Recommend me a 40" - 50" TV for reasonable money?

[ROB_GTR]

Looking for a good TV 40" to 50" (not set in stone) that doesn't cost the earth.

There seems to be plenty around at the moment and it seems bargains are there too so what would you suggest?

Its for the living room and ideally be a smart tv but not essential.

Plasma, LED, LCD????

I don't have a budget as such but don't want to spend a fortune either.....

[Phil.]

I have three Panasonic Plazma's chosen for picture quality and have never been disappointed. The reviews are good also. I recently bought a Panasonic TX-P42X50B from Sainsbury's for £290 delivered. Prices seems to have firmed up a little but they are still incredible value for money. Here's the same one:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/tv---all/panas...

Edited to add, that if you connect an Xbox/Wii/Apple TV/etc. you will get internet connectivity and access to the likes of iplayer for a lot less than buying a smart TV that will connect to the internet itself.

Edited by Phil. on Saturday 16th February 13:24

[toppstuff]

Sony 46 "LED LCD is the class leader. Seems to have won the major awards.

I have had ours for 4 months or so now.

It is breathtakingly good. Even now the novelty has not worn off, every time I put it on I am taken aback at the picture quality. Very natural, not "over processed" like some LED TV pictures. Visitors to the house all have Telly envy and seem equally impressed with it..

I buy a lot of electronic gear, being a bit of a gadget freak. The latest Sony tellies have given more satisfaction than anything I've owned for several years. The 46 is so flippin good I've got a 40 for the bedroom now.

[ch427]

i got fed up of reading reviews online last year and decided to walk into john lewis and just pick one i liked the look of. Ended up with a panasonic 50" plasma for £799 and im very happy with it,its my second panasonic plasma and i probably wouldnt buy any other make now.

[ROB_GTR]

Thanks for all the input!

Like I said I don't have any set budget but want a really good TV for as little as possible as the OH would only spend £300 ish and be happy whereas I would spend upwards of 1k....

I would say a happy medium and £600 max

So sounds like Sony or Panasonic are the clear favorites in this thread. The OH likes LG TV's but im not convinced as not so long back they were a 'budget' brand but i admit they seem to be coming along in leaps & bounds.......

I have always liked Toshiba TV's but not too clued up on the current ones

[Stu R]

Always been a huge advocate and fan of Panasonic Plasmas, won't be buying another after a 2yr old one went pop, more because of the way Panasonic dealt with it than anything else (I realise 5 year warranties can be had, principles and all that). They are by far and away the best plasmas though. Nothing comes close.

LED/LCD wise, Sony's latest offerings really are the business, but I hated the stand and the 6 degree tilt on the one I wanted. Well worth a consideration though - the screen is sublime.

In the end I opted for a Samsung UE55ES8000 and wouldn't heistate to recommend it - certainly see it as an upgrade to my Panny, with the caveat that the blacks aren't quite as good, the colours much better, and it takes a lot of fiddling to get the best out of them and to remove the oversaturated look. I realise it's a bit out of your budget, but the lower series ones come very close too, I saw them side by side in Richer and Costco and was very close to buying the cheaper model - which should be in budget for you.

Also worth noting, the 55 inch LCDs aren't as markedly bigger than the 50 inch plasmas as you'd expect.

[Gareth1974]

I've got the Sony 46" HX 853 and like other posters, have been stunned by the image quality. The 6 degree tilt took a couple of days to get used to, but I don't notice it now.

[The_Cheeseman]

I've just bought a 42" LG LM620T, it was £550 at John Lewis so has a 5 year guarantee.

It has passive 3D (same as Cinema's use) and it has all the Smart features you can shake a stick at, I was surprised that once plugged in it could see and stream straight from my media server.

I'm no expert but I'm really really happy with the picture it puts out, I was slightly worried about motion handling in sports as it doesn't have a 600 million Hz frame rate like the plasmas but watching football/rugby has been fine.

I definitely recommend giving it a thought!

[ScottJB]

Not a subject i know alot about, but the Samsung 51" Plasma's (specifically PS51E6500) seemed to come out favourably for price vs picture quality in the last round of review reading i did*. Think that particular model was available around the £650 mark at the time but having yet to see one in the flesh i don't honestly know whether the picture difference is significantly better (to the layman) than say a £400 set?

• Looking to replace main lounge set in the next few months

[moles]

http://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-viera-tx-p50ut5...

[TwigtheWonderkid]

The_Cheeseman said:

I've just bought a 42" LG LM620T, it was £550 at John Lewis so has a 5 year guarantee.

Good shout, but worth spending a bit more on the 670 over the 620 if you can afford it. Comes with a really sexy brushed steel stand and edging. Sounds odd but looks amazing. The 760 is top of the range, but doesn't come in sexy brushed steel.

[funkyboogalooo]

Is this any good
http://www.johnlewis.com/panasonic-viera-tx-p50ut5...

[Stu R]

Decent enough but it's only got 2 HDMI's IIRC

[uk89camaro]

Gareth1974 said:

The 6 degree tilt took a couple of days to get used to, but I don't notice it now.

What's that all about?

[0000]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It does.

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Deeper, I guess. Wider, no? It hangs over the sides of the stand I have it on from the previous 40", but I don't use the internal speakers and it'll end up wall mounted at some stage.

[toppstuff]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Sony do a different model - a little cheaper - without the stand but with essentially the same screen.