Hi there,

I've been going back and forth looking at reviews and prices of 40-42" 1080P LCD's and have whittled my choices down to the following (bearing in mind the maximum width of set can be no more than 104cm!):-

Toshiba 42X3030D
Sony KDL40W2000
Samsung LE40M87BDX

All of these are available around the £800- £850 and I would just be interested in what other people think would be the best choice (I'm very tempted with the Toshiba at this point...)

Thanks,

Matt

The Sony takes a LOT of beating, although it's an old model now.

I've got the Toshiba 42X, it is a good TV, but bear in mind if you watch a lot of SDTV it won't look as good as say a Panasonic PX70 plasma.

I'd say they are 3 good TV's and I'd throw in the Panasonic PX70 as mentioned earlier to have a look at.

You can't go too wrong with any of them though.

Thanks, primarily I'll be viewing SDTV, upscaled DVD and playing like a kid on my Xbox 360!

I looked at the Panasonic (I've had 3 Panasonic CRT TV's and they've been superb) however, apart from the heftier price it's just too wide with the speakers situated on the sides rather than the bottom

Might well go for the Tosh, does SD look terrible on it from about 6 - 7 feet?

That's too close for a 42 inch and SD, no matter what type it is.

Actually, on checking it's more like 9 - 10 foot, but I know this won't make a fat more difference!
At some point I'll be forced back to SKY for their HD content...thanks for the inputs everyone

Matt

I bought the Sony KDL40W2000 a few months ago for £1200 and I am more than happy with it. Standard definition looks great on most channels, a bit ropey on UKTV Gold/Drama but that's a UKTV issue not the tellys. Sky HD is superb, initially you'll sit there open-mouthed. Just remember to breathe!

I've heard and read really good reviews on the Sony - my only concern has been the mention of "clouding" on the screen on some of the sets reviewed - does anyone know if this was an early production issue now ironed out, or can it be "pot - luck" ? Or is it just cobblers??!!

I have the samsung LE40M87DBX Very good TV.

I switched off all the auto picture gadgets, out of the box the screen is very bright and colour is out. I set mine to Standard picture not Dynamic.

There is an issue with the optical audio out from this TV, I have an engineer visiting to fix (Firmware). When watching Freeview with the optical feeding an amp the sound drops out. Apparently this only occurs when a HDMI device is connected.

I would still recommend. £829 from Play.

If your that close to the screen Samsung do a 37" Version (LE37M87BDX) which might be better. You need to get futher away for SD to look good. I am 10 to 15 feet away, my old 32" looked better at these distances for SD.

Hmmm... thanks, food for thought - I suppose I was initially being greedy in thinking "what's the biggest screen I can fit in the space" and being a games fan "fill my field of view at the highest definition" and sod everything else! But if SD looks terrible the other half and the kids are not going to be happy!


I had considered 37", but then we're into the 1080P vs screen size debate (currently rumbling on another forum I see!) and I wanted to futureproof myself - at some point (probably next Xmas) I will obviously venture into HD / BluRay / SKY HD.
Then again 37" is cheaper....ho hum..choices choices...!

agreed

I must admit after spending a good few hours on the avforums the Sony has come into the frame more and more.

A few blots all round on the original 3 I picked:-

Toshiba - motion smearing with yellow artifacts on game playing (bearing in mind I'll be playing my 360 extensively on it)

Samsung - Various problems with Freeview and general reliability

Sony - "clouding" on some sets LCD

Now I know NO set is perfect, especially at the £800-£850 price mark so I'm not under any illusions, but if the Sony's issue was just with an early batch then I might just take a punt with that one - does anone know if this was just some early productions problems?

Cheers for your help

Edit - Scratch that - just read the Sony will only give 1080i over Component and not 1080p - Samsung now coming back into the reckoning...

Toshiba 42X has no smearing on the 360 I play it extensively at 720 and 1080p

I am usually a pure plasma guy but if you want 1080p in a 40"-42" then plasma is not the best option.

