New TV advice Please

[GaryA]

For the last 15 years I have been perfectly happy to stick two-fingers up at fashion and consumerism by buying our TV sets second hand out of local rags for £50-150...no problem until this year when this stratagy seems to be backfiring for the first time as our 3rd telly just expired and we are watching a borrowed relatives spare

The missus has had enough, so its new TV time.....no plasma or monsters allowed budget ~£300ish leaning towards LCD...a few questions:
Do modern LCD tv's have the freeview built in?
How much less electricity do LCD's use compred to oldie cathode ray models? ( oi! User482)
Which makes are the most reliable?
Which makes to avoid?

Over the years I have noticed with my 2nd hand specials that panasonic and JVC are not what they used to be build quality wise...but since it all got outsourced to china are any makes better?

Thanks for advice folks







PS no Arthur Daley "gorra bargain" PM's

 

[alecstilleyedye]

aldi have tvs for sale almost every other week. they come with a three year warranty, although how they compare with bigger name brands i've no idea. usually branded tevion, they are made by medion, whose pcs get good write ups.

 

[Melvil]

Go to Richer Sounds (or look on their website). The best advice, and they'll price match anything.

I went looking at Sony and Panasonic, and came out with an LG. It's great, and better than the ones I originally went for.

Me and SWMBO went to Richer sounds. We thought a 32" would cramp our rather small lounge so opted for a 26" Panasonic Viera LCD and have been satisfied so far. Picture quality is great, sound is cracking with nice bass and it has loads of outputs (HDMI, 2 x SCART, SD etc). I think it's about £400 or so, a little above what you want to spend but I reckon it's worth it.

 

[Melvil]

Oh, here's the link to the one we got:

http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=PANA-TX26LXD80

It's cheaper than I thought.

 

[Mr Pig]

The problem with LCD TVs is that the cheap ones don't look very good. Make sure you get a good look at the picture before you buy, they are not all the same.

 

[bonj2]

get a flatscreen they're cheap as chips nowadays.

 

[Aperitif]

I got my Mum one of these. She is 89 and thinks it is really cool - after saying she didn't want a huge screen etc...

Excellent picture, freeview built in, easy to view from all parts of the room (except behind - I know...) and a five year guarantee from John Lewis.

In my opinion - a bloody good picture and easy to operate.

 

[simoncc]

The most economical option these days is still to buy second hand TVs. They go for peanuts and many are given away by people who feel the need for a new TV. At my local council rubbish depot its easy to get TVs from the shed set aside for dumping them. I did this recently as my dad has an old TV without a scart socket and to get Freeview a scart socket is needed. He now has a 20 inch Sony from the dump. It works perfectly, but I suspected it would as the previous owner had stuck a notice to the screen saying 'This TV works'.

 

[betty swollocks]

I've bought several of these for people: they have Freeview and an integral DVD player. The recipients have all been very pleased.

 

[Night Train]

I have a Toshiba 26WLT66. It is a nice little TV with a screen area of 22 1/2" x 12 3/4". This is worth checking against what you are used to as you get less 'picture area' with a wide screen then you do with an old 4:3 CRT of the same diagonal dimensions.
It is digital and HD ready with a good level of volume.
I have mine on a wall mount to do away with the stand.

ETA: Checked my TV's fuel consumption, 40 watts per hour on the power meter.

 

[simonali]

Oh, here's the link to the one we got:

http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=PANA-TX26LXD80

It's cheaper than I thought.

A very similar one is available in larger branches of Tesco for £349. Just has one less HDMI input (2 not 3).

 

[marinyork]

Gary, on power consumption it varies over time. My old CRT used about 180 Watts, my 26" LCD uses 160 Watts max and 2.7 Watts on standy. Things have moved on since I bought the tele, now a good 32" should use about 90-130W. It depends what CRT you're comparing it to. If you compare an LCD to the 1000W sony LCD in friend's house as a student it'll obviously come out very well . A more fair comparison would mean modest savings. The LG6000 or one of the panasonics would be the tv I'd buy today if I could get hold at the right price.

 

[ComedyPilot]

Hang around a few 'new build' estates in the new year, and grab a bargain when Mr & Mrs (Mortgaged up to the hilt) 'Keep-Up-With-The-Jones's' have to jetison all their 'white' goods to keep afloat.

 

[marinyork]

Gary said he didn't want a 52" Comedy Pilot .

 

[Mr Pig]

Anyone else notice that LG LCDs always seem to have a good picture? Samsung too.