what widescreen TV should i get?

[t-rex]

i have a 21" 4:3 TV and want to upgrade to a nice widescreen tv

28 or 32"?? must have stand, all for around £350-300.

my mates tv has a stretched image when the show is not in widescreen so would i have to watch shows with borders on the left and right? i hate these distorted images.

how bout this sharp 28JW73H?


http://www.hienergyshop.co.uk/sse/in...&cat=entertain

cheers!!

[cosmicma]

spend more money and get something worth watching like sony or panasonic there's a whole range of quality tv's but 3 n half hundred quid aint gonna get you one new

[ABCMan]

there is a nice sharp set for your price range, its widescreen but not fst, a heavy bugger though, on the plus side it has split screen text (ie you get 2 pics split screen with text in one and your program in the other, 3 scarts, svhs, composite, ntsc or pal input.

dunno the model number but asda sell it with a 3 year guarentee, i was looking at one for a new bedroom telly.

[maltloaf]

i got the same question for up to a grand, we've been struggling with the same 24" ferguson for 4 years now. I have up to 1000 set aside, recommendations please.

Thanks,

malt

[wizer]

out of both your price ranges... but my fave is the new Tosh Picture Frame II 36"

It fucking rocks

[The Prodigy]

http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/produc...de=TOS-36ZD26B

http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/produc...=SON-KV36FS76S

A little over budget but considering how much it gets used and how long TV's last its worth spending that bit extra in my opinion.
Plenty of other good TV's on that site with some of the best prices around.

LaterZ
Leftfield_2k2

[Yazmon]

I picked up my Sony WEGA a couple of years ago for 800odd squid. 100Htz, 28" widescreen. Nice...

Fanatastic screen, takes NTSC pictures (eg from the US GameCube) couldnt ask for more!

[sdss]

i've been searching to buy a new TV too - and same price range (courtesy of my free o2 sims )

the model i found and was going to get was:
Philips 28PW6006C

which can be had for about the 300 mark, 28' and FM radio built in

have a search on kelkoo.co.uk to find the cheapest place for it - but i did find empiredirect doing it for £274.58 delivered

review here:
http://www.homecinemachoice.com/test...ps28PW6006.php



not a bad TV and would have gone for it but i can't get a WideScreen TV - it goes against my principles

rant: it is totally unnecessary to squish and stretch the size of a TV picture - "normal" sized TV screens are more than adequate - if we wanted to go to the cinema, we would. There is no need to watch every soap with extra chubby people. And directors know that most people have 'normal' TV so stuff shown in widescreen has 'crap' at the side in order to fill it . LOL. So i'm going to find myself a 28' normal tv. Its all a scam to sell more tvs and dvds - its nothing to do with it being better to watch or anything.


Also its worth checking out asda/tesco - thats what i'm going to do - they had a 28 inch NORMAL tv (which incidentally looks larger) for about 200 notes.

[Yazmon]

rant: it is totally unnecessary to squish and stretch the size of a TV picture - "normal" sized TV screens are more than adequate - if we wanted to go to the cinema, we would. There is no need to watch every soap with extra chubby people. And directors know that most people have 'normal' TV so stuff shown in widescreen has 'crap' at the side in order to fill it . LOL. So i'm going to find myself a 28' normal tv. Its all a scam to sell more tvs and dvds - its nothing to do with it being better to watch or anything.

A lot of programs are now being broadcast in widescreen. (Eastenders is one, i think, I never watch that sort of crap....) Anyway, a decent widescreen tv will render the picture properly just with 'borders' at the size. (Mine megnifies the image slightly to reduce the borders.)

When it comes to watching films, sport, games, etc, you really cannot beat a WideScreen. Also its the future Get used to borders on your 4:9

[sdss]

Originally posted by Yazmon
A lot of programs are now being broadcast in widescreen. (Eastenders is one, i think, I never watch that sort of crap....) Anyway, a decent widescreen tv will render the picture properly just with 'borders' at the size. (Mine megnifies the image slightly to reduce the borders.)

When it comes to watching films, sport, games, etc, you really cannot beat a WideScreen. Also its the future Get used to borders on your 4:9

yeah - but even if eastenders does it - it'll have nothing decent pictured at the sides since relatively few people can see it.

And since not all TV is widescreen you either have the choice of black borders at the side, or in your case chubby actors.

Its only the future because the movie industry doesn't have to do some much to reformating to the pictures before chucking them out. Screw that - whats the point in a narrow TV - its no easier to watch.

[Yazmon]

Originally posted by sdss
yeah - but even if eastenders does it - it'll have nothing decent pictured at the sides since relatively few people can see it.

And since not all TV is widescreen you either have the choice of black borders at the side, or in your case chubby actors.

Its only the future because the movie industry doesn't have to do some much to reformating to the pictures before chucking them out. Screw that - whats the point in a narrow TV - its no easier to watch.

Well as the 16:9 pictures are 'squashed' into 4:9 screens resulting in borders at the bottom and top, I would imagine the directors are able to use any part of the screen they want....

If you dont want chubby actors buy a decent screen... (ie not one which is 100snots from ASDA...)

Its the future because the government has said it is... (Not that it means that much, but you have to admin, 16:9 transmissions of sport and good game conversion to 16:9 are a lot better!)

[Jules h-t]

Widescreen rocks. Picked up a 32" Phillips widescreen (Pro-logic, 3 scarts, 1 s-video, 1 composite video, 1 rf, NTSC/Pal, phono audio in and out) a few years ago, and it's the mutts nuts.

You can mozaic all the inputs, do picture embedded in picture then swap them over, and pick which input's sound is playing (all ideal shit when waiting for a program to start or PC/PS2 to boot) yadda yadda yadda...

They weigh a frigging ton and are awkward to pick up though- takes 2 people to move mine!

As Yazmon said, lots of proggies are broadcast in widescreen these days anyway, so like it or not you're missing part of the picture in a good deal of instances. There are various solutions for watching 4:3 pictures on a widescreen; stretching horizontally losing the ratio (fat people), black borders, movie expand (keeps the ratio, but fills the width of the screen losing you the top and bottom- you can pick various compromise ratios too).

But the best of all the uses for it in addition to watching films is playing the PS2. 4 player Timesplitters 2 would be a bit of a nightmare on a 21" 4:3.

Bigger the better in my view (but maybe that's because I've not got round to getting those glasses I need)...

[abarthman]

t-rex, whatever widescreen TV you decide to go for, make sure that geometry is OK (ie, vertical and horizontal lines near the edge of the screen are straight and don't curve). It might not sound too important, but it becomes bloody annoying watching curvy goalposts after a while!

I had to return four widescreen TVs (including a 32" Phillips which wasn't far short of £1000), because the geometry was crap on them all.

I ended up buying a wee 21" Sony 4:3 flatscreen because the geometry was perfect and it has a nice picture.

I hope to get a plasma/LCD when (if) they come within my price range.

[CON-DIGI]

First and foremost buy one of the specialist magazines and read the reviews, then shop around for the best deal.

And whats all this crap being posted about how heavy the fooking tv is..of course they are heavy! what do you guys do, sit with it balanced on your lap all night??