Buying a new tv

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Cloudmelon

186 posts

Master Geek

#92716 4-Nov-2011 15:31

Coming up to Christmas (oh nooooes).

Thinking of buying the parents a new TV, seeing as theirs is a little out dated (not majorly though so it's not urgent)

I don't want to spend too much, maybe $500-$1000 at most. But I'm having trouble with find one, as there's so many!!

I would like it to be a LCD or LED between 32"-42"

A quick scan of dick smith came up with:

http://dicksmith.co.nz/product/GE6616/sony-40-quot-full-high-definition-lcd-tv-kdl40cx520

http://dicksmith.co.nz/product/GE6901/pana-42-quot-full-high-definition-lcd-tv-th-l42u30z

http://dicksmith.co.nz/product/GE6615/sony-full-high-definition-lcd-tv-kdl32cx520

http://dicksmith.co.nz/product/GE6614/sony-32-quot-high-definition-lcd-tv-kdl32bx320

http://dicksmith.co.nz/product/GE6704/samsung-32-quot-full-high-definition-lcd-tv-la32d550

http://dicksmith.co.nz/product/GE6900/panasonic-81cm-32-quot-high-definition-lcd-tv-th-l32c30z

If anyone has some advice or a model recommendation it would be very helpful :)

Thanks

wakaridnnz

227 posts

Master Geek

#541210 4-Nov-2011 16:03

I bought the Sony KDL32BX320 from DSE for that price about 3 weeks ago and absolutely love it.

The Freeview tuner is brilliant - I'm just using rabbit ears and the Signal Quality is 100% and the Signal Level is 92%

I've also got it hooked up to a PC and the picture is great. The only thing I would say is that the speakers aren't that great, but I've got it going through a amp for the surround sound so no problem.

stevenz

2788 posts

Uber Geek

#541215 4-Nov-2011 16:25

From what I've seen, it pays to stick with Samsung, Sony or LG. You pay a bit of a premium for the badge on the front of Sony sets, but they're good TVs, generally the equivalently specced LG or Samsung will be a bit cheaper.

2 years ago I wouldn't touch an LG, but their current sets have improved dramatically.

Unless you need specific features though, they tend to be much of a muchness within a comparable price range. Often looking at them in stores isn't very representative as they're often (usually) configured incorrectly or running off a degraded feed.

It pays to shop around too. I bought my current Samsung 42" about 3 months ago, in the space of about 100 metres, there was a $400 range of prices, and that's for a TV that cost me $1500ish. ($1900ish from Smith + Smith, $1700ish from Harvey Normal & $1500ish from LV Martin - for the exact same set, and I'm pretty sure LV Martins own Smith + Smith or vice/versa).

That said, DSE's prices tend to be pretty competitive, check JB Hi-Fi too as they're often able to do better deals than what's on the label.

@KnightNZ

mattwnz

16852 posts

Uber Geek

#541250 4-Nov-2011 17:05

stevenz: From what I've seen, it pays to stick with Samsung, Sony or LG. You pay a bit of a premium for the badge on the front of Sony sets, but they're good TVs, generally the equivalently specced LG or Samsung will be a bit cheaper.

2 years ago I wouldn't touch an LG, but their current sets have improved dramatically.

Unless you need specific features though, they tend to be much of a muchness within a comparable price range. Often looking at them in stores isn't very representative as they're often (usually) configured incorrectly or running off a degraded feed.

It pays to shop around too. I bought my current Samsung 42" about 3 months ago, in the space of about 100 metres, there was a $400 range of prices, and that's for a TV that cost me $1500ish. ($1900ish from Smith + Smith, $1700ish from Harvey Normal & $1500ish from LV Martin - for the exact same set, and I'm pretty sure LV Martins own Smith + Smith or vice/versa).

That said, DSE's prices tend to be pretty competitive, check JB Hi-Fi too as they're often able to do better deals than what's on the label.

You can normally get a good price at noel leemings when they have 20% off all TVs, or all sony etc.
I would also recommend sony. and probably 40inch, as the size difference between 40 and 32 inch is quite big, but the price difference is small. 40 inch is really needs to see the full HD quality. The samsung ones look nice, but you do hear of quite a few people who have problems with them, with things like capaciters that need replacing, and sony TV does rank higher for reliability with consumer magazine. That could just be because so many people have samsungs, and those sorts of problems may affect all brands. But I have had a good run from sony stuff.

Dunnersfella

3884 posts

Uber Geek

#541309 4-Nov-2011 20:21

The Sony KDLBX320 isn't a particularly good TV to me...
It's not technically Freeview approved, meaning every time the Freeview stations are juggled around, your parents will need to re-tune it... Not something I'd ask my folks to do.
To be fair, we'd need a little more information for us to give you the best advice.
1: What do they like to watch? Sport? Movies? General TV...
2: What will they plug into their TV? VCR? DVD? Sky? Stereo system?
3: Will they be sitting straight on to the TV? Or will they be sitting off-axis?

Cloudmelon

186 posts

Master Geek

#541311 4-Nov-2011 20:29

Dunnersfella: The Sony KDLBX320 isn't a particularly good TV to me...
It's not technically Freeview approved, meaning every time the Freeview stations are juggled around, your parents will need to re-tune it... Not something I'd ask my folks to do.
To be fair, we'd need a little more information for us to give you the best advice.
1: What do they like to watch? Sport? Movies? General TV...
2: What will they plug into their TV? VCR? DVD? Sky? Stereo system?
3: Will they be sitting straight on to the TV? Or will they be sitting off-axis?

They use Sky, so general TV mostly. Although a new TV would allow the use of watching things using USB so that would be a new option.

Plugged into it: sky and a DVD - might get surround sound in the future.

The TV would position straight on - with a small amount of wide angle viewing maybe.

Dunnersfella

3884 posts

Uber Geek

#541332 4-Nov-2011 22:03

Cool - Sounds like the needs are pretty basic... you won't even need to consider Full HD (not that they will notice the difference on a 32" panel unless they're using it as a computer monitor / photo viewer...).
Samsung and LG make pretty nice 32" LCD's that allow you to utilise a USB stick to watch almost all the formats you can throw at it. However, some are limited by the size of the drive they can read, so double check that before you buy.
Something like an LG 32LK330 maybe?