Following the sudden demise of my current TV last night, I'm now looking to buy a new set.

I've narrowed my choice down to three, but would appreciate any advice on which one of these I should buy. The 3 are:

Sony KD28DX200
JVC HV28D40
Panasonic TX28DTX10

My initial thoughts are that I would go for the Sony, but as its £120 more than the JVC and £180 more than the Panasonic, what do I get for my extra bucks?

All contributions much appreciated.

I actually have a Philips, but if I was getting a new telly I would want to go to a store and physically have a play around with it - the menus etc, ask questions about functionality and connections and things like that. A big area on my priority list would be connectivity - ie how many scarts, how many of those are RGB, additional audio outputs for external amp.

One thing you could do from home is search on the internet to try and find anyone who has had any problems with the tv in question, and if these problems are common or few and far between.

The only way to really know is to find them physically and find out more about them. In the end, the one you like the best, (which could be the one with the best looking picture or the one with the most features) is the one you should go for. spend maybe 25-30 mins playing with each model and you should have a much better idea of which one to go for.
Panny and Sony are probably the two stronger band names for tvs but you never really know for sure just by the name
Sorry if that's not quite the answer you were looking for

On balance, I'd have a good look at the JVC.

They are generally well screwed together and don't seem to have some of the picture artefacts that Sony sometimes have and are cheaper to buy - usually.

But try to get a test drive before you buy...

The TV Forum over at www.avforums.com is a good place to look. You should find information on the sets you are considering. There is a long running thread on the JVC here.

You could also see if these products are reviewed on http://www.homecinemachoice.com/

i've always found the hardware reviews very helpfull

Thanks a lot to the contributors to my original query.

I found your advice / comments very helpful. Particular thanks to GaryB for pointing me at the AVForum

After trudging around the shops on Saturday, we had decided to go with the Sony, when my wife spotted a Panasonic TX-32PD30. Yes it was (a lot!) more, but delivered a 32" picture in a 28" equivalent case. However after reading various comments on the AVForum about the PD30, it seems that if you get a good one, great. However there appears to be a lot of not so good ones around, with various problems and I started to get cold feet. (As anyone would who is about to spend around £1000 on a TV).

So, just when it appeared I was going back to square 1,
I discovered the Toshiba 'Picture Frame' 32ZP48. Similar concept, similar price, but far less negative criticism.

So it's off to Comet tonight to have a look at one of these, and then onto the net to order (assuming she who must be obeyed agrees!)

One again, thanks. (unless of course anyone has any particularly worrying observations about the Tosh 32ZP48).

Check the price John Lewis sell for, if they do that model. 5 year guaruntee, and free delivery and installation.

I bought myself a JVC AV28R47SK , which is a 28" flat screen with Dolby Pro Logic 2 set (and comes with a sub-woofer and 2 small surround speakers) at Comet earlier this year when it was part of their Euro 2004 promotion. It was bundled with a JVC VHS VCR and a JVC DVD player.

There are 3 SCARTS, AV1 takes RGB and composite, AV2 takes SVideo and composite and AV3 takes RGB, SVideo and composite. There are connections for the surround speakers and a proprietary connection for the sub-woofer along with a set of stereo outs to use external front speakers (the TV's speakers can be disabled or it can act as a centre speaker). The sound modes include standard NICAM\stereo (which is very good IMHO) and there's also Virtual Dolby (which I don't make much use of) and there's the Dolby Pro Logic 2 Music & Movie modes. The DPL2 processing maybe isn't quite as good as a dedicated amplifier but it's very good with stereo signals and is great with programmes that contain the surround signal (although I'd like to be able to tell if the broadcast included surround or it's just the DPL2 turning it into surround).

The picture is good and there's plenty of range to change the picture including white temperature but I had to use the service mode to get the picture shape correct as the factory settings were awful.

I'm sure it's not the best TV out there but for the money is was pretty good and the bundled VCR & DVD player are alright, if basic. I use the TV with a Humax PVR-8000T Freeview PVR, a Daeweoo SV-900 Freeview VCR, a UK PS2, a US PS2 and a UK PSone (for various reasons). The video and sound are very good and the sound is very good in DPL2 with the PS2.

It's worth an audition.

Duneding