Usually I would say, "You dont need 1080p get a good Panasonic, LG or Samsung Plasma" but like me you have an Xbox 360 which makes 1080p a must.

Out of those I would go for the Samsung, it has the highest contrast, the deepest blacks and a nice glossy finish, i think it's a great telly.

But when i upgrade to a 1080p set I will go upto 50" so I can have a Plasma, most probably a samsung or Panasonic.

I have the KDL-40W2000 :

http://www.soundandvisiononline.com/...oduct_id=11811


Its a very good TV, so good my dad has ordered one, i also have an xbox360 and games look amazing on it.
I can't coment on clouding because i haven't noticed it, SD programs ( via sky in my case ) look good on chanels such as BBC C4 SKY1etc because they use a higher bitrate than the likes of men&moters etc, however, the picture from the TV's own freeview tuner is supposed to be near to CRT and according to "What HIFI Sound & Vision" magazine,
in front of plasma, again i can not comment on this as i live in an area where i can only recieve analogue signals
It has been around for about 12 months and has been replaced by the KDL-40W3000, in most cases this set will set you back about £400 more than the 2000 so make your own mind up whether or not its worth it, in any case if you go for the W2000 act sooner rather than later as it won't be on the shelves for much longer.

I just bought the KDL-40U3000 (cost me about £680) which is the model a couple below the W you're looking at and I'm mightily impressed with that so the W series should be awesome!

SD stuff generally looks pretty good ... some of the cheapo channels look a bit nasty but the BBC and whatnot look good even in SD.

HD stuff is stunning! Only watched the Transformers movie so far but I was blown away by the picture quality.

Getting Sky HD next week and will probably buy an HD console early next year.

No smearing that I've noticed. Sports, games, PC .... all good.

Not a bad word to say about it so far.

A lot of people buy a Sony for the name without really looking around.

Go into the Sony centre and compare the Sony TVs with the other Sony TVs and they will look good. Go into a good TV shop like Sevenoaks (http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.co.uk/) and compare the Sony's with all the other TVs and they look average if not poor for the money.

Presumably they deliberately set them up badly then?, Sony TV's win awards all the time, and in my professional experience are as good as any other, and better than most.

The W2000 mentioned above is a pretty spectacular set, full HD and great on SD.

I would much rather a samsung 40m86 than a sony 40w2000

Everyone is entitled to their personal opinion!, we've found Samsung sets pretty good, with picture quality about the same as Sharp sets. However, we do hear of considerable problems with them from other members of the trade - although we've not found it so (but our Samsung sales volumes are fairly low).

i think sharps have a horrid picture, they always look very navy in the blacks no matter how much you play with the settings.

I sell loads of samsungs and never had one back, we hardly sell any sony's because no one want to pay extra for a picture which is no better.

We sell loads, put them side by side in the shop and the better picture on the Sony's means most customers buy them instead of the Samsungs - easy sales!

However, if the Sony price is a little too high, then the Samsungs are a little cheaper, and not very much poorer - I'd quite happily watch a Samsung, and I've delivered and installed quite a few.

ok i think samsungs are better side by side to sony obviously depending on which models of each you select. Samsung are slightly better if you go for the top of the range from both, but if you look at the same price point of both samsungs are miles better.

if you look out the sound samsung are crap but everyone has a HTK now.

Lets just agree to disagree

hmmm, you come on here asking after our opinions but judging by your previous posts you don't really need it

That isn't true, I have the Toshiba 42X for my 360 and there is little to no difference at 720p or 1080p.

If you want the best TV pictures go for Panasonic PX70, if you don't want Plasma and want it used as a TV, console hook up and a PC monitor go for a Samsung M87 or Sony.

If it was me I'd go for the Panny PX70 , it outperforms the LCD on picture quality and even on the 360 the games look great.