Which lcd to buy?

kazzza

Just back from a spot of window shopping and need help on deciding which lcd to buy. I've narrowed my choices down to the following and would appreciate any opinions, good and bad.

Samsung 26" LE26R73BD €899.99
Phillips 26" 26PF5521 €719.99
Phillips 26" 26PF5321 €749.99
Phillips 32" 32PF5331 €899.99
Sony 32" KDL32U2000 €899.99

I'll be using this with bog standard sky digital and with a media centre pc. Most of my time on the pc will be internet surfing, not into serious gaming.

Trevord

I'm in pretty much the same boat.

I have been try in to decide between the 32" models you mentioned and the Samsung 32" LE32R74BD

On the plus side that 32" Phillips has two HDMI slots as far as I know, whereas the others only have one. That might be an issue in the next couple of years if you go HD with Sky or get a HD dvd player.

There is some negative commentary out there on the weak plasticy look and feel of the Phillips and from what I've read you'd have more control over the pictures tweaking with Sony and Samsung (open to correction on that from other boards users).

Where did you see the Sony for 899? That seems to be quite a good price (about 100 € under the prices I've seen). 899 seems to be a typical price for that 32" phillips model

Looking at the posts here over last few weeks my judgement there seem to be less complains from those that bought Samsung and Sony than from those that bought Phillips.

kazzza

The Sony is on sale in the Limerick Sony Centre, (the reduction is something like €250ish). Sale is ending Tuesday though so it'll have to be a quick decision and phonecall to reserve one! The problem is though the U series is an entry level in the Sonys and as its relatively new, I can't find many reviews or opinions on the net.

Having said that, I'm still leaning towards the Sony if for no other reason than the much better instore customer service. I've dealt with them in the past and have always gotten very good service. After 30 mins waiting in a not busy Dixons for an sales assistant to talk to, I walked. :mad:

savemejebus

Check out avforums.com (register and search) for reviews on the tvs and remember to take every word that you are told in a store (especially the sony store in limerick - i think the franchise is run by kielys) with a pinch of salt.

If i was getting a 32" at the moment I'd go for the toshiba 32WL66Z or 32WLT66 (both around 1000 but available much cheaper online) the difference is the wlt model has a digital freeview tuner built in. Both have won numerous magazine "awards", both have 2 hdmi inputs and both have great picture quality.

Trevord

Yes the Toshibha 32WLT66 is another option in that price range.

But Komplett don't seem to stock it.

Can anyone name an on line retailer that they have a positive experience of who stocks it?

savemejebus

I think pixmania stock it, their customer service can be very hit or miss though. www.technikdirekt.de seem do great deals on toshiba tv's with a 2year collect and return warranty but they only have the wl version not the wlt version.