Right you lot, I know some of you like to keep tabs on sexy TV bargains. I need a sexy TV (LCD) and need it quick. HD is a must and under $3k preferably.

... go!

Sony Bravia X series

http://www.sony.com.au/homecinema/catalog/product.jsp?categoryId=22400

I have nfi really but best big LCD I've ever seen for image quality and that sort of thing is a Sony Bravia...

http://www.jbhifi.com.au/tv-plasma-lcd/hd-tv-1080/

Why X Series and not the W Series?

Edit: Also, to get HD, do I need to do anything with my antenna? My home theatre thingy doesn't have HDMI, so would component or RCA leads make a big difference?

last edited by Mantra at 15:14:35 28/Dec/08

HDTVs just have the same antenna plug in them as any other TV, so you should be sweet.

Also, with regards to the best screens, last I heard, Samsung and Sony both use the same panels in their TVs, so you don't have to pay Sony's sodomy fees for a good quality set. I don't know if this has changed at all, but I know they used to be the same.

On this subject of tv's, i've been looking at 32" lcd tv's for a little while and i've noticed a LG one that looks really good even next to the sony in the same size. What do you guys have to say about LG tv's?

You can't get HD out of composite leads (single yellow video lead) but component (red green & blue video lead) will do and those leads are usually RCA so what exactly are you asking? Did you mean SCART? I use component out on my xbox360 & my HD set top box into my TV running off a 15 year old analog tv antenna, works fine except I can't get SBS but then again we've never had good tv reception here, before foxtel came along we could barely even get any free to air channels.

What do you guys have to say about LG

Burn it.

I take you have something against LG that is completely unrelated to tv's?

Check out the samsung range pave, they have nicer panels than the LG and generally are around the same price.....better warrenty too.

I take you have something against LG that is completely unrelated to tv's?

Tv's, monitors, microwaves, if it's made by LG, BURN IT.

if it's made by LG, BURN IT

Seconded.

Also, sifnt plasma. ;)

Such well thought out and verbalised arguements.

Never had a problem with any LG appliance. The LG aircons at work rock. My LG crt lasted well over 5 years including be dragged to lans hell west and crooked. My LG phone was definately reliable then my Sony.

Yeah i don't really expect any better from whoop. I was hoping someone like mongie would post.

Samsung LCD's are apparently pretty nice too and you can get a free blu ray player with some models at the moment.
http://samsung.promotionscampaign.com.au/av/

Why X Series and not the W Series?

hmm..i got my KDLW403100 from HN early this year (with the PS3 promotion) for $1999, which price matched Video Pro. so JB's $2,391 sounds very beatable. Though JB have the KDL40W4500 advertised and it a higher model within that series. You might want to check out what the differences are but i suspect they aren't anything significant.

As for the X series, apparently they have 100mhz motion picture where as the W series has 60mhz. I also thought X series would have better response times but apparently they're the same...

Anyway go to the sony website and you can compare the different models specs' side by side.


last edited by MatchFixer at 17:12:03 28/Dec/08

I have a Samsung 46" which I bought a year ago. It's fantastic and a fair bit cheaper than the Sony TVs (as far as I recall).

I think I'll go the Samsung then, having a wonder around the net seems they are pretty well received, and the warranty is pretty good too. I also get a free bluray player via redemption!

You can't get HD out of composite leads (single yellow video lead) but component (red green & blue video lead) will do and those leads are usually RCA so what exactly are you asking?

Ok, I meant RCA when I meant composite. It appears component leads will do though, and I'll get a HDMI for the bluray player.

I'll go to JB tomorrow and see what they can do for me on this Samsung. Do JB price match?

Also, Hi Tim!

edit: Linked wrong TV

last edited by Mantra at 17:43:00 28/Dec/08

sif lcd

sifnt

http://hdtvprices.pbwiki.com/

Sweet, thanks ctd. It appears they're selling it at JB Strathpine for $2600, so I shouldn't have to much trouble convincing JB Indro to match that...

ahaha sif spend $2600 on a 46" LCD and not get a 50" Plasma (50pz800a) for $2350 and you can buy a bluray player if you want with the left over money and still end up with 4" more and better blacks, moving scenes.

unless your going to be using it as a computer monitor FULL TIME, or its in a very bright area ie light shines on the screen itself. plasma will be a better buy.

