Reccomend A TV/Home Cinema Shop...

[Willis]

Hey guys,

Currently looking round for a new television and I'd ideally like a Blu-Ray home cinema too.

I reckon 40" would be a perfect size and I've had LG & Philips stuff before and always been very impressed.

Can anybody reccomend any decent websites or online shops? I've done the usual search engine stuff and there's so much out there that it's hard to actually narrow things down and find the decent places. I went on that Brighthouse just out of interest and £9.09 per week for a 40" television is great, but paying £1415 in total for one isn't. :zomg:

 

[mdswente]

Bought mine from http://www.directtvs.co.uk/. As seen as I live local I grabbed it from the showroom/warehouse. It was a straight forward sale with no complications. The TV itself is superb, no issues or problems whatsoever.

Hope this helps.

 

[RalphyBMW]

Richer Sounds are very good, only place I would go.

 

[StevoR27]

Hey! I'm a bit of an AV fanatic, I build media systems. Below is my Linux/Windows 7 front room build

I would say that amazon or play are one of the best priced, most reliable sites.

I bought the Plasma TV in the picture from amazon. It has the following impressive specs :

1080p 50" Plasma
1,000,000 Contrast Ratio
600HZ subfield drive
4 x HDMI

And the price? Wait for it.....£645. I know you said you wanted a 40" but you if you know what you're looking for you can get a lot for your money (as long as you don't want 3D).

If you're on a budget you can get a good plasma for good money and I don't care what anyone says plasma still has the best picture!

Hope that helps. I think the 40" model is about £450 on amazon

 

[Ed...]

Honestly mate currys do cracking deals. I bought lcd tv, picture bracket,ps3, surround sound and got mw2 for 1300 last year. The tv shud have been 1300 alone.

 

[Willis]

Cheers lads!!!

Stevo, if there wasn't much difference in price then I'd go for a larger size yeah. Looks a cracking setup!!!

Woody, our local one is generally pretty good. I'd spoke to a lad in there about 3D a few weeks ago and he was on the hard sell... But must admit that the prices of HD LED's in there were fantastic. I'm in my research stage at the moment and hoping to buy in Jan, Currys/Dixons normally have good deals on around then.

Anybody shed any light (excuse the pun) on LED for me? Is it worth the extra £'s compared to normal LCD?

 

[Willis]

MDSwente & RalphyBMW, thanks I'll have a nosey at their websites.

 

[Ed...]

Ill take a pic of how thin the LED is when on the wall also picture quality is fantastic.

 

[gazb197]

Plasmas are way better for gaming! I paid £600 for 50" 1080p 600hz 6000000:1 contrast ratio and that was from richer sounds. It's a LG50PS3000. It's awesome

 

[Willis]

See, I'm a bit dubious about Plasma's because of the fact they only last 5 years or so!?!

Still, that's a bloody good price Gaz!!! Woody, LED noticeably better than standard LCD? Blu Ray & Gaming use.

Richer Sounds is where I'm looking currently, they've got such a selection and the home cinema packages seem to be pretty good too.

 

[Maz]

We got our 50" from sound and vision in bolton, we have a cracking home cinema set up .. it makes the walls shake LOL

 

[Willis]

That's not too far out really, half hour on the motorway.

Might be worth a ride up.

 

[StevoR27]

See, I'm a bit dubious about Plasma's because of the fact they only last 5 years or so!?!

Still, that's a bloody good price Gaz!!! Woody, LED noticeably better than standard LCD? Blu Ray & Gaming use.

Richer Sounds is where I'm looking currently, they've got such a selection and the home cinema packages seem to be pretty good too.

Here is my TV, £628 + free delivery from Amazon. I think it's about £850 in Currys etc.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003DNSJCW/?tag=clio197-21

I also have a 40" Samsung LCD in the bedroom and trust me when I say the plasma looks so much better. Blacks look like ink, colours are deep and there's no judder. Burn in is a bit of a myth. My brother bought a plasma six years ago and uses a media centre. He has no burn in and the latest plasmas are generations ahead of that.

As far as size is concerned, go as big as you can afford, especially for movies and gaming.

 

[Adrian]

Richer Sounds are very good, only place I would go.

I would second that. I bought my Onkyo HD amp and Kef surround sound speakers from their Nottingham branch. As for tv, I have a 37" 1080p Panasonic LCD and it is fab. Also 24p compatible. I have a 26" Samsung LED in my bedroom and the picture on that is fantastic too.

 

[slime]

...have you tried www.superfi.co.uk ...they have some good stuff and good prices on there and postage is free.....can easily compete with Richer Sounds......

 

[Ed...]

LED all the way mate ive never seen colour so real on tv untill i got the samsung.

 

[BenW]

Richer sounds are cheap and have good customer service. Also, their extended warranty is cheap and well worth getting.

When you're looking for a tv go into a shop and have a look at them, only way to do it. For me, plasma is the best as it gives such a natural picture. LCD is sharper but looks artificial. LED is similar to LCD but looks oversaturated most of the time.

Oh and it's not true that plasmas die after 5 years, that's a myth. They may need regassing at some point but we're talking a lot lot longer than 5 years.

 

[mdswente]

My suggestion would be to buy what you feel is right. I went with my instincts about LED and it's paying off so far. I have a 40" with a refresh rate of 100Hz, full 1080p and all that jazz. It runs games off the PC, Xbox & PS3 perfectly. Also the fact it's energy efficient (doesnt get remotely warm) and slimmer.

Oh and I concur with Ralphy about Richer Sounds. Shop with minimal overheads, that's one of the reason they are cheap.

 

[StevoR27]

Richer sounds are cheap and have good customer service. Also, their extended warranty is cheap and well worth getting.

When you're looking for a tv go into a shop and have a look at them, only way to do it. For me, plasma is the best as it gives such a natural picture. LCD is sharper but looks artificial. LED is similar to LCD but looks oversaturated most of the time.

Oh and it's not true that plasmas die after 5 years, that's a myth. They may need regassing at some point but we're talking a lot lot longer than 5 years.

Ben is right, nothing beats Plasma. The blacks are like ink and the picture looks more natural because the colours are deeper and it gives the image a warmth that you don't get with LCD or LED.

Don't get me wrong LED and LCD is good, but it looks transparent when you put it against a decent plasma.

Modern generation plasma should last for years and years. Just because the Chinese are trying to sell us a new tech called LED doesn't mean it's better as most plasmas that cost 600-800 were being sold to us for 2.5k only 2 years ago. The only real advantage of LED over LCD is less power consumption, less heat and a thinner panel.

 

[BenW]

Also, LCD and LED panels suffer from something called judder. When something moves quickly across the screen you'll notice it doesn't move smoothly but it's almost like a sequence of photos and stutters across the screen. The plasmas don't suffer from this anything like as much.

LCDs are getting better at this though, when I was looking the top of the range sonys didn't suffer from it much (Z4500 and Z5500 i think)