Which 37" TV?

CR 7

Have a budget of around €450, stretching to €500 for the right one. Don't really want to go much bigger, as it's just for a bedroom type set up.

Main uses:

1. Xbox 360 - Will use this a lot so if it's not suitable for this, it rules it out straight away.
2. Saorview - Have terrible analogue reception so this is fairly important too. No Sky either, so it'll be the only source of RTE.
3. HD FTA receiver - Could do with an easy to use menu for switching sources, have an Aldi LCD at the moment and it's painful switching sources, only a 'Source' button on remote, so you have to cycle through all inputs.

Option 1 - Walker WP3711LCD €430
Just picked this for it's price and it being certified for Saorview. Can't even find a review of it.

Option 2 - Toshiba 37RV753 €430 (Tesco)

Seems to have gotten a fairly good review above, and I'm not expecting a 5 star set for this price.

Option 3 - LG 37LD450 €450. Still within budget, can't find a reliable review either, but sounds positive from this.

Basically, I'd be happy enough with any one of these. It's a while since I've been TV shopping so I've been left behind a bit, in terms of understanding sales talk, and spec. sheets, but I still wouldn't get fooled into buying a Monster HDMI cable or anything.

A simple 1, 2, or 3 answer would suffice, or if there's anything you know of that fits my constraints, I'd be happy to look it up.

Thanks for your help.:)

UrbanSea

Definately the Philips 37pfl5405 100 hz Full HD

CR 7

greetings wrote: »

Definately the Philips 37pfl5405 100 hz Full HD

Well it's exactly at the upper range of my budget: Here

Have you first hand experience of it? What about it makes it better?

There's also the convenience of having the Philips Shop forum here, that's in it's favour too.:P

Zonda999

For under 500€, its a good deal alright, with the 100Hz aspect making it. Should be ok for input lag too, seeing as you'll be using it for xbox. Philips tvs used to be appaling for input lag a few years ago but they've cleaned up their act in the last couple of years. Make sure to keep it in game mode at the same time though!. The black levels would be slightly better on the toshiba alright(Due to a VA panel) but the philips is still probably a better overall buy because of the 100Hz

CR 7

Zonda999 wrote: »

For under 500€, its a good deal alright, with the 100Hz aspect making it. Should be ok for input lag too, seeing as you'll be using it for xbox. Philips tvs used to be appaling for input lag a few years ago but they've cleaned up their act in the last couple of years. Make sure to keep it in game mode at the same time though!. The black levels would be slightly better on the toshiba alright(Due to a VA panel) but the philips is still probably a better overall buy because of the 100Hz

Thanks, really appreciate the input from yourself and greetings. I'll post back after I make the purchase. Might wait til around the 26th/27th to see if it goes down even further in price.

CR 7

I'm back again. The philips has been ruled out by it's questionable Saorview compatibility.

What's the verdict on this Sony?

The bigger screen is a plus, as is the MPEG4/MHEG5 features. But is it the 50hz that'll affect gaming?

CR 7

Looks like I got lucky by not getting a reply from the RicherSounds people. Nothing bad about them, they seem very helpful, but I need Saorview and Philips TVs have been having trouble with that.

So, this Sony, the better version of the one I posted earlier seems to be exactly what I want: Here

Anyone have any opinion on it before I go through with this?

100Hz
1080P
2ms response time
100,000:1 contrast
MPEG4/MHEG5
4xHDMI

Ticks all boxes

UrbanSea

Did you stretch the budget,Park? I thought that Philips one would be good for gaming and has MPEG4,what was the Saorview problems you heard?

CR 7

greetings wrote: »

Did you stretch the budget,Park? I thought that Philips one would be good for gaming and has MPEG4,what was the Saorview problems you heard?

There's a thread in the terrestrial forum, most Philips TVs have lost the Saorview radio channels and there's a belief other functions could drop off too. The advice I was given was that it's safer to wait til after the official launch of Saorview to buy any Philips or Panasonic TV.

