Buying A Smart Led Tv

[GTAm]

I have been planning to replace my ancient 29" (1999) Sharp TV (I know I am totally out of date here ) from the time LED's hit SL

Finally I am going to do it one of these days. Had my eye on the Samsung 42 Smart TV but now I'm shifting towards the LG 42.

The reasons are because Samsung - Made in India (I don't like) vs LG - made in Korea (claims the agents) vs Sony Bravia - made in Malasiya.

1. Samsung - Rs. 240k

2. LG - Rs. 207k Special promo HSBC card.

3. Sony Rs. 280k

It looks like the LG is a no-brainer. Just wanted to get some feedback from anyone with experiences. Thanks.

[Sylvi]

'GTAm' ,

Samsung and LG To my knowledge are handled by Abans.

Sony has a reputation for number of decades.

Almost all electronic systems today are made in Malaysia, China, or Korea.Due to cheap labor.

My choice will be LG.

I use number of LG Washing machines for last 7 to 2 years. Then Abans charged me only after 5 years 2500.00 Rupees to repair 1 machine with free transport.

I bought another one until they repaired the one which gave trouble. Repair took 25 days and to estimate took 15 days.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

[Schiffer]

I have been planning to replace my ancient 29" (1999) Sharp TV (I know I am totally out of date here ) from the time LED's hit SL

Finally I am going to do it one of these days. Had my eye on the Samsung 42 Smart TV but now I'm shifting towards the LG 42.

The reasons are because Samsung - Made in India (I don't like) vs LG - made in Korea (claims the agents) vs Sony Bravia - made in Malasiya.

1. Samsung - Rs. 240k

2. LG - Rs. 207k Special promo HSBC card.

3. Sony Rs. 280k

It looks like the LG is a no-brainer. Just wanted to get some feedback from anyone with experiences. Thanks.

Go for the Samsung.

why? :

• LG. its the worst. we had a 29" LCD TV and the touch buttons gave up after a month, and then the TV stopped working after 3 months.
  
• Sony Bravia, the picture quality is better than samsung, but if your watching something through a pen drive. it only supports AVI though it claims it supports everything havent given much trouble other than that.
  
• Samsung is the all rounder for me, reasonably good picture quality, supports even FLV through a pen drive and we have made in india samsung LCD tv in our house in india and been using it for over 4 years. still no problem.
  

Try to find a Korean 42" Samsung TV. we got one from Dinapala 2 years back. its almost 18 hours switched on daily. and still no issues at all.

[GTAm]

'GTAm' ,

Samsung and LG To my knowledge are handled by Abans.

Sony has a reputation for number of decades.

Almost all electronic systems today are made in Malaysia, China, or Korea.Due to cheap labor.

My choice will be LG.

I use number of LG Washing machines for last 7 to 2 years. Then Abans charged me only after 5 years 2500.00 Rupees to repair 1 machine with free transport.

I bought another one until they repaired the one which gave trouble. Repair took 25 days and to estimate took 15 days.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

Thanks Sylvi

LG is Abans, Samsung is by Singer (Great agents) and Softlogic (not so great).

Sony - Siedles - I had a horrible experience with them when I was shopping for my home theatre/ Stereo system. Zero product knowledge and zero interest in selling a Bose system to me. I would not by anything from them.

My order of Country of origin would be Korea, Malaysia and India.

When you say you bought "another one" are you referring to another brand?

[GTAm]

Go for the Samsung.

why? :

• LG. its the worst. we had a 29" LCD TV and the touch buttons gave up after a month, and then the TV stopped working after 3 months.
  
• Sony Bravia, the picture quality is better than samsung, but if your watching something through a pen drive. it only supports AVI though it claims it supports everything havent given much trouble other than that.
  
• Samsung is the all rounder for me, reasonably good picture quality, supports even FLV through a pen drive and we have made in india samsung LCD tv in our house in india and been using it for over 4 years. still no problem.
  

Try to find a Korean 42" Samsung TV. we got one from Dinapala 2 years back. its almost 18 hours switched on daily. and still no issues at all.

Thanks Schiffer.

