Its my youngest son's birthday later this month and I want to get him a new TV for his bedroom.

I'm thinking some kind of LCD or other flat panel type is the way to go, but I've no experience of buying anything like that.

It will be used for a mixture of TV watching and game playing - mainly PS2 but possibly Wii.

19" looks about the size I would want having had a look in the local supermarket and Currys/Comet.

I live oop north in Granadaland and I believe we are switching to digital later this year? I guess this means I need some sort of built-in Freeview or other digital receiver?

What should I look for and are there any links to good deals at the moment?

Budget around £130 - £180 preferred

Dunno about the Freeview, but my local Nisa has a 21" LCD TV-DVD player going for a ton.

Play.com (UK) : Samsung R8 Series 19" LE19R86BD HD Ready Freeview LCD TV (Black) : Electronics - Free Delivery

Bought myself one of these about a year ago (paid more than that though!). It's used mainly for playing 360 on, and while not the best telly in the world for you you pay it seems pretty good. Has all the favourite features on the channels so can view what they watch.

The biggest bad points about it are the awful speakers (I don't use them) and when left on standby (Sumsung tellys don't have a proper off button so always draw power) it makes a very high pitched squealing noise. Don't why this is, maybe just mine, but I turn it off when its not on as its really annoying.

Overall, would highly recommend it.

Polaroids seem to have quite a good image on them and are quite cheap I think. It might pay to stick to known brands though as the cheapo ones may prove to be a false economy. . .

As for the Wii, as standard the don't have any HD leads so if the latest games and HD things like PS3, 360 aren't going to be used then you might be able to get something a lot cheaper.

19" Digimate LTV-1929WHTC LCD TV DVD Combo - Scan.co.uk

Got one of these in the bedroom, but only paid £140 for it from aria (who are out of stock). Screen is clear, DVD player is good and it got a pretty standard freeview box in it. All in all, it's not bad at all for the price, especially with the HDMI (tried th xbox on it, worked great). I also used it as a temporary computer monitor whilst awaiting a replacement...

I'd probably go with one of those Samsung models Andy, similar to the one listed above.

Steve

Thanks all - plenty to go on there - some great little write-ups

Play.com (UK) : Samsung R8 Series 19" LE19R86BD HD Ready Freeview LCD TV (Black) : Electronics - Free Delivery

The biggest bad points about it are the awful speakers (I don't use them) and when left on standby (Sumsung tellys don't have a proper off button so always draw power) it makes a very high pitched squealing noise. Don't why this is, maybe just mine, but I turn it off when its not on as its really annoying.

We bought one of these for my son at Christmas (although it is a BDX, not a BD, if it makes a difference?) we paid £178.90 for it from Amazon.

IMO the speakers are more than adequate for a kids TV and doesn't make any noise on standby either.

Really impressed with it and would recommend it to anyone.

Televisions - 19" TVs - Ebuyer

Some Samsung and LG models in budget.

Tesco has some but they're all budget brands.

Be careful of some of the ones with a built in DVD player, i did a search and when looking for my son's and some of the cheaper ones apparently scratch the DVDs quite badly.

We bought one of these for my son at Christmas (although it is a BDX, not a BD, if it makes a difference?) we paid £178.90 for it from Amazon.

IMO the speakers are more than adequate for a kids TV and doesn't make any noise on standby either.

Really impressed with it and would recommend it to anyone.

Fine for telly I guess, but I was used to a proper surround sound system thing and they are a far cry away from that.

Guess its just mine with the squealing or either that high pitched noise young people can hear but older can't; they use to keep chavs away from shops.

Fine for telly I guess, but I was used to a proper surround sound system thing and they are a far cry away from that.

Me too - on our 40" in the lounge but its a bit OTT on a bedroom portable though don't you think?

Guess its just mine with the squealing or either that high pitched noise young people can hear but older can't;

You cheeky whippersnapper!

Me too - on our 40" in the lounge but its a bit OTT on a bedroom portable though don't you think?

Bedroom is where I use mine, I got given it (the surround sound) about five years ago and no point in it sitting there going to waste!

I live oop north in Granadaland and I believe we are switching to digital later this year?

Yes, you're right Andy - Granada goes digital in November 2009:)

Televisions - 19" TVs - Ebuyer

Some Samsung and LG models in budget.

Beat me to it - I'd always recommend Ebuyer as a starting point to see what is available - most of the user reviews appear to be genuine. Items over a certain value are sent post free, and relatively quickly. Some items are sent by CityLink though, so you have to either make sure someone is in to receive the item, or live fairly close to a CityLink depot to pick up.

I've ordered several things from there without a problem, except for a Centurion twin-screen in-car DVD player. I went through their return scheme very easily, and they arranged a refund without any dispute whatsoever.

I've just ordered one of these from Amazon after a search on Hotukdeals. Gets good reviews apart from the speakers. It has a Doovd as well.

19 inch screen

Dimensions (mm) with stand: 462w x 162d x 392h mm

Dimensions (mm) without stand: 462w x 86.5d x 353h mm

Integrated Digital (Freeview) TV

Analogue TV tuner

1440 x 900 Screen Resolution

HD Ready

850:1 Contrast ratio

1 HDMI Connection

Built In DVD Player

1 Scart Socket

300 cd/m2 Brightness

Widescreen

NICAM stereo sound

170 Degrees Viewing Angle

5ms Response Time

Component

Sleep Timer

On screen display

Remote control

Teletext

2 year warranty

Digital Text

Wall Mountable (VESA)

S-Video

7 Day EPG

Common Interface Slot

PC Input

Sovos SVTV19D - 19" Widescreen HD Ready LCD TV - With: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

Andy, I can get you a Sony KDL-19L4000 for just under £200, has freeview built in but no DVD player.

edit: clicky

1680x1050 resolution, 2x HDMI inputs, 2x SCART inputs (RGB), PC input, Freeview,...

If you need a DVD player, you could bolt on a DVP-NS39S for £30.

edit 2: Sorry, just realised the date by which you'll need it and I wouldn't be able to organise it by then. Sorry :(

Edited 22 March, 200917 yr by tfboy

We have a review of a full HD 21.6" set by UMC that's very good for the money - it could be had from Tesco for £170 a few weeks ago but I don't know if it's still available.

The Jitty - UMC 21.6" Freeview TV with VGA