Bought the TV .... now what???!

[lara]

As a newbie I did the worst possible thing you can do, I read and read and reread reviews and comments about TV's for ages and then went out and spent £800 on something I hadn't even heard of!

I bought a Panasonic TH 46PZ80, which, hopefully, wasn't a bad buy but now I am stuck.

I'd like to wall mount it on a piece of wallwhere the fire is at the mo. We don't have a chimney breast and alcoves just a flat wall, so it's just a matter of removing the old gas fire, surround and hearth.

We will have to redecorate so this is the time to get everything sorted I presume.

Now the questions!

What else do I need - I don't play games except on the Wii so no console to worry about.

I also have the ubiqutous Humax 9200.

I'd like a surround sound system that is compatable and a HD source, either freesat or sky hd ( depending on cheapness - sorry poor grammar!!)

Possibly looking for a bluray player too.

As the TV was £200 over my budget, finances are limited so any bargains in the above areas would be welcome.

I hope this is in the right section if not I apologise and am happy for it to get shunted.

Many thanks in advance for any suggestions and advice.

[The Snake]

You're on the wrong section. You'd be better of in the Construction DIY section re the wall mount.

Personally I think wall mounts look hard work and from what i've seen people either make a fantastic job of them or a real hash of them. Personally I wouldn't wall mount except in a bedroom. I had a wall mount (some installer did it) in my bedroom for £250 but the was no surround system or significant wiring hence easy job.

The sound system would be my next port of call, if you want 5.1 (rears aswell as fronts) then I would consider the rear cabling and where the cabling is going to run from your amp to your rears (under the carpet).

Not sure how the TV was 3200 over budget, but i think you should actually state a budget as good (seperate) surround sound could set you back say £750.00

Personally i'd be looking at:

Sound £750 (although an all in one could be bought for £250)
Blu Ray £200 - £300
Sky HD £200

Personally I would worry more about wiring for the TV and surround sound especially on a wall mount.

[lara]

Many thanks Snake for the helpful advice.

Sorry finger slipped off the shift key, should have been £200 not 3200!

My budget is pretty low, surround sound system £300.

Thankfully (!) we need to re-carpet the room so cabling shouldn't be too arduous.

Blu Ray £250

Freesat - not sure.

Not sure how I get the thread moved, mods please help.

Thanks again Snake. Still fancy wall mounting though!

[Miss Chief]

You could get the Sony BDP-S350 which is a great player and can be had for around £150 these days. This would give you an extra £100 for the amp and speakers. £400 is easily doable but you might need to scrimp a little here and there. My amp and speakers cost £479 with cables etc extra and it sounds great IMO.

[JulieBell]

Moved from Plasma Forum at OP's request.

[The Snake]

Originally Posted by lara

Still fancy wall mounting though!

Your budget (£300) would go on the wall mount and cabling alone.

Here's the problem I have with wall mounts, modern loft apartment with a large room and a viewing distance of say at least 12 foot fine (even more say 15 foot plus), then the height of the tv isn't so critical and wall mounts (good ones) look quite good.

What i've seen is less than 12 foot (viewing distance) and they are mounted too high, I can't get my head around a TV higher (or lower) than head height when sitting. I have my speakers and tv screen at head height at sitting position because thats where I firmly believe they should be. If you sit in the cinema (In the middle are you looking up, no generally you are looking straight at the screen).

At less than 12 foot a tv on an average stand will give the approx. correct IMHO head height once sitting on the stand (assuming it is not one of these long things) hence why bother to wall mount.

In a bedroom its different as you don't want a tv stand in there (in a front room there is more gear hence you generally have to have a stand) and the viewing is different (you tend to look up more on a bed) hence a wall mount is correct for many reasons, often though people stick them near the ceiling and having had mine mounted I couldn't believe they put it almost just above centre but they said thats where it should go and having watched it they were exactly right.

Hence (front room) wall mounts I would only really consider on big 'loft style' apartments at a viewing distance of say 15 feet or more, anything else IHMO is a case of going completely overboard. They think there traditional front room can look like a 'loft apartment', well it can't.

I've seen people stick them perhaps higher than my mirror above the mantelpiece in the front room, I look at that when I'm standing up in front of it, not sitting 3 feet lower on the sofa.

[loz]

Originally Posted by The Snake

Here's the problem I have with wall mounts, modern loft apartment with a large room and a viewing distance of say at least 12 foot fine (even more say 15 foot plus), then the height of the tv isn't so critical and wall mounts (good ones) look quite good.

What i've seen is less than 12 foot (viewing distance) and they are mounted too high, I can't get my head around a TV higher (or lower) than head height when sitting. I have my speakers and tv screen at head height at sitting position because thats where I firmly believe they should be. If you sit in the cinema (In the middle are you looking up, no generally you are looking straight at the screen).

