I need help choosing a TV....

mviltan

I have between £1500 to £1800 to spend on a Tv.

I have an xbox 360 and will get a PS3 when it does come out.

What is the best TV i can get for that sort of money?

i have been looking at the Phillips 32" LCD widescreen flat TV Pixel Plus 2 HD 32PF9830/10

which is here:

http://www.consumer.philips.com/cons...ESHQNHKFSEKI5P

but i have heard a couple of people complaining about ghost images on when using their xbox 360

also they have had to recall some due to a problem with the ambelight feature.

can anyone help me pick a TV??!

depauvillekid

I have an Xbox 360 and I recently bought an LCD to use with it. I bought the Vizio L32, 32" LCD for $900 American. It is a bargain tv.

You want something better right??

I suggest you find a brand or a make of TV that you like, then find the size you can afford. If you look for size first, that leaves you to compromise on the quality. So pick what pleases your eye first, then buy the size of that tv that you can afford.

Microsoft loves Samsung LCD's. Every demo 360 unit is attached to a 23" Samsung LCD here in the states. If you go to your local game store, and see a 360 hooked up to a Samsung, well then atleast you know what it will look like.

So on that note, I recommend the Samsung LCD's. If it's good enough for Bill Gates and Microsoft then it's good enough for me. Microsoft chose Samsung LCD's for a reason to show off the 360.

Sharp Aquos are also at the top end of LCD's. I also like Philips, my arch nemesis on here has a philips and I can't get him to shut up about it. One make of the Philips has ambilite as well, it projects a light on to the wall behind the tv, adds to the experience, who knows.

Any good known brand of tv is good, I can't really think of any brand name LCD that is bad. Usually only the bargain generic LCD's are questionable. i had to search through a lot of bargain off brand LCD's before I found a good one.

Yeah I'm a bit long winded. My last pieces of advice:
1. use your own eye, see what looks good to you
2. take your 360 to the store and try some out, most stores will accomodate you.
3.Stores also have the tvs set really really bright, don't get caught up in this. Ask the sales rep to lower the brightness on some of the LCD's so you can get an idea of what they will really look like.
4. Did I mention use your own judgement, don't listen to me, or your buddy, or anyone else on here, or a sales rep. Everyone has an agenda. Buy what looks good to YOU, your the one that has to look at it. Specs on paper don't mean anything if the Picture quality is crap; you need to get to a store and check them out in person, if your searching the net for tv's then you'll never know what it will look like, get to the stores, find a tv, then buy it online only after you seen it in person.

mviltan

thanks for your reply.

Yeah the ambelite feature is on the tv link which i posted!

basically i'd like that TV but have heard that it has issues with the 360. If these can be resolved some how then i'd like to buy the phillips but i need to be sure first!

depauvillekid

I can't help you there. The only guy I know that has the Philips, I just so happen to hate his guts and I doubt he owns a 360.

Like I said take your 360 to the store and Hook it up to the Philips, most stores will be more than happy to accomodate you. You may feel embarrased, but better that then buy a tv that doesn't live up to your 360.

Once piece of advice, if your doubting the Philips then it may not be the tv for you. You'll know the right one when you see it, because there will be no more doubts in your mind. When I saw my LCD, then I saw the price (cheap), then the tv, then back to the price, I knew it was the right tv without a doubt in my mind.

Take your 360 to the store and buy the tv that literally blows you away!!! If you can't afford it then buy the best one you can find for the price.

I spent days and days in stores, going from one to another, week end after weekend. I even went back to some stores several times to get a second look at a tv. All this before I found one i liked in my price range.

godson

Hey depaull.....I'm not real familiar with the Vizio but dont that unit have one of the better motion rate(I belive that what its called) of LCD's?Thats a hugh factor when buying LCD's for gaming as far as I would be concerned.The older and more budget LCD's have a rt. of like 18ms which for me is poop.What is the Vizio?If I'm not mistaken its pretty low,like 8ms or something.Do you know?How bout the Philips?I would keep that in mind when buying a LCD but if the Vizio is as low as I think it is I would reccommend it highly.

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Breakfast, shmreakfast. Look at the score, for Christ's sake. It's only the second period and I'm up 12 to 2. Breakfasts come and go, Renee, but Hartford, "the Whale," they only beat Vancouver once, maybe twice in a lifetime.

depauvillekid

Yeah your right on the money, older HDTV's had a high rate (slow) which causes ghosting images something fierce. Now I beleive they say anything lower than 20ms is adequate. For gaming I would try to buy a tv LCD with the lowest possible, try for atleast 14ms or less.

