Sony 37ex403 - £499 from Comet...

[TheAtomium]

...when you trade in your old TV for £50 discount.

Here.

Looks like a good deal to me. The ex503 series seems to get all the good reviews, but as far as I can see the ex403 only lacks 100Hz motion gimmickry and fake aluminium strip on the front, for at least £250 less.

What do you reckon?

 

[vickster]

Depends if you watch sport or use games consoles - for these, people do say that the 100hz processing (where implemented well as Sony do), help with motion blur. Up to you

 

[TheAtomium]

Does the processing really help that much though? In most of the reviews I've seen they always seem to say that the 100hz system makes movement look unnatural, so to turn it off when watching films.

Ok, so sport contains lots of fast motion, but then so do lots of films, particularly with the current fashion for shaky handheld camerawork. And if it looks unnatural for films, wouldn't sport look wrong too?

And as for gaming, wouldn't 100Hz add an extra layer of processing, contributing further to input lag? I thought most LCDs had a game mode, which basically turns as much as possible off.

Now, I accept that it probably comes down to personal taste, and no, I'm not a sports fan. Films are the main priority for me. But I just get the impression that 100Hz systems are a bit of a gimmick, trying to trick the eye into ignoring LCDs inherent weakness with motion. After all, if you were really obsessed with motion, you'd get a plasma.

Just my two pence worth, feel free to contradict . Certainly not worth an extra £250 in my case, I reckon.

 

[bluetide]

You can get the 40EX503 for £650 so not that much difference in price.

 

[vickster]

OP - I think you have answered your own question. If you are not fussed about the 100hz, no need to pay extra for it Sony and Samsung 37s have also used inferior panels in the past as compared to the 32s and 40s (dk if the same for this generation)

I do watch quite a lot of football and films and for that reason, I have a plasma as my main TV (I don't really like the cartoon like picture of LCD either) I would probably go for the 37X20 for films and not an LCD, even blu-ray (£450 from Amazon)

 

[TheAtomium]

So, you reckon the Panasonic P37X20 would be a better bet for a movie fan like me? Would the motion benefits outweigh the 720p resolution? And what about long-term reliability? Ideally I want a TV to last 10 years

I will mainly be watching HD films from my Istar media box via HDMI, and TV from my Humax PVR via SCART.

Thanks