Actually looking at the Samsung and the Sony side by side at the Singer showroom I preferred the quality of the Samsung. Maybe I'm being biased towards "made in India" but to pay a Rs. 40k premium is a bitter pill to swallow these days.......

I've been using a LG dvd player for years now and its been bullet proof so far...... So let's see I'll mull over it this weekend......

[Schiffer]

Thanks Schiffer.

Actually looking at the Samsung and the Sony side by side at the Singer showroom I preferred the quality of the Samsung. Maybe I'm being biased towards "made in India" but to pay a Rs. 40k premium is a bitter pill to swallow these days.......

I've been using a LG dvd player for years now and its been bullet proof so far...... So let's see I'll mull over it this weekend......

Thanks Schiffer.

Actually looking at the Samsung and the Sony side by side at the Singer showroom I preferred the quality of the Samsung. Maybe I'm being biased towards "made in India" but to pay a Rs. 40k premium is a bitter pill to swallow these days.......

I've been using a LG dvd player for years now and its been bullet proof so far...... So let's see I'll mull over it this weekend......

well one of dads best friend has a TV repair shop.

he said, most of the LCD/LED's that come are all Sony and LG. compared to them Samsung TV's are less.

Though 40K is alot it might pay off later

im honestly suggesting if its a TV, stay off from LG.

other stuff like u said are bullet proof. like sylvi's one of our washing machine is LG and its working fine for like 5-6 years now.

Good luck on the buy mate

[Jay Serasinghe]

This is just my opinion If you need "Smart" features in the TV why spend this much? Could easily go for a normal LED 42 TV and get an external USB smart stick which can be used with the TV.

[jaga]

My openion is not to gor for Abans. Their after sale service is horrible and I had a very bad experience with them. I willl never go for any LG products because of the agent.

[ModX]

My two cents. If you don't mind buying from a third party source except the agents with the same warranty I can suggest you a place which has a offer for Samsung 40in SMART TV 3D for 135k. I've done business with these guys and they are quite good!

Edited December 14, 2012 by ModX

[Crosswind]

Strange, because I had the exact opposite experience with these brands. I found LG was good, sony and samsung mediocre, and panasonic really pathetic. I am talking about lcd, led tvs. as far as agents go, abans is leagues ahead of softlogic in after sales service

[The Don]

I think I will have to second the opinion that while LG is a good brand Abans as an agent is probably the worst of them all. They don't seem to be able to support the products they sell. This is my own personal experience and there have been the same expressed in various posts.

I don't think you should have too many reservations about Sony being made in Malaysia as this has been the case for nearly two decades now. I did notice the remotes etc that come with version bought in SL weren't as good as the ones sold in Europe but both were made in Malaysia.

When it comes to Smart LED TVs I think Samsung is undoubtedly the leader both in market share closely followed by LG and Sony. The Samsung versions hit the market first and a few friends have them and all are more than satisfied. But I would look for a Korean product.

[whmsujith]

I am also thinking of buying 32" or 40" normal LED TV. What is the difference between "HD ready" and "Full HD 1080"? Thanks.

[Magnum]

IMO when it comes to TV and Laptop, Sony is the leader

[Rumesh88]

Dear GTAm - After reading the posts on this thread are you now convinced or confused?

I get the feeling that what majority of us are trying to do is to justify the purchase of a so called "electronic consumer durable" (in marketing jargon) based on three basic factors for a given price. In a random order of priority, they are the product features, product reliability and trustworthiness of the agent. I deliberately avoid any reference to brand loyalty for it has become a trivial matter.These days the product reliability and agents after sales performance are two of the most unpredictable things. The rate of new product development and the limited lead time to market has pushed the manufacturers to their limits. Naturally they out-source production to cut down the cost and the lead time to market thus compromising the quality. Also the production methods have changed since the last decade particularly manufacturers being forced to comply with RoHS rules thus reducing or eliminating the use of lead for soldering process. The boards which are manufactured using these methods are very much vulnerable to heat stress. (In more simple terms, very often you get dry-solder joints after couple of years of use). You cannot strictly stick to the pre-1990 mentality when you go for a product which is a "electronic consumer non-durable" in this era. Gone are days agents always coming to your rescue. Instead you need to focus on the features of the product and hope for the best on the other two factors. Although many of us may not like to admit this, it is the reality of the day.

