Buying a New TV

[Lung Per]

When I return to Thailand in a few months I shall have to replace my departing TV. However, I have failed to follow the tehcnical developments in the Thai TV industry and am therefore requesting advice as to what and where I should buy. Can buy in HH, Bangkok and Khorat.

I am looking for a state-of-the-art LED 46 - 52 inch flat screen..

What is the stare-of-the-art in Thailand, and what would you recommend as the best deal??

Thanks in advance.

[PeteC]

You could look at "smart" TV's also with built in router/wireless/internet. I don't have one (yet) so can't go further with the + or -. Pete

[BOZ]

The 3 big names in the shops here are the Panasonic, LG and Samsung.... I have done a great deal of research on this topic... All make great TV's, it comes down to features and your eye with picture quality... I picked up a 55in Panasonic for our living room... For my man cave, I will go with LG as they have realPlayer built into there smart TV which I need to use with my VPN router to watch USA TV in Thailand.... You can get these TV's in Hua Hin with no problems....

[Big Boy]

I don't think you should be swayed by all of the the clever stuff a TV can do. Think what you need the TV to do, and ensure whatever you require is in the spec. I have friends who bought top of the range, and they actually use features than I use on my bog standard TV.

Technology is a wonderful thing, but unless you're a 'boys toys' kind of of person, don't be swayed. I may be totally wrong Lung Per, and sincere apologies if I am, but you don't come across to me as a 'boys toys' type of guy.

[SunandFun]

At a minimum, get a High Definition TV. Like BB said, choose only the features you "might use." 3-D requires special glasses and DVD's. If you are going to "stream content" from the internet, then a "smart TV" with wifi and internet might be useful. The more you add on to a TV internally, the more that can go wrong. If one part is broken and cannot be fixed, you then have to replace the whole TV. That is the draw back. IMHO
Good luck in your choice.

[barrys]

I've always bought LG TV's in my time in Thailand. I also use them as computer monitors.
I've never yet had any of them break down on me.

Makes sure you buy LED, rather than LCD or plasma.
LED's provide better resolution and consume less power.
I would certainly recommend a smart TV with wi-fi connectivity.
You can then also use your TV for Internet browsing, watching YouTube, streaming movies etc.

We currently have a 55" LG smart TV - bought it at Pure nearly a year ago - and its excellent.

Best places to buy: Big Khian (soi 88) and Pure

[blue05]

samsung all the way, they just work with everything and samsung will send out an engineer to set it all up for you free from their repair shop near palace

[Lung Per]

Thanks for all you kind responses. Very much appreciated.

My preference is Samsung, LED, 46 - 52 inch.
Plasma is being discontinued, and LCD is just too much of a power sucker.
I require at least 2, preferably 3 HDMI ports. and one USB port.

Is TV i Thailand now fully digital?

Is the signal coding standard MPEG2 or MPEG4 or is there an upgrade on the way?

Is there a higher screen resolution than HD available or on its way?

Other upgrades or changes in the horizon?

[Lung Per]

I don't think you should be swayed by all of the the clever stuff a TV can do. Think what you need the TV to do, and ensure whatever you require is in the spec. I have friends who bought top of the range, and they actually use features than I use on my bog standard TV.

Technology is a wonderful thing, but unless you're a 'boys toys' kind of of person, don't be swayed. I may be totally wrong Lung Per, and sincere apologies if I am, but you don't come across to me as a 'boys toys' type of guy.

The shopping window never shows the full selection!

[STEVE G]

I bought a Panasonic Viera 50" LED smart TV last month and am very pleased with it. I looked at just about every TV for sale in Hua Hin and what swayed me was the quality of the picture, how thin it was and also how little frame it has around the screen. I wanted it for a semi-outdoor entertainment area primarily for playing music videos and I can do that direct from wifi using Youtube. You can pair it with an android device and select your music on that which is a handy feature.
Don't ask me for any technical specs, I just chose the one with the best picture and physical looks within my budget.

[Lung Per]

I bought a Panasonic Viera 50" LED smart TV last month and am very pleased with it. I looked at just about every TV for sale in Hua Hin and what swayed me was the quality of the picture, how thin it was and also how little frame it has around the screen. I wanted it for a semi-outdoor entertainment area primarily for playing music videos and I can do that direct from wifi using Youtube. You can pair it with an android device and select your music on that which is a handy feature.
Don't ask me for any technical specs, I just chose the one with the best picture and physical looks within my budget.

Thanks, sounds good. Where did you buy and how much was the damage?

[hhfarang]

We have a Panasonic plasma. Had a couple of Samsung LED TVs that went with the house we sold. I personally like the plasma image better and I compared them side by side before we sold the house. The Panasonic was very cheap for a large screen TV as plasmas were on the way out and now not being made any longer. If you can find one anywhere you can get a real deal on them. We got our 46" one at HomePro a couple of years ago for 15k baht. They'll be nearly giving them away now if they still have any.

[STEVE G]

I bought a Panasonic Viera 50" LED smart TV last month and am very pleased with it. I looked at just about every TV for sale in Hua Hin and what swayed me was the quality of the picture, how thin it was and also how little frame it has around the screen. I wanted it for a semi-outdoor entertainment area primarily for playing music videos and I can do that direct from wifi using Youtube. You can pair it with an android device and select your music on that which is a handy feature.
Don't ask me for any technical specs, I just chose the one with the best picture and physical looks within my budget.

Thanks, sounds good. Where did you buy and how much was the damage?

It was just under 30,000 bt from Powerbuy, I forget the exact price as I bought a couple of other things with it. You can get 50" LED's for less but I was impressed by the quality so paid a bit more.

[Pagey]

Very interesting topic. I don't watch TV per se, only watch via my laptop, Expat TV and downloaded movies. I connect my laptop to a 32'' LG which has a perfect pic when I play DVD's or connect my laptop but as a TV the picture is snowy and fuzzy as it has a fault. The HDMI connection on my laptop is damaged so I have been using a VGA cable but that connection has now packed up, probably due to constant plugging and unplugging.
So my choice now is to watch everything on my laptop, buy a new laptop to connect to the TV, or buy a smart TV.
I went to look at some smart TV's in Power Buy today and was completely baffled. There was a Samsung around 48'' which was around 30,000 Baht and another Samsung 42'' which was around 50,000 Baht. I asked one assistant why the smaller one was more expensive but all I could understand from him was ''TV''.
I guess I need to Google smart TV's and look for some guidance unless anyone has any tips ?

[STEVE G]

I guess I need to Google smart TV's and look for some guidance unless anyone has any tips ?

I'd do some research if that's what you're after, mine is described as a smart TV and certainly the Youtube function works very well but as I only wanted music videos, I was happy with that and didn't try anything else.
I think Samsung do an android TV that apparently does everything a tablet will do which I imagine could be handy if you want to replace a laptop. I've also seen these type of TV's used with a wireless QWERTY keyboard which would give you better control.