Recommend a 32" LED TV please

lighthouse

Hi,
I intend buying a 32" LED Saorview TV. Could someone recommend one for me. I am looking at the following TVs in Curry's. I'd say the Sony one is out of my price range. The LG one seems good value. All Tvs are full HD(not HD ready)
LG 32LV450U Full HD 32" LED TV €330

SAMSUNG Series 5 UE32EH5000 Full HD 32" LED €430

PANASONIC Viera TX-L32E5B Full HD 32" LED TV €530

TOSHIBA 32RL953B Full HD 32" LED TV €500

SONY KDL32EX653BU Full HD 32" LED TV €650

Or can someone recommend a good website with reviews.

swoofer

heres's a good tip for you, you can use google just put review uk after the tv make, but the best way is to go to amazon and you will find reviews by purchasers, heres a link for the first one

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-UE32EH5000-32-inch-Widescreen-Freeview/dp/B007JURCH8

all these tv's are much of a much ness.

also you could look at what hi fi com

gbc

The_B_Man

Also, when looking at prices, check the power rating if possible. An "A" rating TV would still work out better value than a "D" rating TV that costs 100 euro less.

BostonB

How long would it take the D rated one to use the €100 of electricity?

ardmacha

Amazon has indicative power use calculations, just check the models of interest.
LED sets are good usually.

Take an A rated LED v a C rated LCD the latter would use about 2 or 3 times the juice, say 50-75KWH more per annum, €10-€13 or so a year.

see this LG
http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-32CS460-32-inch-Widescreen-Freeview/dp/B007IYVUAU

versus
http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-32LS5600-32-inch-Widescreen-Freeview/dp/B007IYVWNU

The point is that the lower rated set is probably better but more expensive. But you can make back a €50 difference on power over the life of the set and get a better spec.

MBSnr

I've the LG 32LV450U bought last Oct. It was closer to €400 at the time I think, so €330 is a good price.
I haven't got any major issues with it. I only got brave enough to update the firmware the other day. (Just because - there was no reason otherwise to do it). The small only gripe I have is a couple of slight bright spots on the backlight that you can see on a screen of one colour if the camera is panning.
Also I notice that there's a very fine line (not pixel related) slighly visible when watching football and the camera following the action down the pitch as the grass scrolls. I guess it's where they join parts of the screen together. But then you could get this on a TV at double the price, so it wasn't worth the hassle to me of taking it back as I figured the next one I'd swap it for would probs be the same (or even worse!).

A few wks eariler I had bought a smaller Toshiba TV for the same room but it went straight back due to it having major issues with the backlight showing grey on black scenes. So I wasn't going to bother swapping the LG.... esp since the missus was like ' I can't see what you're on about anyhow...'

So for the money I'm happy with it. I recall not finding many reviews about it as the model seemed to be solely sold by the Currys/PC World group. Looks like they committed to buy too much stock and are flogging them off now.

BostonB

I think I'd more drawn to one of the right spec, and with a good rating on amazon or other sights than the energy rating. As the difference isn't that much.

JonathonS

Don't forget to check the sound output before you buy. A lot of lower-priced sets suffer from distortion as you increase vol. Be suspicious of anything thats packaged with a home cinema system, thats usually because the sound on the set is poor.

BostonB

Seem like every thin set I look at (LCD/LED/Plasma) the reviews all criticise the sound. I guess that's inevitable the space is gone for the speakers that old CRT set had. Some of the cheapers sets are also criticised for not having the correct sound out for a sound bar. So thats something to look out for. Also the cheaper sets have a very limited number of HDMI, Scart and USB connections.

leex

Was in same boat last week and purchased a Samsung 32" LED Smart tv in Currys for 559euro.

Comments on the other models:

The Samsung for 430 is as deep as regular LCD tv's I have for a number of years.

The LG looks a bit clunky - wide bezel etc.

The Panasonic was 30euro cheaper than one I purchased but I was more confident of getting better software/apps on the Samsung - e.g. RTE player etc.

Sumsung I purchased ticked all the boxes for me - small frame and thin chassis, good picture, smart tv. So far I am very pleased with purchase and impressed with likes of All Share function which picks up music etc from my Network Attached Storage (NAS) drive. Cd covers etc appear on screen when playing music.

BostonB

leex wrote: »

Was in same boat last week and purchased a Samsung 32" LED Smart tv in Currys for 559euro....

Thats the SAMSUNG Series 5 UE32ES5500 Full HD 32" LED TV I assume.

