Hi everyone , first post so be gentle

I'll cut straight to chase so as to not waste your time!

I'm after a widescreen telly 36"+, and was just wondering what you guys recommended, i've been reading around sites and can't seem to find a direct comparison between televisions, each tv is reviewed in their own right at their difference release dates as would be expected but upon cross-referencing the reviews I don't seem to be able to draw upon a conclusive winner, might just be my stupidity in play, if so, forgive me

I was planning on finding a nice price at a retailer such as currys/dixon/digital point and then using John Lewis' price match offer, gaining myself a 5 year guarantee in the process (must save £300+ on that alone!).

I would normally consider a rear projection but John Lewis don't stock them so they're kinda ruled out, I've seen CRTs directly next to RPTVs and the picture quality difference seems quite clear in my eyes so I'm happy with getting one of them.

My budget is £1000-1400(dont wanna spend the whole amount just because I can!) and any recommendations would be very kindly received!

I have just ordered a 36" JVC from Currys for £999.

The offer ends in about 55 mins so you better hurry up.

Great TV ridiculous price. Go for it.

Thinking about it I could probably stretch it to ~ £1600, might open up the market for considering plasma's / LCD RPTVs ?

Thanks for the tip about the JVC, don't fancy rushing right into it when I could potentially aim for something higher, great value for money tho mate!

[runningback]

originally posted by puneet
I've seen CRTs directly next to RPTVs and the picture quality difference seems quite clear in my eyes

In which environment and how where they set up.
If a RPTV is properly set up and all three guns calibrated the PQ
should be on a par.
German magazine 'video' had a huge group test recently with 12 TVs
including 36" CRT, CRT RPTV and LCD RPTV, winners in the Picture Quality
departement (both equal) with 77 pts out of 100 a 36" CRT and a CRT RPTV.
So there was no measurable difference beetwen them, if however you
prefer the 36" CRT picture i would probably go for a Toshiba picture frame tv
or the Philips 36PW9618.

Your budget would allow for a 44" or 46" RPTV (Toshiba,Thomson, Sony)

LCD tv still looks a little expensive at that budget but i've seen the Sony
SX300 for just over £1500, i would recommend you have a look at the picture first if you like it because of the greyish black-levels.

cheers for the comprehensive reply runningback, it's appreciated!

I was originally looking for a RPTV but according to the JohnLewis website they don't stock them, (sent them an email to check) and their offer seems a bit too good to refuse.

Does that magazine have a website that I could look at mate? Tried a search but 'video' and 'magazine' doesn't seem to narrow it down all that much

What RPTV models are recommended?

[runningback]

Well the website is
http://www.video-magazin.de/
but unfortunately are all there archived reviews premium downloads for which you would have to pay......

i can only recommend what i know and that is the Thomson 40KW613 which
i have myself, with your budget i would probably go for the bigger brother....
http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/CatalogueItem_15877.html

Toshibas are also recommendable 42WH36, 51WH36.http://www.rgbdirect.co.uk/mainscreen.asp

or the new 42WH46, if
you don't need component inputs.