I got that series 6 46" Samsung for $2445 cash delivered from RT Edwards a couple of months ago.. It was a union shopper price but still you should be able to do better than $2600 for it now..

it's a sweet tele though :)

last edited by pyro at 19:04:16 28/Dec/08

lols, plasma;

i agree with those in the know above who have suggested sony for mantra and samsung for pave

both excellent tvs and not plasma, so win!

http://www.computeralliance.com.au/parts.aspx?qryPart=9361

52" for $3k, more " for your $

I reckon 52" would be too big for our set up. Thanks though...

JB HI FI -
Sharp 42" LCD
Full HD
100hz
1080p
$1750 with 5 year warranty

Do it.

Why X Series and not the W Series?

Apparently there are big differences to those enthusiasts out there. I was reading up on AV forums before I was going to buy a TV and apparently there is a difference between W, X and XBR... XBR being the elite TV of the bunch or something and using a different engine and has great blacks etc. etc.

I ended up buying the XBR and it's a great TV but was really expensive and don't see much of a diffference between it and the W or X.

I've got an LG plasma, it rox my sox

60" of black awesomeness
it was next to bravias etc when I bought it, looked s*** hot compared to everything around it and that's how I chose it

I've got an LG plasma, it rox my sox

I've heard from various retailers that LG fault rates are higher than other brands is all. But like it's been said a bunch of times, if it looks good and works good for you, then that's all that matters.

LG = Lucky Goldstar, best rebranding job ever.

You wouldn't have bought a lucky goldstar anything back in the day, for those of you old enough to know of Lucky Goldstar that is. Why all of a sudden are you LG fanboys now?

Goldstar? I remember them from the early 90's - they were terrible! It all makes sense now.

LG must be good .. heardy is such a noob that if he doesn't rate it it must be pro.

haha I actually laughed obes :)

You wouldn't have bought a lucky goldstar anything back in the day, for those of you old enough to know of Lucky Goldstar that is. Why all of a sudden are you LG fanboys now?

I don't fall into the 'old enough' category there, but I've never had any probs with LG

had their microwaves, aircon, tv's etc
I have 5 years extended warranty on the plasma, if I get 8 years out of a $5000 tv before it needs replacing - I'm doing extremely well

Apparently there are big differences to those enthusiasts out there. I was reading up on AV forums before I was going to buy a TV and apparently there is a difference between W, X and XBR... XBR being the elite TV of the bunch or something and using a different engine and has great blacks etc. etc.

I ended up buying the XBR and it's a great TV but was really expensive and don't see much of a diffference between it and the W or X.

The only difference I've ever found is the front bezel on the TV. Found a quote from Sony on it: "But what really is the difference between the XBR series and the X series? According to Graham Keogh, Sony's Product Marketing Manager for Australia, both the X-series and XBR-series are almost identical in this generation of Bravia. However, the main point of difference between the two units is the bezel on the sets." Maybe this will change with the latest model (that applied to the 3100 model).

LG = Lucky Goldstar, best rebranding job ever.

You wouldn't have bought a lucky goldstar anything back in the day, for those of you old enough to know of Lucky Goldstar that is. Why all of a sudden are you LG fanboys now?

Yep, this.

I'll admit, they've come a long way though. I still wouldn't touch them with a pole when there's so many better brands to choose from, samsung, panasonic and I'll even pick a sony over LG (for those of you who remember my hatred for sony)

last edited by whoop at 01:27:57 29/Dec/08

It's funny how people will buy one brand but not another.
eg, people will buy NEC but not LG. Or Nortel/Bay Networks but not D-Link.

My current TV is an LG, it's been fine, I've had it for years. The DVD player is crap though, we use the Xbox to play DVDs now.

all good brands start off crap... it's unlikely for any manufacturer to get all thier process control for mass production right straight away without some experience. ppl like seagate now right? yet they used to be the s***test brand for hdds.

