Help choosing an LCD T.V.

[dbedgood]

Hi,

I have been looking around on these forums so I can get some info on what the best LCD t.v. is for my budget. It was a toss up between the Panasonic TX-32LXD500 & Hitachi 32LD7200. After reading a lot of threads on the issue I was going to go for the Hitachi but then I come across the Toshiba 32WLT58 which turns out to be £200 cheaper and comes with a stand. Does anyone know if this would be a good choice or was I right in going with the Hitachi?

I would really appreciate any advice on this.

Thanks

 

[daxie]

My advice would be:

go to a store and compare them yourself.

take with you a dvd you know, and play the same scene on all sets.
Also check on regular freeview/sky how quality with sd feeds will be.

All those owners seem to be happy bout their set, so either one will be biased.

Oh, I compared the hitachi and the panny. Panny beat it by a hair imo.

 

[dbedgood]

Thanks for the suggestion daxie. Would you say that the Panny is worth the extra £120 though? Plus I wouldn't need Freeview as I have NTL Digital.

 

[danvitale]

What is your budget? And how far away from your TV will you be sitting?

Two major things in considering when purchasing a new LCD TV.

 

[daxie]

Thanks for the suggestion daxie. Would you say that the Panny is worth the extra £120 though? Plus I wouldn't need Freeview as I have NTL Digital.

Mm, no, hitachi slightly better connection wise, so that would tilt it I think.
Depends on what you think is more important...

 

[dbedgood]

My Budget is about £1200-£1300. I will be sitting roughly 8-10 ft away from the screen. I'm going to want to hook up my NTL Digital, DVD through component and my Xbox.

I'm basically after something with good connectivity, really nice picture and as yet I don't have surround sound system so nice sound would be really nice too.

 

[dbedgood]

Guys, I am now even more confused than before. I bought What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision and What Home Cinema as they were doing group tests on 32inch LCD's. They basically said that the Panasonic is hard to beat but the Toshiba is a very good set for the money but they tested the 32WL56 not the 32WLT58 as they couldn't get hold of one. I don't know whether the Panasonic is worth the extra £350, especially as the Toshiba comes with a stand. But then again if I'm spending the money, I might as well get the best but I don't know if I can go the extra £350.

As you can see I have myself a conundrum. Any advice would be really appreciated as it is doing my head in trying to decide.

 

[DaveAnderson]

Dbedgood, take Daxies advise and have a look for yourself. I have compared the Panny500/52, JVC and the Tosh 58. Not had a chance to see the Hitachi. If you search around the Panny 500 can be had for £1327 + free delivery.

IMO, the grey surround of the tosh drew my eyes away from the picture, whereas the black surround of the JVC and panny helped focus my attention on the picture. Don't discount the panasonic 32lxd52 which can be had for £1100.

Dave

 

[tony kop77]

II am also looking for an LCD and it was also a toss up between the Panasonic 500 and the Hitachi 7200. After reading the forums and replies I got to my other posts I have decidied to go for the panasonic 500.
I nearly bought one today with free delivery £180 as a deposit and £40 a week for a year 0% intrest. The set was 1799.

 

[mjw123]

II am also looking for an LCD and it was also a toss up between the Panasonic 500 and the Hitachi 7200. After reading the forums and replies I got to my other posts I have decidied to go for the panasonic 500.
I nearly bought one today with free delivery £180 as a deposit and £40 a week for a year 0% intrest. The set was 1799.

You certainly are Crazy - you could have got 2 32" Samsungs for that price - Home Cinema Choice rated the samsung as a better panel than the Panasonic

 

[maddi]

Hi,

the last few weeks, I also was looking for a 32'' LCD TV.
For me it's very important to have a nearly 'regular' picture quality watching analogue PAL from cable. Most LCDs I've seen - even the more expensive ones - are completely unaceptable because of there crappy PAL picture. They look very nice, if fed with HD data, but really lag behind CRTs when it comes to PAL.
I was completely disappointed until I could take a look at the (in Germany) brand new SONY KLV-S32A10. It really produces a good PAL picture - quite a good compromise for a slim LCD TV and less expensive than the middle class Philips models which seem to have the best PAL picture.
If analogue sources are important, I'd suggest to give the SONY a try.
BTW, I also had a look at the TOSHIBA 32WL58P and SHARP Aquos LC32/P50E. Both are said to show a good PAL, but IMO, they don't reach the SONY.
I was also looking for the HITACHI 32LD7200 for it's very good reviews. Has anybody seen it - especially with an analogue source? It's quite a pricy piece, and hard to find or buy.


