My old telly needs condemming, I've had it for 10 years and a dodgy plasterer wrecked it by covering it in lumps of cement.

So, what should I go for - the market has expanded so much since I last bought one?

I don't use Sky and have no plans to get it in the forseeable future. I think having freeview built in would be a good idea plus it would need to be ready for the analogue switch off. I'd rather get something that's going to stay up to date for a while rather than get an old box that'll date quickly, but don't want to spend a fortune on a new gizmo that will half in value in six months.

What would you recommend? Sensible ideas and advice please?

Got a 32" widescreen (not flatscreen, it's hoooooge) from Aldi really cheaply the other month, they always seem to have stuff like that suspiciously :suspect: cheap. Can't remember exactly how much but I seem to remember saving about £30-£50 off everywhere else I looked (off line). No freeview or owt, but seem to remember they sell freeview boxes & whatnot stupidly cheaply too.

If you get a freeview box get one with a card slot or you may end up getting another one 3 months later...

Nah, don't want a freeview box. Had one and it died, had another and it died too. Gave up. It needs to be built in really and thus covered on a warranty.

I think flat screen may be the way forward?

for sure you want a flatscreen widescreen tv.
crt (big fat tv we all used back in the day) are pretty cheap now with lcd and plasma screens taking off.
so you can pick those up cheapish with the digital decoder built in, but just double check that it does have a true flatscreen.

or if you've got a bit more money to spend, have a look at lcd tv's (the slimline tv's).

just make sure you get one with a decent viewing angle (so you can watch it from various angles without the screen fading out of view)
a high resolution ( minimum you'd want is 1024x768, so higher than this is even better)
a decent contrast ratio at least 700:1 higher is even better,

manufacturers to look out for are sony, panasonic, toshiba, decent budget brands are lg, phillips and samsung

Originally posted by Classic Rock
I think flat screen may be the way forward?

Going by the weight of the monster I ended up with, yup... :hihi:

It depends on what you want, flatscreens are only going to get cheaper, if you can get a 32" CRT for under £180, then in a year or 2 the silly 42" flatcreen HDTV jobbies will be a lot more than £180 cheaper than they are now...

i got told if you want an lcd one (normally the cheap ones these days) check something fast on one in the shop, like football
cos a friend said they saw one in a shop and the screen couldnt keep up with the action

set a budget or some requirements first.

A size, whether it should be HDTV ready, whether it should be flat or fat, etc...

then you can start narrowing down the choices.

Personally i've been looking at 32 and 37 inch lcd's, they go for between 600 and 1000. But then I found a neat little projector in dabs that's actually cheaper. So now I can't decide.

Projector all the way.

I use an LCD and am getting a projector next!

The best people to ask are probably the people on the service desk at John Lewis. Because John Lewis see to their own repairs (well, via contract anyway), they can assess the sales/reliability ratios for you :thumbsup:

PS - I didn't say you should necessarily buy from them, as more than one of us on here has fallen out with that particular dept in JL, but they do offer a 5yr guarantee on their tellies :thumbsup: