TV 42/43" Recommendation

[PaulSB]

This leads me to ask why are you looking to replace it? Has it broken or are you not satisfied with the picture?
You might find that a 2024/5 model of the same thing is a better picture, they pretty much all are, but as Vickster said they are getting rarer now as most folks want a bigger one. From expereince I would not go with budget brands like Digihome or Hisense; they give a good picture but IME don't last very long, or just don't perform very well out of the box. The picture quality tends to be the easiest thing to get right at the budget end, but it's the sound, smart featres/Apps etc that are very slow.

We bought a Phillips TV from Richer Sounds and the picture is great, the sound is great, and the processing power (speed of Apps and menus etc) is also great. It was £100 more expensive than the Hisnse equivalent but hopefully well worth it.

Also don't rule out a larger screen just because. We went from a 47" to a 65". At first it looked like a Billboard, but now it's just normal. It is far nicer to have a larger screen if you have room, and if you're not sitting that close

Thanks. I hear what everyone has said about screen size. I hadn't thought of this and will get my tape measure out.

I agree with all the remarks about brands and will only look at those I know.

The current TV is fine for picture quality and sound when used with a sound bar. Technology moves on and this is rendering it almost obsolete. The original apps have stopped working over the years as the system is unable to update them.

Until recently we've relied on a combination of a very old BT box, a Firestick and Chromecast to access everything. The BT box died at the weekend. Mrs P wants a recordable box as she likes to record ITV. A decent box with all the apps etc. starts at £200.

The view is an 11 year old TV could fail at anytime and it makes sense to put the £200+ towards a new one. If Mrs P still feels she wants a recordable box, we're talking Coronation Street and Vera, I could purchase a "dumb" box for £50, connect it to the aerial, and record from their.

Another consideration is the current setup involves numerous cables. A new TV would only require an ethernet connection and possibly the aerial for recording.

 

[vickster]

Samsung are good and you get the warranty from JL (probably worth doing a price check against Richer Sounds, £20 less if sign up for their free VIP club https://www.richersounds.com/samsung-qe43qn90d/ or they have a much cheaper refurb but only 1 year warranty https://www.richersounds.com/samsung-qe43qn90d-refurbished/)

Shouldn't even need ethernet if the wifi is decent and close to the TV (must be if using ethernet?)

 

[BoldonLad]

Whatever OP gets I'd recommend RS for it.

I would second that, for the last two TVs, I bought, they matched John Lewis Price, and, gave a longer warranty. In addition, their aftersales was faultless.

As for brand, I have little or no brand loyalty, with TVs, last three I have bought have been Samsung, LG, and Sony Bravia. No complaints with any of them.

 

[newts]

I'd forgotten that we'd gone from 42" up to a 48", the max size suitable for it's position in the corner of the room.
There are a few more available at 48" if you have the space.

https://www.richersounds.com/lg-oled48b46la/#tab-specifications
You can sign up instore for the members price.

 

[si_c]

This might be worth a look if your nearest store has one in stock.

https://www.johnlewis.com/sony-brav...uview-freesat-hd-dolby-atmos-black/p110491423

Edit to add they also have the 50" version for £100 more if you can fit it in the space you have.

 

[PaulSB]

Samsung are good and you get the warranty from JL (probably worth doing a price check against Richer Sounds, £20 less if sign up for their free VIP club https://www.richersounds.com/samsung-qe43qn90d/ or they have a much cheaper refurb but only 1 year warranty https://www.richersounds.com/samsung-qe43qn90d-refurbished/)

Shouldn't even need ethernet if the wifi is decent and close to the TV (must be if using ethernet?)

The wi fi is less than 1' from the TV, the ethernet 2-3'. I only thought of ethernet as this was the suggestion from the very helpful young man in Curry's. WiFi would eliminate that cable.......and I am sick to death of cables around our TV.

 

[Electric_Andy]

I am sick to death of cables around our TV

That's partly how we felt, but on our last TV the apps section was abysmal so we had to plug in a firestick. Then I discovered you can get a power adaptor for the Fitrestick that draws power from the TV's USB slot, which eliminates another cable. Anyway, we now have a TV and Firestick with no cables (the TV power cable goes into the wall and out somewhere else).

