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Post by RichieBarkerOut! on Feb 18, 2014 8:33:17 GMT
After a record 6 years with the same television, Mrs RBO has given me permission to buy a new big tele8-)
I took a trip out to John Lewis last night to get some early research done, and it seems that Samsung are the daddy when it comes to functionality, with LG coming second. I was disappointed to find that Panasonic are being left behind in terms of the "smart" side of things.
One thing became obvious to me, these new TVs have crap speakers, I'm not bothered about surround sound etc., but it looks like I'm going to have to shell out for a sound base (a sound bar will look stupid with my setup).
So my friends and Fraise, what is The Oatcake's opinion on Smart TVs and sound bases?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 10:10:04 GMT
After a record 6 years with the same television, Mrs RBO has given me permission to buy a new big tele8-) I took a trip out to John Lewis last night to get some early research done, and it seems that Samsung are the daddy when it comes to functionality, with LG coming second. I was disappointed to find that Panasonic are being left behind in terms of the "smart" side of things. One thing became obvious to me, these new TVs have crap speakers, I'm not bothered about surround sound etc., but it looks like I'm going to have to shell out for a sound base (a sound bar will look stupid with my setup). So my friends and Fraise, what is The Oatcake's opinion on Smart TVs and sound bases? All I can say is, I've alwaysregularly bought sony, I've recently bought a 50" smart tv with a good quality LG sound bar and subwoofer because as you say these new tv sound are like listening through a tin can And I always thought Panasonic were the better technology ....shows what I know After saying this lilfraise had a samsung in his bedroom once for xbox etc and it was fine.......he now has our old 42" sony which he loves even more so, do what you want I don't care  |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 10:39:20 GMT
I've got an LG TV and my daughter has bought a new Samsung. Both of us prefer mine for picture quality.
I've also got a Toshiba sound bar but don't use it half the time because the quality of the TV sound is so good.
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Post by Nick1984 on Feb 18, 2014 10:59:03 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 11:39:21 GMT
I think it depends whether you want a TV to watch, or a SMART TV to impress the guests? If you want to watch stuff, take 3 or 4 DVD recorded with different stuff (especially some nogger)and as mumf says, watch em all for 10 minutes or so to see which you like best. Muck about with the colour balance and what not until you get to the best one with the best setting. Buy that. In my opinion, SMART TVs are currently not SMART enough. They possibly will be SMART, one day, but that day isn't yet. So in 3 years, you'll end up with a very stupid TV probably not with the best picture because you spent the cash on today's SMART. (The electronic companies won't mind if you do, though ) A PC is current for what, 36-months, give or take; unless you plan on a 2-3 year TV replacement cycle, go for the picture and as many connection options as you can get. My BFP: I got a Samsung (not SMART). Cracking picture for the footie at 200mHz. 6 HDMI ports (and many redundant other types!), so just about everything else in the house plugs into it (and so through the surround sound). Paid a small fortune for it; but hey, this is Australia Sound Bar: I can't comment. I still have my (nearly antique!) surround sound setup (with the 1 - count it! - 1 HDMI port  ... and, I forget, to be fair a digital-audio port too  ). But I can plug everything else through the telly, and then the telly through it, so the old thing is still trucking on happily  |
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Post by zigazaga on Feb 18, 2014 11:49:02 GMT
You cant beat a Panasonic Plasma for picture quality. I have the 50" GT60 and its brilliant. Regards smart functionality it does everything required i.e stream to it via my NAS,control youtube via my tablet,etc,etc. I also had one of the new Panasonic soundboards. It was good for films but for general Tv I much preferred the TV's standard speakers so I ended up sending it back. Panasonic are ending production of Plasmas so I'd recommended getting either a ST or GT model asap. Get yourself up to the Panasonic shop in Hanley and have a look at them. John lewis dont stock them for some reason they only have the more expensive VT. Richer Sounds usually have the best prices. www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panasonic-tx-p50gt60-201304052795.htm |
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Post by ST5-POTTER on Feb 18, 2014 13:32:15 GMT
Stay away from plasma and LCD
Get yourself an LED.
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Post by RichieBarkerOut! on Feb 18, 2014 14:36:46 GMT
Thanks for the advice so far. Buying a new tele has always been a straight forward experience until now; I would just buy the one with the best picture for my budget.
As far as picture quality is concerned, I agree that plasma still has the edge, but then again, CRT was and is better than plasma...
