Pondering replacing my old CRT TV/DVD player/BT Vision setup
Discussion
Come the January sales I'm thinking of bringing my living-room AV setup up-to-date, starting with the TV.
At the mo I have a 36" Panasonic Quintrix CRT telly, fed from a BT Vision box and a Panasonic DVD recorder, plus a Wii which I use a lot for Netflix. I'd like to replace the lot in order to move into the HD age, barring the Wii as I'm still quite partial to a spot of Mario kart
Basic requirements for the telly are: price up to £450, 40 to 42" screen, full (1080p) HD, and of course a decent picture; one reason I've held on to the CRT for so long is that it reproduces blacks and dark tones really well. Has LED-backlit LCD technology caught up yet or is plasma still the way forward?
(Sound quality from the TV isn't important as I use my amp and speakers for audio; that said, the TV does need to have an audio output either via phono or Toslink optical connectors.)
Any particular models worth a look?
As for the rest of it...
I mainly use my Vision box as a normal Freeview tuner/recorder so reckon I may as well bin the subscription and just buy a Freeview+ HD box to fulfil that function - any out there that are worth a look? Don't want to spend a fortune, just want something that does HD, has twin tuners and a reasonable amount of storage.
As for Netflix/4OD/iPlayer etc, I was pondering picking up one of the many fifty-quid Android box/dongle things, are these any good or are they cheap for good reason?
Ta,
Jonny
At the mo I have a 36" Panasonic Quintrix CRT telly, fed from a BT Vision box and a Panasonic DVD recorder, plus a Wii which I use a lot for Netflix. I'd like to replace the lot in order to move into the HD age, barring the Wii as I'm still quite partial to a spot of Mario kart
Basic requirements for the telly are: price up to £450, 40 to 42" screen, full (1080p) HD, and of course a decent picture; one reason I've held on to the CRT for so long is that it reproduces blacks and dark tones really well. Has LED-backlit LCD technology caught up yet or is plasma still the way forward?
(Sound quality from the TV isn't important as I use my amp and speakers for audio; that said, the TV does need to have an audio output either via phono or Toslink optical connectors.)
Any particular models worth a look?
As for the rest of it...
I mainly use my Vision box as a normal Freeview tuner/recorder so reckon I may as well bin the subscription and just buy a Freeview+ HD box to fulfil that function - any out there that are worth a look? Don't want to spend a fortune, just want something that does HD, has twin tuners and a reasonable amount of storage.
As for Netflix/4OD/iPlayer etc, I was pondering picking up one of the many fifty-quid Android box/dongle things, are these any good or are they cheap for good reason?
Ta,
Jonny
I have recently bought a samsung UE40F5500. Apparently the picture isn't as good as Panasonic, but as an upgrade from a 27" CRT I don't really notice. The far bigger screen outweighs the loss of detail clarity that the CRT had.
What does make a difference is the smart hub in the Samsung. I've connected both the TV and Amp with ethernet to the router, and can now access netflix, iplay 4OD etc etc directly from the TV. I have also set up a small NAS, and can also play all my recordings via the router, with spotify etc available to the amp. There's a good android/apple app to control the Denon amp with which makes life easy.
The TV will record to USB as well, but I've lost the twin tuners I had with my old freeview/DVR box. I have a small bedroom TV that records to USB as well so I can use that if I need to.
What does make a difference is the smart hub in the Samsung. I've connected both the TV and Amp with ethernet to the router, and can now access netflix, iplay 4OD etc etc directly from the TV. I have also set up a small NAS, and can also play all my recordings via the router, with spotify etc available to the amp. There's a good android/apple app to control the Denon amp with which makes life easy.
The TV will record to USB as well, but I've lost the twin tuners I had with my old freeview/DVR box. I have a small bedroom TV that records to USB as well so I can use that if I need to.
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