New TV

Barry L. said:
The Panasonic ZT was equal to and in some areas surpassed the Kuro and as i said they can still be picked up for a very reasonable price.
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Agree got very close, except for black levels. But surely totally out of the budget.
 
Some good points cheers. I think I have to be realistic considering what I'm willing to spend and also the sources of footage. Virgin media for the majority of it and mainly 720p for the kids stuff with some 1080p.

The audio is the real problem so it would probably make more sense to go for the slightly smaller screen and get a decent sound bar?
 
gman said:
Some good points cheers. I think I have to be realistic considering what I'm willing to spend and also the sources of footage. Virgin media for the majority of it and mainly 720p for the kids stuff with some 1080p.

The audio is the real problem so it would probably make more sense to go for the slightly smaller screen and get a decent sound bar?
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Add a subwoofer. It is just plain simple physics that you can get a full sound with tiny little speakers.
 
gman said:
Some good points cheers. I think I have to be realistic considering what I'm willing to spend and also the sources of footage. Virgin media for the majority of it and mainly 720p for the kids stuff with some 1080p.

The audio is the real problem so it would probably make more sense to go for the slightly smaller screen and get a decent sound bar?
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As an aside...the 43' Samsung I purchased in December was from Curry's. Samsung...smart, which I didn't think I'd use, but I do.
I'll look for the model.
Edit....it's the Samsung UE43J5600.
 
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I read some people saying that the 5500 is the same just with a slightly different processor but you can get it from Richer Sounds or John Lewis with a 6/5 year guarantee?

I think I'm decided on that a 50" isn't worth it unless going 4k and will probably be a little overkill with size. That 40H6400 ticks all the boxes and leaves me plenty of budget to get a good sound bar, I'll look into a Samsung sound bar and see if the TV supports CEC thingy so I can control it with the TV remote. Having four HDMI ports allows me to connect everything including the soundbar straight to the TV or just use optic and keep a port free. I like the idea of being able to read films from USB and it means I don't need the media player anymore and saves an HDMI port, a plug, a remote and a bit of space on the table.

My dvd player is actually a Panasonic surround system and is very good but we don't want all the speakers plus it only works with certain other devices depending on how I connect it all (not sure if it has optical though). But again it's a separate remote etc. I'd rather just have one soundbar which is good for vocals.

So now the TV is decided on it's time to start looking at soundbars. Looks like I'll have about £160 to spend.

Cheers so far, appreciated.
 
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gman said:
I read some people saying that the 5500 is the same just with a slightly different processor but you can get it from Richer Sounds or John Lewis with a 6/5 year guarantee?

I think I'm decided on that a 50" isn't worth it unless going 4k and will probably be a little overkill with size. That 40H6400 ticks all the boxes and leaves me plenty of budget to get a good sound bar, I'll look into a Samsung sound bar and see if the TV supports CEC thingy so I can control it with the TV remote. Having four HDMI ports allows me to connect everything including the soundbar straight to the TV or just use optic and keep a port free. I like the idea of being able to read films from USB and it means I don't need the media player anymore and saves an HDMI port, a plug, a remote and a bit of space on the table.

My dvd player is actually a Panasonic surround system and is very good but we don't want all the speakers plus it only works with certain other devices depending on how I connect it all (not sure if it has optical though). But again it's a separate remote etc. I'd rather just have one soundbar which is good for vocals.

So now the TV is decided on it's time to start looking at soundbars. Looks like I'll have about £160 to spend.

Cheers so far, appreciated.
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I think you're right.
Iirc, the 5600 was, at the time, exclusive to Curry's & JL.
 
If you get the Samsung H6400 you can get a Samsung soundbar that connects wirelessly, loook up "Samsung Soundconnect"
I have the 48" version of that tv and am very happy with it.
A good source of info is avforums.com
 
Cheers.

Looks like argos is out of stock everywhere.
 
Cheers but looking to pick up on Wednesday and would prefer new. The hunt continues!

Ok Argos is starting to annoy me with listing TVs that they no longer do.
 
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Refurb normally means a return where the manufacturer does a once over and then sends back out. Theres a 30 day return so i would quite happily return if it didn’t look new. The one issue is that it doesn’t have a 5year warranty, but @viv1969 may tell us what proof of purchase she had to produce to get the replacement.
 
