Want a new Television, not sure what to get.

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Missus wants a new Television, but we are not well up on the latest Television Tech. Our current TV is a 42in Toshiba Regza, not sure of the exact model. I don't watch much TV, and very rarely touch it, but the missus watches a lot of TV. She wants to replace it, as she says it is playing up. The TV is probably eight or nine years old.

Would be grateful of any suggestion of a replacement, somewhere in the region of £400 to about £650.
 
First question, have you tried putting fresh batteries in the remote control? This might stop the 'playing up' if it's to do with not getting the right channels when pressing buttons, etc. As for TV makes, I have 3 Samsung TVs and they've been great. My 42 inch was a fairly basic model (not a smart TV) but I chose it because it had a really good picture, especially on HD. Better than other makes that were a over £100 more at the time. So I can recommend Samsung based on my experience with them. Hope this is useful.
 
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If you have a Richer sounds anywhere close, have a look at them. Sometimes cheaper than JL, even after price differences have been pointed out to JL... Richer sounds staff also know what they're talking about, unlike JL box shifters.
 
First question, have you tried putting fresh batteries in the remote control? This might stop the 'playing up' if it's to do with not getting the right channels when pressing buttons, etc. As for TV makes, I have 3 Samsung TVs and they've been great. My 42 inch was a fairly base model (not a smart TV) and I chose it because it had a really good picture, especially on HD. Better than other makes that were a over £100 more at the time. So I can recommend Samsung based on my experience with them. Hope this is useful.

Yes we did put fresh batteries in the remote control, but the problem is more to do with the sound and picture quality now. But she is set on a new TV, as that is what she gets most of her enjoyment from. Just as I get most of my enjoyment from a new camera.

She is looking at spending £400 on a new tv, while I am looking at spending £500 plus, on a new camera. :)
 
If you have a Richer sounds anywhere close, have a look at them. Sometimes cheaper than JL, even after price differences have been pointed out to JL... Richer sounds staff also know what they're talking about, unlike JL box shifters.

John Lewis have five years warranty, that is what is swinging it for us.
 
Yes we did put fresh batteries in the remote control, but the problem is more to do with the sound and picture quality now. But she is set on a new TV, as that is what she gets most of her enjoyment from. Just as I get most of my enjoyment from a new camera.

She is looking at spending £400 on a new tv, while I am looking at spending £500 plus, on a new camera. :)
I doubt you'll go far wrong with a Samsung then at that price point, so a happy Mrs should result. :) Found JL good too, there was an imperfection on the screen frame when I got my TV from them and they swapped it for a new one within a week.
 
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I doubt you'll go far wrong with a Samsung then at that price point, so a happy Mrs should result. :) Found JL good too, there was an imperfection on the screen frame when I got my TV from them and they swapped it for a new one within a week.

OK thanks, going to add it to the basket. Provided we are allowed to make a purchase, not sure if we can buy a TV during lockdown. :thinking:
 
As another owner of a 42' Toshiba Regza I can confirm the sound quality gets worse as it gets older. I currently have far too many tvs, (12) & the newer Samsung models can sometimes have a issue that causes the tv to restart. I do have 9 Samsungs though & it only happens on one.
 
I bought a 55 inch 4K LG smart TV from Curries about 18 months ago on sale for about £550 if i remember.

Best TV i ever had in my life, LG use IPS screens so the picture is good even at an angle and the 55 inch size is a luxury.
 
As another owner of a 42' Toshiba Regza I can confirm the sound quality gets worse as it gets older. I currently have far too many tvs, (12) & the newer Samsung models can sometimes have a issue that causes the tv to restart. I do have 9 Samsungs though & it only happens on one.
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Thank for that very useful information. So it is not the missus's hearing and sight going, it is in fact the telly degrading. In a funny sort of way, I am glad the telly is on the way out, and not the missus. lol
 
Im only using the Tosh as can't put a 50' 4K Samsung in the space (kitchen). But when the tosh dies a Samsung will replace it - lol
 
One thing worth some consideration is the remote control. Some are far more logical in terms of button layout than others. I'm not a huge fan of the Panasonic layout but it's better (IMO!) than the Humax Freesat one, although there's a direct button to subtitles on the Freesat one.
 
Richer Sounds do a 6 year guarantee for their VIP Club members, and it's free to join. Modern sets have virtually no size of surround, whereas your Tosh might have a relatively chunky surround? If that's the case, you can move up to the 49/50 inch size without it taking up much more room, if any. Which is recommending LG sets pretty much above Saamsung these days, but I've never had any trouble with my 6yo Samsung.
 