I'm edging towards LG, more because they seem good value and I like the look of them, and it sounds like I may be able to live with the sound quality.
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Post by greenhoff74 on Feb 18, 2014 14:47:15 GMT
Yes go for an LED backlit TV Samsung do some of the best in this technology, plasma use quite a bit more electric than a backlit.
Engineers recommend Samsung because they are one of the few that include the controls in the menus for fine tuning your picture quality which other manufacturers don't give you.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 15:24:00 GMT
Thanks for the advice so far. Buying a new tele has always been a straight forward experience until now; I would just buy the one with the best picture for my budget. As far as picture quality is concerned, I agree that plasma still has the edge, but then again, CRT was and is better than plasma... I'm edging towards LG, more because they seem good value and I like the look of them, and it sounds like I may be able to live with the sound quality. We have a 50" LG and the picture is excellent ....the sound is fine too |
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Post by rogerjonesisgod on Feb 18, 2014 16:22:20 GMT
Yes go for an LED backlit TV Samsung do some of the best in this technology, plasma use quite a bit more electric than a backlit. Engineers recommend Samsung because they are one of the few that include the controls in the menus for fine tuning your picture quality which other manufacturers don't give you. THIS. I bought a Samsung LED years ago and the picture quality is superb especially when you whack on a blu-ray DVD. When I got it Samsung were the only company doing LED's so I'm sure other manufactures have caught up but it hasn't put a foot wrong since I bought it. Even the Missus, who has ZERO interest in anything electrical did a double take in the telly shop when we were looking because the picture quality was streets ahead. EDIT: We've got a 20' square front room and I haven't bothered with an additional sound system. Speakers are fine for me but I've never had extra woofers and what not so maybe I don't know what I'm missing. |
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Post by harryburrows on Feb 18, 2014 16:32:09 GMT
I have a 42 Sony LCD I've had for 6/7 years now and its great . Avoid plasma . One mistake I made was to buy from comet and then had to pay a £300+if I remember for an extended 10 year warranty , only to find john Lewis does it for free .
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Post by rogerjonesisgod on Feb 18, 2014 16:39:11 GMT
I have a 42 Sony LCD I've had for 6/7 years now and its great . Avoid plasma . One mistake I made was to buy from comet and then had to pay a £300+if I remember for an extended 10 year warranty , only to find john Lewis does it for free . Robbing bastards ! and they went bump. Lewis do give some extended years FOC but their initial price can be a tad high. Good service though. I went into Currys on the Vic Road, Fenton one Sunday and there was a geeky student working the weekend who was superb with all the info and comparisons etc. Top kid. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 16:41:19 GMT
I have a 42 Sony LCD I've had for 6/7 years now and its great . Avoid plasma . One mistake I made was to buy from comet and then had to pay a £300+if I remember for an extended 10 year warranty , only to find john Lewis does it for free . I thought you would have preferred one of these Harry  |
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Post by harryburrows on Feb 18, 2014 16:47:39 GMT
I have a 42 Sony LCD I've had for 6/7 years now and its great . Avoid plasma . One mistake I made was to buy from comet and then had to pay a £300+if I remember for an extended 10 year warranty , only to find john Lewis does it for free . I thought you would have preferred one of these Harry Don't think I didn't look bish , my ex took my B&O with sound system and CD changer . Anyway I'm not bitter  |
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Post by harryburrows on Feb 18, 2014 16:49:26 GMT
I have a 42 Sony LCD I've had for 6/7 years now and its great . Avoid plasma . One mistake I made was to buy from comet and then had to pay a £300+if I remember for an extended 10 year warranty , only to find john Lewis does it for free . Robbing bastards ! and they went bump. Lewis do give some extended years FOC but their initial price can be a tad high. Good service though. I went into Currys on the Vic Road, Fenton one Sunday and there was a geeky student working the weekend who was superb with all the info and comparisons etc. Top kid. Yes those spotty little fuckers annoy me as they seem to understand all the technology |
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Post by lawrieleslie on Feb 18, 2014 17:01:19 GMT
We've had our Panasonic Viera now for about 9 years. It was when plasma was better than LCD. Don't think LED had come into it then. Anyway we've had no problems from ours and pic is excellent as is sound quality although I do put it through my surround sound when watching a movie or music concert. One thing that is a relief though, we paid around £1600 for ours but prices are at least 1/3 of this now. I would go along with Harry regarding warranty. We bought ours from Panasonic Shop with free delivery, set up and 5 year warranty where as Currys and Comet were charging the same for the TV but £70 delivery and set up and another £300 for extended warranty.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 17:13:43 GMT
Don't think I didn't look bish , my ex took my B&O with sound system and CD changer . Anyway I'm not bitter  |
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Post by greenhoff74 on Feb 18, 2014 17:34:47 GMT
Check out Richer Sounds too my brother recently bought a great Samsung smart tv of them with free 5 year warranty.