Rapscallion said:
Refurb normally means a return where the manufacturer does a once over and then sends back out. Theres a 30 day return so i would quite happily return if it didn’t look new. The one issue is that it doesn’t have a 5year warranty, but @viv1969 may tell us what proof of purchase she had to produce to get the replacement.
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No proof of purchase at all.

I emailed Samsung and explained what the issue was, including photographs.
This email also included the TV Model, and the month and year of purchace from Comet (couldn't remember the day), and that we'd bought it shortly after the model was launched.

After a little more than a week they replied with a few questions regarding general use, and asked if the could possibly send out an engineer, to which I said yes, of course.

Another couple of days and they replied again saying that they expect that taking into account the use, the conditions (no kids etc.), they (Samsung) would expect their televisions to last in excess of six years, so would I accept TV a, b or c as a replacement.
No further mention of an engineer.

I replied thank you very much and a few days later the new TV arrived and the old one was taken away.

That was the bedroom TV, about 3 1/2 years ago.

When the lounge TV went pop before last christmas, (just over 8 years old) I only looked at Samsung as replacement purely because of the surprisingly good outcome previously.
 
The entry level Samsung 5000 series are hard to beat at that price level. No bells and whistles just a great display.

My dad has the Panasonic TX-40CS520B which has a cracking picture and unusually on entry level TVs the sound is very good. He's done away with his sound bar.
 
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Oled is out of the question but what about side lit and back lit, am I right in thinking the latter is now pretty much redundant due to Oled?
 
Backlit sets went out of fashion a while back, because sidelit allows for thinner cases.

The downside is that it's very hard to light the whole screen evenly, so on a completely 'black' screen you will see some clouding. You don't really notice that during general viewing, though.

FYI the Yamaha projection soundbars are great & can produce convincing surround sound, if your room is suitable.
 
I keep coming back to the Hisense range when looking at Richer Sounds. I doubt the screen quality will be as good as the other brands but will I really notice it when in the house and it's not side by side? The 6 year warranty pretty much takes care of any reliability concerns and it seems like a pretty loaded TV with good reviews.

My only concern is the stand which may not fit on my table that I think is only about 30" wide.

http://m.richersounds.com/#!/product/HISE-50M3300
 
gman said:
I keep coming back to the Hisense range when looking at Richer Sounds. I doubt the screen quality will be as good as the other brands but will I really notice it when in the house and it's not side by side? The 6 year warranty pretty much takes care of any reliability concerns and it seems like a pretty loaded TV with good reviews.

My only concern is the stand which may not fit on my table that I think is only about 30" wide.

http://m.richersounds.com/#!/product/HISE-50M3300
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I have to admit that I've never heard of this brand before, but in my experience Richer Sounds normally doesn't stock rubbish in their shops. And the reviews are pretty good.
 
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Finally got one and a little disappointed with Richer Sounds and to be honest, the salesman seemed quite disinterested, not very convincing with knowledge and a denial of any bad reviews with a stock response of "I've sold lots without any problems" even though I showed him on my phone the negative reviews on their website!

No Hisense in stock for any model with none arriving for weeks, the KDL43W755CBU I was interested in only had one in stock which was in silver which I don't like and he showed no sign of trying to find an alternative TV.

I then spotted a Sony KD43X8305CBU which had no video feed but was turned on and in the clearance section as the last display model. Asked about price and he offered to knock it down to £530 which didn't seem great considering other models had several hundred knocked off.

Anyway, I ended up buying it, they forgot to pack the stand so I had to go all the way back in to pick it up and received a generous £2 for the trouble lol and figured that it has a six year warranty so sod it!

Turns out to be a very nice TV and the android system works fine. Upscales standard dvds well and 1080p and 4k videos are excellent with very smooth motion. Best part is the sound quality, not much bass but vocals are very clear which is what I wanted.

Cheers for all the advice, got there in the end!
 
Very good, enjoy your new TV (y)

With regards to sound quality, obviously a sound bar would help - another option is to see if you can add just a sub to the TV to give you the base your missing...
 
I've got a surround system which is hooked up for playing dvds and it has a big sub, although I've not got the satellite speakers hooked up as we don't want them. But the sound only works with dvds and I think to get it for TV stuff I'd need to connect via red and white composite. There's no optical input.

