[ney]

Im I right in saying the top makes of TVs are.
Sony
Panasconic
Samsung
LG
I would have added Philips to the list but think they have gone downhill in the last few years with there TVs.
TV in living room is a 2 year old 32inch full HD Panasonic widescreen LCD, TV in mum and dads room is just under a week old 19ich HD ready Panasonic widsecreen LCD that replaceed a 3 year old 16inch Philips CRT DVD combi and in my room I have a 16month old 22inch HD ready LG widescreen LCD.
All TVs have built in Freeview. As nearly all TVs on sale now come with Freeview.

Darren

[bobcar]

Sony and Panasonic tend to be the best with the best support though you should be aware that there is quite a wide variation within brands as well.

[mooghead]

Sony, Panasonic and Pioneer tend to be the top 'tier' brands, LG and Samsung are great but not quite there... everyone else is pretty much the same, the only difference being price...

Being an unashamed Sony fanboy I would recommend them but would not kick a Panasonic out of bed

I would never buy a Samsung again....

[ney]

I have not seen much Pioneer TVs on sale for a while. Im love my 22inch LG in my bedroom but I like the two Panasonic TVs we have in the living room and in mum and dads room better as they seem to have richer sound than the LG in my bedroom and the sound on the LG is fine.
Work has two Samsung TVs and the picture on them is very good but im not to keen on the style of the Samsung.

Darren

[Pugwash69]

I've had no complaints with my Toshiba LCD I've had a few years now. It certainly out performs the LG panel my friend bought, with which he had repeated software glitches hanging the EPG.

[ney]

My sisters got a 6 month old 32inch Toshiba LCD in her living room and picture is good but now and again she says it can take 2 or 3 seconds to change channels.

Darren

[Chasing Shadows]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ney

I have not seen much Pioneer TVs on sale for a while

That'll be because they stopped making them five years ago.

[AlanO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ney

Im I right in saying the top makes of TVs are.
Sony
Panasconic
Samsung
LG
I would have added Philips to the list but think they have gone downhill in the last few years with there TVs.
TV in living room is a 2 year old 32inch full HD Panasonic widescreen LCD, TV in mum and dads room is just under a week old 19ich HD ready Panasonic widsecreen LCD that replaceed a 3 year old 16inch Philips CRT DVD combi and in my room I have a 16month old 22inch HD ready LG widescreen LCD.
All TVs have built in Freeview. As nearly all TVs on sale now come with Freeview.

Darren

I guess it depends on how you define the 'top' makes.

In volume sales, I believe it's Samsung now.

In terms of "quality" of picture or sound - that's subjective and very much a matter of personal opinion.

By your list, I've got one of the "top" brands in my lounge at present - a Sony - but I really don't like it. In fairness, I didn't buy it, but inherited it, but have never been happy with the sound or picture quality and feel it compares very unfavourably with either the Panasonic my parents have or any of the Samsung's I've seen.

Horses for courses I guess. If I'm asked I'll always advise Panasonic or if you don't want to pay the price tag which goes with a Panny then Samsung or LG as a fall-back.

[David (2)]

one of regular use tv's is a small (23in) B Series Sony LCD. Never ever had a problem with it. Infact, even though it only has 1 HDMI port, I prefer it to the bigger, nearly current 26in Sony in the other room. I think the SD picture is better on the 23in, and the remote on the 26in model is sluggish to respond, while the one for the 23in set isnt.

Our neighbour bought a 32in Philips, and to be fair it is a tad better on picture contrast, but there are so many things that let it down - first on the list would be the upside down scart sockets. Who came up with that one (do they still have a job?), she now hates the tv as she needs to keep a Sky box plugged into the scart all the time and the plug keeps falling out.

[AlanO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by David (2)

one of regular use tv's is a small (23in) B Series Sony LCD. Never ever had a problem with it. Infact, even though it only has 1 HDMI port, I prefer it to the bigger, nearly current 26in Sony in the other room. I think the SD picture is better on the 23in, and the remote on the 26in model is sluggish to respond, while the one for the 23in set isnt.

Our neighbour bought a 32in Philips, and to be fair it is a tad better on picture contrast, but there are so many things that let it down - first on the list would be the upside down scart sockets. Who came up with that one (do they still have a job?), she now hates the tv as she needs to keep a Sky box plugged into the scart all the time and the plug keeps falling out.

To be fair - I don't think there is a "right" way round for a SCART socket. What SCARTs do usually have is a 'mounting' spring on the plugs. If these have got damaged then the SCART lead may keep coming adrift. Perhaps your neighbour needs to invest in a new SCART lead and ensure its properly mounted.

