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.
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!