ...all sorts of Plasma's LCD's in all sizes and not one of them came anywhere close to PQ I have on my Toshiba now. same can be said for the local branches of Richer sounds and Superfi as well. which I suppose is the reason for this thread starting in the first place

*edit*

By the way I bought My Tosh on the strenth of magazine review's and recomendation's on AV forums
first time I ever watched the TV was in my living room !

davegtt

Yes but they usually have a seperate room for demos with more realistic lighting. well 90% of the proper AV companies that Ive been in do. Ask which sets your interested in and they should set it up, same with any Sound equipement aswell

Chip

But how many TVs are they running off a single source I wonder.

Chip

Smiler

I took 3 months to decide what LCD I wanted. Many places had a very poor source so the picture looked pants.

I found only Selfridges and John Lewis had decent sources so all you have to do is ask for the remote to play about with the settings.

Take a DVD with you and ask them to set up a DVD on it.

My 32" Sony V Series is

corradoboy

I'd only ever seriously view any prospective screen of a significant value at a specialist. Sevenoaks have dedicated rooms set out like the most stylish living rooms and set up each individual screen one at a time, properly. You can take your own source material, and even your own source equipment if you wish. They are connected by whichever way you choose or the best way they can advise and set up professionally for colour/contrast/hue etc. Each room usually has a fixed install as part of its decor. The last one I was in had a 50" Pioneer PDP recessed into the chimney breast and hidden behind a modern art print which automatically rose out of the way when the set activated. The install had concealed in-wall speakers too, but they will bring in any set-up you like, speakers, amp, DVD, whatever you want. On the adjacent wall they had a projector screen concealed in the cornicing. Another room has a fixed 10' screen, whilst another is used solely for hi-fi. Of course, you may not get the best prices as this level of service has to be paid for. The more unscrupulous amongst us may go there for the demo's and then scour the net for the best price and then get John Lewis to price-match to get their free 5yr warranty

Curry's/Dixons/Comet et al are for fridges, cookers, vacuum cleaners and Playstations, not serious entertainment equipment

Stueyb

I don't normally get involved in these type of things. However I have just bought a nice Sharp Aquos LCD 32" and I went to a specialist, (Audio Excellence) who showed me whats available, of the hand picked ones they sell.

They dont "do" cheap. Im well chuffed with it, got it at leat £100 cheaper than any online store because he was more than happy to haggle. Try that in Dixons lol. Also the interconnects are important. He threw in a free high end ceramic, gold plated Scart. It rocks. You really need to work out where you can get the best deal, and test drive it first ! Going back after payday for the full Dolby setup

mart360

agreed i had the same with the tannoy 609 series speakers, whilst auraly(sp) compitant they wer,nt as good as i thought, i also tried some linn speakers too,,, again very nice but very overpriced...

i then managed a demo on the 611,s awsome, they had the clarity and more importantly the bass.... still got them today !!!!!


the tv again was done on instore watching, liked the sony, wouldnt touch hitachi with a barge pole (ever again) toshiba,s nice and good longevity, but none had an involving picture,


wont every buy from a sony shop, cos they would (and do ) swear blind that the seriiously artifacted copy of jumanji on a 100hz tv was perfect,,

feckin idiot!!


in the end we settled on a jvc 28" widescreen, gave the best picture, and had enough connectivity for what we needed ( 3 scart & shvhs)

in the end, its all down to personal choice, oh and budget!!


Mart

mart360

and can we have a shot of the same still at midday on a nice bright summers day please!!!

be interesting to see how defined it is then


Mart

logiclee

Don't have any myself but found this on another forum, must be from a game console.


No problem under normal daylight conditions but I always watch movies with the blinds closed. You dont go to the Cinema and leave the lights on.
I mainly posted the other picture to show how good the black level was.

Cheers
Lee

mart360

no problem...

hmmm...


i,d reccomend a trip to the opticians.. its washed out, seriously!!

the blacks are grey, and the greens are muted..


out of interest, does it have ringing where the colours converge on the fresnel screen??

all the ones i was looking at today, still suffer from it..

there was one lcd that looked passable, but they cant get the colour saturation right, skin tones are either waxy or jaffa base, and they cant still cant handle sheen, it looks like the censoring effect they try on tv.

prehaps the next gen will get it right

Mart

logiclee

Blacks are not perfect but are acceptable and I dont have any issues with the greens or skin tones only ever seen that on DLP-rear pro. You are never going to get a good idea of PQ though a heavily jpg'ed pc picture through a monitor that may not be accurate itself. Most sets I've seen in store are shocking though I agree, factory setting is vivid mode which is totally over processed. We get back to what others have said, the only way is to have a proper demo fom a specialist in a properly setup and lit demo room. Sets that look vibratant and colourfull in-store can seem unatural and over saturated at home.

3LCD sets do not do the convergence at the screen but join via a prism at the pre projection stage, this isn't adjustable. My Dad has the same TV and I've not seen any convergence issues.

The next gen is already on sale in the USA they are 1080P SXRD sets and are absolutely stunning, even at 60"

Plenty of reviews and comments over on www.avforums.com

Cheers
Lee

Buckrogers

Do John Lewis price match against web only offers? Or just physical shops?

TIA

Buck

davegtt

Just physical shops IIRC

Neanderthal

iTrader: (6)

Just physical shops in the same area.

edit. beat me to it

MY97_Toy

Dont forget your Cables I have just bought a 32" LCD and the pics was not brill but I was aware that the quality of the connections is paramount. I saw a demo with a £6 Scart then a £70 Scart (Monster Gold) and then a Component cable and the picture difference was Vast! Another £40 on an Optical link from AV to Sky+ and everything is excelent.

You can go out and spens £2k on a telly and £10 on the connections dont do it invest in good quality interconnectors and you will reep the rewards

Chip

I got them to price match on a company in london. Price match is for 28 days as well so keep looking for a month after youve bought it. They will match if goods are in shop and price has to be visible on the goods at the time.

Chip

Chip

I think general rule of thumb is to spend about 10-15% of your budget on cables.

Unfortunately most ppl dont.

Chip

jonnyrex

Just got a tosh 32wlt66 to replace a 5 year panny 28pk2, and it a cracking picture,well impressed

kbsub

Had my Tosh a month a so now ... anyone wanting a 32" LCD this is the one to get

Leslie

I agree with what you say Paul. The plasma will produce a better picture since its refresh time is still better than an LCD. The type of scan is important too since a full progressive scan where it is not re-scanning to put extra lines on the screen, will always be better. Moving pictures will always look better on a progressive scan and certainly on a plasma anyway since the refresh time is better.

Les

davegtt

Thought you bought a "big **** off HDTV" 32" pfff