[David (2)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanO

To be fair - I don't think there is a "right" way round for a SCART socket. What SCARTs do usually have is a 'mounting' spring on the plugs. If these have got damaged then the SCART lead may keep coming adrift. Perhaps your neighbour needs to invest in a new SCART lead and ensure its properly mounted.

I have seen (a while ago though) scart cables with hooks on the plugs to marry up with locking points on the equipment, but have never seen any equipment with this points, so there would be no advantage in having them. The weight of the plug and cable combined simply pulls the plug out the socket. Invest in a better quality scart cord for improved picture and the problem gets worse due to even more weight in the plug/cable design.

[John Currie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by David (2)

I have seen (a while ago though) scart cables with hooks on the plugs to marry up with locking points on the equipment, but have never seen any equipment with this points

That's because they don't exist.
Locking scart plugs are designed to fit standard scart sockets and will solve the problem of the lead falling out.

[pocatello]

Case by case, each model/panel has to be judged on its own merits within the top tier brands. Some low end are really cheap panels, I think samsung even had a panel lottery. But at the sizes your family is buying, I don't think it makes that much a difference, you can't see much difference at any reasonable distance on such screens.

[David (2)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Currie

That's because they don't exist.
Locking scart plugs are designed to fit standard scart sockets and will solve the problem of the lead falling out.

well she hasnt found a scart cable yet that stays in the upside down socket on her tv (and she has used several to try and fix the problem).
From my own experience, even scart sockets in the regular place on the back of small STBs can be a problem, as the the cable weight can still pull the plug out (or part way out in many cases).

[captainkremmen]

Even just 10 years ago LG and Samsung were pretty much seen in the same light as own brand products (remember Dixons and their Saisho and Matsui products?). Or in a similar way to Skoda and Hyundia cars were seen. They were generally bought by people who couldn't really afford the bigger brands.

Step forward to today and both companies have surpassed most of the other big brands in terms of size of company and sales, to become two of the World's biggest electronics companies. 10/15 years ago those with a good income wouldn't be seen dead with a Samsung or LG television, now no one really sees them as second class products, and their premium products certainly hold their own against the more well known brands (as well as being similarly priced, but often available with bigger discounts).

Companies like Sony and Panasonic tend to stay at one end of the market, the premium end in terms of TVs whereas both Samsung and LG compete across the board. Buy a Budget Samsung or LG flat screen, and although performance is better than the store brands like Technica, they are still budget models and perform as such, but buy one of their premium ranges and they easily hold their own against the premium manufacturers. It's only very recently Sony have moved into the smaller, cheaper flatscreen market for example and Panasonic still don't compete in that market.

Unfortunately some of the other big companies have gone backwards, Hitachi and to some extent Toshiba being two. The small 19-32 inch Hitachi or Toshiba flatscreen TVs don't seem to be any better than the supermakret brands and these models even appear to be made by the likes of Vestel too.

Last year I was bought a 50inch LG and I have to say it easily outperforms my mother's 42 inch Toshiba and my brother's 32inch Samsung.

If you are after a budget TV then Samsung and LG are amongst the better ones, if you are after a premium product then seriously consider them. Compare them against the premium companies and you might just be surprised, and save yourself a hundred pounds or two.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by captainkremmen

If you are after a budget TV then Samsung and LG are amongst the better ones, if you are after a premium product then seriously consider them. Compare them against the premium companies and you might just be surprised, and save yourself a hundred pounds or two.

Just hope they don't go wrong (as they are much more likely to, been cheaper made using cheaper components) - service and support from Samsung and LG is FAR below that from Sony and Panasonic.

[captainkremmen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

Just hope they don't go wrong (as they are much more likely to, been cheaper made using cheaper components) - service and support from Samsung and LG is FAR below that from Sony and Panasonic.

I'll keep my fingers crossed my plasma doesn't.

When I registered mine I was given an extra full years guarantee and a five year guarantee on the display panel itself. If anything does go wrong and they prove to be crap at sorting it, I will no doubt be on here to have a bloody good whine.

My mother's Toshiba 42inch LCD is now just approaching a year old, and it has developed a fault in that it wont always turn on or off using the remote, despite fresh batteries and trying my One4All universal remote for a few days. Twice we have been awaiting a call back from Toshiba and they haven't returned her call. We called again on Wednesday and are still awaiting them calling back. Whereas my LG hasn't missed a beat, and they were both similarly priced so I would have presumed the Toshiba to have been slightly higher quality and therefore less likely to go wrong, but in this once instance, it doesn't appear to have been the case.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by captainkremmen

My mother's Toshiba 42inch LCD is now just approaching a year old, and it has developed a fault in that it wont always turn on or off using the remote, despite fresh batteries and trying my One4All universal remote for a few days. Twice we have been awaiting a call back from Toshiba and they haven't returned her call. We called again on Wednesday and are still awaiting them calling back. Whereas my LG hasn't missed a beat, and they were both similarly priced so I would have presumed the Toshiba to have been slightly higher quality and therefore less likely to go wrong, but in this once instance, it doesn't appear to have been the case.

