New TV Time - £1k Budget

rhysduck · 3 Oct 2013 at 13:21

It's time to replace my 32" ES6300 Samsung, whilst it was a perfectly fine size for the bedroom at my dad's it's now somewhat a bit small for the living room of my new place.

Budget is £1k or thereabouts and will be used for BluRays, PS3, Sky HD (Sports mainly).

The one that's really catching my eye is TX-PxxGT60 Panasonics.
Now I'm unsure on size whether to go for 42" or 50". RicherSounds have the 42" for £999 and the 50" for £1200.
Edit: HDTV Test give the GT60 5 stars and give it a REFERENCE level status..

I sit 2.7m away from the current tv so 50" would be the ideal size I think.

What do you all reckon to the tv? Anything else to look at/consider? Also, size... ?

dhill · 3 Oct 2013 at 13:41

I've recently purchased the TX-P42GT60 and can't fault it at all.

I use it for Sky HD, blu-rays and XMBC (playing HD and 3D movies).

rhysduck · 3 Oct 2013 at 15:34

How do you find the size of the 42" and how far are you away from it?

dhill · 3 Oct 2013 at 15:43

I would have got the 52" one if my tv unit would have allowed it. But, the 42" is a nice upgrade from the 32" Sony we had before.

For movie watching I'm normally around 7' to 8' away from the screen. When watching 3D content, I do at times wish the screen was slightly bigger though.

rhysduck · 4 Oct 2013 at 09:27

Right then thanks dhill, I've decided on the 50" GT60.
I can't find anything that touches it in terms of performance and price.

Time to go look at the cheapest price's....

Psycho Sonny · 4 Oct 2013 at 11:55

rhysduck said:
Right then thanks dhill, I've decided on the 50" GT60.
I can't find anything that touches it in terms of performance and price.

Time to go look at the cheapest price's....

51" E8000 from John Lewis for £899, free 5 year warranty with all tv's and the best customer service bar none.

samsung's top of the range plasma last year, and was selling for £1600 because i looked at it last year when i bought my 51" D8000 for £769.

doesn't have all the niggles that panasonic panels have like 50hz bug, etc.

better smart tv, built in skype camera, free 3d glasses (so you get a lot more built in).

panel with less niggles, for slightly less black level.

imo this is the tv to go for if you want bang for your buck.

I own a GT50, and if i was buying now, this is the tv i would get for the money.

rhysduck · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:01

Psycho Sonny said:
51" E8000 from John Lewis for £899, free 5 year warranty with all tv's and the best customer service bar none.

No longer available. Can find it through the search but page doesn't exist. Search results show it's out of stock. Possibly why due to it's age?

Edit: It's the same price as the GT60 from what I can see.

Psycho Sonny said:
doesn't have all the niggles that panasonic panels have like 50hz bug, etc.

Care to elaborate on the other niggles? Haven't read of anything in my research, but maybe not looking hard enough!

How much less black level are we talking? Because watching BluRays I do not want to compromise on performance.

Psycho Sonny · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:39

sold out damn,

it was £899 for 51" not 42"

so a lot cheaper than panny's atm.

panny panels have lots of niggles.

DFC, IR, DSE, Banding, etc, head over to avforums and read through the threads, 50hz bug is the most common one iirc.

black levels are negligible.

tbh now it's wither GT60 or this

http://www.johnlewis.com/samsung-ps...ice-motion-control-with-2x-3d-glasses/p439148

which is more expensive

Begbie · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:49

never had any of those issues, not saying they don't exist but my panel runs perfect.

Get a pani - and bigger is better

Spook187 · 4 Oct 2013 at 12:52

Would we see a price drop between now and xmas for the panny GT60 Psycho Sonny, i really fancy this tv, which will now slip into buying in November, £1199 for 50" is the price now.

rhysduck · 4 Oct 2013 at 13:06

Cheers Sonny but that Samsung is a bit out of my price range unfortunately.

Begbie said:
never had any of those issues, not saying they don't exist but my panel runs perfect.
Get a pani - and bigger is better

What do you have Begbie?

Spook187 said:
Would we see a price drop between now and xmas for the panny GT60 Psycho Sonny, i really fancy this tv, which will now slip into buying in November, £1199 for 50" is the price now.

May see a slight price drop but I doubt it. Which is why I'm going to chance it and buy now. (I left my last TV purchase too long, they subsequently ran out and I had to start the decision process all over again!)

ZXSpectrum · 4 Oct 2013 at 13:42

If you know of anyone that has a Costco card go and have a look round there. They had some great deals on Pannys recently and they all come with 5 year warranty.

rhysduck · 4 Oct 2013 at 14:32

Thanks but unfortunately not. They do all come with a 5yr warranty though from what I've seen!

ZXSpectrum · 4 Oct 2013 at 15:07

Yeah but Costco warranty is another thing. You get it, if it breaks you call the concierge service, they will determine the fault, give you a return code if its not a simple fix, you take it back, they give you a FULL refund (Even 4 years 11 months down the line) and you buy a new one...

Psycho Sonny · 4 Oct 2013 at 16:16

prices will drop slowly from now until christmas, like 10% at best.

in february - april you will see a further 30-40% price drop when they go EOL.

they will become 50% of their original RRP in that time roughly.

i always buy when they go EOL and i always get a brilliant deal from JL price matching.

GT50 the 50" for £799, with 2 sets of 3d glasses.

51" D8000 for £769 with 2 sets of 3d glasses.

both 5 year warranties naturally of course from JL.

GT60 will be like £899 in February for the 50", i can put money on it.