50"+ LCD TV for around the £1K mark

phil24_7

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Have been looking into a new TV to mount above my fireplace.

My living room is SE facing and has a bay window so can be reasonably light, this and the fact I'm worried about image retention on plasmas, due to me and the wife regularly having to pause tv or using the menu's for too long means I am leaning massively towards an LED lit LCD. The bigger the better!!!

I don't care about 3d or smart TV (3d may be nice for the distant future but I have no plans to buy a 3d capable blue ray player any time soon).

My shorlist is not so much of a shortlist as there are so many variants and many are only stocked at PC world/Currys etc. The setup on most of their tv's leaves a lot to be desired so I can't get a true reflection of how good they are!

Sony KDL50W656 £699
Sony KDL55W805A £999
Toshiba 58L7365DB £969
Samsung UE60F6300 £999
Samsung UE55F6400 £895
Samsung UE55F6500 £999
Samsung UE50F6670 £929
Panasonic TXL55ET60B £999

Leaning towards the W805 from the 2 Sonys as it's a 55 incher...and despite what the wife reassures me...size is important!

Have not seen the Tosh for myself but like the idea of having nearly 60 inches to play with!

have no idea of the differences between the different Samsungs (my god, what so many different 6 series tv's!!!), nor their respective picture quality.

The Panny looked quite good in Currys, it's only the silver frame that is putting me off a little.

It'll be used as the main telly in the living room and I watch a lot of football, action films and standard def TV. Sound is of no concern as I have it all running through a receiver, likewise the amount of HDMI connections...as long as it has at least 1!

I'm sorry to have such a long list but I'm hoping you lovely people can help me out and at least get the list down to a respectable 3 or 4 before I make a final decision!

I suppose if I'm being realistic, the 50" tv's are my least favourite but I may be swayed if the PQ or price is right!

Thanks in advance
Phil
 
I wouldn't buy a Toshiba, although do a search for reviews

The Samsung 60F5500 plasma is an excellent buy for a grand or less, as long as the room isn't too bright. Will be the best motion handler. Don't write it off if you want a big TV for sport
 
The room can get quite bright due to a South facing aspect and bay windows. This and image burn has me wanting an LCD TV.
 
The reviews of the Tosh that I can find seem to lead me to believe that 2d HD pictures are great 3d is dreadful, smrat tv is SSSLLLOOOWWW and standard def aren't bad. Ass I don't care about 3d or the smart functions it made the shortlist...probably more for the 58" than anything else.

I know Plasmas have a better picture, I have a 5 year old 32" LG in the bedroom that has a great picture (though suffers with image retention from windows media player control bars and the volume bar) that incidentally was recommended by you 5 years ago. The 42" Samsung LCD that is currently in the lounge has a good picture and suits my needs and I doubt I could handle a plasma in that room as I am used to the bright LCD in there.

Regaards
 
On a side note, I like to do the odd bit of gaming (FIFA, Blackl Ops etc) though not a great deal and since the birth of my boy, even less!
 
I wouldn't use a plasma as a Windows desktop
 
Sorry, should have been clearer. I occasionally connect my laptop to my TV's to play my downloaded content using Windows Media Player and stream sports etc. The Plasma in the bedroom only suffers this a couple times a month but the lounge TV has to deal with 3-4 times a week.
 
John Lewis stock the Sonys, should be able to better their offer by price matching (e.g. against Richer Sounds on the 656)
 
I've decided 50" just isn't enough so I have revised the list a little!

Sony KDL55W805A £999
Toshiba 58L7365DB £969
Samsung UE60F6300 £999
Samsung UE55F6400 £895
Samsung UE55F6500 £999
Samsung UE55F6670 £1079
Panasonic TXL55ET60B £999

Is it worth keeping the 60" 6300 or the 55" 6400 Samsung or is it worth going for the 6500 or 6670?

There is nowhere near that has all the samsungs for a comparison.
 
You can check and compare the specs on the Samsung site
 
Had just found that.

List is now down to:

Sony KDL55W805A £999
Samsung UE55F6670 £1079
Panasonic TXL55ET60B £999
LG 55LA740V £1049

All 4 TV's are sold at JL so I'm hoping they'll be on display at my nearest branch...35 mins away! 3 are sold at RS which is only ten mins away so I may take a peak there first!
 
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How far away from the set will you be sitting? Mounting above a fire place is often too high for extended periods of viewing, you'll get a lot of eye and neck strain.
 
5-6 meters away and I will be getting a mount that can come down in front of the fire for when the fire is not in use and we only use the fire on the coldest days of the year as we have central heating too.
 
I went to JL today and looked at all the tv's together. It just so happened that I could view all the TV's at once as they were all set up near to each other. I then got them all tuned in to standard definition football which I figured would represent some of the worst viewing conditions.

The Panasonic was dreadful anywhere closer than 2-3 meters but at 5 or so meters was reasonable, the Samsung was slightly worse than this at all viewing distances (a bit of a shame as the smart remote and the smart tv service was very good) leaving the LG and the Sony that seemed to be pretty much on a par with each other and quite good (though these were both 42" versions).

I can get the Sony from my local Sony centre for £999 with free delivery, installation and manufacturer 5 year warranty. The LG can be had for £1049 from Richer Sounds complete with their free 5 year warranty.

Not much in price difference, not much in picture quality so it's down to specs/extras/3d viewing etc.
 
Should I be worried that the 55" versions of the 2 TV's I am choosing from will have worse picture quality that the 42" ones I view in JL?
 
Depends what you watch and from what distance. Blur can be more obvious on bigger screens, backlight bleed / panel uniformity can be worse and gaming lag can be higher
 
Depends what you watch and from what distance. Blur can be more obvious on bigger screens, backlight bleed / panel uniformity can be worse and gaming lag can be higher
Conversely they could also all be better, it all depends on the panel.

David
 
Pooh! Need to find somewhere local that has both tv's, in a 55" format on display! Guess I may just have to take a chance!
 
Has anybody compared a 42 or 46" against a 55" in either of the 2 TV's mentioned above?
 
I'm pretty much looking at that list too except the Samsung (already have samsung & fancy a change) although I think the LG 740V is £1149 at JL. Also considering the 55LA860W which is £1199 @ Curry's as this is better spec I think than the 740 - faster processor, USB 3.0, 4x HDMi , built in camera etc. Only problem is that Curry's dont do the free 5 year warranty but I might take the risk as I cant find that model anywhere else.

Should the Panasonic on your list be the L55ET61B? that is £999 at JL.

May go to JL & Curry's tomorrow to view
 
ET61B (ET60B) is on the list but looked a bit poor in person at JL.

740V is £1049 from Richer Sounds
 
Looks like I'm gonna go for the Sony. Now the question is do I buy it from Sony, John Lewis or Richer Sounds (John Lewis should price match). All would be £999, all would have 5 years warranty though obviously one direct from the manufacturer and the other 2 from places with good customer service.
 

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