I'm trying to get a good deal on this Sony for near enough to my budget. I'm guessing you think it's a decent enough set so?

irishh_bob

was in PC world recently and they seem to have quite a large selection of LG sets , seem very reasonabley priced too

correct me if im wrong but are PHILIPS held in the same esteem as they once were , i thought they came down a lot in estimation this past number of years , i.e , way behind , samsung , sharp , sony or panasonic

p.s , if the OP is interested in a plasma ( not sure if thier the best choice for gamers ) , i bought a X 20 37 inch panasonic over the summer , very happy with it and the same set can be bought for around 500 euro in the likes of power city right now

CR 7

irishh_bob wrote: »

was in PC world recently and they seem to have quite a large selection of LG sets , seem very reasonabley priced too

correct me if im wrong but are PHILIPS held in the same esteem as they once were , i thought they came down a lot in estimation this past number of years , i.e , way behind , samsung , sharp , sony or panasonic

p.s , if the OP is interested in a plasma ( not sure if thier the best choice for gamers ) , i bought a X 20 37 inch panasonic over the summer , very happy with it and the same set can be bought for around 500 euro in the likes of power city right now

I've kinda ruled out plasmas, since they'll be a similar price for a similar size screen, and the few differences in LCD v Plasma just edge the LCD for me. Plus, the Sony I mentioned in my last post has a response time of 2ms, which should be close enough to Plasma response times, if my research is accurate.

UrbanSea

Park Ji Sung wrote: »

There's a thread in the terrestrial forum, most Philips TVs have lost the Saorview radio channels and there's a belief other functions could drop off too. The advice I was given was that it's safer to wait til after the official launch of Saorview to buy any Philips or Panasonic TV.

I'm trying to get a good deal on this Sony for near enough to my budget. I'm guessing you think it's a decent enough set so?

Alright,can't say I was aware of that.Not sure of how many Sony tv's you'd get for that. Power City have a full hd 40 inch at 499,59 hz though.

CR 7

greetings wrote: »

Alright,can't say I was aware of that.Not sure of how many Sony tv's you'd get for that. Power City have a full hd 40 inch at 499,59 hz though.

Well this one says 100hz, but has almost the same Model No. I don't know if it's a mistake or what. I was looking up about Sony's model numbers and it seems the U at the end doesn't affect specification. I'll have a good look around Sunday before buying anyway. I've also read that 100hz isn't necessarily worth it for the cost over 50hz, I'll compare a few sets and see if I notice the difference.

UrbanSea

I notice a big difference in 100hz and 50 hz for sports and gaming,maybe it's just me.

pwd

I'm loooking at this one myself:

http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Products/VIERA+Flat+Screen+TV/Plasma+TV/TX-P37X20B/Specification/3507343/index.html?trackInfo=true

on sale on pixmania. However it's actually cheaper in two bricks and mortar shops near me, if you include the 5-year warranty option, which is included by default in the local shop. They also will deliver free. And they might even honour the warranty. Pixmania did not honour the warranty for a hard drive I got before, which I discovered had a known manufacturing fault, and died within a month. Anyway I digress..

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/4912568/art/panasonic/viera-tx-p37x20-plasma-sc.html

Burn-in is not supposed to be an issue with Panasonic plasmas. I still notice ghosting on 100hz lcds, but there is less of an issue with plasmas.

I have no idea if it would work with saorview. If anyone can answer that offhand I will give them one "thanks" :P

Power City are advertising that the Irish version of the tv is compatible with Saorview: http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-13-P37X20. It appears to have a slightly different spec - more tuners are listed ...Looking more closely it appears the same tuners are on both, only they explicitly state them on the irish model, presumably to indicate saorview compatibility

CR 7

Personally, I wouldn't buy something this expensive from pixmania, too many bad stories. Plus, the €62 delivery costs almost balance out any lower prices.

Well it says it is Freeview HD compatible. Saorview uses the same system, MPEG4. But there's no mention of MPEG4 in the specs here. So, it's very likely it will work with it, but I can't say 100%.

Going by this list, if the X20L is the same thing, it is MPEG4 compatible, but not MHEG5, so no fancy new teletext. It's going to be used for more interactive features in the future so I wouldn't buy a TV without it.

In the end, I settled on a Sony 40BX400, 40" LCD in Argos for €440. You might get lucky and still get one at the moment, there's a few still available. Or it's in Tesco for €450. Fully compatible with Saorview. Thread here.

