Decisions of a 32" LCD purchaser...

[Dr. Z]

Righto guys, parentals are after a 32" LCD TV to replace the really crap asda own-brand 26" CRT they have been making do with for the past age.

They spotted the Samsung LE32A467C1 (I think that was it!) for £297 in the runup to xmas but held off because they weren't sure what they were buying and wanted to check with me first - but failed to tell me anything about it until it was too late and they have now gone back up to £349 everywhere but Richer Sounds, which do them online for £320. They are also out of stock absolutely everywhere!

Firstly, are these the best at this size (I know bugger all about TVs and there are just too many models with too many digits for me to go searching about. I have deciphered the model numbering scheme for the Samsungs I think (LE - dunno, 32", A? 4 - series 4 panel, rest I dunno, letters after are a mystery!)

Secondly, is the Sony Bravia KDL32V3(or 4, whats the difference?)000 any different for the price in any major way that I should know about? These seem to be about £349 (Tesco had them in at that price this afternoon) and seem a reasonable buy.

There is also a slightly more expensive LG floating about (Usually around £380) but I know nothing of where LG sit in the grand scheme of things.

The only requirements aside from the price (as close to £300 as possible!) are that the image quality must be as good as the Samsung mentioned above, it must have a scart input for the time being (old legacy crap hardware being hooked up to it for now) and preferably a VGA input but thats not essential as well as the usual 2/3 HDMI inputs and a component input.

Thanks :)

[Mark]

I would always suggest Panasonic Viera, but you'll be incredibly lucky to find one even close to that budget (even in the previous-generation TX-32LXD7/32LXD70/32LMD70 range). :(

[Burble]

Sony have been having some pretty serious quality issues of late. Samsung would definitely be my brand of choice these days.

[Dr. Z]

Sony have been having some pretty serious quality issues of late. Samsung would definitely be my brand of choice these days.

In what way? Is it a case of lots failing or variation in picture quality or what?

I can handle variation in picture quality by buying from somewhere with a decent returns policy but if its likely it will die after 13 months then that really would put me off.

[Burble]

In what way? Is it a case of lots failing or variation in picture quality or what?

I can handle variation in picture quality by buying from somewhere with a decent returns policy but if its likely it will die after 13 months then that really would put me off.

Quality issues. I know a few people who've bought Sony LCD TV's in the last six months and off the top of my head I can remember problems with failing power supplies, faulty HDMI modules and generally poor picture quality.

[Dr. Z]

Right, thats that then!

[Burble]

A friend of mine was such a Sony fan boy that if you cut him in half he would have Sony written through him. He got pissed off with getting the Sony TV replaced so bought a Samsung something or other and is really happy with it. It wasn't until he got the Samsung setup that he realised just how poor the picture quality was on the Sony.

[Dr. Z]

I have seen the two next to each other and I thought the skin tones looked a bit better on the Sony but the colours were a bit more "alive" on the Samsung. Other than that, they seemed very similar although the Sony had blacker blacks.

Ultimately, they aren't picture quality snobs and don't have any HD gear yet so PQ isn't the be all and end all but build quality is important and thats the crux of the deliberations really. Seems that its ruling the Sony out pretty quickly.

Any word on the LG units?

Mark - Viera models seem to be way way outside the budget but are they that much better?

[Mark]

I can't comment on that because I probably couldn't spot PQ differences until they smacked me in the face (and the pre-Bravia Sonys certainly did that in spades). However, Panasonic have been the king of the hill as far as LCD goes for as long as I can remember (which admittedly isn't that long given the age of the technology).

Sony were very late to market with the Bravia range. So much so that their previous stuff was probably the preserve of fanboys. Sony do market themselves on colour reproduction, but that'll only get you so far as you've found out.

I'd go with the Samsung unless you find a serious bargain with the Viera. No experience with LG unfortunately.

[Flibster]

Remember Sony's current advert - Colour like no other.
Sadly, it's not in the good way. ;)

A good 32" is going to be difficult for £300 now. LCD and Plasma prices are going up quite steeply.

I got a Samsung LE32A457 for the bedroom before christmas and it's a very nice set once set up correctly - at the distance we have it there's no real point in running HD through it so we just use a scart connection and the component imputs.

The Samsungs are very good sets for the money - if you can get one.

[NokkonWud]

My friend has a 32" Samsung (LE32R41BD I think?) and a 32" Sony Bravia and the Sony absolutely blows the Samsung out the water for picture quality, however, you will almost certainly get better reliability out of the Samsung.

I can't think of a Sony device I've had that's ever lasted the duration barring the parents' 42" Plasma (KDEP42XS1) which is over 4 years old now.

[Streeteh]

I've got a 32" cheap panasonic and couldn't be happier with it, much better than the samsung my mate bought for £100 extra (though he did buy his at curries as opposed to online).

[Toby]

I know it's not a 32" one but FWIW, I'm over the moon with my 40" Sony Bravia. As for reliability issues, I got it from John Lewis with a 5-year warranty so my arse is covered :)