LG 42LN540V or Samsung UE42F5000
Discussion
I'm hoping to buy a tv tomorrow and would like some advice please, if I may.
Before the days of the internet, purchases were so much easier! Go to shop, look at selection and pick one! But now I've spent days researching and have achieved nothing but to confuse myself.
I'd like a 42" TV, spending no more than £400. I'm not bothered about Smart or 3D, only stipulation is that it's an LED. This requirement is based solely on the fact that this is the latest technology (compared to plasma and LCD) and I'm assuming it is the best - I may well be wrong. Plus LED TV's generally tend to be slimmer.
I've narrowed it down to 2 - an LG (TV to be replaced is an LG. Had it 6 years, no complaints), and a Samsung:
LG - http://www.richersounds.com/product/tv---all/lg/42...
Samsung - http://www.richersounds.com/product/tv---all/samsu...
I've not found many reviews for either tv, but what I have found suggests that the Samsung is a 'budget' set with fewer features and connectivity but this is compensated with decent picture quality.
I'm not a big gamer, occasionally playing FIFA on the xbox. I have a Sky HD box but standard subscription so I get some HD channels and I'd like to watch sports without any 'ball trail'.
So knowledgeable folk of PH, any recommendations or advice? I've got these 2 on my shortlist but am open to suggestion.
TIA.
Before the days of the internet, purchases were so much easier! Go to shop, look at selection and pick one! But now I've spent days researching and have achieved nothing but to confuse myself.
I'd like a 42" TV, spending no more than £400. I'm not bothered about Smart or 3D, only stipulation is that it's an LED. This requirement is based solely on the fact that this is the latest technology (compared to plasma and LCD) and I'm assuming it is the best - I may well be wrong. Plus LED TV's generally tend to be slimmer.
I've narrowed it down to 2 - an LG (TV to be replaced is an LG. Had it 6 years, no complaints), and a Samsung:
LG - http://www.richersounds.com/product/tv---all/lg/42...
Samsung - http://www.richersounds.com/product/tv---all/samsu...
I've not found many reviews for either tv, but what I have found suggests that the Samsung is a 'budget' set with fewer features and connectivity but this is compensated with decent picture quality.
I'm not a big gamer, occasionally playing FIFA on the xbox. I have a Sky HD box but standard subscription so I get some HD channels and I'd like to watch sports without any 'ball trail'.
So knowledgeable folk of PH, any recommendations or advice? I've got these 2 on my shortlist but am open to suggestion.
TIA.
voyds9 said:
Go and look at them.
What I like you might not.
Knows it not much help but it is good advice.
Thanks voyds9, you are right. I'm swaying towards the Samsung after some more research this morning. But I'll go and have a look at both tonight and see what's what. What I like you might not.
Knows it not much help but it is good advice.
In the meantime, of anyone has any first hand experience of these, I'd be grateful to hear it - good or bad.
Thanks again.
Considering these 2 exact televisions at the moment. Had a quick look in Currys the other day, and they were both very nice aesthetically. I thought the picture on the LG looked a tad better, but that's probably just settings. I have a general preference for Samsung over LG, but it comes down to whichever one has a nice drop on price sooner.
I'll be buying tonight so I'll let you know the outcome.
On Which?, the Samsung was rated 56% compared to the LG at 54% so there really isn't much between them. I think it'll be down to subjectiveness rather than technical superiority.
It was interesting to see that the Which? Best Buys section for LED TVs contained 23 different sets. 14 of them were Samsung, 4 were LG.
On Which?, the Samsung was rated 56% compared to the LG at 54% so there really isn't much between them. I think it'll be down to subjectiveness rather than technical superiority.
It was interesting to see that the Which? Best Buys section for LED TVs contained 23 different sets. 14 of them were Samsung, 4 were LG.
Popped into Currys, the LG one has dropped to £350. Not bad! I'm still not too keen on buying LG, as both LG things I've ever owned are knackered. My TV (now my computer monitor) which is LG, has a knackered power supply, and the firmware is completely screwed up making it useless as a TV as the menus are slow and horrible, and my Nexus 4 developed a crack without me even dropping it 
That's a decent drop, I really hope the Samsung hasn't dropped now that I've bought mine!
As I thought, I went for the Samsung. I popped into Richer Sounds and had a brief demo of both of them. To be honest, there wasn't a great deal of difference between the 2. The guy in the shop was helpful. I told him my requirements and he pretty much said unless I want to pay another £100+, the ones I was looking at are the best choices.
