Best sub-£700 TV from Curry's/PC World?

rich1068

Established Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2005
Messages
145
Reaction score
4
Points
30
Some advice required if you don't mind.

Until this morning we had a perfectly usable Sony KDL40D3000 that served us well since 2007. Unfortunately there was an 'incident' involving my 5 year old and now we're in the market for a new TV! Our insurance company are sending us a Currys/PC World gift card for just short of £700 to buy a replacement.

So...

The TV has to be from Currys/PC World. Ideally 40/42". Apart from that it's all about the picture. I have absolutely no need for any other features such as WiFi, iPlayer etc etc. I have other boxes such as the WD TV Live and Humax HDR1000S that perform all those functions very well. The insurance company said their equivalent was the KDL42W805A and this is the TV they base their payout on. It looks like a decent TV but can anyone suggest an alternative?
 
Last edited:
The newer Sony KDL42W829 :)

Have a look instore, my local currys have the new range of sonys instore. Shame you have to buy from them as you can get the same TV from other places like John Lewis, Local Independant stores etc for the same price and also give you the 5 year sony warranty.
 
Can you not ask for a John Lewis voucher instead? Explain the warranty issue, and suggest this is the route you would rather take. I personally tell them I HATE Currys / PC World, and would really rather not shop there at all. Insurance companies are meant to work for YOU afterall.
 
This ^^^ although I expect the insurance company don't pay DSG £700 for the gift card, while they may need to with John Lewis, but certainly ask the question!

Ultimately, insurance companies work for themselves, devoid of altruism
 
If you really want to stay at the 42" size then this years W829 is a better option than last years W805. It has better contrast!
I was in my local Currys the other day and had a look at this;

Buy SONY BRAVIA KDL48W605 Smart 48" LED TV | Free Delivery | Currys

To be honest you wouldn't think it was 48" just by looking at it. It has a very narrow bezel. Chances are the actual footprint or size of the whole TV will be just a little bit bigger than the D3000. I would be very tempted to upgrade to something like this. I can't comment on PQ as it wasn't even turned on! Motion processing will not be as good as the W829 though.

42" is a good size if you watch a lot of SD programmes. If you mainly watch HD then I recommend going bigger!
 
The newer Sony KDL42W829 :)

If you really want to stay at the 42" size then this years W829 is a better option than last years W805. It has better contrast!

Cheers guys. Didn't realise the W805 was an older model. That W829 looks promising. But I'm not restricted to Sony, can anyone suggest any other brand?
 
Panasonic 42et60 (61 from John Lewis )
 
Spooky. A good friend has just suggested exactly the same model. He has one and rates it highly.
 
Ultimately, insurance companies work for themselves, devoid of altruism

This^^^^^^

And OP whats the set for? Any gaming etc?
Have you looked in the review section?
 
Panasonic model smart tv is going for 429 at curry it's a 42 inch sorry don't remember the model number
 
Ha! Starting to drown in TVs now!

I was all set for the Panasonic and it even appears to have dropped another 50 quid since last night leaving money left over for other things. But now SWMBO reckons she's not keen on silver :( The current trend does appear to be for silver/chrome though so not sure how we're going to get around that one.

Help! Not bothered about 3D, Smart features, wifi, iPlayer, USB ports, cupholders, Skype, Twitter or full featured browsers. We watch Freesat HD when possible and BD movies. I just want a panel that gets the AVF nod.

:thumbsup:
 
It's a TV :). Go to currys when it's quite and have a good look at all the options in budget, ask to have the remotes and play with the settings. Then buy the one you like most. Simples
 
And the winner is...

maybe try the kdl42w705?

I found time to call today. Didn't really have much time to play so I relied on what had been posted here and elsewhere. The fact that it's a 2014 model, similar to the W829 and left me some money on the gift card sealed it. No 3D but I really can't see myself sitting there watching 3D. Initial wow factor yes, longevity no. Just IMO of course.

With the money left over I treated the kids to a couple of those 9" screens that go on the back of the car headrests. I'm toying with the idea of just getting one out of the box, putting it in the lounge an telling my 5yo I've replaced the TV. Just to see his face really...

Oh and one other thing. Guess what the assistant tried to sell me? I'll give you some clues. They're 1.5m long, gold plated and cost about 60 quid ;) You know, because it's HD and that.
 
I have to add that the Sony KDL-42W705 has surprised me. Actually what has surprised me has been the additional features. Specifically the ability to stream my own media to the TV. I really thought all this smart TV stuff would be a bit gimmicky and if done by Sony then a bit half-arsed. Hence my previous skepticism. So far I've ditched the WD TV Live and the Humax box is looking a bit redundant. All this and not being able to fault the picture or sound means this TV gets a :smashin:
 
And the winner is...



I found time to call today. Didn't really have much time to play so I relied on what had been posted here and elsewhere. The fact that it's a 2014 model, similar to the W829 and left me some money on the gift card sealed it. No 3D but I really can't see myself sitting there watching 3D. Initial wow factor yes, longevity no. Just IMO of course.

With the money left over I treated the kids to a couple of those 9" screens that go on the back of the car headrests. I'm toying with the idea of just getting one out of the box, putting it in the lounge an telling my 5yo I've replaced the TV. Just to see his face really...

Oh and one other thing. Guess what the assistant tried to sell me? I'll give you some clues. They're 1.5m long, gold plated and cost about 60 quid ;) You know, because it's HD and that.

What did he offer you? Selling cables is part of the job sadly, though theres a good deal if you wanted a bracket too. Hopefully he wasn't too pushy.
 
Thinking of buying a new TV tomorrow. Looking at the 705, but then I see the 829 is down to £499 on Richersounds.
Are these basically the same TV, but with the latter having 3D? I am not particularly bothered about 3D, and at the original £100 price difference I would have stuck with the 705, but £70 seems a bit more palletable ,but saying that will I ever use it more than a couple of times??
Decisions ,decisions!!

Edit: Will not be gaming on it. Will be used for normal day to day TV watching, although if it will enable me to get rid of my WD Live Streaming player that would also be a benefit(should have read the thread properly, looks like it will do the trick.
 
Last edited:
Thinking of buying a new TV tomorrow. Looking at the 705, but then I see the 829 is down to £499 on Richersounds.
Are these basically the same TV, but with the latter having 3D? I am not particularly bothered about 3D, and at the original £100 price difference I would have stuck with the 705, but £70 seems a bit more palletable ,but saying that will I ever use it more than a couple of times??
Decisions ,decisions!!

Edit: Will not be gaming on it. Will be used for normal day to day TV watching, although if it will enable me to get rid of my WD Live Streaming player that would also be a benefit.

The W8 is 120Hz whereas the W7 is 60Hz. This difference is more noticeable on bigger LCD's where motion blur is a problem. The 42" W8 will still have a smoother viewing experience though.
 
Thanks Ossie, would you recommend the Sony over similar priced LGs?
I bought a cheap LG 32" last year and am more than happy with it.
 
WRT 3D could I play 3D .iso files streamed from my PC?
Read about it somewhere ,and somebody said it showed up as half& half on the screen (don't know what TV this was on) and the reply was to press the 2D to 3D function. But the Sony doesnt have that according to the specs.
 
:p thought for a second that 100Hz comment was from April when you couldn't know any better ;). The 42W8 is not a 100(120)Hz set ...
 
:p thought for a second that 100Hz comment was from April when you couldn't know any better ;). The 42W8 is not a 100(120)Hz set ...

Thanks for the correction Desinho. Weird that Sony should make 42" different to the 50".
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom