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[Jimbob]

Couple of times in the last week, turned on our old 28" Toshiba CRT, and all weve got is a reddish 'squiggle' in the middle of the screen.
stayed there regardless of powered on or off

Last time, only way to get rid was to pull the plug.  Was perfect when powered back up.

So I guess the old faithful is dying a death after 10 years of good service.

Starting to look at the market and see whats out there.

Don't want anything too big, probably 37 or 40" as I despise the blockyness you get which seems to be amplified the bigger you go.

Currently watch :
SD sky (and reluctant to pay them anymore than the £20 a month they get).
DVD's
Bit of wii'ing, but not much in the games front.

Been looking at a media streaming solution to watch downloaded video's straight from the pc too.

I know I will want a true 1080p HD screen, but thats about it.

Any suggestions on where to look / avoid?

Currently have dolby pro logic built into the telly, but not too bothered about sound systems built in, as will likely add home cinema separately in the future.

[tunnie]

I've always liked LG panels, always very clear, never had any hot/dead pixels. Well priced, and look good. Got 2x 22' ones here for Mac/TV/Xbox/PC

[Mr Skrunts]

I have recenlty seen seen Toshiba 42", Samsung 42", Philips amilight 37", Panasonic Vierra 37" nad 46"

All good TV's, thought the Toshiba was a bit bright, but that may of been down to settings, my brothers Samsung had a bit of a lip sysncing problem, but when I checked it out on the forums it seems it's a delay issue on the external hifi setup.

The ambilight was an interesting TVwith the colour changing backlight, was the best TV I have seen on the eyes so far.

Personally I like the Panasonics, I bought a 46" for my bedroom to play games and watch movies on, am well impressed with it.


My old Hitachi 2650 26" CRT lasted 26 years, the ocaasionally went yellow/purple on the side of the screen like an old bruise, power off and on was ok again for weeks.  Gave it to a mate and was still working last time I saw it.  But they were made to lasrt, these days they dont build them to last like they used to.

[Banjax]

Couple of times in the last week, turned on our old 28" Toshiba CRT, and all weve got is a reddish 'squiggle' in the middle of the screen.
stayed there regardless of powered on or off

Last time, only way to get rid was to pull the plug.  Was perfect when powered back up.

So I guess the old faithful is dying a death after 10 years of good service.

Starting to look at the market and see whats out there.

Don't want anything too big, probably 37 or 40" as I despise the blockyness you get which seems to be amplified the bigger you go.

Currently watch :
SD sky (and reluctant to pay them anymore than the £20 a month they get).
DVD's
Bit of wii'ing, but not much in the games front.

Been looking at a media streaming solution to watch downloaded video's straight from the pc too.

I know I will want a true 1080p HD screen, but thats about it.

Any suggestions on where to look / avoid?

Currently have dolby pro logic built into the telly, but not too bothered about sound systems built in, as will likely add home cinema separately in the future.

thats not a problem with the telly, it's due to viewing distance - have a rough idea how far you'll be from the tv and get a size that works - too big it'll be pixelly, too small and you'll lose detail, i despair of idiots sitting 2ft away from a 50" screen

handy calculator 
http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

[bertiecbx550]

I was in morrisons yesterday and saw a techwood 37" hd lcd for £299 it looks quite good value...

[Mr Skrunts]

Couple of times in the last week, turned on our old 28" Toshiba CRT, and all weve got is a reddish 'squiggle' in the middle of the screen.
stayed there regardless of powered on or off

Last time, only way to get rid was to pull the plug.  Was perfect when powered back up.

So I guess the old faithful is dying a death after 10 years of good service.

Starting to look at the market and see whats out there.

Don't want anything too big, probably 37 or 40" as I despise the blockyness you get which seems to be amplified the bigger you go.

Currently watch :
SD sky (and reluctant to pay them anymore than the £20 a month they get).
DVD's
Bit of wii'ing, but not much in the games front.

Been looking at a media streaming solution to watch downloaded video's straight from the pc too.

I know I will want a true 1080p HD screen, but thats about it.

Any suggestions on where to look / avoid?

Currently have dolby pro logic built into the telly, but not too bothered about sound systems built in, as will likely add home cinema separately in the future.

thats not a problem with the telly, it's due to viewing distance - have a rough idea how far you'll be from the tv and get a size that works - too big it'll be pixelly, too small and you'll lose detail, i despair of idiots sitting 2ft away from a 50" screen

handy calculator 
http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

Maximum Viewing Distance for HDTV(Fully resolved 1080i; 1920 x 1080)

46" they recomend 6FEET away.

[Jimbob]

just been looking in Currys at lunchtime, and think 37" probably looks the right size to me.

[TheBoy]

Would a quick deguass fix your crt?

I know I had no end of reliability issues with my Samsung, but I am really please with it.  Mrs TheBoy often quips "you could find fault with Jesus Christ" but the only 'fault' I can tend in the switching between AV sources is a bit fiddly.



Wii can't really do much impressive graphics/resolution, but if you do get a panel with component in, worth getting a component lead for Wii (£7 from egay), as although it doesn't do a huge amount with resolution, the clarity and colour rendition is noticibly different. But it ain't an xbox

[Jimbob]

lol just talking about inputs.....

As weve gone through switchover, I dont need an analogue tuner.

Would love the ability to 'turn off' unused inputs so they dont appear in other listings, or default to them when switched on etc.

The lady who used to live across the road drove me mad coming over to sort her telly whenever it defaulted back to analogue.


No degauss option in the menu's....sure I have the service menu instuctions somewhere, but at 10 years old, and this red squiggle fault that wont go unless you physically unplug it, Im guessing its time is about up.

[Jimbob]

Ohhh, and want good viewing angles too, both horizontal and vertically

[TheBoy]

lol just talking about inputs.....

As weve gone through switchover, I dont need an analogue tuner.

Would love the ability to 'turn off' unused inputs so they dont appear in other listings, or default to them when switched on etc.

The lady who used to live across the road drove me mad coming over to sort her telly whenever it defaulted back to analogue.


No degauss option in the menu's....sure I have the service menu instuctions somewhere, but at 10 years old, and this red squiggle fault that wont go unless you physically unplug it, Im guessing its time is about up.

Its a degaussing wand you need.  Some sets have built in degauss (actually all do, but most are just mild ones at switch on).

But, the set has served its time.

[TheBoy]

Ohhh, and want good viewing angles too, both horizontal and vertically

All branded large panels will be fine.  Most portable ones are fine now as well, but still a few older panels fitted to some of the cheapies.

[Jimbob]

Any thoughts on the current generation of plasma's

Bloke in Richer Sounds reckoned they were about the best for SD sources..

I know in the past they were very power hungry, and sure Mark knew of an issue with the drive electronics?

Power stats seem about the same as LCD now's

He recommended a Panasonic 37" that was just hitting the market.

[Kevin Wood]

He recommended a Panasonic 37" that was just hitting the market.

Don't buy a Panasonic plasma if you live near a radio amateur. They have very poor EMC performance which appears to get worse with age.

Kevin

[Jimbob]

He recommended a Panasonic 37" that was just hitting the market.

Don't buy a Panasonic plasma if you live near a radio amateur. They have very poor EMC performance which appears to get worse with age.

Kevin

got an annoyed neighbour or 2?