new TV for under £400

[Burnz0]

Hi All. Im in the market for a new (actually my first TV) for my living room and am confused by the selection on offer. Budget wise I'd ideally go as cheap as possible but am hoping somewhere in the £300-400 mark should get be something good, at a big push stretching to £500. In terms of size I think 42" will be plenty big enough (even though i like the idea of something bigger) or maybe even 36" - the room is about 3.5m*4m so i'm going to be within 2-2.5m at any seat. From what i've read LED is the way forward for quality and energy efficiency but at my price range i'd get a better spec'd plasma. I'm not sure how much of a concern it really is but ive always been told plasma have a very limited life expectancy and eat up the electricity which has put me off slightly. I'm not overly concerned about it being ultra slim as since its going to be placed at an angle in an alcove then there should be a lot of wasted space behind that can be used up. Ive also read that with slimmer screens comes poor sound which is something i don't want to compromise on too much. Other factors to consider are that I have no interest in 3D or smart TV but in an ideal world I'd have 2 or 3 HD connections for an xbox, Virgin Tivo box and the option to plug my laptop in as and when required.

On this basis can anyone point me in the direction of what i should go for given my limited budget? ive been told that Samsung are always a safe bet and have looked at the UNEH5000 but it seems a bit odd to be restricting myself to such a limited range. As an alternative ive seen a post here about the Panasonic TX-P42X60B plasma with a very good price for the 50" (£420ish) and you can get a 42" for closer to the £300 mark which is very tempting if it is a good TV.

Any thoughts will be appreciated! Finally, is big always better or should i possible be looking at a smaller screen to get a higher spec. For watching tv I dont think you need such a massive screen but for films and gaming it adds to the experience (assuming the sound isn't too poor)

thanks

 

[Andy Clough]

We did a roundup of bargain TVs back in February, and gave the Celcus LCD40S913FHD from Sainsbury's five stars at £250. It only has two HDMI inputs (you could get a splitter if you need a third), and no HD tuner or smart TV, but it is a Full HD 40in screen. It's worth noting there are several versions of this TV with very similar model numbers on the Sainsbury's website. We tested the LCD (not LED) version:

http://www.whathifi.com/review/celcus-lcd40s913fhd

Alternatively, the big Panasonic plasmas are terrific bargains. We haven't tested the TX-P42X60B, but we did test the TX-P50X50B at £450 and it was a cracker:

http://www.whathifi.com/review/panasonic-tx-p50x50b

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Hello Burnz0,

I'm afaid that I'm not up to speed with this sector of the TV market so I can make only general observations.

First, I will gently disagree about your viewing distances. I watch all my TVs (including the much-maligned LG 60PZ950T in the kitchen) at a distance of, ideally, twice the diagonal measurement of the TV. So in the kitchen I'm watching at 10', or a bit less than that. My 42" in the bedroom is about 7' away from my pillows. I fear that with the TV sizes you are considering, your viewing distances will be simply too far. So I'd push you towards a bigger TV!

Second, I know that this might be stretching your budget, but I'd urge you to go for a TV that has both a full HD (1920 x 1080p resolution) panel and also has a Freeview HD tuner. My 42" in the bedroom has neither, and I miss the fine detail offered by my other three Full HD televisions (when playing Blu-Rays on it for instance), and I also miss the Freeview HD channels for general TV viewing. For instance, the BBC has been showing, on Freeview channel 303 HD, a choice of Glastonbury and then HD tennis from Wimbledon. But I can't get those channels in my bedroom.

By the way, I will strongly disagree with the What Hi-Fi Panasonic review, when it says that Tom Cruise doesn't look 50. I don't know what wizened visages the What Hi-Fi team think is typical of 50-year-olds, but Tom Cruise absolutely looks his age. No shame in that, most of us, certainly including me, do. And I'm sure that the evidence of the decades on his face would have been visible on the Panasonic TV.

 

[Burnz0]

Hi. I think the viewing distances i'd mentioned were probably to do with the fact that a poorer quality picture up close will look noticeable worse on a bigger screen so for the lower priced end of the market it may be better to limit the size.

Am i correct in thinking that for the same money and size the plasma will generally give a better picture? Should i be concerned about playing games on a plasma?

