Full HD 42-47" inch TV for Rs.55,000: purchased LG 42LB5820

vyral_143

Jarvis
Staff member
Super Mod
1. Budget - Rs.55,ooo

2. Viewing distance - 7-8 feet

3. Sources/inputs such as HD DTH/consoles/stand-alone media players etc
Tata Sky DTH - SD at present
PS3 - to be bought
PC and may be a media player

4. Preference for plasma TV/LCD TV/LED-LCD TV.
No idea :(

5. Preference for brands
Apart from good PQ, one with longest warranty period and reliable after sales service

6. Willing to purchase it from the grey market?
No, will prefer one with warranty

7. Ambient lighting conditions of the room
Not so great, there is balcony right opposite to to TV

8. Any other feature you are looking for such as 3D support on the HDTV, DLNA capabilities etc.

I am not yet sure if should go for smart TV or should go with regular TV + media player/android TV Stick setup. I have LG 42LB5820 in mind. Purchase would take place in approx 45 days.

Update: Following setup is in my mind.
1) Storage available on network -> A router with USB port for attaching 2.5" hard disk.

2) For gaming switching to consoles -> PS3 for a year and half and PS4 after that - may be.

3) For all the audio related needs I would use my Yamaha HT196.

4) Smart v/s non-smart. Here I have some different scenarios. Safely assuming that, after this year - 2015, I m expecting that my current GFX card can no longer play games in full eye candy.
i) So at that time I would sell off the current rig and get something like Intel NUC or Apple Mac Mini. This can be used to browse, play movies on TV along with regular computing needs - negating need of Smart TV.
ii) I just keep my rig as it is for computing needs and get a Smart TV now.
iii) I again just keep my rig for computing needs. Get a media player or Android TV box/stick with non smart TV. With Android TV box/stick I am expecting that I can play few Android games too on TV.
 
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my personal recommendation, dont be too stuck up on warranties, i just bought 2 sony bravias 40 inches. price almost 13K lesser than retail price. 6 month sellers warranty, and hes got a very good reputation so bought in good faith.. been a month .. no issues yet..

heres my logic for warranties, its not like the companies do not charge you for the warranty they provide. they do and just dont show that amount separately. its all included in retail price, coz if they start billing separately saying warranty charge, people wont pay or many will want to purchase without it etc etc.. and this genuine warranty wont have coverage for accidental damage. so why not buy something without warranty, when difference is min. 10K to 15K. if nothing goes wrong with the product, hooray.. if something does, you can simply pay up the repair charges. .it will be like indirectly paying for your warranty coverage. normally if the source is authentic, nothing goes wrong with the product..[DOUBLEPOST=1425723470][/DOUBLEPOST]and second advantage, if you get your product repaired from service centre by paying up, they are more than happy to serve you and the job will be much faster. in warranty claims, they're normally not so willing plus the time required to process warranty claim and get approval and replacement or free repair blah blah, atleast 10 to 15 days..
 
have got a Toshiba 39" led with 3 year warranty. it's been 8 months. I prefer max warrenty. if your TV's panel went kanput, you have to pay 50-60% of its mrp to replace it. and for a 40k TV its 24k :-O
 
LG is supposed to have one of the better smart tv software at the moment. The 42lb5820 seems like a good choice.
 
You can get a VU 55" @ 55K (even pay less with card discounts or buy back offers at times) with 1 yr warranty. Get extra 2 yr warranty @ Rs 5k.

I'm very happy after a month of purchase.

You may also look at micromax, I went VU because micromax was not having 55" and the VU is 100hz.
 
@puneetritehere I would be playing safe with warranty instead of saving some grands :)
@haritr @Jambumali and @chiron thanks for your inputs for the mentioned model.
@vbhoj74 I am not sure about after sales service of VU.

My main doubts are two at present.
1) Based on viewing distance, is 42" apt or 47" is better ?
I referred to this link -> http://www.rtings.com/info/television-size-to-distance-relationship It says 50" is apt for 7 feet. But I would like to confirm with persons actually using it.

2) Smart TV or Non-smart?
Agree that smart TV would have many things covered but is it really worth paying those extra grands ?

I have also updated main post for more details of (planned) my complete setup, not sure if that is correct.
 
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@vyral_143 :
"apt" is subjective :)

We watch at a similar dist & I am quite happy with the size - 42". The distance reccos are based on need for "immersive experience". That would (in my opinion) is predominantly for HD movies that too those with special effects in dark backgrounds like Potter, LOTR etc.