I'm sure in the past I've done it via the scart maybe? But then I think I had to change the input on the surround system to av or aux and would forget or couldn't be bothered.

The speakers are connected to the surround system by the old clip in wire style.
 
gman said:
I've got a surround system which is hooked up for playing dvds and it has a big sub, although I've not got the satellite speakers hooked up as we don't want them. But the sound only works with dvds and I think to get it for TV stuff I'd need to connect via red and white composite. There's no optical input.

I'm sure in the past I've done it via the scart maybe? But then I think I had to change the input on the surround system to av or aux and would forget or couldn't be bothered.

The speakers are connected to the surround system by the old clip in wire style.
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Depends on if you can connect a sub to the TV directly and if this needs to be passive or powered sub as to whether you can use your current sub...hopefully it should tell you in the manual :)
 
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Looks like there is also a wireless sub option

http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/televisions-speakers-speaker-grilles/swf-br100

The wireless subwoofer made for BRAVIA
Add impact to movies with rich, powerful bass. No cables or special set up are needed – the wireless subwoofer is automatically tuned with the optimum settings for new BRAVIA models. The compact and stylishly crafted cabinet fits discreetly in any room.



It's also worth checking, if you haven't done already, to see if there are any updates for the TV
 
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The manual is pathetic to say the least but I think you can get a full version online. There's a subwoofer port on the side which has a voltage label so I'm guessing it's for amplified or something, it's a screw in type port. I'll probably just leave it though.

One thing I've noticed is that it's woefully slow at initially reading a hard drive with films on it if there is a lot of folders. Also even when watching regular TV or putting the TV into standby the hard drive is constantly working away which I fear will wear it out pretty quick! I'll stick with my cyclone media player I reckon. The interface for browsing what's on your drive is poor anyway and clips off the screen etc.

A shame because it plays them very well and the fast forward controls are better than the external media player.
 
DSC_0046.JPG
 
Those are satellite cable inputs. It may have a 4k compatible satellite tuner.
 
Ah cheers. Still need to get to the bottom of this hard drive thing. Surely it shouldn't be accessing constantly when the TV is in standby?
 
Well the TV is going back. The HDMI 1 port is loose, probably because it was an open box sale, but their head office said it wouldn't be covered under warranty in the future so I should return it and could choose either a replacement, different model or a full refund. Very good policy.

The android OS is sluggish, sometimes unresponsive and the TV has reset itself a few times now so I'm going to change to a different TV. It's a shame as I really like how Sony handles picture quality and the audio is very clear.

Was going to get the LG 43uh661V as it is back lit and has HDR processing, although I believe this is a bit of a gimmick unless it's proper HDR and the input signal contains HDR also. But there's something about LG image quality that I don't like and the ones I've seen appear to be a bit heavy with a kind of dithering effect and almost has a 'monitor' feel to it, whereas the Sony is more of a silky blend. It's also an IPS panel which I believe sacrifices contrast for viewing angle, I don't need the latter.

Anyway, I've settled on the Panasonic TX40DX600 because it's not an IPS panel and I personally like how it handles image quality. Tested it out with some sample footage I put on a usb stick in Currys and it's lovely and it dealt with the text images well also. I think the Sony I've got is better at handling motion but I rarely watch sport on the TV and prefer the less smooth film look anyway. The OS is very fast also. So I'll be swapping it this weekend at Richer Sounds.

If it weren't for the android OS of the Sony I would have stuck with it.

If the audio quality isn't good enough I'll either get a sound bar or connect the TV to my home theatre via composite.
 
Sorry to hear you've had problems with your new TV.

I had heard this was an issue with some Sony models, which is what put me off them - also heard when they updated the software towards the end of last year it disabled the sat function on the set...

Hopefully the Panasonic will be better and run trouble free for you.

If you can, I'd make sure you get a sealed box from Richer sounds this time - have you checked JL to see if they stock the Panasonic and what's their price ???
 
gman said:
If the audio quality isn't good enough I'll either get a sound bar or connect the TV to my home theatre via composite.
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Just remember that the home theatre kit you have is designed for 5:1 and most TV programmes are stereo so the sound quality might not be that great with it - I tried our old system previously and found it plenty loud enough, but due to the sub etc was a bit boomy and not as clear as the TV. Once I'd altered the settings on the system it was much better, but I had to remember to alter for either TV or DVD depending on what I was watching ...
 
