new telly....which do you reccomend..?

[Rohan]

I am looking at upgrading my Sony 29KV...

So far I have looked at these:

Sony 32FQ75
Toshiba 32ZD09
Phillips 32PW9616
Toshiba 32ZP18P

Can you recommend one of these or indeed are there others that would be worth adding to the list? I have heard that the Hitachi 32...... is a good one too.

cheers,


Rohan

[Wendelius]

I have heard that the Hitachi 32...... is a good one too.



I'm curious as to why Hitachi gets so little mention in the forum. It's not one of the brands that gets recommended.

And yet, I was the owner of a C32W35TN (32", W/S, Progressive scan, 100Hz natural scan) Hitachi for the past 2 years and I thought it was a cracking set. Honestly, the DD5.1 sound setup that came with it was a bit weak (but I soon bought my own HT kit anyway) but the picture was superb and the features offered on the TV were all I could need.

Now for the bad part: The TV blew up a few weeks ago. But never mind because John Lewis is replacing it by a newer C32WF810N (has flat screen and DTS processing in addition to above features). I certainly didn't ask John Lewis for the equivalent in cash to go and buy me another TV. Provided this one doesn't blow up in 2 years, I'm really happy with Hitachi.

I only found reviews for the 36" model but they were really good. Once again, picture quality seems top notch.

Sorry I can't really give you advice, execpt to say that I was really happy with my Hitachi TV... until it blew up (now is that a recommendation or a warning? :) ).

Wendelius

PS: Whatever TV you buy, I recommend you go through a reputable vendor who takes the warranty seriously. Not only is my new set worth more than my old, my warranty restarts from scratch and so I'm again covered by 5 years by John Lewis.

[Alanok]

How about the Panasonic 32PB50? 100hz, progressive scan, DD/DTS sound, picture in picture. Looks very nice as well. I have the model below and very impressed with it indeed I am.

[Bapapapa]

Whichever you choose, I think you'll find a 32" WS a tad small after a 29" 4:3.

[Rohan]

Oh to own a 32" 4:3..:nuts:

Cheers for the thoughts.

One thing that I will get sorted is a decent warranty anyway. I have found several sets at Alders in Woking and they are covered by a *free* 5 year warranty. They also do 6mnths interest free. Problem is that you pay a couple of hundred quid more for the privelidge. So it probably evens out.

e.g.

Sony 32FQ75 - £1499
Toshiba 32ZD09 - £1499
Phillips 32PW9616 - £1599
Toshiba 32ZP18P - £1599

They don't do the Hitachi in-house but they said it was possible to order pretty much anything.

Does anyone know about the Loewe brand? I have seen them in House of Frasier etc but don't know if they are any good. look nice tho..... :cool:

And finally, what is the general opinion of the state of plasma screens. Are they going to drop sufficiently in price for us *financially challenged* to own one within the next 2-3 years. If they do drop quickly enough I'd be happy sticking with my Sony 29 until the day I could hang a 32" plasma from the ceiling above my bed..........



r:nuts:

[Wendelius]

One thing that I will get sorted is a decent warranty anyway. I have found several sets at Alders in Woking and they are covered by a *free* 5 year warranty.



Same thing at John Lewis. I didn't have to pay extra for the warranty. But then again, there are also more expensive than others so it does even out.



And finally, what is the general opinion of the state of plasma screens. Are they going to drop sufficiently in price for us *financially challenged* to own one within the next 2-3 years.



I'd love for them to go down too. No more g/f complaining about the space the TV set is taking in the living room. I could just hang the TV on the wall above the additional sofa she wants. :)

Wendelius

[Rohan]

Yeah, I've got the G/F syndrome to...."You won't be able to fit the 32" through the door, why don't you get the 28"

Funy thing is she is the one who got really excited when I moved in 'cause 'I had a big telly to watch Stargate SG1 on DVD with'.....read into that what you will.


r:nuts: .

[pwray]

Originally posted by Rohan
Oh to own a 32" 4:3..:nuts:


Rohan, for same price as the 32" WS sets you're considering you could have a 43" 4:3 (Toshiba RP) :cool:

See http://thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3472

[Rohan]

Hi pwray,

I was reading through that thread and tj_director raised an interesting point about buying a RP set:

If you are still not convinced, I urge you to visit a Proper store, NOT Dixons!!!

It is one thing that baffles me; whenever you go into a shop to look a tellies they are all configured completely differently. No one seems to think that callibrating the brighness, contrast or even having decent reception is worth while. I went into the Sony Center in Guildford and they don't even have a dedicated AV room!!

Surely it is in the manufacturers interest to send round someone to make sure that retailers are making the most of their respective hardware?

I find it infuriating that I am prepared to spend upwards of £1300 and I dont even know what the set is really going to be like until I get it home and fiddle with it.

That said, I am more interested in looking at RP now after reading that thread. Although I will have problems fitting a 32" crt through the front door let alone a 43" monster. Maybe the next house but by then I'll want a 56" plasma......ho hum...



r:nuts:

[Dale Laywood]

Have a look at [url]www.Avforums.com
.........There`s lots of tv talk there:)

[Just]

At 1300 quid you are only 150 away from Loewe Aconda territory too.

