Television Purchase Recommendations

platypus

platypus

platypus

Caporegime
Joined
25 Jul 2003
Posts
40,464
Location
FR+UK
Unfortunately our Bravia has died a death and I can't see it being worth getting repaired (I shall see though).

I was wondering if anyone can recommend a television with a few specific features, the objectiveness being as cheap as possible allowing for these features:
  • 1080p
  • Smart/Internet TV
  • At least 4 HDMI inputs (though most have loads of these probably)
  • Audio out must include (White/red(Left/Right))
  • 32"-36" absolute maximum
  • I want a TV that can have the screen completely turned off, not just dimmed, whilst still playing audio. We use the TV for Internet Radio/Music a lot more than we do for films (but obviously want the film option!)
  • Digital Freeview
  • Red/Yellow/White input for Wii/Nintendo (not a must but a bonus)

Thanks :)
 
Last years Panny 42G30 plasma hits all of those, apart from the screen size. Currys are clearing them out in-store for around £450.
 
Too big sadly (its for a particular alcove), but cheers.

I don't suppose anyone knows what the ability to have the screen off is called in Panasonics? Is it part of the "Viera" specification?
 
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It's a menu option simply called "Display Off". I've only seen it on the Plasma, my Panny LCD doesn't have it. I suspect it's a legacy feature to help prevent image retention.
 
My mistake - the TV I'd seen was actually a Samsung. I wonder if its becoming a standard "eco" feature. Ach well, the search continues. A lot of TVs seem to be eschewing the old traditional audio out now :(.
 
Some have it via a dongle they include in the box, so it isn't directly on the backplate but is available from a riser dongle, same with some spanking new Tvs and additional scart connections.
 
I've been looking at PANASONIC VIERA TXL42E5B - good price at Richer (sorry if this is posting a competitor, can delete if necessary).

Does most things on your list, doesn't have full web browsing but does have youtube and iplayer
 
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Huge fan of panasonic tv's, had mine for a good few years and it's still going strong and the quality is still better than most new ones I see.
 
Bit late of the review, sorry!
So the Tv arrived last Thursday and no time was wasted unpacking it and checking it out... The box it came in was not a whole lot bigger than the tv itself (within reason).
All well packed with 2 full box length foam inserts, the tv wrapped in a soft bag/cloth type material. Stand is covered in sticky protective plastic strip. (Same around the edges of the tv). Nothing in the box was free to move around during transit so no potential damage to the tv and its accessories.

Accessories:
The TV came with the following;
Remote plus batteries (AAA)
4 pronged stand
Warranty/Guarantee info
Instruction Manual
Anti Static cloth (glasses type)
Power Lead (Figure 8 type)
Screws (for the stand)
I was pleasantly surprised with the accessories, all housed in one bag with the important bits in their separate bags (cloth, remote etc).

The TV:
Not much to say yet as I'm yet to hook up a dish / aerial to it but initial findings are nothing but brilliant!
I did try it with the downstairs Freesat box (HDMI straight into the tv), picture was crisps, clear and vibrant! Perfect quality from the hdmi source with no tweaking to the picture. One thing that grabbed me was the brightness of the tv!! Way overpowered to begin with but like I said, there had been no calibration to the tv's picture yet.

Plenty of connections on the back of the set and a few on the side (Including USB, HDMI) with the USB being particularly handy. From what I can tell you are able to tell the tv what each type of input each source/input is (IE: HDMI1 = PC, HDMI2 = Film) etc. This helps solve a very slugish input when connecting the tv to a pc via hdmi and not setting the input as PC ;)

Smart TV:
The Smart Hub is well layed out and most importantly responsive! This was welcomed after experiencing the slow and unresponsive UI of our Freesat box. The Smart Apps are easy to search for and download/install.. download sizes are a few kb's to a few mb's. DL times will only be a few seconds on most broadband networks. This leads me onto the TVs built-in WiFi. The setup of the WiFi is performed when you turn on the TV initially. All complete within a few seconds. The Tv found a few wireless routers around our area so leads me to believe it has a half decent WiFi card.
Apps such as RedBullTV, TransWorld, Youtube and BBC Sport stream perfectly over WiFi for what seems HD Content! Win! Haven't tried the HD content on LoveFilm yet.
NOTE: BBC iPlayer; I was able to download the App but not run it due to my TV needing to have its FW upgraded. If I tried to update the FW via the ONLINE method through the TV it was telling me NO UPDATES AVAILABLE. A quick check on the Samsung website shows an updated FW available... DL to a USB Stick and run the EXE. Plugged into the tv and updated via USB. BBC iPlayer now working!

I tried streaming a MTB video via WiFi from my pc but the TV kept buffering/loading every 5secs or so. It worked fine over Ethernet so not sure whats going on there.
I watched Harry Pothead and A Big Large Stone that was on a USB Stick last night, flawless ;) File type was .m4v, shall be trying a 1080p MKV file tonight.

The TV is thin and very light, bigger sizes would obviously be heavier.
The TV is wall mounted on a cantilever bracket.

I need to figure out if I am able to turn the display off whilst still having the audio play.

If anyone would like to know anything about the tv, or get me to try different thing, test certain features etc etc.. please let me know :)

Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29621041@N02/7554988350/ (Bag of accessories)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29621041@N02/7554990706/ (Wifi Setup)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29621041@N02/7554992576/ (Temp Setup on Desk)
(Any more pictures, please ask)
 
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