After a good value 1080p TV

Soldato
Joined
1 Jul 2007
Posts
22,046
Location
Various
As above, I'm after a 1080p set for no more than £500. Anything 32" or over will suffice.

I am going to be using it mostly for Blu-Ray movies, and games from my PS3 and PC. I'd much prefer a 1080p TV as I'll be using it with my PC from time to time, so there are obvious benefits with regard to this! I'd rather have a TV than a monitor as the viewing angles ought to be better at a lower price and larger size, and when watching movies, or playing multiplayer games, this is pretty important to me.

Obviously image quality is important to me, but at the same time I don't need something which is eye-bleedingly stunning. Unfortunately I absolutely cannot go over £500.

Finally, I'm not going to buy until the end of April at the earliest, so if anything is on the horizon let me know! I'm happy to wait a little longer :D
 
Samsung LE37A558 P3 - 37'' Widescreen 1080P Full HD
Toshiba 37XV555DB - 37" Widescreen 1080P Full HD LCD TV - With Freeview
SHARP LC37D65E 37" LCD TV Gloss Black Cabinet Slim Line Design Full HD 1920x1080 FREEVIEW Built-in 450 cd/
Hitachi L37VP01U - 37" Widescreen Full HD 1080P LCD TV With Freeview - Gloss Black

All wiithin budget not sure which one is best. I've got a Samsung and very happy, not teh same one though. From a rainforest shop.

I went 2nd hand to ensure I didn't get any dead or stuck pixels. Might be worth considering or at least looking into return policies.
 
Legend, cheers mate :)

One thing is that I would rather have a really high quality 32" screen than a middling quality 37"...what are the ones above like? How big a difference would there be?
 
Legend, cheers mate :)

One thing is that I would rather have a really high quality 32" screen than a middling quality 37"...what are the ones above like? How big a difference would there be?

no idea.
But I would have thought high quality panels main advantage is displaying SD media well.
 
Been looking at the LG 37LG5000 set myself. Only thing that's stopped me so far is that i haven't been able to hear a set as it will be used without any external sound system. Off to have a look/listen in a day or two. Main use for this panel would be Sky HD and DVD watching (mated with the LG DVX392H which can be had for around £70), not interested in the switch to Blu-ray at the moment.

Another i have had recommended is the Panny TH-37PX80 it's a bit over budget for you new, but as AH2 says, 2nd hand they can be had for a decent price and no dead pixels.
 
Hmm, that Panny does look nice :rolleyes: I hate buying things like this, always end up a couple of hundred quid over budget! My parents have the 32" Panny from last year though (not sure of the model number), and it's a lovely TV...

How is burn-in going with plasma screens? Obviously this was a pretty big problem a few years back, and if I'm going to be using it with a PC and console I don't want to have problems with regard to that...
 
Woah tvs are expensive now. At the turn of the year the 42px80 was going for sub £500 at several places. I believe sony's 40" v4000 was also going for less than £500.
 
Last edited:
I got a 42" Bush 1080p for 440 on the high street from a popular catalog store, was a bit skeptical, but hooked up to my HTPC and playing high def it looks fine. Colours aren't quite as rich as my parents 720p 50" Panny Plasma, but it'll do me fine for a few years.
Take one home and try one out, you get 30 days to change your mind and bring it back no questions asked, as long as you don't take the plastic off the bezel.

It's almost impossible to tell what they'll look like in store, since demo tv's are almost always hooked up to a god-awful composite input.
 
Shoot :( Worth waiting until Christmas/mid-summer sales?

For the sake of £50 or so? Definitely not.

edit: Actually prices are pretty damn awful at the moment. Probably due to newer stock at worse exchange rates. New years stock may have been a few months old meaning the exchange rate was slightly better.

1y
1y
 
Last edited:
Should say that the Panny TH-37PX80 isnt full HD, but from peoples reviews it does a good job at scaling.
 
Should say that the Panny TH-37PX80 isnt full HD, but from peoples reviews it does a good job at scaling.

On a 37" screen you will only notice 1080 over 720 at 5 feet or closer. For 42" its around 6-7 feet I believe.

edit:

Strictly the panels are 768p so putting in a 1080 signal would be better than a 720 signal. Also the engine for the TVs are likely to be better at rescaling than hi def boxes.
 
Oooh. I'm very much in the same market as you. PC use will be priority, I don't know whether this makes a lot of difference (I know 1080p is essential). But I was hoping for something in the 40" range just because it sounds so much bigger :D .
 
I got a 42" Bush 1080p for 440 on the high street from a popular catalog store, was a bit skeptical, but hooked up to my HTPC and playing high def it looks fine. Colours aren't quite as rich as my parents 720p 50" Panny Plasma, but it'll do me fine for a few years.
Take one home and try one out, you get 30 days to change your mind and bring it back no questions asked, as long as you don't take the plastic off the bezel.

It's almost impossible to tell what they'll look like in store, since demo tv's are almost always hooked up to a god-awful composite input.

Will a Bush last a few years though? Whats the length of the warranty btw? Not sure what's typical for TVs.
 
On a 37" screen you will only notice 1080 over 720 at 5 feet or closer. For 42" its around 6-7 feet I believe.

edit:

Strictly the panels are 768p so putting in a 1080 signal would be better than a 720 signal. Also the engine for the TVs are likely to be better at rescaling than hi def boxes.

That's true, but I'm looking at it for PC use as well as movies, so am definately after a 1080p set...
 
Panasonic Viera Plasma HD Ready Digital Television 42 Inch TH-42PX80B
Total £569.97

Just seen that on a site, that would be tempting at that price
 
The only time i recommend against the Pannys is if it's gonna be a PC monitor. Next bet is the Sony range but prices are up.
If it was me i'd wait and save up rather than get at Bush something-or-other as i dread to think how cloudy and messy they would be on anything but full HD material
 
Back
Top Bottom