Maddi

 

[Borgy]

Hi,

the last few weeks, I also was looking for a 32'' LCD TV.
For me it's very important to have a nearly 'regular' picture quality watching analogue PAL from cable. Most LCDs I've seen - even the more expensive ones - are completely unaceptable because of there crappy PAL picture. They look very nice, if fed with HD data, but really lag behind CRTs when it comes to PAL.
I was completely disappointed until I could take a look at the (in Germany) brand new SONY KLV-S32A10. It really produces a good PAL picture - quite a good compromise for a slim LCD TV and less expensive than the middle class Philips models which seem to have the best PAL picture.
If analogue sources are important, I'd suggest to give the SONY a try.
BTW, I also had a look at the TOSHIBA 32WL58P and SHARP Aquos LC32/P50E. Both are said to show a good PAL, but IMO, they don't reach the SONY.
I was also looking for the HITACHI 32LD7200 for it's very good reviews. Has anybody seen it - especially with an analogue source? It's quite a pricy piece, and hard to find or buy.


Maddi

I aint a fan of Sony LCDs, must have been the settings on the Tosh and Sharp, bit of tweaking and they would out-do the Sony no probs...

 

[maddi]

I'm not a fan of any make per se.
I did all the tweaking on the models quite a while. Almost all of them do have severe problems displaying analogue signals like PAL. With HD signals they all have a great picture. But scaling PAL seems to be a problem that you can't solve by tweaking, no matter how long you try.

Maddi

 

[dbedgood]

I won't be watching analogue with the set just digital sources. I have to admit after all the reading I have done, both on this forum and in the Home Cinema magazines, it looks like the Panasonic TX-32LXD500 is the set to get. It is slightly more than I wanted to spend but every one absolutely raves about it.

 

[richard plumb]

basically said that the Panasonic is hard to beat but the Toshiba is a very good set for the money but they tested the 32WL56 not the 32WLT58 as they couldn't get hold of one.

The toshiba 58 also has 2 HDMI sockets, so similarly good connectivity as the Hitachi. I think its definitely worth a place on your shortlist, as should be the JVC 32DS6

The samsung, JVC and Toshiba 32" can all be had for around £1100 (sammy less). The panasonic is more expensive and I've decided it isn't worth the difference (to me)

 

[J.Glen]

Hi,

the last few weeks, I also was looking for a 32'' LCD TV.
For me it's very important to have a nearly 'regular' picture quality watching analogue PAL from cable. Most LCDs I've seen - even the more expensive ones - are completely unaceptable because of there crappy PAL picture. They look very nice, if fed with HD data, but really lag behind CRTs when it comes to PAL.
I was completely disappointed until I could take a look at the (in Germany) brand new SONY KLV-S32A10. It really produces a good PAL picture - quite a good compromise for a slim LCD TV and less expensive than the middle class Philips models which seem to have the best PAL picture.
If analogue sources are important, I'd suggest to give the SONY a try.
BTW, I also had a look at the TOSHIBA 32WL58P and SHARP Aquos LC32/P50E. Both are said to show a good PAL, but IMO, they don't reach the SONY.
I was also looking for the HITACHI 32LD7200 for it's very good reviews. Has anybody seen it - especially with an analogue source? It's quite a pricy piece, and hard to find or buy.


Maddi

With all honesty here's my take on the whole regular/analogue sources on the HITACHI:
I was reading this forum for weeks(among other things) before deciding which LCD to buy.I allready,had an LCD monitor so i knew the basic problems of LCD sets(ghosting/black levels) and i did a pretty good research before giving 2000 euros for a tv.This forum had scared me a lot about how regular channels would look on an LCD tv,most people were complaing about every damn set when it came to regular channel.

So my tv arrived and after checking it out with some good sources(dvd,pc) i connected it to my exterial antenna through RF and let me tell you ,the picture was brilliant.It was ,almost,on par with my 5 years old Sony wega 29" CRT.No ghosting,great colours(with the right adjustements) and great levels of black(since apparently the tv copes with the analogue channels like a CRT would when it comes to blacks).

Now i can't tell you if other LCDs(esp.similar "new" models like the panny 500 for which i've also read great things and was considering buying it) have a good picture on analogue channels but i can assure that you won't have a problem whatsoever with the Hitachi set.

Oh and for dbedgood,if sound is a factor for you(apart from picture/connectivity) then you'll be surprised with the 7200.Its sound is magnificent.