Help me choose a new tent. I know nothing.

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So now, we are using two tents- one four man, and one two man. The 2-man is a Gelert and is flimsy and a bit crap, and the four man is from Tesco and is amazing but we need something bigger.
There are 2 adults and 2 DC- But hopefully there will be another DC in a year or so. So we're thinking six man.
I have very little money.
Heeeeeeeelp!

Lots of good deals atm on Go Outdoors and Decathlon.
What features do you need? How much do you want (not) to spend?

if there's a go outdoors (or other good tent place) near you have a nosey at their displays. We quickly figured out what shape/size we wanted and then bought one 2nd hand on ebay, having a little list of ones we were interested in. There are some bargains to be had, but bit nervewracking! Avoid panic bidding on random ones - i nearly bought one without sewn in groundsheet which was on my must have feature list!

Also check out ukcampsite for reviews and 100s of pics of tents set up in real situations, with really knowledgable campers assessing their pros and cons.

We're in the middle of nowhere (rural west Wales) so no go outdoors. I don't really know what features I want, except for as much space as possible, with a groundsheet (thanks eenymeeny :o )
The thing is, I like the look of certain ones, but I am only going on looks. Like bell tents. They look cool, and I think you pay more because they're trendy, but I have no idea of what the pros and cons are of certain shapes.
Thanks for your help- will have a look at ukcampsite.

what about this? or this (available online, I think)

Or manage with your amazing Tesco tent one more time and snoop round the site looking at other people's tents and what you like the look of.

I would like a bell tent too - but too bulky and heavy for me to pack.

Vango mauritsa 700

We have a 5m bell tent and you certainly get loads of space, although obviously, the sides are sloping so you don't perhaps get as much space to walk in as you would with a really big tunnel.

Although bell tents are heavy (20 - 25 kilos I think), that is not dissimilar to many large family tents, at least polycotton ones. Provided you are car camping, it is probably not too mcuh of an issue.

What you lose in a bell tent is windows - there are little mesh ones round the bottom but you can't sit inside the bell in the rain and look out. Not an issue for us as we would have a tarp/gazebo or go out in the rain, but it is worth thinking about.

Cost-wise bell tents are pricey if you buy them in this country. You can get them cheaper from Obelink in Holland but they won't deliver to the UK (restriuctive agreement with Belltent.co.uk - lots about it on here). If you can take a trip to the Netherlands, it is worth doing or getting them delivered to an address in Europe, if that is an option. Otherwise, Soulpad is fairly reasonable I think. Or they come up second hand on Ebay occasionally but they do hold their value quite well.

For 6 people, you would be better going for a 5m rather than a 4m bell. If you can bear having a separate groundsheet, that would make it both lighter in weight and less expensive. However, some people are concerned about bugs etc and prefer to have either a sewn in groundsheet (SIG) or, a zipped in groundsheet (ZIG). THe last option is the priciest but allows you to unzip and roll up the tent sides on a hot day and also you can pack the tent and groundsheet separately which is useful if it is muddy.

I think if you want a bell tent you will be unsatisfied with anything else but if you are fairly unbothered there are lots of other tents which are probably more practical for a family.

As we have a bell and a family pop-up from Decathlon (which I think would be too small for 6 people) I won't comment on other options as there are lots of people on here with much more family tent knowledge than I have.

Have fun choosing

THANK YOU for all the info. I have been looking at bell tents, and have decided not to go for one for reasons too ridiculous to share. :o
So now I'm on the go outdoors website. I never realized there was such a thing as camping porn...
I quite like this one. Is he-gear a good brand? Never heard of it before (but I probably wouldn't have anyway.)
And, one day, <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&biw=1024&bih=653&tbm=isch&tbnid=NsF9w_cxVVfoZM:&imgrefurl=indulgy.com/post/nAQB0bxwF1/amazing-tent-photoshoot-from-west-elm&docid=GVvM9wuLs5dssM&imgurl=cdn.indulgy.com/FS/oS/Ms/150729918748691479FEU6ek6vc.jpg&w=486&h=370&ei=_TDiT7z3EKXJ0QX5uci1Aw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=726&vpy=311&dur=1539&hovh=196&hovw=257&tx=193&ty=106&sig=106552068794789430723&page=1&tbnh=147&tbnw=163&start=0&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0,i:103" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this >

Vango icarus. I know 2 families with 2 adults and 3 kids who sleep all together in one bedroom. Either all on mattresses or one in travel cot. Get the canopy as well to add living space.

Just brought this after a lot of research and looking about.
We went for poly cotton because I dislike nylon because of wind noise and sweaty
We have two kids and a large dog.

The Hi Gear tents are getting really good reviews on CampsiteUK, and are considered good quality - esp for the price.