Cheap LCDs - a bargain or a waste of money?

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I'm in the market for a 32-37" TV, and initially i was going to grab a 37" Panasonic Plasma TV, based on research i did when buying my dad his 42" one, and my experiences of his with SD material and HD material. These cost ~£750.

However, when i'm seeing 37" LCDs floating around the web at £400, i keep asking myself are they decent enough (in that for £400 i can replace it in 3 yrs when real HD is more common) for a short term set, or would i be better spending the extra and getting what i know is a good set?

tips/advice? you get what you pay for? My cheapy 22" PC TFT is brilliant for the money, and i'm well chiffed with it (~£200 for a Videoseven effort)
 
I picked up the 26" Hanns-G (OcUK special edition) form here last year, and it's doing fantastically well for £328(ish)

I wouldn't pay £400 for a 37" screen though, it just seems too cheap.

Best thing would be to go and find the model in a store and have a look for yourself. See if the picture quality is any good... ask if they can hook something up to hdmi/component (etc) to get a decent idea of it's 'best' quality.

Have a look for the Hyundai A321 or Q321 (only difference is one has built in freeview)... last time I checked they were available for around the £500 mark (possibly a £550 or so) and they're brilliant 32" sets.

edit: just found the Q321 model on a competitor for £428 :eek:
It used to cost £600+ (some sites charging over £700) last year!
 
Last edited:
nikebee said:
I picked up the 26" Hanns-G (OcUK special edition) form here last year, and it's doing fantastically well for £328(ish)

I wouldn't pay £400 for a 37" screen though, it just seems too cheap.

Best thing would be to go and find the model in a store and have a look for yourself. See if the picture quality is any good... ask if they can hook something up to hdmi/component (etc) to get a decent idea of it's 'best' quality.
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normally i would, but with these being online its not really an option sadly...

good to hear the Hanns G is ok tho, but smaller screens cope better with SD than larger ones...
 
Considering there are only 3 LCD screen manufacturers in the world there isn't that much difference between budget makes and premium makes, All you are paying for is: Casing, circuitry (upscalers, inputs etc), and brand, IMO I wouldn't pay the premium for a Sony.
 
fair point, but the scalers ARE inportant for watching SD.

And then there's the LCD vs Plasma concerns. Guess i need to decide if i want to be a tight arse and possibly happy, or extravagant and def happy :/
 
Depends, main tv for living room yes i would pay, tv for bedroom and my gaming room no i go cheapy.Just picked up a 32" LCD for 350 with all the inputs/freeview x2 hdmi, that will do me over spending 6-700 easily.
 
Bargain.

I'm using a 32" mirai £350.

Now to put this into context...

I've had....

Sony 40W2000 (clouding)
Samsung 32R87 (scan lines + red pixel lines)
Samsung 40M87 (freeview judder + Movie mode + Standby fault)
Sony 32S2000 (no reason)
Viewsonic 32" (returned found mirai at better price)

All of which were returned due to one reason or another.

The mirai whilst it doesn't have the best picture in the world when it comes to shadow detail is a very comparative match when compared to the R87. The mirai suffers a little red push and obviously doesn't have freeview, but having watched MI:3 blu ray on both the only time the sammy edged it (by 5-10%) was in the dark scenes.

The mirai doesn't have any faults at all however, and has 3 year C&R manufacturer warranty.

The reason I went Mirai despite having enjoyed the luxury of better high end screens is simple. LCD technology has not settled in the high end market, 24p, 1080p, 100/120hz screens are around the corner and there isn't a single "big" LCD without a fault. Whilst I don't expect flawless performance at sub £500 when you're talking about £1k it better be near perfect.

So I bought the mirai to tide me over until a 40", 1080p/24 (over all inputs), 100/120hz, LED screen comes out. Probably Summer/Winter 08 for all of that to be 2nd gen.

Buy one.
 
Rava Benitez said:
Bargain.
I'm using a 32" mirai £350.
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Thats mad,it must be good.After doing some research i thought the Samsung 40M87 was best for dosh,told my mate,he got one and its brilliant on xbox 360,looks amazing.
Now i just don`t have the dough to get so thinking about this mirai.
Whats your set up mate?(bar ps3) just wondering what upscaling divx/dvd player to get that would compliment this and my mates m87
Cheers
 
luminous said:
Thats mad,it must be good.After doing some research i thought the Samsung 40M87 was best for dosh,told my mate,he got one and its brilliant on xbox 360,looks amazing.
Now i just don`t have the dough to get so thinking about this mirai.
Whats your set up mate?(bar ps3) just wondering what upscaling divx/dvd player to get that would compliment this and my mates m87
Cheers
Click to expand...