I went for a Samsung because I've had one of their TVs before and was faultless. Like you George7, I had an LG which is slowly dying so that was how I made the decision.
Colour 'out of the box' seemed to be a bit odd to my eyes. But a bit of minor adjustment (much to the dismay of Mrs West trying to watch Corrie!) and I'm happy with it! At first, the HD channels didn't seem to be as good as my old tv (the LG). But ad I say, after some adjustment it one looks great. I think part of that was my increased expectation because it was a newer tv.
One minor gripe I have is that when I turn he tv on, it defaults to the built-in free view tuner as the input, rather than the Sky input on HDMI. If anyone knows how I can change this I will be eternally grateful!
Other than that, I'm very happy with it given how much I paid.
As I thought, I went for the Samsung. I popped into Richer Sounds and had a brief demo of both of them. To be honest, there wasn't a great deal of difference between the 2. The guy in the shop was helpful. I told him my requirements and he pretty much said unless I want to pay another £100+, the ones I was looking at are the best choices.
I went for a Samsung because I've had one of their TVs before and was faultless. Like you George7, I had an LG which is slowly dying so that was how I made the decision.
Colour 'out of the box' seemed to be a bit odd to my eyes. But a bit of minor adjustment (much to the dismay of Mrs West trying to watch Corrie!) and I'm happy with it! At first, the HD channels didn't seem to be as good as my old tv (the LG). But ad I say, after some adjustment it one looks great. I think part of that was my increased expectation because it was a newer tv.
One minor gripe I have is that when I turn he tv on, it defaults to the built-in free view tuner as the input, rather than the Sky input on HDMI. If anyone knows how I can change this I will be eternally grateful!
Other than that, I'm very happy with it given how much I paid.
I've read in a few places that the Samsung 100Hz is actually 50/60Hz that is 'upscaled' to be equivalent to 100Hz.
In terms of motion blur, I've watched football (MOTD in HD and Sky in SD) and played FIFA (via HDMI) with no ball trail. I've watched a few minutes of tennis and snooker and again, no issues with either sport. F1 is the other sport that I can think of where motion blur can potentially be an issue, but I think the size of the moving part compared to the speed means that F1 should be fine.
Incidentally, I was watching the very interesting program about the population on BBC1 HD last night. Because of the nature of the presentation, the room the Prof was in, it was very dark and there was a lot of black on screen. The blacks looked very deep with no washout, greying or blocks and colour looked vivid.
As mentioned, it did take some fiddling out of the box to get it looking how I think it should but I am very pleased with it.
I should also mention that the Richer Sounds customer service team have been very helpful. When watching the football, there is a feint band about 3" wide that is ever so slightly darker that can be seen if you look hard about 1/3 of the way in from the left. I have only noticed it when there is a lot of grass on that part of the screen (ie, few players, fans, etc.) and have not noticed it when watching anything else. I rang RS and asked them if I could swap my tele. It was 5 days old at this point. My request was referred to the customer service department and was told I'd get a call within 48 hours.
In the meantime after playing with the settings I got it looking right (to me). I received a call saying that if I take my tele to the store I bought it from they'd swap it for me, even though I had binned all the packaging. I'd definitely buy from them again.
In terms of motion blur, I've watched football (MOTD in HD and Sky in SD) and played FIFA (via HDMI) with no ball trail. I've watched a few minutes of tennis and snooker and again, no issues with either sport. F1 is the other sport that I can think of where motion blur can potentially be an issue, but I think the size of the moving part compared to the speed means that F1 should be fine.
Incidentally, I was watching the very interesting program about the population on BBC1 HD last night. Because of the nature of the presentation, the room the Prof was in, it was very dark and there was a lot of black on screen. The blacks looked very deep with no washout, greying or blocks and colour looked vivid.
As mentioned, it did take some fiddling out of the box to get it looking how I think it should but I am very pleased with it.
I should also mention that the Richer Sounds customer service team have been very helpful. When watching the football, there is a feint band about 3" wide that is ever so slightly darker that can be seen if you look hard about 1/3 of the way in from the left. I have only noticed it when there is a lot of grass on that part of the screen (ie, few players, fans, etc.) and have not noticed it when watching anything else. I rang RS and asked them if I could swap my tele. It was 5 days old at this point. My request was referred to the customer service department and was told I'd get a call within 48 hours.
In the meantime after playing with the settings I got it looking right (to me). I received a call saying that if I take my tele to the store I bought it from they'd swap it for me, even though I had binned all the packaging. I'd definitely buy from them again.
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