Dotsie~tmp

The second post that recommended the philips is still by far the best value/quality 37 here. You plumped for a feature stripped Sony BX model. Enjoy.

CR 7

Dotsie~tmp wrote: »

The second post that recommended the philips is still by far the best value/quality 37 here. You plumped for a feature stripped Sony BX model. Enjoy.

Well I won't have any other way of getting RTE than Saorview, so the Philips being not fully compatible ruled it out completely. Don't see what else would be better for the price.

pwd

Park Ji Sung wrote: »

Personally, I wouldn't buy something this expensive from pixmania, too many bad stories. Plus, the €62 delivery costs almost balance out any lower prices.

Well it says it is Freeview HD compatible. Saorview uses the same system, MPEG4. But there's no mention of MPEG4 in the specs here. So, it's very likely it will work with it, but I can't say 100%.

Going by this list, if the X20L is the same thing, it is MPEG4 compatible, but not MHEG5, so no fancy new teletext. It's going to be used for more interactive features in the future so I wouldn't buy a TV without it.

In the end, I settled on a Sony 40BX400, 40" LCD in Argos for €440. You might get lucky and still get one at the moment, there's a few still available. Or it's in Tesco for €450. Fully compatible with Saorview. Thread here.

Yeah I'm not getting it from Pixmania. Like I say, it's available cheaper down the road, and I've been burned by pixmania before myself.

The Philips looks good, and Philips are great for tellies afaik, but that one doesn't seem to be available anywhere I can get it - I'm not in Dublin.

I was looking at the one in argos. It is sold out everywhere that I can see. In any case I wouldn't get it: The refresh rate is a key feature for me, since I really noticed ghosting on 50Hz/60Hz tellies when I looked. Fast moving things look much better on the 100Hz plasma. Thanks for the links though!

Zonda999

Dotsie~tmp wrote: »

The second post that recommended the philips is still by far the best value/quality 37 here. You plumped for a feature stripped Sony BX model. Enjoy.

What would you expect in a 40" Sony for 440€?

Come on now, in a shop in this country i've never seen a 40" sony or sasung with 100Hz for less than 750€. Could you possibly expect it for over 300€ less?

In any case, its not all that bad, other than the lack of 100Hz, it still has the full house of connections, including USB. Sure, no internet either but that 500€ philips wouldn't either. And whats more, the Sony will have a far better black level than the philips and will be equal to it in terms of input lag

And, whereas the philips sets have been having issues in the last couple of weeks with Saorview, Sony tvs have not

CR 7

"feature stripped Sony"
:pac:

irishh_bob

greetings wrote: »

I notice a big difference in 100hz and 50 hz for sports and gaming,maybe it's just me.

its most definatley worth it when it comes to lcd,s , i bought a 50 hz lcd in early summer , couldnt watch the world cup with it ( motion blur ) so i changed it for a plasma as the lcd with 100 hz was more expensive than the plasma

the plasma is second to none for watching football

pwd

irishh_bob wrote: »

its most definatley worth it when it comes to lcd,s , i bought a 50 hz lcd in early summer , couldnt watch the world cup with it ( motion blur ) so i changed it for a plasma as the lcd with 100 hz was more expensive than the plasma

the plasma is second to none for watching football

Yeah the plasma rocks for fast motion

UrbanSea

A lot of the lcds are very good for fast motion aswell,depending on the spec

Dotsie~tmp

Park Ji Sung wrote: »

"feature stripped Sony"
:pac:

Im hardly gonna buy a top o the range TV for someone else ow am I? :P

irishh_bob

greetings wrote: »

A lot of the lcds are very good for fast motion aswell,depending on the spec

yeah and depending on the make , panasonic ( modestly priced ) LCD ,s are no good when it comes to fast motion

UrbanSea

Most of the 100 hz would be similar to plasmas in terms of fast motion

phunkymonk

just going to bump this..

ive been looking at the philips 37 inch mentioned in this forum...looking to purchase over the weekend...seen it in a tesco, cant remeber price possibly 400 seems to be an older model but has anyone any problems with it?
how is it for xbox gaming and viewing through NTL standard?

would really appreciate any opinions on this TV from people who own it.:rolleyes: