Page 1 of Widescreen choice advice

Hi there

I`m at last thinking of upgrading to a widescreen tv.
I`m not sure what make to go for - either Panasonic, JVC Hitachi or Thomson (This last one is cheap - does this mean crap)
Has anyone had any experiences with these makes which would make them recommend or recommend against - any advice (sensible) would be appreciated

Thanx in advance

I am also looking for a widescreen, once I can persuade the misses.
I am looking for approx. 32", Silver, 2 or 3 x Scart, front A/V sockets, not too sure about sound, as I have an amp that converts nicam into dolby surround so I would appriciate advice. Budget would have to be around £500-00. Could go up a bit if necessary.

Like Sheepdip, advice will be greatly appriciated.
I am looking at Samsung, Thomson, Goodmans, Panasonic, etc. But budget must be a priority. 2 kids to feed!!!
Thanks in advance.

This item was edited on Friday, 1st June 2001, 23:31

Hiya

I just got a silver widescreen tv last week after looking around for what had the best spec,for the money i wanted to spend (no more than £1200) I bought a sharp 76GF-64H it has a pure flatscreen,dobly pro logic, 3 scart sockets, front av,front and rear surround and sub woofer sockets all amplified and a nifty split screen text,so you can watch tv on one half of the screen and the text on the other ,plus loads of other features.
It came with a designer stand with glass shelves and two surround speakers, and of course is NTSC compatable.

Samantha

This item was edited on Saturday, 2nd June 2001, 00:40

A Sharp and the old dolby prologic ??!!!!. not what i would choose

markster you must remember if the text "im on a budget" comes into the equation you may have to either go for a non surround widescreen tv or pro logic at the most as dolby digital is out the window for a budget tv set.
I have just purchased a toshiba pure flat screen 32" pro logic (not essential as i have a surround amp on my hi-fi seperates) but the model i went for was all in for £750.00 (no stand) from scotish power which was a managers reduction and i am quite happy with the set but as for other models thompson is connected with ferguson tvs so its not too bad a brand name as for budget sets its either a trip to alba tv land or keep some hard cash by your side and look for a reduced managers model as there is quite a few about as summer time is the best time to buy a tv as sales are down in this part of the season
ps i seen a 36 " phillips 100 hz surround sound tv for £1500 at northern electric at the team valley gateshead but ended up going for the tosh as i like tosh tvs(just wish i had a big projector job ....maybe in the future! baz

I have a goodmans 28inch widescreen (£300) - it doesn`t auto detect if the program is 4:3 or 16:9 so you have to do it manually by pressing a button on the remote control (about 4 times!) - so if I was looking for one I`d look for auto detection.

Also the sound occasionally distorts at higher volumes.

my parents have a matsui 28in with on digital built in - I thought it was a cool idea to have digital until I saw how crap on digital is!

I`d go for a quality name like panasonic and from Argos so you can take it back if it`s crap!

Hiya

Markster i am very happy with my tv,and for the money i wanted to spend at this time and i like the old prologic better than that virtual sound,i have it running through my kenwood system but im going to buy a dolby digital decoder with speakers anyway until i have saved up for the tv i want which is the pannasonic 36PG50 i couldnt even get it out of the shops yet and i wasnt going to buy it from techtronics because of the review it has on here , they are selling it for £1800 where everwhere else on the net it is £2500 .
Not everybody has a endless bank account where they can pull endless amouts of money from and i dont buy things on tick and my credit card i use just for my dvd adiction and i couldnt justify not takeing my kids on hoilday to me getting the tv i want, that can wait for 6 months it isnt going anywhere.
Yes it does have auto,panarma,full,normall,zoom,14.9 or cinema and being able to chose from dolby then normal,wide,phantom,3 stereo,surround,panorama,spatial expander and be able to set it how u like on a equalizer ( i dont know if other widescreens have these on)
So for the money i thought it was nice looking tv plenty of features to play with and within my price range,and something i can watch my dvds on! as my other tv broke and after 2 months of watchinga 21 inch loan tv that wasnt even ntsc friendly i had to get a tv i couldnt wait any longer my dvd pile was getting bigger and i was getting more irate.

Samantha

Hi Samantha

I didn`t mean any disrespect and hope it was not taken that way.

Reason for my post was I thought your budget of £1200 for a TV was very high and was therefore was surprised you went for that tv set. Personally speaking if i had that much to spend I "personally" think I would have gone for a Sony.

Mark

This item was edited on Monday, 4th June 2001, 15:11

Hiya

No markster it is ok none was taken.

The reason i went i went for that tv and not a sony was i wanted a 32 inch not a 28. All the half decent sony tvs with a flat screen were £1500+ and i didnt want to be spending that much at this time.I was tossing up between the sharp and the panasonic but the sharp had more features and was less money, and if im gonna get the TX32PG50 i dont want to be looking at the same tv when i buy a new one...........
And no one will know ive got a new tv , as they all look the same.

Samantha

1500+ ??
I thought you could get a full Sony 32" digital 76cm (32") Digital integrated WEGA flat widescreen with Pro Logic for approx £1150 (i.e. electricalwarehouse.co.uk etc).

BTW Do you have any idea how much the new 36" Panasonic is, im tempted to look at 36" also
Have you seen the Hitachi 36" version of the Panasonic you want?, its only approx £1399 with Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound"

Hitachi 36" :::
http://www.inter-discount.co.uk/Online_Catalogue_Widescreen_3.html