Need some advice on buying a new tv, haven't bought one for over 10 years.

What do you recommend? is a plasma better than the lcd?

Got a budget of £650.

I'd go LCD next time
Got some burn on the plasma one I bought 18 months ago

LCD mate deffo. If your using HD devices both will look very good but the life of an LCD will be longer! You could get a really good one for that price! What size were you looking at? Could recommend one

Need some advice one the manufacturers and models really – suppose I'm looking at 37" (tv that is) 🙂

Samsung are top quality (what I've got) paid £490 for my 40". I'd go with at least 40", you'll only regret not going bigger. You'll want 1080p and 100Hz which you'll be able to get for that price. Sony are obviously top quality although IMO, overpriced! My mates got a 42" toshiba which he's very happy with. Panasonic are very reliable also! Hope this helps.

I bought an LG LCD fairly recently. Was tempted by plasma but could risk screenburn from my PS3.

I thought Sony were the most expensive because they were best. I looked at various TVs in shops, did a bit of research, and am very happy with my purchase from Richer Sounds. Next the Sony in one shop it was easy to see the LG had a clearer picture. On some fast-moving horse racing the white posts were distinct, while the Sony blurred them noticeably.

Deffo go for 1080p. Size depends on your room, how near the screen you'll be, etc

For larger (above 40") then ,IMO, plasma looks better.
Larger Plasma is marginally cheaper than similar spec LCD.
LCD is a lighter weight unit in comparison but that only matters when lifting it.
Freesat fitted is worth looking at if you have sat connection,free HD channels.
Full HD is the only option to avoid dissapointment,until Super HD arrives that is 🙂
hth

I don't get the trend for going supersize on your tv, they are just big ugly things sat in the corner of your room!

I'm currently lodging with some people during the week who have a 40+ some thing Pioneer plasma and the picture quality is crap compared it my 32" Sony LCD.

I thought coming back to my own 32" it would feel small but it doesnt at all.

The only thing to consider is that on smaller tv's you cant get HD, but depending on who you speak to there is or isnt much difference in picture quality.

I bought a 37" plasma 2 years ago, Panasonic, paid £799 with a 5 year warranty.
Did a lot of research & at the time it was 37" & over plasma & below that LCD.
At the time LCD was poor at keeping up with fast moving stuff so as I watch alot of motorsport went for the Plasma & was swung that way by the warranty.

However LCD may have caught up now.
Try AV Forum for reviews etc.

Samsung and Sony LCD screens come from the same factory.

1080p and 100Hz

is good advice, the striking thing for me watching HD content is the colour saturation, which on wildlife recordings is simply stunning.

Its worth keeping an eye on Richersouds as they throw up the odd great deal in that price range.

£650 budget would get me looking for a 100Hz 1080p LCD 37"- 40"

There's a lot of talk on here of going for HD or 1080p, but if you're not feeding it (or plan to feed it) with an HD source from either Freesat HD, SkyHD, Blueray or similar then it's completely pointless.

I've got a Panasonic HD plasma. It is excellent on Sky's HD channels (footie especially), and it does a decent job on regualr DVDs that I feed over component from my XBox, but regular TV and Sky feeds is pretty crappy. It doesn't matter really whether it's LCD or plasma, choose the one with the best picture and motion control and don't worry too much about the technology driving it.

If you're not a Sky subscriber, then I'd definitely be looking at getting one with FreesatHD built in and put a free dish up, otherwise you're paying for capability in the TV that you'll never use.

We stayed in the Lakes last week and the cottage we stayed in had this 20 year old, 24" Sony Trinitron TV/video combo thing in the lounge. We bashed a tape in to watch a movie and it reminded me again how good old TV's and videos were before we were sold this whole LCD/plasma thing…

yep HD lcd as everybody else is suggesting

I'd recommend searching around and getting the best 'Shop price' you can, search the internet and just make sure the best price is an 'in store price'
Then give John Lewis a ring as they'll then price match
You then get a 5 Year warranty

I saved £200 on mine from the JL Price and got within £15 of the best price I could find anywhere on the net and got a 5 year warranty for the sake of a bit of googling a couple of emails and a telephone call.

well worth it imho

samsung lcd def the best compromise for quality/vfm

There are some FANTASTIC offers on 37'' Panasonics at the moment – you can get one for around £500 and they regularly get best in test results.

Regarding 1080p – even if you don't yet have HD or Bluray, I would pay the extra so you don't need to upgrade again. Anyway – the majority of sets (other than the real budget ones) are all 1080p now anyway.

It may be just me but I'm just not sold by the whole flat screen LCD/Plasma thing. As iamtheresurrection pointed out, I struggle to find one that gives as good a picture as my 32" Sony CRT. Ok so the colours are great but the obvious picture pixellation & compression banding just irritates me.

I guess things will improve with more HD services and I love the idea of a bigger screen. Plus CRTs are big brutes to have in your living room but I dread the day ours packs up!

Maybe I'm just getting old 🙁

100% agree with fbk, but unfortunately my Philips CRT did pack up.
LCD with HD signal is pretty impressive, and the artefacts are no where near as evident. I bought a Panasonic 37", and the artefacts in upscaled SD are no worse than the artefacts of the stupid CRT digital processing gimicks (actually a lot better than things like Pixel+ etc.).

Sony are overpriced and in general, rubbish picture (imho), although there is one model at least whose picture is stunning. Despite the fact that Sony and Samsung panels are made by the same consortium, they must both have totally different firmware/software processing (and Samsung pwns Sony imho, both on price and quality).

Make sure you watch upscaled SD in the store, and *not* cartoons/CGI, before making a choice.

Thanks for the feedback, but I'll have to buy a new one later this week.

Looks like it will be LCD, 37",100 Hz 1080p. Some good deals on Amazon at the moment – free delivery, and even free stand with selected Sony's

Small screen like 20-40" I have LCDs.

But for 40+ I would use plasma with an inbuilt screen saver.