How do you buy a TV?

rainbow_carnage · October 2011

Our eight-year-old TV stopped working. It's clearly not worth fixing, so we need to get a new one. I've looked on several sites (Amazon, Argos, Currys, eBuyer), but I don't really know what I'm looking at.

I know what to look for when buying a laptop or a camera, but when it comes to TVs, I'm clearly an idiot. I've never heard of half of the brands. What should I be looking for? What's a reasonable price to pay?

Is this the sort of thing I can get on Freecycle, or would I just be wasting my time/cab fare?

Any advice would be most appreciated. I've been googling for two days, and I'm no more clued-up than when I started.

N4mality · October 2011

If you wanted to buy brand new, here's a good website to start narrowing down your choices.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/best_tvs?date_range=87

miss annie · October 2011

I've never bought a telly. People tend to give away really good, fully functioning TVs when they upgrade to those gigantic ones. If you don't mind a second hand one try telling everyone you know that you need one, there's bound to be someone in the market for giving one away.

slats · October 2011

avforums.com for advice

go for a reliable brand i.e panasonic or sony

and buy from john lewis, 5 year peace of mind guarantee

and finally, spend the money if you can, you will notice the difference..

Brodiej · October 2011

Questions to ask.... 1. How big a screen would you like? 2. How important is clarity? (LCD vs Plas) 3. How long do you reckon you'll want it for? (do you buy when stuff breaks or when something new comes out) 4. How much do you actually want to spend? My view is that while brand does bring some additional quality, it never equates to the aditional cost. So, buy a reduced branded TV and get the best of both worlds. I got a reduced 28" TOSHIBA flatscreen LCD for £389 in 2008, i doubt i'll change it for another 10 years.

Papa · October 2011

Our old TV was ancient but we upgraded to a flat screen a few years back.

My tip would be: don't get one that is too big - they may be judges as smaller nowadays but for most people 26 or 32 inches is fine - the bigger the TV the further you need to be able to sit a certain distance back to watch it properly.

John Lewis = five year warranty - or Richer Sounds buy an extended warranty

A decent new TV should be able to access the internet nowadays, so you can watch iplayer, 4od etc, may be worth looking into how good different sets useability is.

If you can get a Which? log in and check their reviews and best buys

Sony or Panasonic are regularly the best quality and highest recommended.

Don't buy an inferior TV or brand to save £50 to £100 - think about how long you want this to last, ie probably at least five years, how much you'll probably watch it, ie lots, and spend the extra on yourself.

odd stewart · October 2011

Get the best Panasonic you can afford... Can't go wrong. Well I haven't gone wrong anyway.

Ian · October 2011

Most comments here I'd totally agree with. Worth getting internet enabled these days, as it will be so useful now. I've always considered brand to be simple: Sony or Panasonic depending on which is ahead that week. I have one of each and both have a fantastic picture. However, the new Samsung TVs have got fantastic reviews, better than Sony or Panasonic. It has taken me some time to accept this state of affairs but it appears to be true. I've always been a fan of LCD over Plasma. It's a matter of some debate, but what clinched it for me at the time is that with LCD you don't get burn from TV idents (the thing that says ITV or whatever in the corner of the TV). It's a matter of preference for no particular reason I think. I would go to John Lewis and ask about every TV, then go home and buy the one you want on the internet for at least £50 cheaper. Televisions don't break in 5 years if you buy a decent one. My final tip would be, if you want to cut cost, buy last years' model. The only problem with this at the moment is that this year's models are incredibly thin and light. I'm amazed at quite how thin and light. They swap out models about every 6 months and the changes are usually minor but the discounts can be very appealing. Richer Sounds have a bargain corner where you can get properly good TVs that are just last year's spec.

rainbow_carnage · October 2011

You guys are amazing. Thank you.

I've read tons of reviews and the only conclusion I've come to is that you can't trust these people. Loads of models seem to be getting five stars, but when you read the comments, there are all sorts of problems. How can you give five stars to a TV then say that the sound is tinny? From my minimal knowledge of television sets, sound is at least 50% of the equation. If the picture isn't clear or the sound isn't great, it's not a good TV.

I don't think we need a huge TV. Our current one has a 26" screen, which is plenty big. I think even a 22" would be fine. It's a small room.

I don't really care if it's the latest model, but I do want wi-fi. We watch very little 'live' TV (mostly just the news). I'd love to watch iPlayer on a bigger screen than my laptop.

Ian, you're right about John Lewis. I don't think the warranty is worth the extra £50-100. If a TV is going to break, it'll either break soon after purchase (in which case it'll be covered by the manufacturer's warranty) or many years down the line.

I did think about getting one off Freecycle, mainly because I'm currently in between jobs, but it seems like a lot of hassle.

odd stewart · October 2011

I bought a Samsung LCD tv and it went wrong within a year. It was great until then tho. And I think I remember someone saying that Sony often use Samsung panels in their tvs. Just saying...

Edit: also the Internet features on these new tvs is crap. Ours has all the bells and whistles but unless you enjoy inputting text like you're using an old Nokia with predictive text you'd rather use your laptop. The web services take a while to start but in fairness the film streaming services like acetrax are pretty cool. In short it's just all a bit slow and awkward... Speakers wise the led LCD tvs are definitely tinny but sound bars get around this.

