Tv’s

My advice would be to just buy a brand. A lot of people will tell you that all Sony’s are made in the same factory that produces the Curry’s special own brand but there’s a reason it’s £300 cheaper. Can’t go wrong with a Sony imo

 

Just purchased a Samsung 4K HD Smart TV. It has HDR which is very vibrant, it took me a while to get used to it but it works well particularly using Syncler which is my main streaming app. Personally I would avoid any Android TV and Amazon Fire or Roku TV's. Read about a few problems with those.

I used AO.com to purchase and got a very good deal, highly recommended compared to Curry's and Costco, if you have membership of that.

 

I've got a little ROKU box attached to my TV. It connects wirelessly to my internet connection. I use it for Amazon Prime, Netflix and Apple TV. And ROKU TV where I watched two of Charlie Boorman's travel things. It works flawlessly but is connected to my Sony TV - which is fine and about 20 years old. If I was buying a new TV then I would be inclined to stay with Sony but no evidence that they are any better than anything else!

 

You say you want good sound, non of the tv's have good sound now so allow for a soundbar, i would go Samsung Qled with a Samsung soundbar for ease of use and integration. After a crt any of the better brands will see you ok.

 

Most importantly what’s your budget and what do you want from it?

In reality if your going from a CRT TV then pretty much anything will be better but also in some cases worse, especially as you’ll be going from 480p to probably 4K and skip 720/1080p altogether. That’s because you only get out of a TV what you put in. You will probably think an old episode of Minder on ITV4 in SD on your new 50” 4K OLED/QLED/LED TV looks bloody awful, HD transmissions of new content look better but it’s the native 4K stuff that really shines. So if old episodes of Minder means a lot to you then look for a tv that handles up scaling particularly well but bare in mind there are limits to what can be achieved by even the best of TV’s in that respect.

I’ve just upgraded our lounge tv to a 50” Hisense Roku TV. I’m trying to tempt us away from SKY/VIRGIN, 99% on what we watch is free to air or from streaming providers so all we really use SKY/VIRGIN for is the convenience of recording stuff, so I wanted a tv that was simple to search/navigate catch-up and steaming channels and also would be likely to keep with the times in regards to software updates/adding streaming channels. I have 3 TV’s in this house which are installed with manufacturers proprietary software which they seem to obsolete within a couple years of production (no doubt to get you to go out and upgrade to their latest offering) some offer the widest range of streaming and catch up channels, some don’t which means then adding a dongle of some description to get the ones you want, particularly true of UK catch-up channels.

Budget was a big factor in my choice, didn’t want to spend over £500 and wanted something with Freeview Play, Netflix, Disney, Amazon, UKTVPlay and all 4 terrestrial catch-up channels (not interested in BritBox) and the Hisense fitted the bill, £350, the Roku interface is really simple and intuitive to use and the picture quality of HD and especially 4K is very good, SD stuff can be a bit hit or miss depending on the broadcast quality. The only real lacking thing is it’s viewing angle, contrast drops right off compared to the old LG LED but that’s only from sat at the dining table so a pretty extreme angle. There is no doubt a £1k + OLED/QLED tv will look better but for £350 it’s alright in my book.

Simmytt is right about the soundbar though, go for one with a separate wireless sub woofer, pretty much all tvs now have rubbish sound due to the physical size limitations of the speakers they can get in there, so look for a TV/Soundbar bundle offer.

 

All great points above. Def consider a sound bar.

Now shops are opening up, worth popping in and taking a look and a listen. Last time we purchased one we found that richer sounds had a reasonable selection and had diff sound bars to try and sales assistant was more knowledgeable in helping us choose than the generalist at curry’s.

 

You need to do some homework as technology is developing quickly. Samsung have gone one way and LG another. My 2020 8K Samsung is now old technology despite being 6 months old. IMO, buy the best you can afford or want to pay but be wary of ‘bargains’ as they are likely to be superseded technology. Andy

 

I just stick to Sony. My old Sony CRT lasted forever and is still working probably. I have a Bravia 43" and its nice enough. Plenty of input hdmi sox. I'm not into big telly's. I just put it through Sony receiver/amp via optical if I want more sound, but its sound is good enough for my purposes. I prefer stereo and my speakers are plenty good enough. If I use Sony, I need just one remote. Do not underestimate this.

 

Samsung, Sony, or LG. In that order.

 

Sony or LG. Wont go near any Samsung coz they sponsor Chelsea. I have 3 LG 27" monitors at work and theyre nicely made. Build quality is good and i like the buttons.

 

Depends on how your Humax connects to the TV, if HDMI then fine but if it connects via SCART then pretty much all manufacturers have dropped that format now?

 

Whats your budget @broke?

 

I love it when we get technical! Although not disagreeing!

 

Most smart tv's come with freeview built in now so you probably won't need the humax box anymore?
I prefer the Samsung range. A lot of the crystal UHD range you'll be able to get in that budget. A lot come with a free soundbar too!!

 

Bought these two years ago:
- Panasonic TX55FZ802B (55 inch OLED)
- Sonos Playbase
Recommended to me by someone in the business. Brilliant picture quality and even the built in speakers are pretty good - but the Playbase sounds fantatsic. My only negative is that the TV i/f and apps feel a bit limited but picture quality is superb - worth a look as it was really competetively priced. Still can't figure out where they have made the room for the little people that live inside it though...

 

Be prepared to see a way better TV next year, way cheaper!
And the same the following year!

 

Check out the AO eBay store. They have a 5% promo at moment using PROMOFIVE.

 

We are so helpful here.

And I cannot think of anything not useful to add - only links to houses for sale near Castle Combe - but dunno what tv reception is like there!