I've been using Seagate for years without a problem.

i had a seagate drive fail without warning and take everything

flipside to that, my oldest drive ive got is a deathstar that ran perfectly its entire life, until i took it out for an offsite backup

Yeah, well, I've never actually had a HDD fail on me full stop. Just lucky I guess. I'm currently using WD, Seagate, Maxtor and Samsung. They're all fine, except for the WD being pretty noisy (it's about 5 or 6 years old).

I've been using Seagate for years without a problem.

q.e.d.

My point was that even years and years ago, my Seagate drives were fine.

13 = the number of service call outs made for LG products in my home in 08.
4 = the number of LG devices still broken.
6 and counting = the amount of weeks I have been waiting for a pc board for an airconditioner.
8500 = the dollar amount of damages LG airconditioners have made to furniture and electronics in my house.

I am an idiot for believing when someone told me their white goods where nothing like their av gear. Every device we have purchsed that is LG has either been tossed or sold. LG is the new Teac at double the price.

edit.

Hahaha they are learning, just as i posted that I got hit in the back of the head with a chunk of ice.

last edited by Ross at 17:04:49 29/Dec/08

samsung ftw

My LG LCD is awesome

samsung ftw

Damn straight!

I got a Series 8 and we're playing Wii on it now. It is a very very sexy TV. I was looking at the series 7, as it was under my price range, but actually looking at it in store at JB, it wasn't displaying TV very well. I looked at the series 8 next to it, and it was so much better, but it was about $1000 more :(

I went to HN in Indro to see what else was on offer, and saw the series 8 for $30 more than JB were selling the series 7! $3100! JB had it for $4231!

It even has a lan port and can directly stream stuff off the network... I didn't even know it did that!

I'm a very happy lad...

LG 42" plasma - 3 years now - no probs
LG DVD HDD - 4 years now - no probs
LG HD STB - 4 years now no probs

just bought a 50" LG HD Plasma for the lounge moving the 42 to the new games room

love LG and love Plasma.....once you've been Plasma you'll never go LCD!!!

I did look at plasmas, but they seemed ... fluffy to me.

I have a 50" Hitachi plasma, 37" LG LCD and a 40" Sony LCD. Screw being loyal to one brand name. I went with what TV suited the room size/lighting conditions/function e.g. primarily PS3, watching sport, watching foxtel.

lols, im at my oldies place in cairns, just noticed a cluster of dead pixels on old mans monitor (LG)

also mantra, get yourself a component cable for your wii eh?

Lol... how about you do yourself a favor, and at least look at panasonic 800 series plasmas before you make a stupid decision like buying a bravia.

Mantra... maybe if you would explain your reasoning beind going for an lcd?

Considering that we know...
- Plasma has better blacks
- Plasma has better colour quality
- Plasma is cheaper
- Plasma looks smoother

Why is it that you're only considering LCD's?

edit: what does fluffy mean?

also mantra, get yourself a component cable for your wii eh?

Not yet, getting one today if I can find it.

Considering that we know...

that you think

- Plasma has better blacks

I might agree with this, and I'd certain;y say its generally true, but the blacks on the one I bought are very impressive.

- Plasma has better colour quality

That's just wrong. Looking at them, the colours seem washed out to me

- Plasma is cheaper

I guess cause it's cheaper to make? *shrug*. On board video on my PC is cheaper too...

- Plasma looks smoother

Not sure what you mean by this? Do you mean the movement?

Why is it that you're only considering LCD's?

Because plasmas look fluffy and washed out in comparison to LCD to me...

edit: what does fluffy mean?

I don't know.. kinda ill defined and wishy washy.

Give it up, Mongie. Does it really matter that much to you that he didn't buy a plasma?

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't an easy decision, but in the end, the only reason I would've bought plasma was to get a bigger screen. Everything else about LCD was better imo.

poor mongie he just doesnt understand

Man, he's really good at getting fired up about printers too! :)

it wasn't an easy decision

yes it was, you made the wrong one :)

ok ill settle the lcd v's plasma debate.

LCD = 360,PS3,PC, kinda anything with an artificialy generated source if you know what i mean.
Plasma = TV movies etc.

i have no issue with the above statement

edit: ill add foxtel to the mix as well which i prefer on lcd

last edited by Spook at 21:34:00 30/Dec/08

ok ill settle the lcd v's plasma debate

Quite likely the most optimistic post of all time. Even if I agree with you.