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Everybody likes a list so we at HDTV Reviews came up with one. A few years ago if I told you HDTV’s would be under £500 you would have laughed in my face and asked me what I was smoking (ahem) but these days you can get some pretty nifty deals without blowing a hole in your pocket. If you’re looking for a second television or a HDTV dedicated to your games console, spending more than £500 is a bit excessive unless you really have money to spare.

We’ve put together a list of the top 5 HDTV’s for around the £400 - £500 that are definitely worth checking out.

1. Sony KDL32S3000

No surprises as to our number 1 the Sony KDL32S3000. This is a decent sized 32 incher and the SONY quality runs through this like a river. You get 3 HDMI ports plus the Bravia engine technology, what more could you want?

2. Samsung LE32R87BD

This could have easily been a SONY dominated list but we couldn’t over look the Samsung LE32R87BD. The winning feature of this set is the ‘game mode’ which makes all us Ps3 and Xbox 360 addicts extremely grateful

3. Toshiba 32C3035

This was the amongst the first Toshiba we reviewed and so far it has proved to be the best. Easy setup straight out the box, great picture and it also has a slick design that makes it stand out from the normal HDTV crowd.

4. Sony KDL32D3000

This is the bigger brother of the S series. More ounce to the bounce but slightly more expensive. If you’re not happy with the S series for any reason (and you got to be one tough customer not to be) the Sony KDL32D3000 would be a step up in the right direction.

5. Philips 26PFL5522D

We haven’t yet reviewed a Phillips at HDTV Reviews but this is definitely on our list. At 26 inches it is smaller than the other televisions on this list but it’s great value for money and looks fantastic both picture wise and aesthetically. It could do with a few more settings and options in terms of getting the picture just right so it won’t be making it any further up this list.

If you’ve read my report on 720p vs 1080p HD TV’s (and why haven’t you??) you’ll know that I really don’t give 2 figs about the difference between the them.

We’re going HDTV Review the 1080p Samsung LE40M87BDX (or LE40M87BDXEU depending on your territory) which is ‘Full HD‘ in that it can display 1080p signals as they are rather than having to up scale them as opposed to 720p HD TV’s.

Despite this step up, this Samsung has the usual HD TV drawback in the SD (Standard) TV images can appear blocky and not fluid. Upon reviewing this TV we’ve decided to push the motto that if you have a HDTV, you should really invest in a HD source for it’s main use in order to reap the full benefits. The Samsung LE40M87BDX/XEU will show up any poor source glaringly and you’ll be saying to yourself ‘HD my ass…’.

Straight out of the box the picture can be a little disappointing as the blacks are less than perfect on even after you spend some time fiddling with the contrast and other picture options.

Another let down is that the sound on this box is a real let down. For such a big shiny machine the sound is more of a whimper than a roar. Plug it into your home cinema and you’ll be better of.

The Samsung LE40M87BDX/XEU has a trio of picture modes (note you will have to set these for each input device you have):

Dynamic - for brightly lit rooms with lots of light

Standard - for your regular lit rooms which is most of us

Movie - for darkened rooms (and those who can’t change a light bulb)

If you want an out the box, ready to use TV then this probably isn’t for you. You virtually have to have a degree in engineering to understand and set all your inputs and modes perfectly.

It’s an excellent TV once it’s all spanked and tweaked but you could save yourself a job and get another 40 inch which requires lesser set-up time and has better sound than the Samsung LE40M87BDX.

At the time of writing there is a known fault in that the optical audio out will drop from time to time. Now I know that nothing is perfect but why release a product with a known fault? Samsung LE40M87BDX/XEU must have been pressed for some 4th quarter results….Look out for my video review coming soon….in the meantime you can check out the store for some bargains.

As you’ve probably guessed by now I’m a fan of the SONY Bravia series (not a fanboi though, don’t get it twisted…) and the SONY KDL-32P3020 is simply another good addition without being outstanding. HDTV reiveiws takes a look at this more closely….

This is an auto-tuning HDTV so you can use it straight out of the box and pickup all the Freeview channels without having to tune and retune, it’s that easy. The colours are bright and vibrant and although the purist may have issues with true black, the rest of us won’t notice any problems.

Contrary to some other Bravia’s I’ve come across, the sound on the SONY KDL-32P3020 is better than most and you can do without re-routing your sound through home speakers or investing in a surround sound system.

As per usual with other HD Ready TV’s the Sony KDL-32P3020 works best with HD input (Sky HD, BluRay, HD-DVD etc.) but even watching standard TV the picture is excellent and you will have to be extremely hard to please to find fault with the images.

Once you’ve seen one SONY Bravia in the £400 - £600 range you’ve more or less seen them all but the dark grey casing of the SONY KDL-32P3020 makes it stand out from the crowd somewhat.

