billythekid

Budget is £500
3d or not?
Anyone got any suggestions?

Brun

Size? LCD / Plasma? Used for mainly?

Brun

........and Panasonic Plasma is the answer

billythekid

Home cinema projector replacement.

No source as of yet other than xbox.

Lcd or plasma

dpb

Have you thought about a panasonic viera

billythekid

No but am open to suggestions

Chip

Well I suggest a Panasonic then

Oh, and 3D is dead in the water so don't bother

dpb

billythekid

Looking that way isnt it. Just looked up the list of 3d films and there are almost none that interest me. Mostly kids films.

eelz

iTrader: (10)

+1 G10B owner and love it.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Indeed - though a lot of good 2D sets have 3D capability as well, so don' t exclude a set just because it can do 3D.

Ant

if I had a tenner every time someone on SN said panny, they are not the be all and end all of tv's.

3D tv is where its at (football and stuff)

DYK

Football..

What about Erotic movies..

Ant

that the 'and stuff' bit

corradoboy

http://www.soundandvision.co.uk/tv/plasma/byprice

Around £500 you're looking at a 42" with 3D or a 50" without. However, the perceived wisdom is that for gaming (you said XBox) LCD is often better. 3D for gaming is pretty much essential for the future

the hamster

iTrader: (7)

Samsung 50" Plasma in Co-op at the moment is the best buy around.

http://www.coopelectricalshop.co.uk/...-PS51D450A2-BK

or a 50" LG plasma at richersounds for peanuts

http://www.richersounds.com/product/...353/lg-50pt353

corradoboy

And both the above sets are HD Ready, not full HD, so 768 pixels instead of 1080. For a few quid more you can have FullHD 1080 and 600hz with FreeviewHD, possibly FreesatHD, maybe 3D, and the benefit of knowing you have a Pana, not a crappy LG or Sammy, and possibly a free 5yr manufacturers warranty.

GazTheHat

One of the best TVs and lots in your budget. I've seen a few Viera 50" under £500, but you'll definitely get a 42". You'll also need to work out what you want to do with it and size. Bigger is not always better

95turbowagon

iTrader: (17)

I've got a viera 42" with freesat HD, can't complain about it really.

the hamster

iTrader: (7)

Explain whats crappy about them

dpb

Dont be crazy , you aint nuffink if you dont own a 50+ inch Panny Viera

davyboy

Can you get a decent tv for 500?

I'd expect only a council house special edition with that budget.

Ant

no bites? you must try harder

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Warning: THESE TVs ARE NOT FULL HD!.

Beware that Samsung still make 720p Plasmas, Its very easy to miss this cruicial thing in specs and they are terrible on 50" screen (My mum's partner was nearly conned into buying one).

IMO a 720p set in 50" is awful as the pixels are obviously too large for that size of set. If it were a smaller screen or in a massive room, you'd get away with it, but if you have a typical UPI rating (UPI=Urban pikey index - copyright Buppa Po ), the larger pixels will be noticable.

The LG PT and PW series are also 720p so I wouldn't bother with them either.

The LG PV series (ie 50PV350T) and PW series are full HD - you are better off paying the extra £120 to have the 50PV350T IMO:

http://www.froogle.richersounds.com/...50t/lg-50pv350 (also available at Dixons at the same price ).

The LG razor frames are very nice, better GUI (thats menu system to you) and picture adjustability than the typical mid-low end Panny (which is nice and useable but is rather clunky where the menus look like something from MS DOS-Shell). Biggest critque of previous models for me is it can be a bit slow to change channel on DVB, so no good for channel surfing (not an issue if you use a Sky/Virgin box, DVD player etc). Other issue is temporary image retention - they do suffer if you play games or watch sky news alot - can't say if low-end pannys suffer. The high-end pannys don't, but you'd expect that from a £1K+ TV, their low-end models may have the same issues too .

scud8

iTrader: (1)

I'd recommend the LG Cinema 3D TVs, although they're a bit more than your budget at the moment. The 3D is great for football, other sport (the Wimbledon final was in 3D this year) and gaming, and you don't have to spend a fortune on the active shutter glasses that will just give you a headache. The 2D performance isn't shabby either.

urban

iTrader: (1)

Look, there is no point asking for TV advice because every one will disagree over different brands

Take yourself off to a TV shop, armed with your best blueray and request a brief viewing
Pick whichever one looks best from that

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

The last TV shop I was in had all the screens set up extremely poorly, and they were all showing a badly encoded advertising reel in bright, primary colours.... possibly the worst possible way to show what the TVs are capable of.

I've all but given up on them for that reason - my 10 yr old Loewe CRT is looking safe for another year. Or at least, until Panasonic fix the fluctuating brightness bug in the VT30 series

billythekid

Ok so I will be having a browse later in the week bust so far I think I will go for a 2d full hd set.

jasey

Sony are doing up to £150 cash back offer just now.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Seems that all high-end pannys have a bug! The V20 series I have has floating blacks, noisy power supply, and flickering whites when overdriven. Acceptable on a £1K+ Tv? Nah! But, I can deal with them TBH, as I did pay £750 for the TV and not £1200 that some unfortunates did. And the CATs 'intelligent' contrast/brightness sensing is still far inferior to my old TV (and its also outdone by a low-end LG 50PK350 plasma)


I did have the same mantra as you until recent as I was not impressed with the majority of flat panels when paying top dollar (sound, banding, blacks, motion judder, backlight bleeding etc) and I still think they need to come along more. This is why I stuck with a top end Philips CRT until recent years (well, until I saw the Panny v20 at a unmissable price). Sound on anything current is still miles away from anything acceptable without spending another £500 on audio gear (which wasn't needed on the Philips - it really was that good ).



Actually thinking about buying last year's models on the cheap maybe worthwhile, if you know the model number sometimes you can find somwhere still selling them for alot less that the equivelent spec current model.