Which Flat Colour TV to buy...

gkrishn · 14th September 2006, 18:16

I will be buying a TV within this month. I am looking for a flat TV, 25 inch. 29 is too big and 21 is too small.

Have checked with sony so far. Will be looking at Onida. I am not sure about samsung or LG. Currently there is a 21 inch samsung which belongs to my roommate and it sucks big time. There is a 25inch BPL in home. BPL has desecnt picture quality, but their speaker are poor. Have no idea about other brands like thompson etc.

I do have a 2 floor speaker aided HT setup. So not really bothered about TV which come with those funny big boom speakers in their rear. TV speakers should be good and they will be used only for normal programs. DVDs and xbox will be taken care by the HT setup.

Need suggetion to choose a good one. Please keep them coming. Thanks

Harrie · 14th September 2006, 18:20

Long time no see?
I got a Onida KY something. Its 29" though. Compared a few other models side by side and found this to be the better of the lot.
People say the Sony Vega is a class apart. But I wasnt sure if tha twas worth the extra bucks.

ritik123 · 14th September 2006, 18:24

WE had an Onida for 10 years and then its picture tube gave up beyond repair.

Have two Samsung's now (25 and 14") and have been more than happy. Samsung's give you the most for your money.

gkrishn · 14th September 2006, 19:04

I agree with VFM in case of samsung. But that is not exactly an important criteria. I am ok to pay 10,20% premium for that extra quality in picutre. I guess 10 year life is ok too... guess will not retain one beyond 7,8 years.

Harrie, I was out of city for past 6 months or so. Been driving around in stupid automatic rental cars on long, lonely(relative.. okie), boringly straight roads.

Yes, among the indian brands i am inclined towards onida. Also what are other brands that are availabe in india apart from usual korean and indian brands??

s.prashanth · 14th September 2006, 19:04

SONY WEGA DRC rules, cannot beat the picture quality, the audio aint too god, I have a sony 29, 21 and 34 and swear by it, you could probably go for a home theatre set up and improve the audio quality

Sumed · 14th September 2006, 19:12

I have a Samsung 29" TV and I really love the picture quality. I was not impressed with the sound though... but it seems you aleady have the HT setup so that is not an issue for you. The picture quality is good because of the DnIE feature that comes with the latest Samsung TVs. It seems that it enhances the incoming signals to give better picture quality. Seems to work for me!

Check it out and decide!

msdivy · 14th September 2006, 19:12

We have a Sony Trinitron, which is 20 years old. Except that the channels are only 12, everything else (picture, sound) is superb.
We again bought a Sony, (Wega) 6 years back and picture is as good as a new one. But the sound isn't great.
If you are looking for picture quality, look no beyound Sony.

greatDrive · 14th September 2006, 20:38

Read somewhere in some newpaper that these Flat TVs will be sold very cheap in months to come.
Probably companies wants to clear up there stocks of flat TV as they are planning to start a competitive price range for there LCDs and Plasmas.

I am myself looking for 29'' TV. I have a 10 yrs old sony triniton.
sometimes I feel for going in for 50'' projection TV, But I am not impressed by its picture quality.
Father In law being a Samsung and LG dealer, have advised me to wait till diwali. Prices are bound to fall.
cheers

The Wolf · 14th September 2006, 20:45

If you want better pictue quality I recommend you go for some High Definition(HD) tv. Sony is excellent at that. However Im not too much of a sony sound quality fan(which doesnt matter to you much anyways), I think Onida sound is better that Sony anyday.

My pevious was Sony and the current is Onida which is some 6yrs old...Im gonna move to Sony soon too...definitely HD tv though, if not for LCD/plasma.

kdb · 15th September 2006, 00:19

I am also looking forward to buy a TV nowdays .. and man its real confusing when u go to the showroom ....

@gkrishn: today i saw a 26 inch LCD TV at Samsung showroom in Noida .. man its rocks .. great HDTV with great sound and superb quality .. with 5000:1 contrast ratio its the best in its class.

ms_rana · 15th September 2006, 09:11

Last year I was out on a similar search for 25" Flat TV. At that time we had BPL 21" (around 11+ years old) which had good picture and sound but lately its speakers started giving problems and then tuner went bad. Sent it for repairs to authorized center and picture quality went for toss. Totally dissatisfied with BPL service. I guess their Royal days are over.

I found 21" OK but wanted something bigger this time. 29" was way too big so I checked LG XDP and Samsung DNIE 25". Samsung DNIE clearly has edge over LG. But at that time the showroom had old model DNIE and I knew that a new range is just launched. Went to Sony to have a look. And they had 2 WEGA models in 25" series ... one with normal speakers and other with woofer and PIP. Although it was close to 8K more expensive than Samsung model but I chose Sony with PIP. TV is excellent. Tremendous picture quality. Great sound (Surround Sound, True Sound, Simulated Sound and WOW modes are available). At that time Samsung was not having PIP in 25" (not sure about current models). This Sony TV was completely built unit directly imported from Phillipines. Interestingly, 29" low end model of Sony is cheaper than 25" Sony with PIP and woofer.