At less than 12 foot a tv on an average stand will give the approx. correct IMHO head height once sitting on the stand (assuming it is not one of these long things) hence why bother to wall mount.

In a bedroom its different as you don't want a tv stand in there (in a front room there is more gear hence you generally have to have a stand) and the viewing is different (you tend to look up more on a bed) hence a wall mount is correct for many reasons, often though people stick them near the ceiling and having had mine mounted I couldn't believe they put it almost just above centre but they said thats where it should go and having watched it they were exactly right.

Hence (front room) wall mounts I would only really consider on big 'loft style' apartments at a viewing distance of say 15 feet or more, anything else IHMO is a case of going completely overboard. They think there traditional front room can look like a 'loft apartment', well it can't.

I've seen people stick them perhaps higher than my mirror above the mantelpiece in the front room, I look at that when I'm standing up in front of it, not sitting 3 feet lower on the sofa.

I can't say I really understand your post.

What stops people putting them on a lounge wall at any height they wish? Who says it has to be high up?

Fair enough if you are putting it above a mantlepiece, you have little alternative, and I agree with some of your comments.

But the OP said he was removing the fire. And lots of people don't have a fire in the first place. So just wall mount it at a similar height to it would be on a stand.

[27neth]

you can get a wall mount for £40, then a couple of hdmi cables £25.

john..

[alexhodge1234]

To be honest i think your daft if your paying £250 to get your tv wall mounted, you can get a wall mount for £20 from eBay.
Im only 17 and i mounted my friends 40" LCD on his wall, first time and never done it before and it worked out all fine and dandy.
Heres a pic of what it looked like when i finished.

I found it quite easy to do although the mounting rawl plugs that they gave in the pack were terrible so we got some cheap wilko's ones and they worked brilliantly.

[The Snake]

Originally Posted by alexhodge1234

To be honest i think your daft if your paying £250 to get your tv wall mounted, you can get a wall mount for £20 from eBay.
Im only 17 and i mounted my friends 40" LCD on his wall, first time and never done it before and it worked out all fine and dandy.
Heres a pic of what it looked like when i finished.

I found it quite easy to do although the mounting rawl plugs that they gave in the pack were terrible so we got some cheap wilko's ones and they worked brilliantly.

They wall mounted, ran a magic eye from the downstairs sky ran all the wire outside then through the roof, then sunk it into the chimney breast and re-plastered and moved the electricity supply to the back of the TV to ensure there were no electricity wires showing.

They actually did a great job for the money.

[The Snake]

Originally Posted by loz

I can't say I really understand your post.

What stops people putting them on a lounge wall at any height they wish? Who says it has to be high up?

Fair enough if you are putting it above a mantlepiece, you have little alternative, and I agree with some of your comments.

But the OP said he was removing the fire. And lots of people don't have a fire in the first place. So just wall mount it at a similar height to it would be on a stand.

Generally an optimum height (except as stated) will be the same height as on a stand, so why not just stick it on a stand and save a load of heart ache with running a load wires through the walls etc.

Re Who says it has to be high up?, the point was IMHO it shouldn't really be high up.

Removing a fire would only give the advantage of centre positioning in the room and improve speaker soundstage ie allow a standard 5.1 speaker position. If it was a nice fire, i'd keep it and consider corner position unless the sound stage was considered critical.

[lara]

Hi all, sorry to have started a row but discussions are always fun!

I am only looking to raise the television slightly higher than normal to keep little fingers off and also because I am not sure if I will use a stand or not, but it really isn't my main concern.

I was more worried that if I brick up the chimney, plaster and decorate then I won't be able to channel for hidden cables later.

I am sure I have read about people putting guttering/ tubing into the wall cavity to feed the cables through - or maybe I dreamt it!

Still looking for a nice sub £300 surround sound system, a cheapish Blu ray player - looking like the sony one mentioned above (thanks skytech) and freesat system, probably the Humax.

[lara]

Originally Posted by The Snake

If it was a nice fire, i'd keep it and consider corner position unless the sound stage was considered critical.

Hi snake - there lies the reason - horrible fire!

[loz]

Originally Posted by lara

I am sure I have read about people putting guttering/ tubing into the wall cavity to feed the cables through - or maybe I dreamt it!

you can buy conduit from most diy stores like B&Q.
Just put a length of that inside the wall before you plaster over.
Make sure it is big enough to get the connectors through as well, not just the diameter of the cable.

You can also get decorative trunking for putting on the wall surface. Clearly not invisible, but more convenient

D-Line Plasma Tv Trunking PVC Dline

(you can buy that in B&Q too)

[lara]

Thanks loz, seeing as the wall will be rebuilt it will be easier to do the "conduit" now - very pleased I didn't dream it!