I only use it as a 3.1 as I don't need the satellite speakers and so long as I don't turn on the dolby setting I get surprisingly clear audio. Depends on the TV speakers though as it's just another remote to have to bother with to change the volume.
 
gman said:
In Arran at the moment but get back to Glasgow next week and will be shopping then. All the usual supermarkets, got a Richer Sounds and I'm also a member of Costco.

Will probably avoid 4k. Never thought about Bluetooth sound bar!
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Costco ,every time , their customer service is second to none, even John Lewis, plus if you're luckyon the day they sell off the Ex Display sets at huge discounts, I just bought a 75" samsung for just over 1/2 the internet price and the 5 year guarantee still starts at the date of purchase, did the same with my dads sony 4 years ago which has been faultless and they have a 90 day no quibble return policy
 
Damn it! No stock for the TX40DX600 and same with John Lewis. Didn't want to go to Currys as I was unsure about the warranty and the Panasonic site isn't clear about it having 5 years with this model.

Looked at the 43" LG but no LG would recognise my USB stick yet Sony and Panasonic could read it fine. Just couldn't get to like LG for some reason.

Ended up with the Panasonic TX49DX600B and thanks to Panasonic using insanely wide boxes it was a miracle I managed to get it in my car!

Love the image quality and despite being an IPS panel (and may well be an LG one at that) Panasonic's trickery seems to give it a lovely film look, similar to the Sony. The OS is so much more responsive also and the remote is more user friendly. Actually now glad I went up to 49" and doesn't look too big in the living room.

Sound quality isn't as good as the Sony especially the vocals so I may have to look at a sound bar but will see how it goes.

Annoying how little stock Richer Sounds have but their return service was effortless and they even helped me up to the 6th level of the Multi storey car park!
 
Our local Richer sounds is closed at the moment. I wonder when the fire sale will happen... (Actually, given the state of the buildings and the time it took them to get the fire out, I doubt there's anything left to sell.)
 
Samsungs have a 'clear voice' setting which helps with vocals, maybe the Panny will have a similar setting?
 
andyred said:
Just remember that the home theatre kit you have is designed for 5:1 and most TV programmes are stereo so the sound quality might not be that great with it - I tried our old system previously and found it plenty loud enough, but due to the sub etc was a bit boomy and not as clear as the TV. Once I'd altered the settings on the system it was much better, but I had to remember to alter for either TV or DVD depending on what I was watching ...
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Actually since the OP said that his doesn't have digital inputs but scarf and composite instead I doubt it is a true 5.1 Dolby digital system unless it has the DVD player integrated. Therefore I think that at best it is an analogue Dolby Pro Logic system.

And ahem plenty of TV is broadcast in full Dolby digital. Mine runs through my av switching amp all the time.
 
Aye it's got an integrated dvd player and all the Dolby logos etc. It does output proper 5.1 from discs and I also remember a long time ago when feeding the TV through the system via scart I think that in eastenders you could hear background ambient noise coming out of the rear speakers but that was probably virtual?

The Panasonic TV doesn't have any clear voice settings and I've been playing about with the equaliser etc but it's nowhere near as clear as the Sony.

I think I'll run composite red and white out of the TV and into the home theatre aux in to see if it helps with vocals. I'm not bothered about surround sound, just clear vocals at a low volume so I don't wake the bambino.

I've been running some test 4k footage and the image quality is excellent. There is the odd file which it won't play, could be the bitrate is too high, it won't play a 140Mbps file which the Sony would. Upscaling 1080p is very sharp and clean as is Upscaling lower resolution stuff. Reads external drives with a lot of files and folders almost instantly whereas the Sony took ages, although doesn't retain the proper folder system except for the final tier but I think that's the same for all tvs so I just use the external media player instead. Glad I went with this TV!
 
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If your system is Pro Logic, you'll still be able to increase the volume of the vocals, on the centre channel, independently from the rest.
 
Hopefully. Just realised the composite on the TV are in and not out. About to try a 3.5mm to composite cable instead using the headphone jack. It's either that or an optical to analogue box which means more expense plus an optical cable etc to effectively achieve the same effect as the 3.5 to composite cable.
 
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