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So time for me to get a new telly. My old CRT (!) has been asking for a replace for several years now, but it has still a very decent image and I have always fond a better way to invest my money in until now. The TV is however giving signs of exhaust...
You guys are experts, so I will happily take any piece of advice you'd be kind enough to give me, as I have near to no knowledge in the area.
My couch is about 2.5m away from the TV, I heard this might be an important data for finding out the adequate display size.
The TV will be mainly used to watch ... TV, so no gaming, no professional picture viewing, no movie from the NAS, no fancy experimenting turning it to a stroboscopic light using lego mindstorms, no sick-making 3D, etc... just the basics function of displaying a video signal. I also only need one HDMI input. I watch about 2 to 3h TV/a week, sometimes more when there are interesting sports events, so the picture need not be the latest and greatest, as I am unable to spot any difference anyway.
Considering this, a thorough search yields between 100 and 200 different TVs matching these requirements. I still wonder why each brand need to have 50 different size/quality/etc.. and how they still can earn money with it, instead of having 5 to 6 sizes (with 2 low-, 2-mid, and 2-high quality for instance), but I am surely not a marketing genius either.
Enough said, you get the picture (no pun intended), so I'd be happy to know what could be a good invest.
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus
Entropy isn't what it used to.
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Just don't replace it. After a while you wont even miss it and you'll have so much more time.
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This is what I have been thinking all these years, hence I kept up with the goo'ol' Thomson from 2003. And 2h/week seems a reasonable time for brainless activity watching TV.
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus
Entropy isn't what it used to.
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If you don't replace it what are you going to do with that corner of the room with its now pointless power and aerial socket? 
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Don't settle for anything less than Full HD with HD Freeview, get one with built in WiFi and Smart stuff, great for iPlayer etc.
Probably go for something of at least 42" upwards.
I bought 2 off these[^] in 2012 and they are great, so whatever the current model version would be a safe bet.
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Thanks !
DaveAuld wrote: I bought 2 off
You needed a spare one ?
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus
Entropy isn't what it used to.
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Rage wrote: You needed a spare one ?
His wife keeps breaking them!
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Not quite, I was replacing some other old old tellies around the house!
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If you've got a blank wall somewhere convenient, get a beamer, and stick it on the ceiling.
A damned good beamer costs about a fifth of what a reasonably good TV costs, and gives you a genuine cinema feel, rather than a fake one.
Don't worry about screens, or petty things like wall colours and textures; the brain compensates for all that.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I looked at this recently and even managed to convince the wife! Then I thought to myself "Just what is a 90-100 inch image going to look like?" answer - MASSIVE in a 3x3m room so I convinced myself to stick with the LCD 46" TV we currently have.
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Display Name Taken wrote: Just what is a 90-100 inch image going to look like?" answer - MASSIVE
That's kinda the allure.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Yes I really do get that, its just what happens if I get the Optoma hd141x, ceiling mount, 20-30m HDMI cable, fit that lot and then find for us the 100" picture is just too big. I suppose I wasn't prepared to risk it.
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My TV is the best - never need to replace or maintain in any way...Take one too!
TV[^]
I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is. (V)
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I've got the wide screen version of that! 
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Our sofa is about 2.5m from our 42" LG - and anything much bigger would be too big for us (Heads on the news / documentaries are about "human" size at the moment, rather than "looming")
Get something with wireless built in, and / or HDMI + USB - it's a big chunk of money you will spend anyway, so you may as well make sure that it's as "future proof" as possible, and you don't know what you will want to watch next year. If nothign else, your partner may decide that Netflix is a good idea on a dull Sunday night...
Don't buy the cheapest, do look at the picture in the shop. Most of 'em now have a good viewing angle so that's less of a problem than it used to be with rear-projection / plasma but it's worth checking.
And expect the sound to be terrible: the cases are so thin now that speakers are tinny and horrible. Expect to need a sound bar or similar for reasonable listening.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Thanks Griff, good input !
I was aiming at 50 or 55" for no particular reason, but from your experience this seems to be really too big ! Good news, 42" are cheaper  I've looked at the one Dave linked to, and it looks good. I will try and see if I can find one live to see in a shop.
I've already read somewhere that sound is not so good anymore,so you are probably right with the sound bar... so, maybe not so cheap after all...
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus
Entropy isn't what it used to.
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Honestly it is more personal preference than anything else.
At 2.5m I'd say nothing bigger than 55" - anything from 42" wold be fine.
Forget the gizmos and gadgets if you're not going to use them -
There are a bunch of cheap ones out there - but look at them first; The major difference I have noticed is in the uniformity of the lighting - cheaper sets tend to be less uniform, so you can see the difference in lighting over the screen - usually a bright corner or edge.
USB PVR functions come with some - that I find useful as I can stick a USB in the back of the telly and then pause live TV.
smart TV functions, wireless networking etc. - if you are not going to use them, then better buy something without them and save some $
Oh - check it is Full HD not just HD (Full means 1080p, Hd is 720)
PooperPig - Coming Soon
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Beware of TVs with freaking boot times. Little has made me happier about buying my cheapo TV than watching my friends massive beast take 30 seconds plus to turn on.
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Needs to take a leaf out of Mrs. Maxxx's book - never turn off the TV!
PooperPig - Coming Soon
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Definitely go for a Colour one, the Black and Whites don't seem popular anymore - Probably something to do with Political Correctness.
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What? Are you trying to make us believe they've got colour down there?
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Of course we have. We watch all the latest Betamax Films in Colour.
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I have a 51 inch Samsung smart TV. It has an amazing picture and can be hooked up to internet via hard line or wireless. Has all the USB/HDMI ports, etc...
Can hook up to your Google account if you like.
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I don't have a tv, just a largish monitor and I get everything I need through the interweb.
Dr Who via iPlayer and the rest comes through Lovefilm or YouTube.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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Everyone knows that the Scots invented everything[^] that the Chinese didn't.
Now it seems they invented sex[^] too.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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