Possible TV purchase

Andr3w

Andr3w

Andr3w

Soldato
Joined
6 Oct 2004
Posts
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Location
England
Hey all

I was thinking last night (after a few beers :p) that i no longer use my computer/monitor for anything other than ocuk/facebook/email/"special time"

Here is my current setup:

Thats a 22" monitor and a 26" sony bravia. I have been thinking about selling the pc/monitor/tv and HOPEFULLY get around £500 to spend on a nice tv to put in the middle of that desk.
I will use the tv for watching blu-ray's/dvds/playing playstion 3 games and watching tv through my freesat hd box (so itv hd and bbc hd are my current HD channels) (NOT FOR A MONITOR)

Before you ask there is no where else to put the pc/monitor (the pc won't even fit under the foothole in the desk).

Finally, i lay on my bed and watch tv so the viewing distance is about 6.5 foot, what TV would you recommend?

Thanks

edit: i will be using a laptop instead of a monitor/pc

edit2: i will not be using it as a monitor, i do NOT need a monitor...i need a TV!!

edit3: in short i want a tv for about £500 for my ps3 and normal tv watching
 
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Just done some research and found these:
Panasonic Viera TH-37PX80
37 inch plasma, 720p for about £550

or

Panasonic TH42PX80
42 inch plasma, 1080p for about £600

Would it be best going lcd or plasma in my case? Never had a plasma before.
 
The PX series plasmas aren't 1080p, so wont be too good as monitors. With Panny its the PZ series you'd want if you were planning monitor use as a main screen. Films will be good on either, SD TV is actually better on the Panny PX series though as well upscaling involved.

As far as monitor use goes though, once burned in moderately for the first 200hrs, the Pannys are meant to be pretty reasonable when it comes to image retention, as long as you look after them and dont leave the same hud on screen for silly times like 10-24hrs + at a pop.
 
Sorry, i migh not have explained myself very well, im going to get RID of my monitor/tv and get one nice big tv. It will only be used for watching blu-ray's/dvds/playing playstion 3 games and watching tv through my freesat hd box
 
Andr3w said:
Sorry, i migh not have explained myself very well, im going to get RID of my monitor/tv and get one nice big tv. It will only be used for watching blu-ray's/dvds/playing playstion 3 games and watching tv through my freesat hd box
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Aye I understood that, I was trying to point out the limitations of the panny PX series as a monitor. They won't be as good as a 1080p (1920x1080) LCD for monitor usage although they're great for your other uses. If you go for a Panny plasma you'd want the PZ series as they'll be much better as a monitor than the PX series, but they're a fair chunk more expensive (£720ish)
 
i'm NOT going to be using it for a monitor :p

I will use my laptop instead of the monitor/pc lol

The tv will be solely used for ps3/blue ray/freesat, and NOT for my pc lol
 
The 42PX80 will be fine for PS3, Blu-ray and HD at that distance but the majority of SD channels will look like smeg. 37PX80 would probably be a better bet for all round usage, if you can find one.

BTW, neither will be any good as a monitor :p
 
omg ITS NOT GOING TO BE USED AS A MONITOR, ONLY GOING TO BE USED FOR PS3/FREESAT/BLU-RAY

:( Why would the SD channels look crap on that tv pigeon killer?
 
The only problem with the 42" is that the price has shot up in the past month. At New Year you could pick it up using codes for £450, then the codes ran out and it went up to around £520 - now it's £600. Still an awesome screen.

Pidgeon's wrong about SD by the way. SD looks great on the 42".
 
Got the 37" and normal viewing distance is around 7-8ft. When I'm viewing it from in bed, about 5 to 5.5ft away, some of the channels don't look so hot. Just think a 42" at his distance would be too big.

Andr3w said:
Would it be worth going for a 1080p at a range of 6-7ft viewing distance?
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A 1080p TV would certainly be better to use as a monitor :p
 
Andr3w said:
i'm NOT going to be using it for a monitor :p
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That I hadn't realised as Im reading this whilst at work, and its busy; quiet points are few and far between today! Either of those TVs will be decent if you're not using it as a monitor, just try and work out what the best prices you can get on either are and go from there! As already mentioned, the 37" will seem slightly sharper if you're sitting closer, as the pixels will be smaller; so personal choice there.
 
Haha no worries mate, i always do the same when im at work ;)

Apart from the panasonic, im thinking 37 might be the right size, and i can't help but get this 'must have 1080p' thought out of my head
 
Pigeon_Killer said:
When I'm viewing it from in bed, about 5 to 5.5ft away, some of the channels don't look so hot.
Click to expand...
Are you using the in-built freeview or something else? If something else are you using a decent SCART?

There's a constant argument about 1080p at 42", but generally people agree that if there IS a noticeable difference and a decent distance that the difference is not large at all. 1080p is not worth the premium at all IMHO.
 
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Andr3w said:
Haha no worries mate, i always do the same when im at work ;)

Apart from the panasonic, im thinking 37 might be the right size, and i can't help but get this 'must have 1080p' thought out of my head
Click to expand...

For blu-ray at that distance you will notice an improvement, but then it will still look decent at 720p, and the SD feed will look worse on a 1080 screen. Thats a personal choice thing; the area the Plasmas win heavily though in general are blacks, colour range and screen movement (lower response rate so theoretically a smoother movement).
If you do decide you must have 1080p you'd want to have a decent look around, as unfortunately the better 1080p LCDs are generally not cheap.
 
Whats the difference between the px80 and the px80b?

I found this:
Panasonic TH-37PX80B - 37" Widescreen HD Ready Plasma TV

for £552
 
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