I'm after a new TV around 50" in size with a sub £500 budget but I'm not too clued up when it comes to TVs.
I'd much rather get a new watch but the missus has approved expenditure on a new TV ;)
I like the idea of a Smart TV and I'm not overly bothered about 4k definition. 1080p will do .
Does anyone have any advice, recommendations or know of any good deals on anywhere at the moment?
Cheers!
I was in a similar situation a few years ago. Walked into John Lewis with a pile of money, (similar to your budget), told them what I wanted and left with a TV that has given years of faithful service.
Couldn't fault them and if I had have found it cheaper somewhere else after I bought it, they would have matched the price.
(It was a Panasonic Plasma 50'')
Last edited by ktmog6uk; 11th May 2016 at 23:31.
ktmog6uk
marchingontogether!
They are bad for you, m'key.
Whatever you decide on, make sure you get it from richer sounds or john lewis, as they give you 6 and 5 yr warranties rather than the usual 1 you'd get from anywhere else. John lewis will price match other stores too, so it won't cost you any more.
Brighty
You won't go wrong with JL. have a look at this, 40" 4K UHD and it's 5p under budget.
http://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-v...esign/p2579837
Smart TV functions are better handled by an outboard device, that can be easily updated or replaced, than in the TV itself. The John Lewis sets are often re-badged LG TVs, and look to be a good deal. I also like the new XBR series Sony sets, and LGs OLEDs, but both of those are outside your target price.
Here are a couple of UK based review sites.
http://www.whathifi.com/news/best-tv...smart-hd-4k-tv
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/test-cent...-2016-3620852/
http://www.stuff.tv/top-10/tvs
Thanks all. I'll be sure the check out JL or Richer Sounds for their warranty and if JL price match then even better.
Last edited by Ukal; 12th May 2016 at 06:33.
Do you mean like an Apple TV device or chromecast?Originally Posted by jcm3
I agree. I'd also stick to Panasonic as they are excellent across the board. All I know is that the higher the refresh rate, the better the picture. Erm, I think.
Agree Richer Sounds or John Lewis.
Samsung would be my choice at the moment- Most best buys in Which Magazine
There are some good deals at present as it seems everyone launches the new ranges at this time of year.
I've just bought a 55" Samsung 4k for £649 - very pleased with it. I short listed it at £899 (JL) but I thought I'd wait to see if there were any bank holiday deals. Sure enough it came down to £799 - but then I saw the same TV at Richer for £649. I spoke to JL and they match it so I bought it from them.
I'm pretty sure there was a 48" Samsung 4k at Richer for £499 last week!
I've had 2 Panasonic's and they were amazing,my last one had the screen and a huge PCB replaced under warranty at 6 years,went for a Sony this time and its a complete nightmare,won't switch on properly unless the Sky box is switched off and the fibre optic output won't work properly with my Sonos soundbar,Richer Sounds no help whatsoever in sorting the issues out.
So definitely go for the best Panasonic you can afford from John Lewis would be my advice.
The market leaders are Sony and Panasonic and have been for many years.
Don't get fooled by features, functions. most TVs are SMART TVs now anyway. And there are only 3 LCD panel manufacturers in world
Buy Panasonic.
As you (OP) already has a budget in mind this point is a moot, but here it is anyway.
Find the best Sony TV for your needs, check the price, then buy the Panasonic at the same price. You'll get a higher quality set for the same money.
All been sails about JL
I've been Sony all my life
V pleased with 55 inch set I had over a year ago - a Black Friday deal
It's now only just coming down to below that price
Great tv
Great looks to it
Free sound bar etc in the deal was brill
Yes, or a Roku, which I believe is the best choice if you don't need Airplay. The latest update to the ATV4 is much more stable than earlier versions, but the Roku 4 is much easier to integrate into a home control system, and easier to use all around.
Both of these faults may be related to an outdated firmware version in your set. You didn't specify a model, but here is a troubleshooting guide from Sony for the audio issue. https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answer...5,66/related/1
Last edited by jcm3; 12th May 2016 at 14:25.
Having been in the trade for many years and attending various 'picture competency' courses, I would have said Panasonic, but the new LG sets are extremely good with excellent 'black' rendering. I use a Panasonic plasma at the moment but my next set will be an LG...yes and John Lewis is best to buy from.
I was told a couple of years ago that Sharp made the best screens, LG was the best value, Samsung was the best LCD and Panasonic was the best Plasma, I don't know if it is still true.
I saw this in-store my local Tesco's and is sold online (Tesco Direct), I thought this might interest you with Android capability and you may able to get John Lewis to price match it.
£499
Sony KD49X8005CBU 49" Android Smart WiFi Built In Ultra HD 4k LED TV with Freeview HD
or
For an extra £30
Sony KDL50W755CBU 50" Smart Youview/Android WiFi Built In Full HD 1080p LED TV with Freeview HD
I got Hisense 4K for the kitchen from Richer sounds and it's excellent. Smart TV doesn't have a lot of UK content (BBC iPlayer, Netlix, Youtube and browser) but it produces excellent quality video from the Samsung 4K upscaling Smart Blu-Ray DVD player.
Hisense 50" 4K for £449.
https://www.richersounds.com/product...0/hise-50m3300
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
The Sonus soundbar works perfectly with both the Sky box and Blueray DVD when plugged directly into them so thanks for the heads up I'll try a firmware update on the Sony TV.
