TV Recommendations

[TheEngineer]

The wife has approved buying a new TV (once I haul the last of our giant tube TVs to the recycler) and I'm trying to figure out what to buy. I don't think I care about 4K considering how little is out there and the fact that I have maybe 4 Blu-Ray movies. Don't play video games or watch sports.

I want to spend under $1k and want a 55" or 60" screen.

I've always liked the picture on Samsung, but Vizio seems to be doing pretty well too. Any recommendations?

 

[4FordFamily]

Please do not buy Vizio, IMO.

Samsung makes a great television, LG is my favorite of the "cheap" brands.

I loved Panasonic plasmas but plasmas are no longer and Panasonic did not make a great LCD (or LED backlight LCD). Perhaps this has changed though.

I currently have a 60" Samsung 3D 1080P Plasma, 60" Panasonic 1080P Plasma, 50" Panasonic 1080P Plasma, a 42" LG 1080P LCD, and a 28 or 32" Sony 720P LCD in the workout room.

I have also had a 47" LG LCD that i really enjoyed but I sold it to buy the 60" Plasma Panasonic. I used to have a buddy that sold TV's at Frys Electronics and he hooked me up on "last year's" models for dirt cheap and taught me what I know. Unfortunately, he left 5 years ago and I haven't bought a TV in 3 years and much has changed in that timeframe. So I am not useful.

 

[TheEngineer]

I have a Panasonic Plasma right now. It was the top rated by Consumer Reports when I bought it (5 years ago). I really like it although the heat and power use is not so nice.

LG has been getting top ratings overall which surprised me. I always thought of them as a bargain brand.

 

[pelphrey]

Saw on the news this morning that the 4k tv's use 30% more power. Sure that won't make or break a decision, but it was interesting to hear!

 

[TheEngineer]

Never thought about it, but that's not terribly surprising I suppose. Double the pixel density, so you it's gotta use more power.

 

[HiddenUser]

I got a 55" Samsung Ultra-HD 4k curved TV last year and I like it. I think the curved screens are a bit of a gimmick as it doesn't really do much for making better viewing from angles. My TV attempts to upscale everything to 4k which is nice as well...so it may not be 4k native, but it does look pretty nice.

I think that some of the LG OLED TV's have better color (the black is really black) in addition to really really thin bezels, but I got a deal on my TV and the OLED LG TV's were a bit outside my price range.

 

[TheEngineer]

I saw some curved ones at Best Buy. Seemed very gimmiky to me. They look cool, but I don't get the purpose.

The LG OLEDs are the top rated on many sites I've seen. They're a bit pricey.

 

[HiddenUser]

I saw some curved ones at Best Buy. Seemed very gimmiky to me. They look cool, but I don't get the purpose.

The LG OLEDs are the top rated on many sites I've seen. They're a bit pricey.

The purpose of the curve was to make the TV more like a movie theater and provide better view when looking at the TV from an angle versus straight on. Also suppose to give you more of a feeling like you're a part of the experience and give a 3d-like depth to the picture.

Although I have one now, I'm not sure it would be a huge selling point if I were to pick up another TV...Although almost all the high-end TVs are now going curved.

 

[TheEngineer]

Interesting. I would think the TV would need to be pretty large to make you feel more surrounded by the image. I'll have to go look at them again.

So the Vizio M-Series has really solid reviews... http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/vizio/m-series-2015 and I can get the 55" for under $900. It's a 4K TV, which I don't particularly care about, but it seems to meet all of my other requirements.

 

[TheEngineer]

Oooooh... Dell has the 60" version for $800 on Black Friday

 

[diablomaster9045]

I love my LG tvs. Pretty good bang for the buck. Please do not buy a Visio. They are a sub par company that does not focus on quality.

 

[TheEngineer]

Why do you say that? Have you had one in the past?

 

[pelphrey]

I love my LG tvs. Pretty good bang for the buck. Please do not buy a Visio. They are a sub par company that does not focus on quality.