The Vizio is pretty low, 9ms or 10ms I think, 8 sounds a bit too low, the Vizio isn't that good

I absolutly love my tv, many use it as my weakness when they can't beat me in a debate though. I'll be debating something and when the other guy starts to lose, he'll say 'what do you know, you bought a crappy Vizio!"

Many don't realize that Vizio lives and breaths HD, they have been making screens for other people forever. Just recently have they began making there own tv's. Vizio also made the Bravo II dvd player which is the highest rated player on www.cnet.com they use the Vizio player as the benchmark for all other DVD players. So yeah, there is a long history of HDTV form Vizio.

I even tried to buy a Bravo II DVD player, but they are all sold out everywhere. I even contacted I think JRRaudio, can't remeber, anyways, the guy said that they sell out everytime they get them in, impossible to stock. I think they may have stopped making them now though, even vizio's website says sold out.

I also believe they are so cheap due to their partnerships with Sam's club and Costco. Go to www.vinc.com Vizio actually advertises Sams Club on there own web site. If these LCD's weren't being sold in wholesale stores I think they would cost a lot more. I still wouldn't compare them to Sharp aquaos or anything crazy like that though.

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Vizio L32 LCD
Xbox 360
TWC Explore 3250HD
Toshiba HDMI DVD player
AMD PC hooked to LCD
JVC reciever w/ DD5.1, DTS
Shitty speakers

mykal82

Mviltan good luck in your search. Newegg has some good deals on LCD tv's and they are a pretty reliable online store. Onecall.com is also a good place to shop. You may want to invest in some quality cables as well to make sure you get the purest video signal to your new LCD, it really can make a difference in PQ. Do some research on cables as some on this forum seem to think its a waste of money.

depauvillekid

Very well put, you manage to push the need for good cables without resorting to "Monster cables are the best and everything else sucks" attitude. For that I thank you.

Your right, if you need component cables, look for some good ones. Most known brands will be good though. If theyre flimsy and down right shitty looking, just buy something else, no need for Monster though, unless you truly have that much money and don't care about money. For analogue component cables, I actually use my original Xbox HD AV pak. The cables can come of the pak and I now use them as my HD component cables. If it's good enough for microsoft and my xbox then it's good enough for me.

__________________
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Vizio L32 LCD
Xbox 360
TWC Explore 3250HD
Toshiba HDMI DVD player
AMD PC hooked to LCD
JVC reciever w/ DD5.1, DTS
Shitty speakers

mviltan

the phillips has a 6ms rate!! It won what hi fi tv of the year last year! But yeah there is a doubt in my mind. Also like depauvillekid said if ms chose samsung it must be cos they thought it had the best picture for the xbox 360 so i've been looking at this samsung:

http://www.samsung.com/uk/products/t...32m61bxxeu.asp

it has a 8ms motion rate

depauvillekid

That Samsung is the shit (good thing). I would have bought one if it was in my price range. Without a doubt Samsung would have been my first choice if I had the cash. I had 2 grand, was gonna buy it, but instead I bought my Xbox 360, waited a few weeks and spent a grand on my Vizio instead.

I love Samsung to death, so you have my approval, but Like I said, see it in person so you can see if it's right for you. Also, the 360 Demos here in the states, are already hooked to Samsug LCD's so I know they look great with the 360.

You won't see much difference in the response time with anything below 10ms. It doesn't matter much, 6ms or 8ms, theyre both really fast. You will only notice a ghosting image if it is really slow like 18ms or 20ms.

Whatever you choose will be awesome, most HDTV's are. And all the one's you mentioned are really good LCD's. Samsung, Philips, Sharp, all great LCD's.

__________________
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Vizio L32 LCD
Xbox 360
TWC Explore 3250HD
Toshiba HDMI DVD player
AMD PC hooked to LCD
JVC reciever w/ DD5.1, DTS
Shitty speakers

RandyWalters

You should go the the UK-based LCD Flat Panel forum at AVForums dot com since the UK models are different than the US models.

Cheers !

http://www.avforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=155

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Randy
TC-P46G10, TH-42PZ700U, TH-42PX50U, LC2600N LCD, Tivo Series 3, TWC SA8300HD, URC R40 Learning Remote

depauvillekid

True, I would check out the forum he mentioned, I seem to be the only one here helping you and I'm by no means an expert. Good luck either way. Try not to stay up too late at night searching for a tv, it will driv you mad, trust me. Get to sleep and hit the stores early, spend a day searching a looking at the different LCD's in your local electronics stores. Once you find one you like, then search online to see if you can find it cheaper. Until you do that your gonna drive yourself nuts searching the net.

__________________
----------------------------
Vizio L32 LCD
Xbox 360
TWC Explore 3250HD
Toshiba HDMI DVD player
AMD PC hooked to LCD
JVC reciever w/ DD5.1, DTS
Shitty speakers