Sony KDL-42W653 42" Smart TV... thoughts/alternatives?

[Jonny_]

Just want to tap the collective wisdom of PH before I buy a new telly.

Looking for a new telly to replace the faithful Panasonic CRT that occupies several square feet of my lounge. Criteria being thus:

• Full HD
• Best possible picture
• 40 to 42" screen
• Smart capabilities - particularly Netflix
• Under £550

Don't give a monkeys about the sound quality, all TVs have similarly lousy little tinny speakers hence I always play audio through a "proper" audio system.

Originally I fancied the Panasonic TX-L42E6B, which fulfils my criteria and on first inspection looked to have a much better picture than most LCD tellies I'd previously seen. Plus, I'm quite partial to Panasonic gear, having had various TVs and stereos of theirs over the years with no complaints.

However, I popped into John Lewis the other day and found that (a) the Panasonic was down to £499 from £529, and (b) the Sony KDL-42W653 alongside it on display, also priced at £499, had (to my eyes) an even better picture - much deeper blacks; the Panasonic's looked slightly bluish in comparison. Size, price and feature wise there's nowt to choose between them other than the Sony will apparently record to a USB drive whereas the Panasonic will only read from USB, but does have (again IMHO) a slightly "nicer" interface for the Smart gubbins.

So I'm favouring the Sony now, and poised to place an order with John Lewis for it. Just want to make sure I haven't overlooked any other TV that may be better?

Cheers
Jonny

Edited by Jonny_ on Wednesday 18th December 18:03

[Siko]

Just yesterday bought a Samsung 40" ue40f6670 or similar (??) from Currys for £629. Absolutely astounded how good it is tbh, the only downside was the utterly cruddy built in wifi couldn't see a wifi range extender three feet away....that gave full strength to Sky, IPhone etc all further away.

However, a £40 BT Broadband Powerline extender did the trick perfectly, well chuffed now!