mangobrain
Standard Member
Hullo all,
I've currently got a no-name 22-inch LCD that given to me for free, but it has recently developed a rather annoying fault; specifically one row of pixels about a quarter of the way down displays garbage. So I'm looking to buy a TV.
Now, I'm currently torn between just going out and buying another cheapo 22-incher, or going for something a bit bigger and better. In this day and age I thought going HD - and, if possible, 3D - might be a good idea, even if only for future use, because the longer I go without being tempted to replace it the better.
What I am dismayed by, though, is the cost of a decent Freeview HD PVR - for example, the cheapest I can find the HDR-FOX T2 is £241 at Pixmania, but it's the only one I've seen with consistently good reviews. Looking at the average cost of a 32-inch screen, that's almost as much as the telly itself! Our current (non-HD) freeview PVR is pretty good, and I don't think I could live without its capabilities.
So... on to the questions.
Any suggestions, opinions or questions welcome!
I've currently got a no-name 22-inch LCD that given to me for free, but it has recently developed a rather annoying fault; specifically one row of pixels about a quarter of the way down displays garbage. So I'm looking to buy a TV.
Now, I'm currently torn between just going out and buying another cheapo 22-incher, or going for something a bit bigger and better. In this day and age I thought going HD - and, if possible, 3D - might be a good idea, even if only for future use, because the longer I go without being tempted to replace it the better.
What I am dismayed by, though, is the cost of a decent Freeview HD PVR - for example, the cheapest I can find the HDR-FOX T2 is £241 at Pixmania, but it's the only one I've seen with consistently good reviews. Looking at the average cost of a 32-inch screen, that's almost as much as the telly itself! Our current (non-HD) freeview PVR is pretty good, and I don't think I could live without its capabilities.So... on to the questions.
- What 32-inch screens would people recommend wrt. response times (for gaming)?
- If I didn't bother getting an HD PVR, but got a "smart" TV (for stuff like iPlayer), would I be missing out? Is there a noticeable quality difference between HD content streamed over the net compared to HD Freeview?
- Are there any non-"smart" 3D tellies?
- Is it really worth the money getting a 3D TV for "future use", bearing in mind I don't currently have a PS3 or Xbox 360, or would I be better off concentrating on a decent 2D set?
- If I did go 3D, what are the chances of it working with my PC (Radeon HD6950)?
- Is it worth the extra money for 1080p on a 32-inch set?
- What other (cheaper) Freeview HD PVRs would people recommend? Fast channel switching & decent EPG are must-haves.
- When I looked at Samsung LED edge-lit models recently, I thought the lighting was generally very uniform, apart from - ironically enough - right at the edges of the screen, where it got noticeably darker. It made the edges of the image look rounded, not sharp, and frankly I found it more distracting than the odd bit of non-uniformity on cheaper sets. Is this a known issue, or just something to do with how they had the display models set up?
- Samsung UE32D5000. 2D only, non-"smart", but has rave reviews. Not cheap tho - cheapest I can find is £342 at Pixmania, which puts it at £583 with the HDR-FOX. Not sure what response times are like.
- Panasonic TX-L32DT30B. 3D, "smart", and does recording over USB, but only one channel at a time. Cheapest I can find it (from anywhere I'd trust) is £499, so about £550 with a decent-sized USB hard drive. I've read mixed opinions on its black levels and response times - some threads here recommend it for gaming, but at least one reviewer said it wasn't great. 3D is apparently excellent, but I don't know if I would use it.
- Samsung UE32D6100. Similar to the above - 3D, "smart", USB recording - but cheaper, at £426, so call it £486 with a USB drive. I assume it would be similar to the UE32D5000 in terms of image quality. Again I don't know anything about the the response times. 3D is apparently not stellar, but again, I don't know if I'd use it anyway.
Any suggestions, opinions or questions welcome!
for my research abilities there), so no comment on HD so far. Audio quality and viewing angles are about par for the course for a mid-level LED TV, i.e. acceptable but not fantastic; they are of course easily rectified by sitting in the right place and plugging in speakers, as with any other set.
