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