[Barnoe]

I was looking to buy a new TV, our present one is an old plasma 42" LG
I was thinking of upgrading to 3D and 60"...
between
LG 60PH660V 60 inch Smart 3D Full HD Freeview HD Plasma TV
and
Samsung PS60F5500 60 inch Full HD Freeview HD 3D Smart Plasma TV

Do i stay clear of Plasma now? is it outdated?
What about brands, are Samsung still considered the best?
Lastly are either of these TVs any good or am i best avoiding them for some reason?
both cost just less than £1000

[Chasing Shadows]

Don't think Samsung have ever been considered "the best". Sony and Panasonic share that tag since Pioneer pulled out of the market, with Samsung and LG just behind.

I've always preferred Samsung (currently own a Samsung TV and two Samsung Blu-Ray players, one upstairs, one down) but was looking at 3D tellies last month and I think that LG just have the edge in 3D picture quality - over all three of the other major players.

[chrisjr]

I don't think Samsung have ever been considered the "best" brand. Sony and Panasonic tend to vie for that honour. LG and Samsung are somewhere in the middle ground with the supermarket/Currys/Argos "own brands" trailing well behind.

[Barnoe]

Interesting, it was actually a salesman from Comet a few years back who told me Samsung was considered best :/

A feature i am likely to use a lot is the USB stick to play movies and TV Shows etc?
So how do these compare on say Panasonic, LG and Samsung?
not just the way it plays them, but the quality and the formats it plays?
my Panasonic Blue ray player plays DivX, Xvid and MKV but it struggles with a few, not all the time... but its annoying when it locks up 1 hour in and you have to slowly fast forward back to where you was upto... slowly!! so it doesnt freeze again :/

After you comments i have been looking at a Panasonic.
Panasonic TX-L55ET60 55 inch Full HD Freeview HD LED 3D Smart TV

not 60 inch, but still bigger than our present 42 inch.

[White-Knight]

Have a look on WhatHifi.

I know reviews aren't everything, but I usually find them pretty good:

http://www.whathifi.com/reviews/tvs

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barnoe

Interesting, it was actually a salesman from Comet a few years back who told me Samsung was considered best :/

No doubt there was a promotion on Samsung at the time, where the salesman got double commission or whatever

[Barnoe]

Thanks white knight, ive been looking.

When the wife said "Shall we get a new TV", i was like woah!! quick before she changes her mind lol

So many to choose from, im like a kid in a sweet shop

But i dont want to rush too much and end up stuck with something i dont like for years.

It seems every TV i decide i like, i search for reviews and there is ALWAYS someone slagging it off :/

Bad black, bad sound, bad remote etc etc

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barnoe

Thanks white knight, ive been looking.

When the wife said "Shall we get a new TV", i was like woah!! quick before she changes her mind lol

So many to choose from, im like a kid in a sweet shop

But i dont want to rush too much and end up stuck with something i dont like for years.

It seems every TV i decide i like, i search for reviews and there is ALWAYS someone slagging it off :/

Bad black, bad sound, bad remote etc etc

You're going to find bad sound on almost any modern TV, the sets are too slim to have decent sound.

[trayhop123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

You're going to find bad sound on almost any modern TV, the sets are too slim to have decent sound.

last week nigel i would have agreed with this 100 %

however this week i was in london with family shopping , and we went into hamley's , and downstairs in the gadget section was a speaker no bigger than 1 of those miniture cans of coke you see from time to time .

it had a mini usb connection for charge and presumably download tunes etc .

it was playing some chart music

the sound was truly truly amazing , ,,,,,,,, and it was around 25quid

you could fit two of those in a flat screen easily .

maybe its down to component cost , with the tv manufacturer's opting to put cheap as chips speakers in ,,,,,,,, or has this gadget shop tech only just been introduced etc ??

i dunno what im talking about really , im clearly no expert , but any of you in doubt should visit hamley's before comment .

[Lidtop2013]

We recently bought a 42" LG smart tv just after Christmas, it's our first LG tv and I'd definitely buy another. Picture quality connected to sky HD is fantastic, PS3 is amazing too. I heard reviews saying the sound isn't great but we've found it fine, it's way better than our old chunky LCD tv. We've had it about 2 months nearly and I honestly can't find any bad points.

When we went tv shopping in John Lewis the LG was next to a Samsung and a more expensive Panasonic and you couldn't see any difference in picture quality.

Another reason we opted for the LG was the huge amount of connectivity it has, and also has ARC HDMI connection for easily connecting a home cinema system etc, if I wanted to get the same amount of HDMI slots AND ARC then I'd have had to spend around another £100 on a Samsung or even more for a Sony to get the same connections.

My advice, go to a shop where all the tv's are turned on and next to each other and buy which one YOU think looks best/can afford

[mrsgrumpy49]

I was just about to buy a Samsung when I read on some forums that there is an issue with their panels. Apparently some of them are outsourced and it's the luck of the draw whether you get one with an actual Samsung panel.