I love PIP feature especially at 9:00PM movie time when HBO and Star Movies both, broadcast movies at nearly same time. And at that time without PIP you struggle to know the title of the movies

. Also when there is some sports event going on and ladies in family insist on "Saas Bahu" serials. Great feature to have!!!

If you want value for money then Samsung is unbeatable. I have heard ONIDA too is good but never tried that option cos' although available at premium, Sony is the grand daddy of all Flat TVs.

rsjaurr · 15th September 2006, 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by greatDrive

Read somewhere in some newpaper that these Flat TVs will be sold very cheap in months to come.
Probably companies wants to clear up there stocks of flat TV as they are planning to start a competitive price range for there LCDs and Plasmas.

companies r already doing this.Many 29" TV r available within 16-18k these days and videocon even offers 10k back after 6-7yrs.

My BIL recently bought 29" BPL TV under exchange of his old 29"TV and paid only 11k.

gkrishn · 15th September 2006, 10:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by kdb

@gkrishn: today i saw a 26 inch LCD TV at Samsung showroom in Noida .. man its rocks .. great HDTV with great sound and superb quality .. with 5000:1 contrast ratio its the best in its class.

Yes, even saw a sony lcd yesterday. But at that price, i would have brought 3 TVs i guess...

Quote:

Originally Posted by greatDrive

Read somewhere in some newpaper that these Flat TVs will be sold very cheap in months to come.
Probably companies wants to clear up there stocks of flat TV as they are planning to start a competitive price range for there LCDs and Plasmas.

Thanks for that info... will keep an eye on that.

subbarao · 15th September 2006, 10:51

Hi,
Why can't you consider panosonic TV's, i have 21'', TAU series full flat since from about 4 years, very good sound Q, superb video, & compare to sony better VFM.

Su-47 · 15th September 2006, 12:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkrishn

I will be buying a TV within this month. I am looking for a flat TV, 25 inch. 29 is too big and 21 is too small.

I am tempted to ask why not 29? Is your viewing distance very close? Or, it doesn't go well with your decor? Anyway, lemme come back to the original question of yours:

Which TV?

Most of the broadcast material in our country is standard definition (SD for short which is something like 720 X 525 pixels). Even DVDs are SD. Therefore, even when you buy an HDTV which has more number of pixels (lets say 1280 X 720), how would the SD material be displayed on it?

Simple, scale up and show on display. Easier said than done! If done wrongly it causes a lot of blockiness on the screen (remember the VCD-days!). And, this is where technologies like Philips’ pixel-plus or Sony’s Wega-DRC come into picture.

So, if you want good picture quality, I think you should definitely check-out these three before making a decision:

Sony WEGA-DRC.
Philips Pixel-plus-2 (note the 2 is important).
Samsung DNIe. (Not DNIe Junior. That is way toooo junior to DNIe)

(However, I don’t know how many of the above are available in 25”)

And yeah, most of these come with a 100-Hz scan that makes the picture look less flickery and that is nice too!

14th September 2006, 18:16	#1
gkrishn BHPian Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 648 Thanked: 144 Times View My Garage	Which Flat Colour TV to buy... I will be buying a TV within this month. I am looking for a flat TV, 25 inch. 29 is too big and 21 is too small. Have checked with sony so far. Will be looking at Onida. I am not sure about samsung or LG. Currently there is a 21 inch samsung which belongs to my roommate and it sucks big time. There is a 25inch BPL in home. BPL has desecnt picture quality, but their speaker are poor. Have no idea about other brands like thompson etc. I do have a 2 floor speaker aided HT setup. So not really bothered about TV which come with those funny big boom speakers in their rear. TV speakers should be good and they will be used only for normal programs. DVDs and xbox will be taken care by the HT setup. Need suggetion to choose a good one. Please keep them coming. Thanks
	() Thanks

14th September 2006, 18:20	#2
Harrie BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: KA 03, KL 12, TN 38 Posts: 701 Thanked: 36 Times View My Garage	Long time no see? I got a Onida KY something. Its 29" though. Compared a few other models side by side and found this to be the better of the lot. People say the Sony Vega is a class apart. But I wasnt sure if tha twas worth the extra bucks.
	() Thanks

14th September 2006, 18:24	#3
ritik123 BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United States Posts: 123 Thanked: 4 Times	WE had an Onida for 10 years and then its picture tube gave up beyond repair. Have two Samsung's now (25 and 14") and have been more than happy. Samsung's give you the most for your money.
	() Thanks