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Feb 18, 2014 18:24:48 GMT
I have this Samsung and have had it for about 5 months. It isn't their top of the range model but I'm very pleased with it. Good picture and reasonable sound. I don't use the "Smart" features very often. But if I miss a program and haven't recorded it, then being able to watch it on the TV on i-player etc. is hassle free and ten times better than watching it on tablet or laptop. Although I live in the wilderness and have a crap phone line, I do now have wireless 4G Broadband from EE at over 30 Meg. I can't get Sky via dish because there is a mountain in the way so being able to watch the odd footy game on the TV via a Sky day pass via the internet is good - although at £9.99 the day pass is over priced if you only want to watch one game. My SamsungPS - if there is nowt on TV worth watching, some U Tube stuff is amazing on a 42 inch screen! |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 19:13:37 GMT
Lucky sod! I'd get the biggest Samsung LED your missus/house will allow. You're right about the built in sound - really awful, so you'll need a proper Dolby 5.1 surround system. I'd definitely avoid the Samsung/LG/Sony boxed surround systems and go for a HK amp and JBL speaker theatre system like this one for the same money: www.harmankardon.com/estore/hk/us/products/Home-Theater-1500/HOME%20THEATER%201500_HK_US?skuId=HOMETH1500_HK_US&searchMode=regularProductOnlyI had this system in Dubai and it will have you ducking canonballs and diving behind the sofa for the opening sequence of the Blu-Ray version of "Master and Commander". I kid you not. I'd also probably go for the Google USB TV streaming gadget for £30 and stream XBMC from your laptop or iPad. Sorted. |
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Post by RichieBarkerOut! on Feb 18, 2014 19:31:01 GMT
I'm still leaning towards LG, especially since I had a go with the remote control they now come with, it's like using a Nintendo Wii. The Samsungs are looking a bit too flash for my liking. I've just noticed that the LG's I've been looking at were launched in March last year, so I'm going to try and resist buying one for a little longer to either see what's about to launch or see if the prices drop on the 2013 models. I went down to Richer Sounds earlier, but they had nothing special in terms of price, so I'll check out the website to see if there is anything interesting on offer.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 20:17:18 GMT
I'm still leaning towards LG,especially since I had a go with the remote control they now come with, it's like using a Nintendo Wii. The Samsungs are looking a bit too flash for my liking. I've just noticed that the LG's I've been looking at were launched in March last year, so I'm going to try and resist buying one for a little longer to either see what's about to launch or see if the prices drop on the 2013 models. I went down to Richer Sounds earlier, but they had nothing special in terms of price, so I'll check out the website to see if there is anything interesting on offer. Careful you don't knock it over YFC |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 20:50:01 GMT
I'm still leaning towards LG, especially since I had a go with the remote control they now come with, it's like using a Nintendo Wii. The Samsungs are looking a bit too flash for my liking. I've just noticed that the LG's I've been looking at were launched in March last year, so I'm going to try and resist buying one for a little longer to either see what's about to launch or see if the prices drop on the 2013 models. I went down to Richer Sounds earlier, but they had nothing special in terms of price, so I'll check out the website to see if there is anything interesting on offer. It's all about the screen quality for me and Samsung had the edge last time I had a good look - colours really "pop" on their LED technology, although LG may very well be better now...Sony were always the benchmark and I think Samsung now supply the screens for Sony these days. You're right about the remote setup though, juggling three of those things (TV, AV and Blu-Ray player) is a real pain. A programmable single controller or iPad control may be the way to go... A few mates in Dubai had those hi-lumen LCD projectors too - for the right room with a big white wall they're really amazing. I keep toying with the idea of a decent satellite setup with a motorised dish in Thai. 2000+ channels , every football game and movie on the planet. |
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Post by jonah77 on Feb 18, 2014 21:23:34 GMT
