37" LCD Advice

xb8browney · 4 Mar 2008 at 14:46

Hi,

I'm looking to get my first LCD TV and was looking at getting a 37" for <£1000 I've been looking to spend £500-£700 incl retail and online shops.

I've been picking TV's based on Contrast Ratio or shouldn't I be doing this?

What are your recommendations?

McMav · 4 Mar 2008 at 15:38

Saw Sony 37u3020 in asda for 649. I was tempted by it when I was at makro a few weeks back was going for 586 inc.

1337z0r · 4 Mar 2008 at 16:29

Have you seen the Hanspree 37" £365 some places, seems to get decent reviews too. Thinking of picking on up my self, they also sell it on OcUK for £411

.

HarryPainful · 4 Mar 2008 at 18:40

There is a huge thread over at AV forums about the hanspree, enough bad units to put me off buying one.

I;m thinking about getting the technica one from tesco, 37", 1080p and freeview. about £490.

xb8browney · 4 Mar 2008 at 19:07

So does contrast ratio come into? as I've been looking at ones with 5000+

audiolab · 4 Mar 2008 at 20:56

Not sure exactly what you are after as your title says 37" but then you said you were looking at 32".

Either way I think you have to ask yourself what you want it for. Some want the full goodness of HD but for me at that point I really just wanted a larger screen with a good quality picture. I therefore looked more at SD performance. In the end I bought a Samsung LE37R for around £480 recently and after following the picture settings tweaks from avforums am very impressed with it.

In a while it is going on the wall in the dining room after we remodel the kitchen /dining room in April, then I may get for a 40" screen with good HD performance for the living room, but I would still recommend the 37R, (there is a 37M model and also other 37's that do 1080) but unless you are going to invest in an HD or Blu Ray player and buy HD movies then it is of little value to you.

Best advice I can give you is to look up a local independent retailer and go look at some units which are set up correctly, then decide based on what picture you most like the look of, (which is different for everyone)

audiolab · 4 Mar 2008 at 21:02

xb8browney said:
So does contrast ratio come into? as I've been looking at ones with 5000+

Contrast ratio does play a part in it (higher is better) but don't let it rule your decision. Most decent 37's are usually around 8000:1.

Totality · 4 Mar 2008 at 21:05

My housemate bought a hanspree and it suffers from tearing when using it with the VGA connector - pretty annoying as it was bought to be used with the media center PC!!!!

Awaiting arrival of a DVI->HDMI cable then we can try it at 50Hz hopefully and see how it goes then.

mightynimrod · 4 Mar 2008 at 21:07

1337z0r said:
Have you seen the Hanspree 37" £365 some places, seems to get decent reviews too. Thinking of picking on up my self, they also sell it on OcUK for £411 .

£379.99 with free delivery and 5 year warranty

Ive just bought one.

xb8browney · 4 Mar 2008 at 21:09

It's not going to be used for HD content it’s going to be in the living room for general TV and DVD films and have no plan to go blu-ray.

I plan on plugging my laptop in to use for watching films and plugging in my Logitech Z5500

As for contrast ratio should I not bother with any thing less than <3000?

I've seen the difference between well known brands and small brands and the difference is highly noticeable

Totality · 4 Mar 2008 at 22:02

If going for the Hannspree just be aware of the red ghosting and tearing which is a common problem mentioned in the huuuge avforums thread!

xb8browney · 4 Mar 2008 at 22:11

I dont think I will be going for the Hannspree I was looking more at that Toshibas, samsungs and LG

1337z0r · 4 Mar 2008 at 22:46

mightynimrod said:
£379.99 with free delivery and 5 year warranty

Ive just bought one.

Mind if I add you to msn so I can get a bit of feedback about it when you get it?

mightynimrod · 4 Mar 2008 at 23:07

Sure, im off to bed now though but will be online tomorrow evening.

Biffa · 5 Mar 2008 at 13:55

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17839690

bledd · 5 Mar 2008 at 14:30

really pleased with my hannspree 37"

using with a hd2600pro with hdmi connector, i don't get any tearing

RichieM · 5 Mar 2008 at 14:33

I got the Hannspree 2 weeks ago, very happy with it - haven't experienced any of the issues mentioned above (although I had a slight issue with the standard colour balance, manually adjusted it and its all good).
I use it for SD TV and 360 via HDMI.

bledd · 5 Mar 2008 at 14:45

comparing my hannspree with my mate's £1500 1080P screen, i'd much rather save the £1135 and spend it on beer

1337z0r · 5 Mar 2008 at 16:24

All the issues mensioned in the thread over at AVforums are putting me off the hannspree but all you guys are saying you have no problems. Not sure weather to take the plunge, anyone got the 360 hooked up via HDMI to it is there any issues?

Oh and sorry for hijacking the thread I'm pretty intrested in a 37" my self.

RichieM · 5 Mar 2008 at 16:32

1337z0r said:
All the issues mensioned in the thread over at AVforums are putting me off the hannspree but all you guys are saying you have no problems. Not sure weather to take the plunge, anyone got the 360 hooked up via HDMI to it is there any issues?

As I said above, I use the 360 vis HDMI and have no issues at all, and am very happy with

I haven't bothered with reading the thread on AV, not a lot of point for me to as I don't have a problem.
Remember tho, this type of conversation is very objective, its a bit like the "console wars", people that have spent twice as much on a TV wouldn't recommend a cheap etc etc.
I'm just saying I have one, and it serves its purpose for me very well, I have no issues, and I'm happy