14th September 2006, 19:04	#4
gkrishn BHPian Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 648 Thanked: 144 Times View My Garage	I agree with VFM in case of samsung. But that is not exactly an important criteria. I am ok to pay 10,20% premium for that extra quality in picutre. I guess 10 year life is ok too... guess will not retain one beyond 7,8 years. Harrie, I was out of city for past 6 months or so. Been driving around in stupid automatic rental cars on long, lonely(relative.. okie), boringly straight roads. Yes, among the indian brands i am inclined towards onida. Also what are other brands that are availabe in india apart from usual korean and indian brands?? Last edited by gkrishn : 14th September 2006 at 19:06.
	() Thanks

14th September 2006, 19:04	#5
s.prashanth BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: bangalore Posts: 365 Thanked: 85 Times	SONY WEGA DRC rules, cannot beat the picture quality, the audio aint too god, I have a sony 29, 21 and 34 and swear by it, you could probably go for a home theatre set up and improve the audio quality
	() Thanks

14th September 2006, 19:12	#6
Sumed BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 70 Thanked: Once	I have a Samsung 29" TV and I really love the picture quality. I was not impressed with the sound though... but it seems you aleady have the HT setup so that is not an issue for you. The picture quality is good because of the DnIE feature that comes with the latest Samsung TVs. It seems that it enhances the incoming signals to give better picture quality. Seems to work for me! Check it out and decide!
	() Thanks

14th September 2006, 19:12	#7
msdivy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,844 Thanked: 2,855 Times	We have a Sony Trinitron, which is 20 years old. Except that the channels are only 12, everything else (picture, sound) is superb. We again bought a Sony, (Wega) 6 years back and picture is as good as a new one. But the sound isn't great. If you are looking for picture quality, look no beyound Sony.
	() Thanks

14th September 2006, 20:38	#8
greatDrive BHPian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 547 Thanked: 7 Times	Read somewhere in some newpaper that these Flat TVs will be sold very cheap in months to come. Probably companies wants to clear up there stocks of flat TV as they are planning to start a competitive price range for there LCDs and Plasmas. I am myself looking for 29'' TV. I have a 10 yrs old sony triniton. sometimes I feel for going in for 50'' projection TV, But I am not impressed by its picture quality. Father In law being a Samsung and LG dealer, have advised me to wait till diwali. Prices are bound to fall. cheers Last edited by greatDrive : 14th September 2006 at 20:40.
	() Thanks

14th September 2006, 20:45	#9
The Wolf Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,120 Thanked: 75 Times	If you want better pictue quality I recommend you go for some High Definition(HD) tv. Sony is excellent at that. However Im not too much of a sony sound quality fan(which doesnt matter to you much anyways), I think Onida sound is better that Sony anyday. My pevious was Sony and the current is Onida which is some 6yrs old...Im gonna move to Sony soon too...definitely HD tv though, if not for LCD/plasma.
	() Thanks

15th September 2006, 00:19	#10
kdb BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: New Delhi Posts: 36 Thanked: Once	I am also looking forward to buy a TV nowdays .. and man its real confusing when u go to the showroom .... @gkrishn: today i saw a 26 inch LCD TV at Samsung showroom in Noida .. man its rocks .. great HDTV with great sound and superb quality .. with 5000:1 contrast ratio its the best in its class.
	() Thanks

15th September 2006, 09:11	#11
ms_rana BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Delhi Posts: 56 Thanked: 14 Times	Last year I was out on a similar search for 25" Flat TV. At that time we had BPL 21" (around 11+ years old) which had good picture and sound but lately its speakers started giving problems and then tuner went bad. Sent it for repairs to authorized center and picture quality went for toss. Totally dissatisfied with BPL service. I guess their Royal days are over. I found 21" OK but wanted something bigger this time. 29" was way too big so I checked LG XDP and Samsung DNIE 25". Samsung DNIE clearly has edge over LG. But at that time the showroom had old model DNIE and I knew that a new range is just launched. Went to Sony to have a look. And they had 2 WEGA models in 25" series ... one with normal speakers and other with woofer and PIP. Although it was close to 8K more expensive than Samsung model but I chose Sony with PIP. TV is excellent. Tremendous picture quality. Great sound (Surround Sound, True Sound, Simulated Sound and WOW modes are available). At that time Samsung was not having PIP in 25" (not sure about current models). This Sony TV was completely built unit directly imported from Phillipines. Interestingly, 29" low end model of Sony is cheaper than 25" Sony with PIP and woofer. I love PIP feature especially at 9:00PM movie time when HBO and Star Movies both, broadcast movies at nearly same time. And at that time without PIP you struggle to know the title of the movies . Also when there is some sports event going on and ladies in family insist on "Saas Bahu" serials. Great feature to have!!! If you want value for money then Samsung is unbeatable. I have heard ONIDA too is good but never tried that option cos' although available at premium, Sony is the grand daddy of all Flat TVs.
	() Thanks

15th September 2006, 10:51	#14
subbarao BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 241 Thanked: 40 Times View My Garage	Why not panosonic?? Hi, Why can't you consider panosonic TV's, i have 21'', TAU series full flat since from about 4 years, very good sound Q, superb video, & compare to sony better VFM.
	() Thanks