Many Toshiba's were just cheap badged sets (Vestel), I don't know about current ones though.

Service wise, Toshiba are on a similar level to Samsung and LG.

[late8]

Panasonic plasma TV's are stunning as are the LCDs. Sony are second as I feel they can be blueish and cold on the LCD front..

[captainkremmen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

Many Toshiba's were just cheap badged sets (Vestel), I don't know about current ones though.

Service wise, Toshiba are on a similar level to Samsung and LG.

I know the cheaper/smaller Toshiba sets are indeed Vestel clones ( know someone with a 32inch one that, from the menu's and EPG etc. is obviously Vestel), but my mum's isn't. I actually wish it was though, the Vestel interface and EPG is actually better, less crowded and more logically laid out than her set. It would have made it easier to use and probably cut down all those "How do I get it to do this.." type of calls.

[AlanO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

Just hope they don't go wrong (as they are much more likely to, been cheaper made using cheaper components) - service and support from Samsung and LG is FAR below that from Sony and Panasonic.

If that's a major concern then buy it from John Lewis or M&S - both offer a 5 year warranty and pride themselves on service so would probably get it sorted somehow.

[ney]

An antiue has gone and got herself a 24inch Logik LCD HD ready TV for her living room.
It looks an ok TV but the sound could have maybe been a little better.
I have not really heard of the make Logik.

Darren

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanO

If that's a major concern then buy it from John Lewis or M&S - both offer a 5 year warranty and pride themselves on service so would probably get it sorted somehow.

Neither JL or M&S are purely electrical retailers, and neither offer any service, so certainly don't 'pride themselves' on their service

Both farm their service out to various external service agents, JL aren't too bad, but you don't hear very much positive about M&S.

Expect to pay £90 odd if you call them out and they can't find anything wrong as well!!!.

[pete.mal]

Hi everyone
I'm new to this forum so go easy on me please.
I came upon this while trying to find out if Panasonic are as good as everyone says they are, or whether I'm the unluckiest Panasonic buyer. Ever.
I bought a brand new big box 28" analogue telly that ran for 4 hrs before dying. It was replaced by the dealer, and to it's credit, still going strong. My next purchases were a DVB tv and DVD HDD/disc recorder. The TV lasted about 3 yrs before it the tube died, and the recorder slightly longer. The recorder would not recognise then not eject discs. Both were replaced under a long term warranty (i still have the tv's replacement, a 32" LCD)but the DVD, DMRex77 lasted about 18 months with fair usage. It was replaced, again under "Whatever Happens" with a DMREX 773. It is showing the same symptoms as the 2nd recorder (not recording on timer and unresponsive to the remote or buttons on the unit)and is due to go in for repair tomorrow under the manufacturers warranty.
Any thoughts anyone?

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pete.mal

Hi everyone
I'm new to this forum so go easy on me please.
I came upon this while trying to find out if Panasonic are as good as everyone says they are, or whether I'm the unluckiest Panasonic buyer. Ever.
I bought a brand new big box 28" analogue telly that ran for 4 hrs before dying. It was replaced by the dealer, and to it's credit, still going strong. My next purchases were a DVB tv and DVD HDD/disc recorder. The TV lasted about 3 yrs before it the tube died, and the recorder slightly longer. The recorder would not recognise then not eject discs. Both were replaced under a long term warranty (i still have the tv's replacement, a 32" LCD)but the DVD, DMRex77 lasted about 18 months with fair usage. It was replaced, again under "Whatever Happens" with a DMREX 773. It is showing the same symptoms as the 2nd recorder (not recording on timer and unresponsive to the remote or buttons on the unit)and is due to go in for repair tomorrow under the manufacturers warranty.
Any thoughts anyone?

Everyone had odd 'disasters' - the Panasonic TV with the failed tube probably used a Philips/LG tube, and these had massive early failures. It was common on all TV's, with the exception of Sony, who of course used their own Trinitron CRT's.

As for DVD recorders, those were Panasonics own disaster, they produced DVD recorders with under-specified PSU's for a good few years, and despite knowing they were sub-standard never seemed to upgrade them. It was really VERY disappointing of Panasonic, not at all how they usually do business.

Likewise Sony have had a few disasters as well - but both are still the most reliable and reputable of the manufacturers, with no others even coming close any more.