So my advise is to compare the product features that you enjoy the most and enjoy it while it lasts. That will give you the best return for your money. The rest is so much unpredictable, no one but a fortune teller would be able to give you a concrete advice. Wish you best of luck!!!

Edited December 14, 2012 by Rumesh88

[terrabytetango]

How you people find the time to watch tv is beyond me My tv only gets switched on during the weekend.

[terrabytetango]

Dear GTAm - After reading the posts on this thread are you now convinced or confused?

I get the feeling that what majority of us are trying to do is to justify the purchase of a so called "electronic consumer durable" (in marketing jargon) based on three basic factors for a given price. In a random order of priority, they are the product features, product reliability and trustworthiness of the agent. I deliberately avoid any reference to brand loyalty for it has become a trivial matter.These days the product reliability and agents after sales performance are two of the most unpredictable things. The rate of new product development and the limited lead time to market has pushed the manufacturers to their limits. Naturally they out-source production to cut down the cost and the lead time to market thus compromising the quality. Also the production methods have changed since the last decade particularly manufacturers being forced to comply with RoHS rules thus reducing or eliminating the use of lead for soldering process. The boards which are manufactured using these methods are very much vulnerable to heat stress. (In more simple terms, very often you get dry-solder joints after couple of years of use). You cannot strictly stick to the pre-1990 mentality when you go for a product which is a "electronic consumer non-durable" in this era. Gone are days agents always coming to your rescue. Instead you need to focus on the features of the product and hope for the best on the other two factors. Although many of us may not like to admit this, it is the reality of the day.

So my advise is to compare the product features that you enjoy the most and enjoy it while it lasts. That will give you the best return for your money. The rest is so much unpredictable, no one but a fortune teller would be able to give you a concrete advice. Wish you best of luck!!!

Hear hear! We bought two Chinese TVs late last year, 22" LCD and 32" with LED backlight and they've been working flawlessly. The 32 is used for only cable tv, and soemtimes for xbox if the laptop is using the docking station, so it doesn't see much use, but the 22" is pretty much switched on throughout the day. And it's not only used for video, my dad uses it to play Pirith and Bana as well. And the cat has knocked it over twice so far.

Edited December 14, 2012 by terrabytetango

[soulja]

Go for the Samsung. It's trouble free. Recommend you Dinapala at Bamba. Go meet Shawn and get the seasonal discount.

[kush]

I have been using a Samsung 46” LCD which I got down from UK about 2 ½ years back and also I did some research recently to help a friend who wanted to buy a TV my findings:

IMO no point in spending premium for the features below as you will most probably will not be using them:

1. 3D – no broadcast, no DVD, only very few blue ray tittles and they are very expensive, so most probably you will not be using this feature.
   
2. Full HD – similar to above, Dialog TV has Discovery HD and National Geography HD other channels offered are upscaled to HD and is of poor quality. Only solution is to get an Indian cable box through one of the vendors advertised on Sunday papers where you could get couple of full HD channels.
   
3. Your local TV and local cable quality will be crap when watching them in your HD TV, if you are not sure ask them for a demo or go and have a look with one who has already got one.
   
4. For you to use internet on your TV to watch video (you tube) you need very fast internet connection (at least 4 mbps) and this also will consume huge amount of data so unless you have a high speed unlimited data package useless. On top of things it is very dangerous to keep the TV hooked to your phone line either direct or through network due to possible damage through lightning.
   
5. Do you really require this Wifi, DLNA, you will need more hard ware to support or use this features.
   
6. For you to really benefit by going for LED you will need to go for the more expensive back lit instead of edge lit. If you could live with approximately 40% more power consumption and bit thicker TV (3-4” instead of 2-3”) you would find good bargains on LCD TV’s.
   

