TV Advice anyone?

[Formia]

Off to buy a new TV tomorrow , I havent a notion whats the best value , anyone clued up with a few ideas?
Thinking of a widescreen 28" would like a few features (surround sound etc..).
Got max budget of £500-£600.

 

[tRoG]

You'd probably be better of asking in General (The real general forum ) or even perhaps in one of the Technation forums. You'd probably get more responses there... as I don't know much about the technical aspets of TVs other than "It's big and has nice sound! Oooh!"

 

[Tom]

Don't bother with 28" w/s, get 32". 28" is tiny when watching 4:3

 

[crispy]

aye always wondered why widescreen should be so smart when not all programs are shown in that format. You can buy a bigger 4:3 tv that show the (physically) same size picture of a widescreen movie as a smaller widescreen tv would, for the same amount of money.

 

[Solid]

There are different forms of widescreen transmissions:

Films usually in 16:9 format but TV broadcasts are in a diff size, wider than 4:3 but narrower than 16:9.


So a widescreen TV Does make sense over a 4:3 these days.

I would reccomend the Panasonic tau range, VERY good buil and features
Toshiba are also very good, steer clear iof Sony tho, too expensive and they use cheap compoents for the brand level.
Phillips are anotehr option

Try www.empiredirect.co.uk if ur in the UK for a starting poitn for prices and comparisions

 

[Archeon]

To Summarise,

Buy Big
Buy Japanese

 

[Tom]

w/s material transmitted on terrestrial tv is normally transmitted at 14:9. Most footage is shot with this in mind.

Steven Spielberg does not allow his films to be transmitted in 16:9 on free-to-air tv.

 

[Eroa]

One thing is sure 28" widescreen is just to small, minimum is 32"

 

[Ctuchik]

One thing is sure 28" widescreen is just to small, minimum is 32"

does a 28" w/s even exist? ive never seen any smaller then 32" at the local TV store.......

 

[yaruar]

i've got a perfectly decent philips 28 widescreen at home, perfectly decent tv for 500 quid.

i'd second the calls not to go for sony, for the same price as the one i bought the sony quality was much lower.

 

[Hawkwind]

Panasonic Tau range is very nice. Great picture quality and good features. Regarding widescreen sizes, there is a general feeling that 34" is optimum for at home use with CRT's. This is due to manfacturing techniques used, not going to go into them. If you want to learn more read 'Video Demystified'. I have purchased several of these Tau TV's for family members and no problems as yet.

Sony can kiss my arse they sold their souls and did away with quality. I know too many people that purchased Sony over the past 12 months and have had problems. They used to be the torch bearers for quality and reliability. Not anymore.

If your wondering why I purchased several Panasonic TV's it's because I work for an American based off shoot of Matsushita, who in turn own the Panasonic brand amongst others and the discounts are just too good