[The Wulfrunian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lidtop2013

My advice, go to a shop where all the tv's are turned on and next to each other and buy which one YOU think looks best/can afford

And every TV has god awful settings.

I'd take the advice of white knight and look at plenty of reviews to narrow your choice down. I never understand why people don't do thorough research before shelling out hundreds/thousands of hard earned pounds.

And take in some reviews on sound systems as well while you're at it.

[trayhop123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Wulfrunian

And every TV has god awful settings.

I'd take the advice of white knight and look at plenty of reviews to narrow your choice down. I never understand why people don't do a thorough research before shelling out hundreds/thousands of hard earned pounds.

And take in some reviews on sound systems as well while you're at it.

dont let nigel hear you say that , he thinks all reviews are a waste of time lol

[Doghouse Riley]

Someone's already touched on this. But ignore the advice of anyone in a store. Most staff are on commission and will sell you the one they'll earn most from a sale, or one they've been told to push.
I know, as in my early twenties I managed a TV and electrical store.

I don't expect anything will have changed during the intervening decades.

It'll be the same with cameras and anything similar.

[The Wulfrunian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trayhop123

dont let nigel hear you say that , he thinks all reviews are a waste of time lol

Got a lot of time and respect for Nigel's views, but by the same argument why should we trust anything he says - he's just a faceless name on the internet, the same as any reviewer! We all ultimately have to rely on one thing or another to narrow down our choice, particularly in a saturated field like TVs.

[quinnicus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

You're going to find bad sound on almost any modern TV, the sets are too slim to have decent sound.

Except for Sony's new range of TV's (2014) coming up. The TV's sound excellent for their size, especially when using those "magnetic fluid speakers" on the top range ones. Even the "Wedge" shaped ones have a marked improvement on sound.

[charliesays]

The sound that comes out the tiny Bose Soundlink Mini is incredible. Surely we can't be too far off TVs having decent built in speakers again?

[trayhop123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Wulfrunian

Got a lot of time and respect for Nigel's views, but by the same argument why should we trust anything he says - he's just a faceless name on the internet, the same as any reviewer! We all ultimately have to rely on one thing or another to narrow down our choice, particularly in a saturated field like TVs.

exactly how i see it ,,,,,,,, i like a lot of what nigel has to say , and he does , for the most part offer sound advice , but he is blinkerd in his views over what constitutes ''quality'' ,,,,,, in his mind unless your paying over a grand for panasonic etc , it must be shit , which is simply not the case. he also doesn't ever ever take into account another person's budget ,,,,,,, and i put it to him that rather than just say somethings shit , offer up some choice alternatives in the op's price range , surely thats more helpful ???


like you have just said wulfman , we all have to put our faith somewhere to determine our final purchasing choice ,,,,,but surely if you read 3plus independent reviews , then that should be heading in the right direction ,,,,,,,, wulfman mate ,,,,, please take the time if you will to go to the '' trusted reviews '' website and read the full review in tv's of the finlux 32F8030-t,,,, ,,,,, i think you will agree , that whilst not up there with the best ,, for the PRICE involved its a bit of a bargain stunner ,,,,,,,,, however despite this and other reviews of it ' nigel will insist without compromise that its shit.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trayhop123

trusted reviews '' website and read the full review in tv's of the finlux 32F8030-t,,,, ,,,,, i think you will agree , that whilst not up there with the best ,, for the PRICE involved its a bit of a bargain stunner ,,,,,,,,, however despite this and other reviews of it ' nigel will insist without compromise that its shit.

You seem obsessed by reviews, and keep quoting this low quality Vestel set that somehow gets a great review on one site (makes me suspicious of the review - as with all reviews) - does that same site give identical reviews to the hoard of identical sets with different badges on them?.

[trayhop123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

You seem obsessed by reviews, and keep quoting this low quality Vestel set that somehow gets a great review on one site (makes me suspicious of the review - as with all reviews) - does that same site give identical reviews to the hoard of identical sets with different badges on them?.

no the same site gives honest unbiased reviews , and has no qualms calling something junk if it is. ,,,,,, there are lots of other cheap sets on there , including more by finlux that get a bad score

you just cant accept that some cheap tech can be a very good buy


ps , if you need further proof read techradars review of the same set

[trayhop123]

and ''what hi-fi'' gave it 5 stars out of 5 lol

do i need to find more lol

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trayhop123

you just cant accept that some cheap tech can be a very good buy

No, I can't accept that a good review for a cheap Vestel set means it's a good buy - and I can't understand why you would think so?.

[neo_wales]

We have a pick and mix of brands and sizes at home, Sony, LG, Samsung and Bush, to be honest they are all OK, certainly if you can spare the time/be bothered to play with the picture controls. I'm looking at a 4K TV for the home cinema but thats for another thread and I won't be buying until I'm back home in June.

Speaker quality can be easily solved by using external speakers. I don't bother in the bedrooms but use an external amp and speakers for the main TV.