What I recommended for my friend is not to go for the useless features and get a bigger screen 46” instead of 40” by not going for maybe 3D, the amount you save (Rs. 50-100k) could be invested in a good home theatre system which would complete your home entertainment system. (you will need a good sound system anyway cause the minute speakers you get in this flat TVs are crap)

Before you buy think about what you will be watching, how long, where you are going to pace the TV once you have answers to all the questions to and look for the best deal which will fulfil your requirements. Do bit more research goggle and see there are enough material/ research to help you or may be to confuse you more.

Don’t just get in to the bandwagon and go and get the latest / most advance as most of the features would be useless here.

[NPP]

I am also thinking of buying 32" or 40" normal LED TV. What is the difference between "HD ready" and "Full HD 1080"? Thanks.

full HD has far higher resolution 1920x1080, but these only come in handy for HD channels or blu ray movies. Since I didn't need any of these (use it only as a TV with PEO TV) went for a Innovex 32" (not full HD). Cost me 40k at the time and is quite good.

http://www.damro.lk/tv.html

these are the prices and they offer two year warranty. No SMART TV though.

Been using this for almost 9 months without a issue. Bought from a friendly dealer and on trust since even now not many tend to think of brands other than the ones mentioned already.

Quality-wise, as per experience it will come down to personal preference, other than the bias...

[Nirosha]

I am agree that when considering TV, LG is far behind Samsung and Sony. I have LG TV and it's sounds horrible, picture quality better if I had a black and white TV. Switches are malfunctioning. No more LG TV again.

I've watched some LG LED TV's at Abans. But nothing impressive with them. There were some other brands too (including some never heard brand). But LG's picture quality was not that good.

[soulja]

Don't forget the onkyo home theater poison

[nano31]

If you are familiar with computers, why don't you try to use "windows media center" with compatible TV card (s).

It will provide you with live TV pausing, you can simultaneously watch one channel and record another one if you have two tv cards, if you connect Internet to the PC you can watch on-line TV as well

You can order original windows media center TV remote and the sensor via Microsoft or cheaper one via e bay.

Buy a wide screen LED/LCD (may be used one even), buy a 7.1/5.1 sound system, get the remote/sensor and the most importantly buy good quality compatible TV card

[Schiffer]

If you are familiar with computers, why don't you try to use "windows media center" with compatible TV card (s).

It will provide you with live TV pausing, you can simultaneously watch one channel and record another one if you have two tv cards, if you connect Internet to the PC you can watch on-line TV as well

You can order original windows media center TV remote and the sensor via Microsoft or cheaper one via e bay.

Buy a wide screen LED/LCD (may be used one even), buy a 7.1/5.1 sound system, get the remote/sensor and the most importantly buy good quality compatible TV card

Are you Nuts?

so he have to to buy a bigger computer monitor, two tv cards and order a outdated microsoft windows media center and a tv remote?

and not even sure weather 42" Monitors are available here

also not forgetting the fact that connecting speakers and everything will take more power out than a TV

seriously. if you don't know about what the OP asked, its better to keep your opinion to yourself.

[Sylvi]

nano31,

I had this system what you say on your post with a large monitor, Shifter mentions on his post. The entire system is drawing more current he is correct.

I live close to sea I had problems with sea breeze getting into the computers, every year I had to replace the computer some times the monitor also.

Monitor was brought down by a friend of mine from Singapore because in SL you cannot buy large monitors.

I think the best is to have separate TV and a computer without amalgamation both to gather.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

[Sylvi]

Members,

Rumesh88 gives his opinion on electronic products to day and two decades back. I totally agree with him, because the testing meters I used to use for minimum 5 years early. To day have to change every year. I have two meters which I bought in UK Moving coil type. In 1964 still working.

The best post which I have read on this thread. Electrons equipment analysis he gives very cleanly.

There are more than 20 posts regarding the topic.Consider all facts of the thread it is time to give a decision.

So can any member recommend the best reliable, long lasting, good agent service. TV to buy.

At present I use two 29 inch Computer monitor with a combo box. Because I live in a small flat in Colombo entire area of my TV view is limited.

There are plenty of advertisements regarding TV to day H/A paper up to 55 inches by very old establishment. B****S.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.