Cheap LCDs - a bargain or a waste of money?

For the SD stuff it will probably look awful, my cheap 32" LCD i had was terrible for SD stuff, but it was excellent for HD stuff, just stick to HD and you will be fine.

At first you will think "eww, i cant watch this, its horrible", when you first move to an HD TV it does take some getting used to, I myself have had about 8 different HDTV's in the last 2 years.

Sagem Axium 50" RPTV
Panasonic PV37" Plasma
Samsung 42" Plasma
Sony 40W2000
Panasonic TH42PX60
Sony SXRD 55" RPTV
AOC 32" LCD
Sony 40D3000 40" 24p 100hz

Im currently on the Sony 40D3000, although im looking for a small 23" for the bedroom, ive found the current set to be the best of the lot, its also been the second cheapest set behind the AOC at £895.
 
Last years premium 32 " models are now around £300-400 so I would still stick with those against a brand new marai or other "minor" manufacturer.

I recently paid nearly a grand for a Samsung 40M (June /July firmware) and its absolutely perfect, no freeview judder while watching F1 races etc, scart isnt an issue with my pvr so Im guessing its ok (watches lots of recordings and havent spotted anything at all at fault) and clouding is non existant. Yes I was concerned I might get old stock, but this one is ideal and really glad I bought it (even though they are around £200 cheaper now than when I purchased mine)

I cant see any relevance to 100hz myself, so I dont think its that important but its no great shakes compared to 24fps 1080p br playback which I am reveling in:D
 
well, i have to say the SD picture on this Hannspree Xv 37 is much better than i could have hoped for, serioulsy!

Through a cheapy sagem freeview box its great - and SD was my biggest concern, and i'd class myself as critical
 
I paid £600 for my 32" Hyundai A321 last year and it's still working brilliantly and provides a superb picture. For the silly low price you can pick it up for these days it's an absolute bargain..
 
InwardSinging said:
For the SD stuff it will probably look awful, my cheap 32" LCD i had was terrible for SD stuff, but it was excellent for HD stuff, just stick to HD and you will be fine.

At first you will think "eww, i cant watch this, its horrible", when you first move to an HD TV it does take some getting used to, I myself have had about 8 different HDTV's in the last 2 years.

Sagem Axium 50" RPTV
Panasonic PV37" Plasma
Samsung 42" Plasma
Sony 40W2000
Panasonic TH42PX60
Sony SXRD 55" RPTV
AOC 32" LCD
Sony 40D3000 40" 24p 100hz

Im currently on the Sony 40D3000, although im looking for a small 23" for the bedroom, ive found the current set to be the best of the lot, its also been the second cheapest set behind the AOC at £895.
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Ok this thread is quite old but im currently torn between 2 sets which you have owned

the 40w2000 1080p and 40d3000 i noticed you say your using the d3000 right now what was your reason for keeping this rather than the w2000 as im liking the d3000 right now due to all the clouding complaints i read about the w2000 and its at a great price point right now and in my budget.
How is 1080p on consoles? id be using a ps3 on it currently on a jvc 32" dx7which has been a great tv but want bigger.
Have spent days looking around at tvs and this seems to fit every thing i would need despite it not being a native 1080p set.
Any info/help greatly appreciated :)
 
You can get sony/panasonic 32inchers for £500-580 with 100hertz/24p already.

While its tad pricey in comparision to those budget £300-350 screens they have good SD performance... bit of next gen tech thrown in especially the Sony KDL32D3000.

Was considering the Sony KDL32D3000 myself, nice smaller bezels and in general smaller then the other 32inch panels + its thinner as well + has all the tech behind it but its £550-600 around the net.

I too would have thought much better tech/screens will appear but we still havent got there yet and I reckon it will be a good year or 2before they perfect 100hertz/HD quality and improve the 24p panels. Am sure we been hearing about backlight led/120hertz business for 1-2 years but never seen it really.
 
JOHNATHAN said:
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.
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dont kid yourself

you really think that with 32" TVs all the major manufacturers shove a 100 % premium on for the fun of it ?

the display you've described has been rigged to sell the ones tesco sell. They've probably had to buy 100,000 units to get a good price. so to make sure they shift them all they wash out all the colours on the others and set up the one they want to shift

think im joking ? go look in currys. The best looking set in there is the LG display ? why because its a £2000 8 way HDMI splitter to feed each telly its own dedicated HDMI feed.

the splitter costs more than any of the other tvs.

rest of the TVs on dispaly make do with normal component displays of varying quality. some of the sets are set up atrociously.

in short, you cant trust shop displays as far as you can throw them. they rig it to sell you the TV they want to sell you.
 
Or (from experience working at one of said large electronics shops), they're got out of the boxes, and put on display with all emphasis on function and speed, with little care for calibration, rather than picture quality/correct setup which is another reason they look poor - MOST of the TVs are setup atrociously.

To prove Im not joking and this often is the case, the Philips 42" model that was sitting on front Bulla Bulla display at our store til I removed it yesterday (as in they wanted to sell this TV to you), looked god awful. I found out one reason why fairly quickly when moving it - despite having connected it to a dvd player with a fully RGB-wired Belkin, SCART cable, the SCART connector had been plugged into the socket of the two on the back which ONLY supported basic composite, not the full RGB accepting SCART input, so it'd been wasting the potential, if the DVD player was even set to RGB output.

I made at least a quick 5 minute effort to alter the picture settings etc on the replacement 26" LG model which was going in its place (for a Virgin deal coming in shortly), and although it didnt look amazing, as I had to do it quickly, and was due to finish .... 30 minutes earlier, the colours etc looked a damned sight more natural than the set it had replaced, even though by all rights the larger, more expensive TV really should have looked superior. I hadnt even had a chance to check the LG tv's manual to see if one SCART input was RGB or not, but even if was only a composite input, the colour etc still looked far better than the Philips previously in its place.

PS. If anyones interested, the Virgin deal I mentioned coming in this weekend, is AFAI remember, subscribe to Virgin Media Three (phone, net and tv) instore and get a 26" LG for £149.99, instead of the usual £400ish (ripoff at that price really) they charge as standard. Might not interest you, but if you're looking for a small TV and are thinking of Virgin anyway, keep any eye out :)

Im not going to say where, as Im not willing to break forum rules on this.
 
that high street shop with the big book, had a managers special, Sony bravia 50in LCD going for £599(only one) in there shop in Burton upon Trent last week, i so wanted it but i was with the girlfriend lol.
did have to have a look at it 2-3 times though as i couldn't believe the price
 
Bit late in the thread to jump in, but in my opinion its worth paying the money to get a decent screen as in the end you get what you pay for.

About 6 months ago I decided to upgrade from my 42" Panny plasma and I wanted a 1080p 50"+ screen. Saw a Sharp 52" LCD and thought it was a bargain at £2250... seemed to tick all the boxes, good connectivity, decent price, reasonable reviews. The other screen I wanted was a Pioneer PDP-5000EX plasma, but the £4300 price tag was a bit off putting.

Anyway, ended up buying the Sharp and it was a terrible decision... completely unwatchable and crap quality. Sent it back straight away and bought the Pioneer which I should have bought in the first place.
 
guys, just to remind people:

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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