When one considers the proportion of time spent on movies & regular TV, I do not find it essential. 42" is more than adequate.

To further clear your doubt re distance, try out the distance (that you intened to see the TV from in your home), in any of the showrooms.

Keep in mind that the brightness settings are way too high in the showrooms. At home, it would be 50% of the showroom brightness.
 
LG is supposed to have one of the better smart tv software at the moment. The 42lb5820 seems like a good choice.
Just fyi OP if you decide to buy lg 42 lb 5820 has bug or something, it doesn't save the wifi password. That's really frustrating. My friend got the exactly same model he had to use Mac based security in router to avoid typing password every time
 
In the mean time I got a Samsung 40 inch LED tv from ebay grey market seller @ 29k last week.... :cool:
Viewing from 10-12 ft seems to be apt for me...
I used to download yify's 1080p rips for movies and watch on my desktop 1080p monitor... Now the same quality rip is looking blurred/not so attractive on the TV... :arghh:
 
Reg Smart vs Non Smart:
Unless we have services like Netflix I do not see much use in smart TV. The only thing I tried was youtube, it streamed OK. But is a PITA unless you get a compatible wireless keyboard (Logitech K400 @ ~Rs. 2700).

You don't have much choice in buying non-smart, almost all TVs are "smart" only, nowadays.

Better option reg smart TV options, is get a zotac/mac mini (if you're in the Apple eco system)/android stick/raspberry pi. That will make your TV an extended monitor for basic PC based works.

OT:
Yify rips show pixellation depending on the type of movie, for ex. the ones with lots of dark/reduced lighting scenes. But that is the compromise when one is getting a 1080p at ~1GB! Better go for sparks/rarbg/others who rip at >2GB for a movie. 2-3GB rips are excellent VFD(Value for Downloads vs time ;) )
 
Better option reg smart TV options, is get a zotac/mac mini (if you're in the Apple eco system)/android stick/raspberry pi. That will make your TV an extended monitor for basic PC based works.

I m not a heavy user of watching videos over YoutTube. My main requirement is for SD TV, movies and games from console/PC. So I have similar thought as I mentioned in update to my first post. Getting a non-smart TV with
1) something like Intel NUC/Mac Mini, enabling me to fulfill computing needs as well as can play movies and browse on big screen.
2) a media player/Android TV box/stick to play movies and may be playing some casual Android games on it and keep my current rig as it is.
 
for distance of 7 to 8 feet, 42 inch more than enough.. personal experience.. my viewing distance is 12 feet. 40 inches feels just about okay.. wouldve preferred 42.. but for 7 to 8 feet, 40 to 42 inches absolutely not less...

In the mean time I got a Samsung 40 inch LED tv from ebay grey market seller @ 29k last week.... :cool:
Viewing from 10-12 ft seems to be apt for me...
I used to download yify's 1080p rips for movies and watch on my desktop 1080p monitor... Now the same quality rip is looking blurred/not so attractive on the TV... :arghh:

hahahaaahahaha.. thats because yify rips are the lowest possible quality in HD content.. one thumb rule with existing codecs we have, for proper HD in 720p, nothing less than 2 gb per movie.. for 1080p nothing less than 3 GB. HD doesnt just mean larger picture size. even the audio is HD. in yify, you'll get a passable quality for movies that you dont really love to collect, but audio will always be standard quality.. for decent HD try downloading AC3 JYK..
 
@vyral_143 : if you noticed, I had underlined excellent performance of this model with SD content. I did demo a bundle of models, this is by far the best of the lot.

If smart content is not a priority, you can go ahead with this model without any hesitation.
 
@vyral_143 : if you noticed, I had underlined excellent performance of this model with SD content. I did demo a bundle of models, this is by far the best of the lot.

If smart content is not a priority, you can go ahead with this model without any hesitation.

Yup I did notice that and that is one of reason I have counted this model till now. However When it comes to smart v/s non-smart and by going with Non-smart, if I can save some grands, I would very much like it.
 
As I mentioned there is no choice. You wont find non-smart models. Manufacturers are bent on pushing the smart ones as then only they will have some buzz words for ads like smart-share, all-share, that they use for differentiated ads.

LG has the best smart interface - but only in Series 6 and above. That is the webOS based TVs. However the premium that they command is not worth for someone like me (or, you, based on your intended use).

Take the demo. Take some SD content with you on a USB stick Play it on all models/makes in your budget and decide. Don't compare a Series 8 that costs 1-1.25l with a Series 4 or 5 that will cost 55-60k.

Buy with your eyes open ;)
 
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