Which 32" HD reday set should I Get?

[Nicktendo]

Ideally I would like 2 componant inputs, if thats possible.

 

I have a buget of around 750.

 

In the near furure I want to connect a Nintendo Wii, an NTL box and An Upscaling HDMI DVD Recorder.

 

I will be buying before september, is there anything particularly special I should know about between now and then?

 

I have been Looking at,

 

TOSHIBA WLT66

My mate has one and says its rather lovely.

 

PANASONIC LXD60

 

SONY BRAVIA (I have no idea whats better out of S, U and V series so help would be appretiated!

 

I don't want a Philips, Samsung or LG as I've heard there picture quality is not as good as the above.

 

Ghosting, Pixellation and Black levels really annoy me, I had a cheap, terrible 20" LCD before reverting back to an CRT for now. if something's not black I will notice it and it will annoy and I wont be satisfied so Blacks have to be as black as possible.

 

I am looking for - in Order

 

1) Picture Quality

2) Connectivity

3) Looks (important to my GF, not so much me)

4) Sound

 

I also don't care if it has a Digital tuner in but it must be HD ready.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this and solve my dilemma!

 

What are HD CRT's like, are they better picture-quality-wise than LCD?

[Caris]

Panasonic.

[Guest Jordan]

If you want something reasonably cheap, but good i'd recommend my:

Samsung WS32Z409TQX

Its a CRT but it has: 1 component, 1 composite, 1 S video, 1 HDMI, 2 scart and supports 480i/480p/540i/540p/720i/720p and 1080i.

 

You can get them around £390, and you can only get them in 32".

[Bogbas]

What are HD CRT's like, are they better picture-quality-wise than LCD?

 

The black levels are better and there's not any ghosting either (unless the analog tv signal is bad...) You wouldn't probably see much ghosting on a high end lcd but crt's are cheaper. And no dead/stuck pixels either. Although some lcd manufacturers will replace the set if there's even one dead/stuck pixel.

[Will]

I'd go for the Panasonic too. Its worth paying the extra to have a Sony/Panasonic rather than settle for a Samsung/Cheap Crap.

[Nicktendo]

I'd go for the Panasonic too. Its worth paying the extra to have a Sony/Panasonic rather than settle for a Samsung/Cheap Crap.

 

I've read excellent reviews of the Toshiba though, Heard great things about it and its considerably cheaper online. I'm pretty much ruling out a Sony as I've heard the new models are slowly getting worse and generally it's overpriced crap. I do LOVE panasonics though...

[Will]

I guess it depends on the price difference, my 32" Panasonic is brilliant though, not a single problem in the 18 months I've had it and its noticably better than most of the LCD's my mates have.

 

The only thing I don't like about it is that its not a 42" Plasma.

[McPhee]

Why did you write Philips off so quickly? They make some excellent sets! I'd rate them the best European electronics manufacturer (not that theres a lot of competition these days)

 

Best sets around are apparently the Panasonic TX-32LXD600, Philips 32PF9731D, Sony KDL-32V2000 and Toshiba 32WLT68

 

Quick break-down of each one:

The Philips is the best set in terms of picture quality and features. Ambilight reduces eye-strain and makes the picture look sharper. It has a great menu and is easy to set up. Biggest downside; its a pricey beast.

 

Panasonic: Great picture quality, handles blacks the best of all the sets. More reasonably priced than the Philips. Its great but falls behind the Philips in picture sharpness and features (Ambilight and the other filtering modes in the Philps make that extra bit of difference)

 

Sony: This was the best 32-inch set around 12 months ago but of late its been beaten by the 2 sets above. Buy if you can find it a fair bit cheaper than the Philips and Panny

 

Toshiba: Not so good as the Panny and Philips, but a lot cheaper. The sound for its was created in conjunction with Onkyo and is therefore very good (and theres an optional sub-woofer available). Picture quality is top of its price bracket. Theres 3(!) HDMI ports!

 

Personally i'd demo the Philips, Panny and Tosh in a demo room at your local AV specialist (they'll be happy to assist). Ignore there prices though, most AV shops are at least 20% above internet prices.

Don't form your opinion off the back of how the sets look in Currys, all you'll be seeing is which TV copes best with being set up badly rather than which one produces the best picture.

It all depends on what sits well for you, the 3 are fairly close on Price vs Performance so its all down to how much your willing to spend

 

 

 

wow, rambled on a bit there

[ipaul]

I believe the Phillips Ambilight televisions to be very expensive.....although im sure it's very good it could be stretching your budget. Not totally sure though. I would go for either that or the panasonic.

[The3rdChildren]

Can't go wrong with any of the Samsung tellies.

 

Bad people will tell you otherwise, but they're liars.

[Guest Jordan]

I have to agree, the Samsung sets LCD or CRT are some of the best around.

[McPhee]

I believe the Phillips Ambilight televisions to be very expensive.....although im sure it's very good it could be stretching your budget. Not totally sure though. I would go for either that or the panasonic.

 

Oops, missed the £750 budget bit

 

I'd go for one of the 32" Toshiba models then.

The difficult part will be choosing between the 32WLT66 and its updated version, the 32WLT68.

If you can get it within your budget then the 68 is a much better buy. The sound was developed by Onkyo and is far better than the standard Toshiba performance. It also has a D-Sub port for the optional Sub-Woofer.

The connection options on the 68 are also better, 3HDMI ports (over the 66's 2) and an Optical Out socket (audio)