What telly do I need?

milltown

I've promised myself that if (when) Liverpool get past Chelsea in the CL semi final, rather than go to a final we might lose (to Barca, if anyone) I'll treat myself to a sweet new Roger Mellie to watch the final on and enjoy for many years to come.

To give an idea of the lifespan I expect, I currently watch a 32" non wide Sony CRT

So it will be used for watching telly, NTL digital, and DVDs and Divxs. I'm semi aware of the usefulness of HDMI but I don't have any HDMI cabled devices in my house, yet. I have a sneaking suspicion that with the impending GTA iv and Gran Turismo I may end up with a PS3 attached to it. I don't actually watch much telly but herself will expect it to be better than the current CRT, and when I do watch it'll be golf and soccer.

We'd be sitting at least 10 feet away and looking at 40-42" sets, so from what I've read we wouldn't really see any difference between 720p and 1080p (HD ready vs. Full HD, yes?). Considering we never went widescreen/flatscreen CRT I think it should be obvious we don't want to pay an extra few hundred to be on the bleeding edge so I think HD ready is probably good enough, once the picture is good.

I believe plasma is better value than LCD, for a given size, and is considered better for fast moving stuff like soccer and action movies, but needs regassing every couple of years and can be damaged by gaming. Is this still true or is it old hat at this stage.

Lastly(ish), everything I've read has been discussing Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and Pioneer. Have LG fallen away in the flat panel race? Is there any particular make that excels in either plasma or LCD or in the 40-42" size? Budget is ~€1000 btw.
Komplett have This on special this week. Is it worth a shot? Spending so much I'd be more inclined to go bricks and mortar, especially if there was anywhere that might cut a deal on TV and PS3. Where would you recommend to buy? Are Power City worth even looking at or are they just hawking Beko sh1te? Curry/Dixons? Harvey Norman? DID?

Thanks in advance for any replies. I did actually spend two afternoons trawling previous discussions but prices and models seem to date so quickly.

trabpc

Are you still going to purchace after tonights result?

In my opinion yea Pioneer are no 1 in Plasma and Panasonic a very very close second.

http://www.allianceelectric.ie/products/tv/plasmalcd/th42pv80.htm

Not full HD but IMO I don't think it matters at this size.

this one looks good and comes with a 5 yr Warranty. I bought a Pioneer from these guys. good to deal with

milltown

:mad:

Not as urgently. On the upside I should look at it like winning a grand on the game. I'll need to find another excuse to convince herself I need it now, and I doubt arriving home with a PS3 and GTA4 and whinging about needing something bigger to play it on will get me any sympathy.

The telly in the link seems expensive. I was looking at a Samsung 40" full hd on Komplett for about €1100 delivered.

Thanks for the info.