The 400 ish models tend to LCD and HD ready not full HD. Which is why that LED with full HD one is thinner and 150 ish more expensive.

lighthouse

leex wrote: »

Was in same boat last week and purchased a Samsung 32" LED Smart tv in Currys for 559euro.

Comments on the other models:

The Samsung for 430 is as deep as regular LCD tv's I have for a number of years.

The LG looks a bit clunky - wide bezel etc.

The Panasonic was 30euro cheaper than one I purchased but I was more confident of getting better software/apps on the Samsung - e.g. RTE player etc.

Sumsung I purchased ticked all the boxes for me - small frame and thin chassis, good picture, smart tv. So far I am very pleased with purchase and impressed with likes of All Share function which picks up music etc from my Network Attached Storage (NAS) drive. Cd covers etc appear on screen when playing music.

BostonB wrote: »

Thats the SAMSUNG Series 5 UE32ES5500 Full HD 32" LED TV I assume.

The 400 ish models tend to LCD and HD ready not full HD. Which is why that LED with full HD one is thinner and 150 ish more expensive.

Thanks for all the comments. Yes I have looked at the comments on Amazon. I was hoping for a professional review. The Samsung TV for €430 is a series 5 (
SAMSUNG Series 5 UE32EH5000 Full HD 32" LED TV)
I wouldn't mind getting a smart TV but I only have mobile broadband at the moment and have no plans for getting fixed line broadband. Thinking of the Samsung model at the moment.

TheDriver

i was looking the other day for the brother in law and shocked at how many 32" are still HD ready but not full HD........ and more annoying are the HD ready but are actually full HD if you know your specs!

BostonB

Do you have example of those listed as ready but are full hd?

leex

lighthouse wrote: »

I wouldn't mind getting a smart TV but I only have mobile broadband at the moment and have no plans for getting fixed line broadband. Thinking of the Samsung model at the moment.

YOu can get wireless routers (MIFI Etc) for 3G supplied from the phone companies or purchase the likes of this on Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-MR3420-300MBPS-Wireless-Router/dp/B003WK62OS/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1345545992&sr=8-7

lighthouse

GBCULLEN wrote: »

also you could look at what hi fi com

whathifi.com has lots of reviews, nothing on any of the TVs I mentioned above. I presume they are new models. I'm OK for a couple of months (until the analogue signal is switched off) but I wouldn't mind buying in the next couple of weeks.

BostonB

Whats the switch off got to do with it? Do you not use UPC/SKY?

lighthouse

BostonB wrote: »

Whats the switch off got to do with it? Do you not use UPC/SKY?

No I have enough bills. I have analogue TV as well as a sky box with a freesat card in it which is enough for me.

BostonB

Fair enough! I know how you feel!

lighthouse

What do people think of Smart TVs. I got a demonstration of an LG one in Harvey Norman during the week and wondering if that's the route I should take.

BostonB

If you going to use the features then yes. If not they may make the interface more complicated that is really needed. Personally I would get one for me, but perhaps not an elderly relative.

lighthouse

Right. I'm veering towards the Smart TV at the moment. It seems to me that in the 32" category the Samsung is the only one that I know of that has a browser. LG and Panasonic don't have a browser, just aps for youtube etc. (although I don't know about Sony)
Also I'll need to get a router for my 3g broadband with Three. With Three's own one you can't connect a cable (would have to purchase a separate dongle) between router and TV. With the TP Link version you can.
But I suspect the one from Three would be better but then I don't know. Will have to do some more research.

leex

lighthouse wrote: »

Right. I'm veering towards the Smart TV at the moment. It seems to me that in the 32" category the Samsung is the only one that I know of that has a browser. LG and Panasonic don't have a browser, just aps for youtube etc. (although I don't know about Sony)
Also I'll need to get a router for my 3g broadband with Three. With Three's own one you can't connect a cable (would have to purchase a separate dongle) between router and TV. With the TP Link version you can.
But I suspect the one from Three would be better but then I don't know. Will have to do some more research.

If you want to go the Three router route you could get a router and use it in client mode when it is flashed with DDWRT or similar. Basically the signal would come in through the antenna and out through ethernet cable to a pc or smart tv or whatever.

lighthouse

leex wrote: »

If you want to go the Three router route you could get a router and use it in client mode when it is flashed with DDWRT or similar. Basically the signal would come in through the antenna and out through ethernet cable to a pc or smart tv or whatever.

You cannot connect an ehternet cable with any of Three's current routers. They used to do a 260a, where you could connect an ethernet cable but no longer do. Don't understand DDWRT.