I did loads of research before we bought our Panasonic which is why I sound like some awful tv geek :)

Rona · October 2011

Not really related but I am TV ignorant and like Rainbow I don't watch much TV but this is very useful as I was thinking of upgrading next year, having had a good Sony LCD for the past 8-10 years. The Wi-fi enabled TV is excellent advice - I didn't know such things existed. But can anyone help - last Friday I lost the digital signal for BBC1, 2 and 3 although bizarrely I can can BBC4 and all the other Freeview channels. Virgin Media were fiddling about outside connecting cable to another flat in the house - coincidence or what? And what can I do?

Rona · October 2011

Not 'can can' but 'can get'! Should have previewed the post.

rainbow_carnage · October 2011

If I want to stream films/iPlayer on the TV, can I just buy a non-wi-fi TV and then get some kind of box to plug into it that will do that? (Maybe Apple TV or something similar.)

It does seem like the whole internet TV thing is just starting out. I don't want to buy a set with built-in technology that will be obsolete in six months time. I was looking at a Sony one that has Facebook, Skype and Twitter apps. Will these things even be around in five years' time?

N4mality · October 2011

I've got a Panasonic too (plasma). After doing tons of research, I came to the conclusion that LCD was still not mature enough to handle Sports or fast moving action sequences. Had mine about 2 years or so now, it still works like new

andy · October 2011

My playstation has wifi, iplayer, 4od and other TV streaming things built into it now., which recently has been the main way i've been watching TV.

rainbow_carnage · October 2011

Thanks, Andy. If unaesthetic sees this, he'll use it as an excuse to get a Playstation.

Ali · October 2011

Agree with most of the above be careful about what is advertised as HD ready, I think what you want is 1080p Full HD in the spec, also watch out for the Freeview part of it, again they try to confuse you with whether it has HD capability channels on it. Make sure you have enough connectors on the back to be able to connect to whatever else you want to show through the TV, Video, DVD, PVR, PCs etc , you can get some that will have a wireless connection so you can get connect to the internet and get BBC Iplayer etc. The more HDMI connectors the better. It will likely have Dolby stereo sound so if you want to connect to your hi fi make sure it can do that ie have the correct connectors. It really adds to the sound using the hi fi and is really good when listening to digital radio via the Freeview on the TV. The screen size work differently from the older TV because of the wider screen. 32 inch is okay for most front rooms around here. I have something similar to this <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toshiba-32BV801B-32-inch-Full-HD-Freeview/dp/B005FKQSZ6/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1319713343&sr=1-1>; which is a year old with no problems (apart that the one I have doesn’t connect to the hi fi but I get around that by using the PVR) Let everyone know what you end up getting and why ?

twinspark · October 2011

John Lewis, John Lewis, John Lewis every time - we use them for replacements whenever a telly, fridge, cooker or whatever breaks down,you can spend all day looking at what they have, then go get a cup of tea and have a think. Then go back and talk with someone who actually knows what they're selling. They deliver and they take your old telly away. - don't forget screen measurements work diagonally from corner to corner not horizontally.

rainbow_carnage · October 2011

Thank you, again, for all the advice.

Unaesthetic just called to say he got us a new TV. Took Ian's suggestion and went to Richer Sounds. Got a 32" LG TV (LG 32LD790). It's last year's model. Apparently it retailed at Currys for £799. We got it for £199. It's an ex-display, so it doesn't come with a stand. I'm sure we can get one on eBay or something. But it's in perfect condition and comes with a 12-month at-home warranty. Sounds like a good deal.

I would have loved to buy a new TV at John Lewis, but while I'm unemployed, we can't really justify spending twice as much.

andy · October 2011

He can buy a PS3 with the money he saved!

rainbow_carnage · October 2011

Shh. As is he spends all of his free time playing Team Fortress 2. If he had a PS3, he might never leave the house.

Papa · October 2011

A computer or laptop with an HDMI output allows you to very simply connect it to the TV with an HDMI cable and watch anything you want from the computer on it.

(Obviously a laptop is easier to move to near enough to plug in.)

Only problem is how much effort the people publishing the content have put into delivering good quality. iTunes spot on, iPlayer is very good standard, 40d a bit lower quality and European Cup football from Sky a bit sketchy.

Or as Andy says a PS3.

Also, Ian I too was surprised when I looked a bit into this after intitially commenting Samsung and LG seem to have really picked up their game.

@RC, Enjoy your new TV

Ian · October 2011

@Rona - go to the menu and rescan the channels (search for channels in the set up or something like that). Hopefully that will fix it. If not, the problem might be the wind blew your aerial slightly off target. If you are using an aerial it certainly shouldn't be the virgin man.

Rona · October 2011

Thanks Ian. Yes I can't think it's the virgin man either! I retuned the channels on the digi box but it didn't scan BBC 1,2 and 3. So I've well and truly lost them. I just don't get it. Can't get them on my DVD recorder either, but CAN get them on analogue TV so not to do with the aerial? Weird or what. I just don't know what to do now. Just as well I don't watch much TV.

the glaswegian · October 2011

@Rona - it will be your aerial, or a problem in the cable running from it.

BBC 1, 2 and 3 (and News, CBBC and Red Button) are on a different frequency from other channels, including the analogue ones. All to do with multiplexes, but I won't bore you with the details.

gardener-joe · October 2011

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dorothy · October 2011

I got my telly from John Lewis. I'm not sure I really rate them though. You can spend ages choosing one, and then find out it's out of stock over and over again. I don't think the staff are incredibly knowledgeable. I have a soft spot for Richer Sounds, as well as Bartletts on Holloway Road. They really know what they're on about. Not sure if they do many TV's but they are great for home cinema, etc.

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