I'm still leaning towards LG, especially since I had a go with the remote control they now come with, it's like using a Nintendo Wii. The Samsungs are looking a bit too flash for my liking. I've just noticed that the LG's I've been looking at were launched in March last year, so I'm going to try and resist buying one for a little longer to either see what's about to launch or see if the prices drop on the 2013 models. I went down to Richer Sounds earlier, but they had nothing special in terms of price, so I'll check out the website to see if there is anything interesting on offer. It's all about the screen quality for me and Samsung had the edge last time I had a good look - colours really "pop" on their LED technology, although LG may very well be better now...Sony were always the benchmark and I think Samsung now supply the screens for Sony these days. You're right about the remote setup though, juggling three of those things (TV, AV and Blu-Ray player) is a real pain. A programmable single controller or iPad control may be the way to go... A few mates in Dubai had those hi-lumen LCD projectors too - for the right room with a big white wall they're really amazing. I keep toying with the idea of a decent satellite setup with a motorised dish in Thai. 2000+ channels , every football game and movie on the planet. And all of them shite. |
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Post by greenhoff74 on Feb 18, 2014 22:17:21 GMT
I can't get Sky via dish because there is a mountain in the way so being able to watch the odd footy game on the TV via a Sky day pass via the internet is good - although at £9.99 the day pass is over priced if you only watch to watch one game. My SamsungPS - if there is nowt on TV worth watching, some U Tube stuff is amazing on a 42 inch screen! Can't you get a subscription with Sky but watch it via Sky Go which is streaming just the same, I've used it and it's very good, might solve your problem,could give you access to movie channels and sports every day not just one day. |
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Feb 18, 2014 22:27:38 GMT
I can't get Sky via dish because there is a mountain in the way so being able to watch the odd footy game on the TV via a Sky day pass via the internet is good - although at £9.99 the day pass is over priced if you only watch to watch one game. My SamsungPS - if there is nowt on TV worth watching, some U Tube stuff is amazing on a 42 inch screen! Can't you get a subscription with Sky but watch it via Sky Go which is streaming just the same, I've used it and it's very good, might solve your problem,could give you access to movie channels and sports every day not just one day. Yes, I could, but to get the full benefit from a Sky subscription, I reckon I'd go way over my 20 gig 4G allowance long before the end of each month. Terrestrial broadband would be a lot cheaper but in my remote part of the Lake District, my overhead phone line running along the valley is so slow I get about 1 meg on a good day. |
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Post by greenhoff74 on Feb 18, 2014 22:30:10 GMT
Oh well the answers no then.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 22:49:31 GMT
I'm not so sure you'd max a 20GB allowance with Sky Go as your TV service. At a guess i'd say you'd have to be hitting 3-5 hours a day every day to max out. Try this to see what you're using now. www.hootech.com/NetMeter/ |
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Post by redsaturday on Feb 18, 2014 23:04:27 GMT
I think it depends whether you want a TV to watch, or a SMART TV to impress the guests? If you want to watch stuff, take 3 or 4 DVD recorded with different stuff (especially some nogger)and as mumf says, watch em all for 10 minutes or so to see which you like best. Muck about with the colour balance and what not until you get to the best one with the best setting. Buy that. In my opinion, SMART TVs are currently not SMART enough. They possibly will be SMART, one day, but that day isn't yet. So in 3 years, you'll end up with a very stupid TV probably not with the best picture because you spent the cash on today's SMART. (The electronic companies won't mind if you do, though ) A PC is current for what, 36-months, give or take; unless you plan on a 2-3 year TV replacement cycle, go for the picture and as many connection options as you can get. My BFP: I got a Samsung (not SMART). Cracking picture for the footie at 200mHz. 6 HDMI ports (and many redundant other types!), so just about everything else in the house plugs into it (and so through the surround sound). Paid a small fortune for it; but hey, this is Australia Sound Bar: I can't comment. I still have my (nearly antique!) surround sound setup (with the 1 - count it! - 1 HDMI port ... and, I forget, to be fair a digital-audio port too ). But I can plug everything else through the telly, and then the telly through it, so the old thing is still trucking on happily Bang on Don't go for gimmicks, go for picture quality and hdmi connections. The bigger the TV the worse sd gets especially if you have a low quality TV. |
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... and, I forget, to be fair a digital-audio port too 
). But I can plug everything else through the telly, and then the telly through it, so the old thing is still trucking on happily 