The most obvious difference between the SONY KDL-32P3020 (and the KDL series in general) and the SONY KDS series is that the SONY KDL-32P3020 comes with 2 HDMI ports as opposed to the KDS’s 3 ports (and you can never get enough HDMI ports).

In general you cannot fault the Sony KDL-32P3020 if you’re looking for a quality HDTV at a good price but if I had to choose a Bravia HDTV I’d probably go for one in the KDS series.

Check out our shop for some great prices on this model - HDTV Shop.

..just maybe…still has it….The Toshiba 32C3035 displays in 1080p so it’s a definate cut above some other HD LCD TV’s but it’s no match for the Bravia (in all honesty, what is? apart from maybe the Samsung…). Saying that, for the price (around £400 ish) it’s definatley value for money in that you get a high spec name brand quality TV at a lower price than you would get on the high street. Were going to HDTV review this latest Toshiba and see what we can unearth…

Design wise the Toshiba 32C3035 is a departure from the norm in that the speakers have moved ‘underneath’ so to speak rather than by the sides of the screen as per the norm giving it a rather funky feel. In my eyes, 95% of all LCD TV’s look good and this modification makes the Toshiba 32C3035 stand out from the pack however slightly.

Watching blu-ray or HD-DVD through one of it’s two HDMI ports gives a fantastic quality of picture and really, if you’re just looking for a great (and I do mean great) picture, easy to use setup and a decent price then the Toshiba 32C3035 definately ticks those boxes.

What can be a problem is the contrast settings in dark and murkey films (such as The Warriors and any other movie where everything more or less goes on at night). You will have to be fiddling with the settings a bit to get that pitch perfect image during darker scenes and this is mainly due to the ‘true black’ setting which is excellent and yet can cause problems viewing the aforementioned scenes.

The Toshiba 32C3035 also uses 50-60Hz which is absoloutly fine for most uses but of course not as thrilling as the 100Hz used in the pricer HD ready TV sets (we have this at a great price in our HDTV shop).

The Toshiba 32C3035 is definatley a good buy for those wanting a solid HD ready TV without too much fuss and an upgraded viewing expereince. For those with about £100 more to spend I would recommend the Bravia series before anything at the moment.

If you’ve read the HDTV reviews anywhere you should know by now that the real competition between the HD ready TV’s is between the Sony Bravia and the Samsung HDTV’s. This particular Samsung however, would be seen of by almost any SONY Bravia without much of a fight. It does however have several major good points and if you are not searching for the impossible nirvana of TV perfection read on…..

The Samsung LE32R87BD is not a 1080p HD TV but with that in mind, it still beats 7 out of 10 (non SONY Bravia) HD ready TV’s hands down. No contest (of course we are excluding the 100Hz TV’s from that cheer leading statement). With the Samsung LE32R87BD coupled with the Samsung DVD HD-Upscaler player you really shouldn’t want a better picture and if you do you need to seek medical help or failing that, go to the cinema.

The drawback to all this drooling is that if you do not use a HDMI cable the picture quality is not all that (meaning skewed and distorted). Your really need to be using a HD source (Sky HD, HD DVD, Blu-Ray etc.) to get the best out of this TV. The Samsung LE32R87BD HDTV can also come unstuck with fast moving scenes (races, chases and quick movements) in that the picture can become pixilated and that’s a big turn off after spending £400 + on a so called state of the art machine for your viewing pleasure.

You will also need to spend more time fiddling with the Samsung LE32R87BD than you would with the SONY KDL32S3000 for example rather than plug-n-play straight out of the box. The vibrancy of the colours may be a tad too vibrant for some which means tweaking the numerous colour and contrast options to get the pitch that suites you (although some may love the intensity of the default settings).

The 3 HDMI ports are a definite plus as this makes the Samsung LE32R87BD relatively future proof as more and more manufactures move to onto the HD platform and require HDMI ports in order for the consumer to get the best out of their products. By the end of the year, I’ll be surprised if all new DVD players are not HD and Blue-Ray ready.

This leads us on to the ‘game-mode’ which for those of us with xBox 360’s or ps3’s (smug grin) is a fantastic little addition that takes using your console with the Samsung LE32R87BD via HDMI a treat.

Another niggle (or a massive flaw depending on how important it is to you) of the Samsung LE32R87BD is the sound. Turn up the volume too loudly and the sound quality rapidly deteriorates. You’ll do well to invest in a surround sound speaker set up to compliment the TV if you want the best experience.

Now if you think back to 2004, a TV of this calibre would have cost about £2000 for a bargain and the Samsung LE32R87BD is one of the biggest selling TV’s on-line right now (no doubt because it’s a couple of hundred pounds cheaper than some high street prices). With Amazon selling the Samsung LE32R87BD for about £400 you’re definitely getting a good price and the criticisms I’ve mentioned are really for the picture purists amongst us but I would advise that you also look at other similar priced HD ready TV’s before you part with your cash, you can browse through our HDTV Shop for some great prices.