New Television and Blu-Ray player

[welkram]

Circumstances, such as a DVD player that will not open to release the disc and a dead Freeview Box (my third or fourth in 8 years), have forced me to look around for a new TV and a Blu-Ray player.

A TV is not an important part of my life and I have no wish for some wall mounted monstrosity. My buget is ?500max and for that I want a HD 32" LED with smart capabilities, built in Freeview, access to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and HD IPlayer plus replay from all other channels. Also built in WiFi to enable me to fully surf the WEB from my arm chair - should I wish to.
Wlth a TV like this a pretty bog standard (non smart) Blu-Ray player should work well.
As an alternative to this I could have a top quality Smart Blu-Ray player with full WiFi capability an a pretty standard TV, although it would still have to come with built in Freeview (I think they all do now), and YouTube etc, etc.

I have made a couple of trips to different stores of Comet and Currys, and in all cases I was told quite oposite things about the models I looked at.

I am open to suggestions but so far the shop that made the best tech sales pitch was Sony, they suggested the ;
TV, KDL32"EX310 (notsmart) @?350
BluRay BDPS390 (smart) @?130
or
TV, KDL32"EX653 (smart) @?550
BluRay BDPS185 (notsmart) @?90
I'm told that both sets will do the same thing, its just that the second set will have a better quality, but it busts my buget way open.
The other thing the TV must have is a scart sccket as I need to attach my old VCR to the new set up.

Sorry for this manuscript but if anyone has any advise please let me know.

[Peter]

Is there a Richer Sounds near you?



I've found my local one has knowledgable staff, and seem to price match, perhaps take a look there?

[Arginald Valleywater]

Sony, Samsung, Panasonic. All make superb TVs. I would go with a Sony Blu Ray. Have a look on What Hifi's site or have a quick read through in a shop. Their recommendations are industry standards.

[jimslip]

We just treated ourselves to a Samsung LED TV (a series 6) I think its a 40", but it has virtually no frame around the picture so it looks smaller and less obtrusive. It is also 3D. I would suggest always buying from John Lewis, because you aldways get a 5 year guarantee thrown in. I could give you more info, but I am sitting on my sofa bolt upright and unable to move, having just done my back in, putting the bloody thing on the wall!Oh yeah it has a thing called Smarthub, where you can get internet and all the orher stuff you may need.

[Sam Slater]

This [] TV has a few good reviews. Has Scart, smart TV and Freeview (a HD tuner actually which is preferable to standard definition Freeview).

Only downside is there's no inbuilt WiFi, although you can buy a WiFi USB dongle or connect an Ethernet cable to your router. You'll get less dropouts on youtube and iplayer with the cable so I'd advise that if the router's near to your TV and you're in an area that has lost of interference from other routers. If not, the dongle is just as good and while it's an extra cost the Panasonic is ?120 cheaper than that smart Sony TV you've considered.

Personally, I'd save a few hundred quid more and get a 40"+ screen for bluray watching. Can't see point of such a high-res experience on a small screen. Unless you're sat on top of the thing everything just looks like the sharpness is turned up to the max.

Still, if you're mind's set I'd get the Panasonic I've linked to.

[Sam Slater]

....and here's a review of said TV >

[welkram]

Thank you guys for all the good advice, however every time I found a TV/BluRay combo that I liked I then found a review that slated it.

I did try my local Richer Sounds, although they carried many Sony BluRay players the did not carry many Sony TV's.

Also checked the prices at Jonn Lewis, am aware they give a five year cover but I found that the prices reflected that in a higher cost.

So it was back to the Sony shop to get the EX310TV and the BDPS390 BluRay, it was then i found that I had not listened close enough on my first visit, it didnt have HDfreeview (I think?) or HD on demand.

By this time I had been without a TV, apart from a 14"portable, for 10 days and so I blew the buget out of the water and had an EX653TV and BDPS185 Blu Ray. Of course you also need an HDMI lead which is another ?40 (yes I know you can get them on Ebay for ?7.99 but the guy convinced me I needed a gold plated version for better image and less interference).

However the best deal was still to come. At Currys or Comet I never take on extended warranty, I find a 5 year cover with them to be around 18/25% the value of the product. At Sony I was offered, and not pushed into, a full 5 year warranty on all parts and labour for only ?39.

This TV is now running with a great picture quality, its connected to my WiFi and contains clickable aps for YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Lovefilm, Netflicks and loads more. I also have full Internet Explorer on there, but so far no (perhaps never) email. You surf the Net with your remote and an on-screen keypad, or download a sony ap to your android phone and use your phone's qwerty keyboard to surf with, even comes with a finger touch mouse. Not sure if I could use a WiFi keypad, will look into that as it would be much faster

And no, I don't work for Sony, but if they would like to pass me on some goodies then all the better.