[Ridcully]

Bapapapa is right. As the reason for getting a WS set is to get the extra sides I assume you are still looking for the same picture height. In this case you need a 36" ws TV

[AlanCaires]

Wendelius,

I had exactly the same Hitachi TV....C32W35TN.....had the repair guys out 7 times before it finally blew up after less than 18 months....Hitachi could not have been LESS helpful if they'd tried.....it was plagued from the start.....it wouldn't work on the first day it was delivered, so I asked for a replacement, then when the replacement went wrong, the retailer had gone bust ! Hence, one worthless 5 year warranty !

Conclusion:
Great set when it worked, wonderful picture.
Not impressed with Hitachi customer service.
Always buy from a well known reputable retailer (my next Thomson TV came from John Lewis, and when I wasn't happy with that, after having a replacement again, they gave me a full refund no questions asked).

[HBK757]

Go one better and get a Toshiba RPTV. The 42" widescreen ones can be had for about £1200. 43" 4:3 is £1050 or so. If your primarily gonna be watching DVD then rear projection is the way to go IMO.

[Psychodvd.com]

I have a Toshiba 36ZP18P and because no one has really talked about the Tosh's here can I just say that its awesome! Great picture and excellent DD sound, could do with more bass but hey.. :)

I also looked at the Panasonic, its over processed and looked 'naff' next to the Tosh. My m8 has the 36 Sony and that has a good image, but not quite with the Tosh as the Sony does get over sharp in some cases (over processed again?).

I was looking at getting the Hitachi as it had a good image and an external sub (the 36) but I was told they stopped producing the 32" so you might not be able to get hold of it.

I'd either stretch to the Tosh which you wont regreat (32 or 36) or get hold of the Hitachi C32WF810N if you still can.

[Rohan]

Hi y'all,

There are some good thouhts here.

I am considering my options and I went back into Alders at the weekend to have a closer look at the Tosh32zp18p as well as some RP tv's. I was loking at the 40WH08B and a couple of Sonys but I did not get their SNo's.

r:nuts:

[stoneranger]

as mentioned above, checkout the avforums.com for problems/issues with some of these models. 'specially the Sony FQ75.

might add that i've got the 32FQ75 that a lot of people are having problems with. don't have them myself, must be one of the lucky ones :)

[loujareth]

Our Toshiba 33" 4:3 is our baby, so if your used to a 29" this might be a good moderate upgrade.

[puddleduck]

I saw the Sony Sony 32NX100 the other day, and it looked amazing. (Check out your local Sony centre).

I don't usual rate Sony TV's but this was a cut above any WS I've seen so far.

The 32NX100 is the replacement for the Sony 32FQ75.

Or go for the Grand Wega 50" (amazing picture, but it costs £6000!)

[HBK757]

These are a few big screen TV's you might wanna consider -

Toshiba 43VJ13P, 43" 4:3 - £1050 inc shipping.
Panasonic TX-42PT10, 42" 16:9 - £1500 inc shipping.
Panasonic TX-47PT10, 47" 16:9 - £1900 inc shipping.
Toshiba 40PW13B, 40" 16:9 - £1300 inc shipping.
Toshiba 56WH08B, 56" 16:9 - £2800 inc shipping.

:D

[kjmacphee]

I've had the 28PW9616 (not 32") for around 18 months now and have been pretty delighted with it. Great picture, good sound (important if you have no other AV equipment) and looks super.

It is/was expensive though and I primarily went for it as a one-box solution as it's in a smallish room and didn't need/want stacks of extra boxes. I'm not sure if I would spend as much again ... and apparently there has been a swap in the tube used away from Philips as detailed here:

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/displaynews.php?id=1477

[gezkane]

I looked for ages for the best picture and found the 100hz Panasonics to be the best! I bought a 36 inch Panasonic for £1400 from Empiredirect.
As for the Toshiba, that was my 2nd choice as a friend bought one a few weeks back. The remote was confusing and the set up confusing too! As for the picture, well i compared the Sony,Panasonic and Toshiba in a local store ( all next to each other on a demo dvd) and the Panasonic was the clear favorite in my eyes!

[kjmacphee]

Originally posted by Dale Laywood
Have a look at [url]www.Avforums.com
.........There`s lots of tv talk there:)

Thanks a lot for the info. Hadn't visited these forums before and found a lot of good information.

TA! :clap:

[brattle]

I'd got for image quality over screen size very time. You'll find that you get used to a big screen image after time, whereas a poor image will always bug you.

I demo'd all of the 36" WS TVs and found they all had some issues. In the end I plumped for a Loewe Aconda and have found it faultless aside from some slight geometry bending that was soon rectified.

The Aconda can also do things many other TVs can't, like display a VGA image and take component through a scart. Welll worth demoing imo.

[Psychodvd.com]

Before I bought my Tosh I had a look at the Panasonics and found them to be awful, the new Tau line had a lot of hype from panny themselves. I watched a snippet on one in the shop and couldnt believe the difference between the Tosh and Panny, Panny was over processed and ... naff. The guys in the shop also didn't rate the new panasonics. I wanted to make sure that it wasn't there setup so I plugged in my £50 scart and the image was the same... I'd keep well clear of them unless you try before you buy! :)