I have a 70" Vizio in my living room that may not be top of the line and have all of the options, I would disagree that it is a sub par product. We have no quality issues with the few apps that come installed on the TV nor pixelation on the display. We don't have any high tech gear plugged into the TV, just our cable box and a desktop computer for our media center. All devices are plugged into the tv with 3 dollar HDMI cables. When we bought this TV the salesman attempted to point me in the direction of the newest smartest Samsung. Not only did the picture not look any better it had way too many apps on it. The salesman kept telling me that I could surf the web on the TV so I had to have it, my response "I can promise you that anything I am looking at on the internet my wife doesn't have any interest in (IE: Forums, Ebay, Amazon, Craigslist)". The ONLY app I use is the YouTube app. I'm able to open a YouTube video from my phone and send it to the TV. We did buy the 2 year protection plan on the TV, only because I figure if something does go wrong with the TV and the manufacturer has to physically have it returned we'd spend close to if not more than $200.

 

[Breadman03]

I love my LG tvs. Pretty good bang for the buck. Please do not buy a Visio. They are a sub par company that does not focus on quality.

Agreed. My wife and I have owned several of them. After about 1.5-2 years, they just stopped working reliably.

Our current Samsung is 3-4 years old now and works great. I won't buy a "smart" tv because our XBox has all the features we are interested in and there's no point in spending more for no reason.

 

[TheEngineer]

We stream a lot of Amazon Prime content using our Blu-Ray player. It is a combination Blu-Ray and surround sound system. So I'm not interested in apps or smart TV features. I also have a Chromecast that we use in a pinch to get something from the computer to the TV.

What stopped working reliably on your TVs @Breadman03 ? Ideally, the TV will last around 5 years.

 

[jd371]

The wife has approved buying a new TV (once I haul the last of our giant tube TVs to the recycler) and I'm trying to figure out what to buy. I don't think I care about 4K considering how little is out there and the fact that I have maybe 4 Blu-Ray movies. Don't play video games or watch sports.

I want to spend under $1k and want a 55" or 60" screen.

I've always liked the picture on Samsung, but Vizio seems to be doing pretty well too. Any recommendations?

The TV will upscale non native 4k video to 4k, how good it is depends on the processor.

I have a Panasonic Plasma right now. It was the top rated by Consumer Reports when I bought it (5 years ago). I really like it although the heat and power use is not so nice.

LG has been getting top ratings overall which surprised me. I always thought of them as a bargain brand.

The Panasonic's where good because when Pioneer stopped manufacturing TV's most of their engineers left and went to Panasonic. Pioneer's Kuro line is considered even today, to be the best Plasma TVs. They had an outstanding picture quality. The way they were manufactured was costly and that's why they stopped the TV line altogether and just stuck with audio.

I love my LG tvs. Pretty good bang for the buck. Please do not buy a Visio. They are a sub par company that does not focus on quality.

Yeah, if you're looking for picture quality then LG OLED TV are what you want to get. Great contrast with inky blacks. Vizio's are getting better. Samsung was like that when they first started now look where they are.
I just started into reefing this past summer, but I have been doing Audio/Video most of my life.

 

[TheEngineer]

I'm interested in good picture quality and reliability, but I'm not going to cry if something isn't perfect. 95% of the usage is TV, probably 50% of that time is my daughter streaming stuff. We occasionally watch a movie, but that's pretty rare.

What TV would you recommend for under $1k?

 

[jd371]

An LG OLED is what I would look to right now if I was looking for good picture quality and in the market for a TV, but I don't think it's possible for under $1k.
For under $1k I think your best bet is to go with a LED TV with FULL array back lighting, not edge lit. Those where the hot ticket a few years ago and cost what the 4k's are going for today, now you can find them under $1k. If your daughter likes to stream stuff a smart TV is also something to look into, all the apps are installed on the TV already. I like Samsung and have two of them, but for serious movie watching I turn to my Panasonic projector.

 

[Bps619]

best buy - 60" samsung 4k ultra smart tv.

 

[TheEngineer]

Sooooo....I went a bit over budget. haha!

We bought a Samsung 55" JS8500. It was too freaking nice to pass up. The price dropped for pre-Black Friday sales to $1500. I was planning to keep watching it, but my wife said to buy it. "Salesman! Take my money quickly!" Couldn't fit the box in the car without folding the seats and my wife wouldn't go for the little one sitting in the trunk, so I'll go back and get it later in the week.

Thanks for the suggestions.