The reviews for the celerus on the sainsburys site suggest it will likely break or have issues quite quickly so i think ill steer clear of that one

 

[rocketrazor]

Am i correct in thinking that for the same money and size the plasma will generally give a better picture? Should i be concerned about playing games on a plasma?

im not convinced you can get a yes no answer to your first question. There are many factors that determine this, is your tv in front of a window, will you do most of your viewing in daylight or at night, do you like brighter punchier images or a more natural tone. It's all very much down to personal taste I think. Check out the super test this month for 40-42" sets, they might be out of your price range but they will give you an idea what might be best for you.

how much gaming are you going to do? If you a 1-2 hr a guy person possibly not, if you sit for 8 hours playing games at once then yeah. A few of us have had issues with plasmas recently and ir and others haven't. Some have complained about it showing up on channels with bright logos as well so take that into account.

If you get a plasma ask the store/web site about the returns policy/repair policy should you get ir. you also have to take into account input lag if you get an led/LCD set so it could come down to a trade off in these areas. As a general rule I found lg seem to perform poorly with input lag but it depends how often you play.

 

[Burnz0]

Point taken, i realise there's far too many factors to answer that one way or the other. The TV will not be right under a window but in a corner next to the bay window (so shouldn't get too much reflection etc); viewing will mainly be in the evening so not too much daylight; probably the punchier images.

In terms of gaming i rarely play at all at the moment but would like the option but can't see it every turning into 8 hour stints.

I think the summary is i would like a decent sized screen with a decent picture for as cheap as is reasonable but thats about as far as it needs to go. One day in the future id like to set up a cinema type room and thats when i'd be more tempted to spend the money.

The main concerns i have are that at my budget LED tvs may be quite poor in terms of image quality if i go for a 42" or bigger - although im not sure how poor, hence why im considering a plasma. Apart from that the sound is a bit of a concern as with all the larger screens ive seen in friends houses the sound crackles and so thats why i thought a plasma may be good as they're a bit chunkier apparently - failing that i could just buy a reasonably priced soundbar?

Does anyone else have experience of the Celcus as it gets mixed reviews from what i've read - decent picture but possibly likely to fail? how would that compare to say the Samsung 5000 range?

im not convinced you can get a yes no answer to your first question. There are many factors that determine this, is your tv in front of a window, will you do most of your viewing in daylight or at night, do you like brighter punchier images or a more natural tone. It's all very much down to personal taste I think. Check out the super test this month for 40-42" sets, they might be out of your price range but they will give you an idea what might be best for you.

how much gaming are you going to do? If you a 1-2 hr a guy person possibly not, if you sit for 8 hours playing games at once then yeah. A few of us have had issues with plasmas recently and ir and others haven't. Some have complained about it showing up on channels with bright logos as well so take that into account.

If you get a plasma ask the store/web site about the returns policy/repair policy should you get ir. you also have to take into account input lag if you get an led/LCD set so it could come down to a trade off in these areas. As a general rule I found lg seem to perform poorly with input lag but it depends how often you play.

 

[Oldboy]

It's tricky this one.

I can safely say that gaming on a Panasonic plasma is not a good idea over extended sessions but for occasional use (perhaps 2 or 3 times a week max 1 hour) it should be fine. The big problem is with image retention and over extended use the image can build up to really excessive levels, the manufacturers include features at the higher end of the market to combat this somewhat with pixel moving options and screen wipe options but exactly what you would get from a budget set i'm not sure but possibly nothing like that at all.

Input lag as a rule is far better on plasma tvs but some LED tvs offer very good lag levels depending on the model. What you have to keep in mind is that at the £400 level any tv you buy regardless of the tech will be a compromise and it's a case of where you are more flexible but expectations should be kept in check as you won't get premium performance or features from a budget tv.

If at all possible I would advise trying to get to see the tvs for yourself and judge which is best for your needs, as an occasional gamer I wouldn't be put off by a plasma tv so really it all comes down to picture quality. If you can get a full HD set that would be preferable but bearing in mind your budget you may well find that a HD ready 720p tv gives a better picture.

Ideally you would want to up your budget slightly but if it was me I would rather have the Panasonic P50X50 over the Sainsbury's tv.

 

[axel1970]

ive just bought a samsung 43"plasma from tesco for 300quid lovely tv good for gaming and hd material i sit about 5 feet away and love the picture its got a pixel shift function onit supposedly to keep ir at a minimum , was originally a bit sceptical about the cheap price but so far so good the model no is ps43f4500

 

[bigboss]

ive always been told plasma have a very limited life expectancy and eat up the electricity which has put me off slightly.

Plasma's life expectancy is same as LCD & LED-lit LCD. With regards to electricity, modern plasmas are a lot more energy efficient, and the difference in electricity bills will be negligible.

Check this.