I just thought the soundbar was poor until I heard it playing at the Gadget Show about a year ago and commented to Max my son how good the sub woofer was and the Product Manager laughed and said it wasn't connected.
Sonus worked hard to try and understand my problem and the tec's were sending me lots of info but nothing worked.
Sadly Richer Sounds where I bought it from weren't the slightest bit interested.
Are you talking the LG OLED panels Rod ? They are definitely way superior to LCD on the Competitors panels but it's priced accordingly.
Does anyone make Plasma any more?
I'm sure I read even Panasonic had given up, which is is a shame as I often look at my Panasonic Plasma and reckon it was the best purchase I've made in years!
M.
No one manufacturing plasma now. Too expensive to make and OLED are the only sets to compete picture wise.
No, I'm going on the fact that I've recommended LG to friends and family. When set up correctly, they perform well. Black details are very important to picture quality and LG do show up well.
One should turn off all picture enhancement controls and back off the sharpness to zero.
Just purchased a Panasonic 50" 4K smart TV with Firefox operating browser, and quad core. This TV as got to be the best value around £649 with 6 year guarantee from Richer Sounds. The picture is awesome, I have the 65" from last year with duel core and the difference is there to see. Incredible TV.
Can you remember the model?
Is it running Firefox OS?
Thanks all. It's sounding like either Panasonic (poss Sony but they seem expensive) or LG from JL or Richer Sounds is the way forward.
Funny no ones recommended Samsung. A couple of mates have had bad experiences with theirs in the past.
Got this upstairs, perfect.
It has physical buttons instead of touchscreen buttons.
Other than that I can't tell any difference in quality over the LG in the front room.
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
Yes
Cool. It's nice to see Firefox OS being used somewhere, at last. I was very sorry (but not surprised) to see it fail on mobile phones.
I was in the same situation just before Christmas - just checked reviews, which magazine and various AV magazines and the winner (at that time) of 'best TV under £1000' was a Samsung 48" curved model. Found it for £649 online - checked John Lewis, £499 delivered(!) - it arrived the next day, they took it out the box and set it up for me (very carefully) - to check it was all OK before they left which was a great service. 5 year warranty too, and I actually spent the extra £50 on 'full cover' so the TV will be replaced with no questions asked if it's damaged in any way (kids are big nerf gun fans and apparently curved screens are a little more vulnerable to damage)
Very pleased with the TV, price and service. As an aside, the curved screen makes no difference either positive or negative - a gimmick imho
Bought this one about a week ago to replace our venerable old Samsung, which had provided 12 years of solid service before turning everything a bright shade of pink last week!
So far cannot fault the Panasonic, don't use the smart TV features all that much, but Firefox OS seems pleasingly responsive when I have and having a dedicated Netflix button is the tits - 4k programmes are so sharp it hurts and at times broadcasts look hyper-real, it's incredible.
You might be thinking of Pioneer, they were always regarded as the best but they sadly did give up.
Nope, definitely a Panasonic :)
I do recall looking at dozens (seemed like hundreds) of flat screen TVs and it was only the Panasonics that looked really good to me.
I'd been impressed by a friend of a friend's flat screen TV and it was only when I bought my Panasonic and visited their house again that I realised it was the same model!
If Pioneer were even better they must have been VERY good.
M
I think and I might be wrong that Panasonic recruited Pioneers top engineers when they stopped making TV's which helped make Panasonic even better
I have a Panasonic Pro Series Plasma which is a commercial grade product from their business division
http://www.rgbdirect.co.uk/ProductQu...del=TX55CX680B
Just had this emailed
Looks great value?
definitely - great prices and they offer a really good warranty too
Indeed. Just a little out of my budget but I'm liking the idea of a Panasonic
my own personal preference would be this one ,
http://www.richersounds.com/product/...sams-ue48j6300
and for me I wouldn't go anywhere other than richer their customer service and complaints dept is one of the best I've come across, and I've used both to a very high satisfaction.
I prefer Sony or Sharp, only bease they have done well for me. If you can swing a smart tv, that would be the way to go. If not, the not so smart ones should be cheaper now.
Just an update to say that a little has changed in the past decade or so. Panasonic purchased Pioneer's plasma TV manufacturing facilities in 2009, and produced great sets there through 2013. In fact, Pioneer had bought the same facilities from NEC in 2003 to make their great plasma TVs, as NEC had been the OEM beforehand. Panasonic's new top of the line set is an OLED, they stopped making plasma in 2013/14. Its based on LG glass.
Sharp has also gone though a significant set of changes. When they led the LCD market, they started it in 1987 and peaked in 2001 with the Aquos line, they shared manufacturing with Hitachi and Sony. Sony has since sold its stake in the joint venture, and Hitachi left the market. Sharp leased its TV brand and sold its factory in Mexico in 2015 to Hisense. Foxcon, who owns most of Sharp now, is developing OLED manufacturing capabilities, and plans to bring Sharp TV back in that capacity when Hisense's lease ends in 5 years.
In closing, the products these brands make not may not resemble past efforts. It is of little value to evaluate them that way.
Last edited by jcm3; 15th May 2016 at 20:24.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote