New TV Help
*Eileen*
Posts: 9,881 Forum Member
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Hello all 
I'm looking to buy a new TV. I've had no spare money for a very long time and this hasn't been a priority and consequently I still have a ancient Panasonic big box weighs a ton type model It really is ancient 
At the end of this month I should have approx £500 spare and am aiming to spend it on a new TV (Though obviously if I can get something decent for less than that then so much the better)- I know very little about the different types available now and was after a bit of advice. From what I have read I think I am probably looking for a LED (not Plasma), probably about 40 - 42" screen - don't really want a huge one on the wall, just a good decent sized one on a stand in the corner of the room.
I won't be doing any gaming on it, just watching some films and mainly TV.
I've also been thinking of getting Netflix - do I need a Smart TV for this to work and if not does that mean attaching a laptop of some such to the normal LED TV.
Are all new TVs HD now ?
Sorry to ask such dumb questions but I want to have some idea of what I'm talking about when I start looking properly
Thanks in advance :cool:
I'm looking to buy a new TV. I've had no spare money for a very long time and this hasn't been a priority and consequently I still have a ancient Panasonic big box weighs a ton type model
It really is ancient At the end of this month I should have approx £500 spare and am aiming to spend it on a new TV (Though obviously if I can get something decent for less than that then so much the better)- I know very little about the different types available now and was after a bit of advice. From what I have read I think I am probably looking for a LED (not Plasma), probably about 40 - 42" screen - don't really want a huge one on the wall, just a good decent sized one on a stand in the corner of the room.
I won't be doing any gaming on it, just watching some films and mainly TV.
I've also been thinking of getting Netflix - do I need a Smart TV for this to work and if not does that mean attaching a laptop of some such to the normal LED TV.
Are all new TVs HD now ?
Sorry to ask such dumb questions but I want to have some idea of what I'm talking about when I start looking properly
Thanks in advance
:cool: 0
Comments
You should be able to get a good TV for your budget. How fast is your home internet as that will impact on streaming Netflix
http://www.stuff.tv/best-budget-tvs-under-500/feature
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9157899.htm
Does everything you want. It connects to your broadband router via WiFi or cable and gives you services like Netflix and Lovefilm built in, no need to connect your laptop to it.
And it is well under your budget.
The one you recommend isn't available at the moment at any Argos near me. I guess I was more asking whether my understanding of what I needed was correct, and so am I right in thinking that from what you say any equivalent new TV similar to it will automatically be able to run Netflix ? It's the technology I don't really understand
I think I will need more than a 32 inch IHATEMARMITE (I do too, vile stuff
Different models by the same manufacturer are more likely to have similar features. For example other LG Smart TVs have Netflix built in but may not have WiFi to connect to your broadband router. Which may be a factor if cabling to the router is a problem.
Oh and you don't have to go to Argos. Other high street and online retailers are available
SmartTV is a bit of an oxymoron. They are not really that Smart
I've been looking at samsung tvs. There is this one. http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-dvd-blu-ray/televisions/large-screen-tvs-32-and-over/samsung-ue40f6400-smart-3d-40-led-tv-21251493-pdt.html
We got one of those 2 weeks ago from Richer Sounds(John Lewis was out of stock and i couldnt wait). Must be a good TV as everywhere is out of stock of this model? Our John Lewis was, and when i got to Richer Sounds it was the last one they had.:)
It replaced a 7-8year old Polaroid LCD, the difference in picture quality is amazing, looks fantastic on HD channels. Connects to my router automatically in seconds and off you go watching netflix, youtube etc. Its my first LG tv and im very pleased with it, worth every penny
By the way, we got the 42inch model. There is what they call a magic remote which is basically a wireless remote that you move around with your hand like a computer mouse and it controls a cursor on the screen, just a quicker/easier way of navigating the on screen options/internet fuctions. This is an optional extra though with this tv.