Nah for value get the Hannspree 32" for £300 inc delivery:

720p
2xHDMI
well made
good looking
2 years warranty
work a charm with a 360

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17763159
 
luminous said:
Thats mad,it must be good.After doing some research i thought the Samsung 40M87 was best for dosh,told my mate,he got one and its brilliant on xbox 360,looks amazing.
Now i just don`t have the dough to get so thinking about this mirai.
Whats your set up mate?(bar ps3) just wondering what upscaling divx/dvd player to get that would compliment this and my mates m87
Cheers
Click to expand...

PS3 - hdmi
360 + HDDVD - component
PC - VGA

It doesn't match the M87 don't get me wrong but certainly gives the R87 a run for its money.
 
Cheap screens will have nasty scaling hardware and gen(s) old panels.

If you only use it for static images it should be fine ;)

But seriously it is down to the users eyes, i cant live with any LCD screens but have friends who have tesco value screens and they love them. Make sure you have a look at one being fed by ITV - thats about the worst input so a good guage of whether you can live with the screen.
 
Shimmyhill said:
Cheap screens will have nasty scaling hardware and gen(s) old panels.

If you only use it for static images it should be fine ;)

But seriously it is down to the users eyes, i cant live with any LCD screens but have friends who have tesco value screens and they love them. Make sure you have a look at one being fed by ITV - thats about the worst input so a good guage of whether you can live with the screen.
Click to expand...

It depends, if he's not buying for the living room then these budget screens are great.

If nothing else they perform admirably whilst waiting for tech to settle.
 
I saw a big rack of displays in Tesco, one of which is their current offer, a no-name 37" job. It was the best-looking of the lot, including a 50" 1080p LG, in terms of colour; in all the others, the people looked like tomatoes.

However: i'm not so naïve as to think that this was a genuinely better panel for £599, but that they had in fact taken the time to calibrate the set that was going to earn them the most money. All of the 32-inchers looked horrifying, with godawful jagged pictures, snowy inputs and whatnot, and they were, unsurprisingly, all right next to the brilliantly set-up 40-inchers that cost twice as much.

Point being, I think that the actual difference in panels in negligible until you get to the highest-end, such as the M87s and the beasty great bravias that cost over £2000. All the "differences" in the mid-range are just how they're marketed.
 
well on the whole quite reassurring comments.

it is for a living room TV, and will mostly be used for SD feeds/PC/360.

i would prefer a plasma, but the money i can save is swaying me...

very tempted.
 
I've got a 37" Acer which cost £420ish. Personally I think it's great and I can't really tell the difference between it and my friend's 40" Samsung. The only noticeably crap thing about it is the sound but I use my hi-fi so that's not really issue.

I can't say I watch much television but for watching DVDs and downloaded content (mostly video podcasts like 1up Show and Diggnation) it's absolutely fine and the Xbox 360 looks awesome. The PS2 looks a bit ropey but on 480p games it's fine. I watched Akira through my Mac Mini the other night and it was stunning.

It's definitely not going to last me 10 years like some teles would but it's a nice stop-gap for at least a couple of years when I can afford a 1080p megatron set.
 
at the moment i am considering either a 26" cheapo (£260 with freeview) or a 32" one (£300 without freeview), i will be mainly playing my wii on it at 480p and obviously some normal tv, freeview, and some dvds from my macbook.

which would give the better image, the 32" or the 26"? this won't be in a huge room (my bedroom) it is probably about 3 - 4m viewing distance.

thanks

daven
 
well guys, i took the risk and opted for a 37" Hannspree JT TV.

And i have to say they are most definately a bargain. Sourced it for £411 collected, and i am happy with everything about it. Picture on Sd is at least as good, if not better than i had expected (varies from channel to channel, but thats due to how its broadcast).

All in all i'd heartily reccomend taking the plunge. Glad i went 37", just that bit bigger makes it better
 
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