Re: the recordable box - could you not just watch stuff on catchup? I know some people like to record shows so they can fast forward the ads, but to a skinflint like me it's a lot to pay for a very small luxury

 

[PaulSB]

That's partly how we felt, but on our last TV the apps section was abysmal so we had to plug in a firestick. Then I discovered you can get a power adaptor for the Fitrestick that draws power from the TV's USB slot, which eliminates another cable. Anyway, we now have a TV and Firestick with no cables (the TV power cable goes into the wall and out somewhere else).

Re: the recordable box - could you not just watch stuff on catchup? I know some people like to record shows so they can fast forward the ads, but to a skinflint like me it's a lot to pay for a very small luxury

Could you pop round a chat to my GLW. I agree with you but she finds ITVx flakey and does have a few ads.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Could you pop round a chat to my GLW. I agree with you but she finds ITVx flakey and does have a few ads.

Haha, we all have our strange ways and habits. My other half is against any sort of soundbar and/or speakers because she doesn't like the look of them. Even though my last AV receiver and speakers (and subwoofer) were brilliant; she claims she cannot tell the difference in sound quality now we have removed them! I do not recommend her for the job of sound engineer, else she'd be turning up at a Metallica concert with a tiny Bluetooth speaker

 

[Electric_Andy]

she finds ITVx flakey and does have a few ads

Saying that, my other half used to have a Virgin box and she would always love to FF the ads on Emmerdale etc. So I do see the appeal. If it's something you spend a lot of time doing then I guess it's worth it. A bit like me paying for YT premium, but I watch it so much that no ads is worth the money

 

[si_c]

Saying that, my other half used to have a Virgin box and she would always love to FF the ads on Emmerdale etc. So I do see the appeal. If it's something you spend a lot of time doing then I guess it's worth it. A bit like me paying for YT premium, but I watch it so much that no ads is worth the money

If you watch primarily on mobile, consider Youtube Revanced, it's a replacement for the official app that has no ads.

 

[Dadam]

From expereince I would not go with budget brands like Digihome or Hisense; they give a good picture but IME don't last very long, or just don't perform very well out of the box. The picture quality tends to be the easiest thing to get right at the budget end, but it's the sound, smart featres/Apps etc that are very slow.

I agree to an extent. We got a Hisense 48" OLED TV 2 years ago, as it was £200 off from Costco, which made the cheapest OLED TV of that size by over £400 at the time. The picture is lush, really lovely and for me the sound is fine.

I really don't like soundbars. They need another power source, and another 2 cables in the rat's nest, plus yet another remote control. I know there are ways round the remote control but it's just more faff I don't need as de facto unpaid tech support for a house full of devices! I also don't want a ton of bass as we live in a semi with an elderly lady neighbour who is very quiet.

The apps are ok tbh. The Youtube, Prime, Netflix and Disney+ ones we use most are perfectly fine, don't seem slow at all. The TV's internal OS isn't the best though. One example is although I installed a screen saver slideshow app from the VIDAA app store, it doesn't come on automatically! We just get the default screen saver image. So the "screen saver" app is pretty much in chocolate fireguard territory!

So I'd still consider Hisense if the price differential is sufficient.

 

[Dag Hammar]

This may not be relevant to the original poster, PaulSB, but may be worthy of a mention.
I have a ten year old Samsung 40’’ and I run the sound output from the headphone socket through my hi fi amp and stereo speakers which gives a vast improvement over the sound from the TV itself.
But, try finding a TV these days that has a headphone socket. I know there are one or two but choice is severely limited.
I am resigned to perhaps having to buy a soundbar when I next change my TV. Unless someone on here knows if there is an adapter that can convert a TV output socket ( HDMI ? ) to headphone socket.

 

[Mike_P]

John Lewis have a 43" LG with UHD ( iPlayer has some programs on that) for £279
https://www.johnlewis.com/lg-43ur78...-freesat-hd-dark-iron-grey/p110258583#product

 

[Rusty Nails]

As do Richer Sounds. I'd pay a visit to both. I think 42/43" is a limited range these days so there won't be a vast choice and they'll be much of a muchness at a given price point/spec (some are £1000+ OLEDs which may not be what is sought)!
https://www.johnlewis.com/browse/electricals/televisions/view-all-tvs/size=39-to-46/_/N-6srfZ1z0oizs Offering some bundle deals with soundbars

I’ve noticed that in the shops a lot. We have 42” TV in our living room. At 14’ x 15’ the room is not tiny but the TV looks huge in it imo. I don’t like it when the TV dominates a room but all my friends seem to be going for the 50” plus TVs.