I wont buy Samsung anymore. I bought a 49inch 4k smart tv after seeing one on offer for £380 (I think) on amazon, down from £450 ish. It had terrible light leaks around the bottom and some around the sides. It was bad enough that we packed it up and sent it back the first day we got it, we bought it from a 3rd party seller on Amazon. I decided to buy a 2nd from Amazon directly thinking I just got unlucky and now its a different seller it will be a different batch. Nope, same problem, slightly worse if anything. I have pretty recently just bought a Sony 55inch 4k and not one problem with quality control. It was a good amount more expensive but I didnt expect that poor of a tv from samsung. I had an 32inch from them about 10 years ago and it still works but those 2 4k's were really bad, with the light leaks anyway
 
You can't generally go wrong with LG, we bought one for our back room in 2019 and we basically wanted the cheapest "branded" tv we could get in the size we wanted as it was only to be a secondary telly. For 330 quid i really cannot complain with it so far. Its pretty responsive as an OS (i really dislike the android OS on the much more expensive sony we have in the front room), easy to use and netflix in 4k looks very good. We paired it with a sonos soundbar too and it works very well as a combination
 
We swapped a dead Panasonic 42" Plasma TV for a 55" 4K Sony TV last year, we have been very pleased with it. Our Daughter swapped a Samsung 37" for a 42" 4K Sony after seeing ours, apparently it's "Brilliant" with their PS5.
 
All my TV's are now Samsung 4k models. I was a staunch Panasonic supporter but decided to change a few years ago. I won't go back to any other make. Most LCD panels are made by Samsung including for most of the big makes.
The only problem I have is one of them for some reason always turns on on channel 4001 which is something to do with a data tv channel. Ive never found a fix but its not a big.
 
I like Samsung but i agree with @Ben johns that they do light leak a bit, never bothered me though, only really noticed once.
but bang for your buck i think you cant go far wrong.
 
All my TV's are now Samsung 4k models. I was a staunch Panasonic supporter but decided to change a few years ago. I won't go back to any other make. Most LCD panels are made by Samsung including for most of the big makes.
The only problem I have is one of them for some reason always turns on on channel 4001 which is something to do with a data tv channel. Ive never found a fix but its not a big.

I'm sure I caught wind that Samsung (and LG) are stopping production of LCD panels after 2020? I think Samsung are focusing on OLED for their quantum dot TVs but I can't remember specifically. I like Panasonic, especially their image processing, why did you decide to change if I may ask?
 
There were a choice of two Samsungs that the missus liked, but neither would add to the basket. They must be out of stock.
 
I have the 50 inch version of this one and I'm very happy with it.
I'm a gamer and wanted a 4K setup and as my previous TV was a Samsung I stuck with them.
I also stream 4K movies to it via an Nvidia Shield Pro and the IQ is bang on imho.

Thanks for that, I think she will get one. Just waiting for the Samsung model to come back in stock. :)
 
I bought a new TV during black Friday and managed to score a Samsung TU8500 50 inch for £449.
Its a cracking TV and suits me for Xbox gaming and consuming 4K content.
Think its back up to £529 again but its still good value.
 
I'm sure I caught wind that Samsung (and LG) are stopping production of LCD panels after 2020? I think Samsung are focusing on OLED for their quantum dot TVs but I can't remember specifically. I like Panasonic, especially their image processing, why did you decide to change if I may ask?

Originally I had Panasonic Plasmas which I still in my opinion think where the best for colour and overall picture crispness. However when I came to redo my house I wanted something for my bedroom and decided to put my plasma in there and look for new technology. I fell for the pure sharpness of the Samsung, the colour rendition was the best when compared side by side at John Lewis, they had 10 side by side. I loved how the Samsungs looked and the sound was very good too. I decided to get myself a 55" model. In September of 2019 I had a major fire in the upstairs of my house and after it was all put right and decorated I looked again for a new TV to replace the Panasonic plasma, now 15+ years old, still working but I wanted the advantages of smart TV's. I went to JL and had a look again and ended up again buying Samsung. To be fair it's a very personal thing. Pure LED now is being phased out so I'm not sure what I would buy next.
 
Originally I had Panasonic Plasmas which I still in my opinion think where the best for colour and overall picture crispness. However when I came to redo my house I wanted something for my bedroom and decided to put my plasma in there and look for new technology. I fell for the pure sharpness of the Samsung, the colour rendition was the best when compared side by side at John Lewis, they had 10 side by side. I loved how the Samsungs looked and the sound was very good too. I decided to get myself a 55" model. In September of 2019 I had a major fire in the upstairs of my house and after it was all put right and decorated I looked again for a new TV to replace the Panasonic plasma, now 15+ years old, still working but I wanted the advantages of smart TV's. I went to JL and had a look again and ended up again buying Samsung. To be fair it's a very personal thing. Pure LED now is being phased out so I'm not sure what I would buy next.
I agree, I think Samsung are hard to beat for value for money picture quality wise. I also used to buy Panasonic before flat-screen TVs became the norm, but these days I use Samsung as a comparison starting point when deciding what to buy. I also have a Samsung computer screen, one of the curved ones to make it easier to see the whole of the screen at the same time, and that's been good too. I'm sure it would be possible to get better (top of the range 4k perhaps), but I think I'd have to spend considerably more money to achieve that.
 
The missus has decided to get a Samsung, she has narrowed it down to about two models she has seen. Just depends what one comes available again in John Lewis.
 
We got a message off John Lewis, and they said the Televisions that we had been looking at, had been reduced to get rid of them. They are not restocking the models, so we are looking at other models now.
 
If you watch sport and are susceptible to motion blur then I suggest you look away from Samsung and look at a Sony.

I also suggest you pop over to AVForums and have a look at the TV section for a few pointers. AVForums is to Home Theatre kit as this site is to toggers, they know their stuff.
 
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