Advice for a new TV?

J

Jamessuperfun

CAG Veteran
Hi all,
My family are looking for a good, cheap TV. We are in London / Surrey area of the UK(This is relevant because we hope to buy in a store.) Wasn't sure where to put this so I put it here.

We have a budget of around £230 and aim for a size of 26 - 32''.(Bigger is better, but don't expect more).
We have seen a few TVs at that price for a little less, and do not require the BEST picture quality(I will be using my Xbox in SD, but even if there is no port I am happy to get a HD cable for it). This will be the main TV. Low input lag is MAJOR to me - another member of my family recently purchased a new TV and it had INSANE input lag - FPS games are totally unplayable. I need this to be decent enough to play Battlefield 3 competitively, as I LOVE this game. We don't desperately need it to have Freeview because we have Virgin Media's TV package anyway, though nobody's complaining because just about every TV has this option. We can't go too much higher than that because we have just spent 600 quid on a new PC. Any suggestions?

So basically: ( :) = MUST HAVE, :D = Would be cool, but quite happy to live without.
:) 26" PLUS screen size - GOT IT
:D 32" size - GOT IT
:D Bought in store - GOT IT
:) Watchable picture quality - ?
:D Can connect a PC - GOT IT
:) Not too much of the screen cut off at the edges - ?
:D DVD Player - Really not essential, won't be used much. - No.
:D I saw one TV that had the ability to plug in a USB and record whatever is on the screen - No, but can
to it. That would be real cool, but again, its not expected for our low price range. watch movies
ect on a USB.

3D, SMART, Internet Ready and all that penisjuice are not too important. Sure they would be nice, but we don't care enough to spend all the damn savings on going to that price- range.

Any ideas? Even if the TV doesn't follow all the required criteria please post it, will be eternally grateful to anyone who can help :bouncy:

------------------
EDIT
------------------

Bought the TV. "Celcus 40913LED Full HD 1080p 40" LED TV".
40" for £300? Yes please! If anyone would be interested then link is: http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/sho..._full_hd_1080p_40_led_tv.html?hnav=4294960182. GOES UP BY £200 ON APRIL 18 (!)

Thanks.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
how much is £230 in American mony and also if you have CL check there first
 
If input lag, picture quality, & reliability are what you are looking for I'd avoid the lesser known off-brands. Depending on the maker, they tend to perform poorly in at least 2 of those categories.

I'm admittedly not real up to speed on the market in the UK, but if models are priced similarly you would probably be looking at an entry level 32" from a known Brand like LG, Panasonic, etc. Especially, 1080p is not a requirement then getting a major brand like that should not be an issue. That being said, you seem to be hooking up to a PC so 1080p would be best if you can swing it.

As far as real adivce all I can say is that if input is a big part of the deal, make sure to bring a game system or something to hook up to different TVs in the store when you shop. A TV on the wall in the shop may look awesome just displaying a movie or broadcast but there's nothing more annoying than having to haul it back to the store to return when you find out it has horrible input lag. Also you may keep a look for a model with a "Game Mode", it can sometimes be beneficial to reducing input lag.
 
[quote name='starmask2k3']how much is £230 in American mony and also if you have CL check there first[/QUOTE]
CL? No idea what that is. VAT is pretty damn high here - like 20% I think (Ik,r?) but a quick google search revealed: UK£ 240 = 382.17600 U.S. dollars.

[quote name='Duo_Maxwell']If input lag, picture quality, & reliability are what you are looking for I'd avoid the lesser known off-brands. Depending on the maker, they tend to perform poorly in at least 2 of those categories.

I'm admittedly not real up to speed on the market in the UK, but if models are priced similarly you would probably be looking at an entry level 32" from a known Brand like LG, Panasonic, etc. Especially, 1080p is not a requirement then getting a major brand like that should not be an issue. That being said, you seem to be hooking up to a PC so 1080p would be best if you can swing it.

As far as real adivce all I can say is that if input is a big part of the deal, make sure to bring a game system or something to hook up to different TVs in the store when you shop. A TV on the wall in the shop may look awesome just displaying a movie or broadcast but there's nothing more annoying than having to haul it back to the store to return when you find out it has horrible input lag. Also you may keep a look for a model with a "Game Mode", it can sometimes be beneficial to reducing input lag.[/QUOTE]

Cheers for the advice. Any chance you could recommend a particular TV? Bringing a game system with us isn't too practical - LONG time of untangling those darn wires(Stop having wild sex behind the TV!) and we don't have a car so it's multiple buses away. We will check - when we are there - that it has a game mode before buying. Is the game mode often just there to shut customers up in the shop, or does it really work?
-Thanks again
-James
- Dashes FTW!
 
[quote name='blindinglights']Craigslist has a for sale section, it's not just a job listing.[/QUOTE]

Oh, didn't see it. Sorry.

Anyway we have found a nice looking TV. Celcus 40913LED - £300 in sainsburys! 40". The response time is 8ms - will that be ok for FPS games? Battlefield 3?

Thanks
James
 
For a city the size of London there is basically 2 listing a day. It is not the same as the US CL since so few people use it.
 
^Thanks. We have bought it, but I can't use it till Saturday! Could anyone tell me if they think it was a decent purchase or not? I know £300 is amazing for a 40" but is the TV ok do you think? Any past experiences with Celcus? 8ms advertised by maker OK?

Thanks, and sorry I'm so impatient.
 
[quote name='koalak']you can sometimes find used Sony's for good price[/QUOTE]

Thanks but we've already bought it. Any idea if 8ms is good enough for FPS gaming?
 
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