Also to answer your question, the words you want to see is (1080p FULL HD) this will mean the tv is full HD. Full HD is 1080P, some older TV's are ''HD ready'', meaning its actually 720p, which is still HD but not FULL HD, if your with me. But most TV's are now pretty much all full 1080p anyway, the LG one listed above from Argos is too. If Argos are out of stock theres always John lewis, Richer Sounds, id strongly advise you to either buy from John lewis or Richer sounds though, John lewis because they offer a free 5 yr guarantee(normally £150-200 for this from places like Currys etc), and Richer sounds because they know what their talking about, they dont always offer the free 5yr guarantee but when i bought mine they were offering it for £35 which is still fantastic, and a few select tv's came free with it.
I would not buy from Currys or the likes, they are well known for being difficult to deal with in the event of a faulty product.
Just to correct this mis-information (as it's confusing lot's of people) - HD Ready DOESN'T mean the set is 720P - P doesn't apply anyway as that's a broadcast standard, not a TV one.
It's almost certain though that an HD Ready set ISN'T 720 resolution either, that is merely the minimum resolution to meet the spec, with almost all HD Ready sets are actually 768 pixels resolution. There were a very tiny number of 720 resolution sets made years ago, but it would be rare to come across one.
There's also nothing 'magic' about a Full HD set, a better make HD Ready set will far out perform a cheap Full HD set, and there's VERY little difference between picture quality even on good make LCD sets as well. As is obvious from simple physics, in order to get advantage from a Full HD set you need to view from even closer as well.
http://www.lg.com/uk/tvs/lg-42LN5400
Totally forgot one of my clients deals with electronics and they let my have this for a ridiculously cheap price
Next I'll be back here not having a clue how to set it all up
Not sure how important that is to you though.
When I got mine home I found it was set up with the colour way too high. Made people look like they had got a cheap spray on tan. I found the same thing when I set up my mum's LG TV. So looks like it could be common to LG.
But once tweaked both TVs do a very decent job. One thing I would advise is you turn off all the Dynamic this that and the other that the LG has. All they do to my eyes is make things worse. I really couldn't see any improvement at all, certainly none worth keeping the setting turned on at any rate.
Picture quality via sky HD out of the box was fine, I just had to tweak the colour/backlight brightness abit and that was it, it didn't look bad out of the box at all for me, but certainly needed tweaking before any watching of tv was done.
Not tried turning off any of the dynamic settings yet, will have a look at that.
Eileen, let us know how you get on with your new tv, I think you'll be very happy with it.
Where did you buy it from out of interest?
Every HD tv is Freeview HD compatible.
I think what you meant to say is that it doesn't have a Freeview HD tuner built in.
However, there's nothing to stop you getting a Freeview HD set top box and receiving it that way.
Something like the Humax PVR DTR-T1000 will give you Youview on demand services as well as recording for around £200.
If too expensive, then a straight Humax FoxT2 receiver at around £90 should do the trick for just reception.
OK more money but well worth the extra especially if you got a good price.
BTW don't be tempted by the cheap boxes, some of the brands don't have the best reputation for reliability on here. The Humax should be a pretty solid performer.
If all the above are too expensive, then my advice would be to exchange the tv for one with Freeview HD built in.
Not got it set up yet, need to get rid of the old monstrosity in the corner (being picked up tomorrow) and get a stand for it, not to mention work out how the hell to cable it all back together again !
I bought it from one of my clients, they mainly do electrical fittings, bulbs, cabling etc but I had forgotten that they also provide various things, including TVs to hotel chains, they're not a name anyone would recognise but I know them well and trust them. They had bought a whole load of these for a client and ended up with one spare and ended up letting me have it for what it cost them (less than £200 - I do the accounts so I know
As for it not being Freeview HD which someone else pointed out, for the price I paid I am not complaining, it's a million times better than what I am getting rid of and all the online reviews I found for it (I didn't buy it blind, I did do a fair amount on Googling when I was there yesterday) were excellent, should be more than fine for what I need.
EDIT: Thanks White Knight for the post about the HD Freeview, I had this post half finished for ages before I got around to hitting the send button and hadn't seen your reply
HD ready sets do not include an HD tuner
HD sets do, either Freeview or Freesat or both.
To get HD with an HD Ready set you will need an external digibox or PVR with HD capbility
The thing that matters is having a Freeview HD logo or mention of DVB-T2 in the specs not that it simply says Full HD on the box.