Help me buy a new TV

[soccerdad72]

I'd go with one of those TLC TVs

 

[Miffy]

We recently bought a smart TV, however, we don't use the smart features. They're pretty intrusive and if you care about that sort of thing, you might want to think twice about using this feature. However, almost all TVs are smart now, but you do not have to use them that way.

We got a Sony OLED. Extraordinary picture. My last Sony (circa 2002) is still working and looks great but this TV blows it out of the stratosphere. We just hooked our Roku up to the TV, just we did with the old TV. Works fine. One of the many reasons we went with a Sony is that Sonys still have earphone jacks on them. Most other brands do not. Yes, you can hook up earphones through workarounds, but then you can't control the sound through the TV itself. With the Sony, you can run an extension cord from the TV, plug your headphones into that, and adjust the sound on the TV. Just an extra point, in case you listen with headphones.

One thing to think about is how big you want the TV to be. Our old TV was 36" and we were thinking we'd get a 49" TV, that that would seem pretty darn big. Then I went shopping at Best Buy and got wowed by much larger TVs. We ended up with a 55" set that still fits on our TV stand (we didn't want to wall-mount it) and that is perfect for viewing from maybe 11' or so away.

If you haven't had a new TV in years, like us, you'll probably be blown away by how amazing they look. The picture is just extraordinary on our set. As others have mentioned, go for OLED if you can afford it. Look for sales. Keep a price check on Amazon on a set you like. Best Buy will match any current price. I didn't want to buy our set from Amazon in case there was something wrong with it and we had to return it. I wanted to deal with a local company instead. The set was perfect out of the box, so that never came into play, but it is something else to keep in mind.

 

[wenrob]

I’m following this thread because I’m thinking about upgrading our current TV.

I wanted to chime in on the Roku and Apple TV as I have both. The Apple TV is designed to work like (and with) iPhone and iPad. While I have no issues navigating my phone or iPad I find the Apple TV and it’s remote INFURIATING. The remote is small, fiddly, slippery and pretty non intuitive IMO. If you hear mom swearing in the living room it’s because she’s (trying to) using the Apple TV. If not for my vast iTunes library and the integration with my iPhone/iPad I would toss the damn thing out the window. If/when it dies I’ll replace it with the Roku Ultra.

I bought the Roku Utras for my kid’s rooms on the advice of BrianL. Zero regrets. These things are smooth as butter and practically set themselves up (including volume and TV power). The remote and the Roku interface are very intuitive. They also have two buttons you can set up for your favorites (my kids are set to Disney+ and YouTube). But wait, there’s more. You can press the mic button and tell it what app or show you want and you can plug earbuds (comes with) into the remote for sound. I feel fully confident a non techie person would easily be able to figure the Roku out.

IMO since the OP says they don’t own a cellphone and are non tech the Roku would be the better choice over the Apple TV for them.

 

[ImDMous]

We have a TCL and I love it. We do use the built-in apps (Hulu, Netflix, Disney, YouTube TV, etc), but also have a 4k Chromecast plugged in for other stuff. Both work about the same at this point but it's nice to have the backup of the Chromecast in case any of the apps go out of support, don't get upgraded, or start not working for some other reason.
The TCL has performed great so far and you can't go wrong with the price.

 

[maxaroni]

Okay, how did you quote me from another post in this post? As to your comment, not sure many cities do curbside pickup of electronics anymore. But at least here, Goodwill is a designated e-waste site.

yes, my DHs company is licensed for e-waste. I am still shocked how many people still put them at the curb.

 

[wenrob]

yes, my DHs company is licensed for e-waste. I am still shocked how many people still put them at the curb.

Here you put a TV on the curb and it’s gone in an hour, sometimes less. In addition to people who see a TV and grab it there are people who drive around neighborhoods looking for old appliances etc. They make a living out of it. My plan when I set these things out is to call the proper place to pick them up if they don’t disappear by the following morning but I’ve never had to.

 

[maxaroni]

Here you put a TV on the curb and it’s gone in an hour, sometimes less. In addition to people who see a TV and grab it there are people who drive around neighborhoods looking for old appliances etc. They make a living out of it. My plan when I set these things out is to call the proper place to pick them up if they don’t disappear by the following morning but I’ve never had to.

Actually, we have that with quite a lot of things that hit the curb, but not TV’s. They sit at the curb for days and days. No one here will pick up, they need to be taken to an appropriate e-waste facility.

 

[ljcrochet]

When we moved a year and a half ago, only moved one tv. It was a TCL roku tv. All the tv's in our house except one are TCL roku tvs.
Our family room TV is an LG smart tv which we wound up need to add our apple tv since certain apps aren't on the LG tv ( i want to say it is missing either HBO or showtime or both).

 

[robinb]

I'm going to push back on the "Smart TV" thing, too, only because of the problems we've run into with ours. We bought one in ...2006? 2009? And the company no longer really supports the software in that particular model since it's so old. Like, I think the Netflix app doesn't work anymore. I know it didn't work for years. I prefer just hooking your TV to a Roku or XBox or whatever than rely on the tv itself.

Can't you hook up a Roku to the TV now? Aren't you in the same boat as buying a TV without it being "smart"?

For us, a Roku TV was the way to go. It was only $300 more than the Roku alone and it's so much easier to just use the TVs remote on the Roku section than having to switch to the Roku and then navigate there with a different remote.

 

[robinb]

TCL! TCL! TCL!!! Television brand, not 90's R& B Group!

I was watching a TV show and had to explain the joke "You just can't Left Eye the building!" to my husband.

 

[leebee]

Best Buy? If you're looking for cheap there's always Walmart.

Best Buy, probably tonight. Maybe Walmart, but the displays are better at BB, and they seem to have more knowledgable employees.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

We just bought a new TV for our bedroom after the built in DVD player died out. We got rid of cable a long time ago, so just watched DVDs in the bedroom and use a PS3 to use Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon in the living room.

For the bedroom we bought a Hisense Roku TV. We were debating between Hisense and TCL but the Hisense was in stock for a good price, so that's what we went with. We absolutely love the Roku TV! I'm young but a total Luddite (it took me days to figure out how to download the streaming apps for the PS3), and the Roku TV setup was SOOO easy. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and a ton of other apps were already loaded, I just had to sign in. Once the tv was unboxed and on the dresser, it took less than 10 mins to set everything up. It's easy to add my favorite streaming services to the top of the menu. I also love that there's some built-in free programming that I don't need a subscription for, including a bunch of movies and TV shows. The kids are jealous because we have access to a bunch of free stuff that they don't in the living room. No regrets at all.

 

[sam_gordon]

Can't you hook up a Roku to the TV now? Aren't you in the same boat as buying a TV without it being "smart"?

Exactly. It's not like if/when the "Smart" functions become "stupid" you have to throw the TV out. Just get whatever box (ie: firestick, appleTV, whatever) you need then.

Here's the segment the Today show had this morning regarding buying TVs for SB:
https://www.today.com/video/here-are-the-best-tvs-to-buy-for-super-bowl-sunday-77752389966

 

[robinb]

Exactly. It's not like if/when the "Smart" functions become "stupid" you have to throw the TV out. Just get whatever box (ie: firestick, appleTV, whatever) you need then.

Here's the segment the Today show had this morning regarding buying TVs for SB:
https://www.today.com/video/here-are-the-best-tvs-to-buy-for-super-bowl-sunday-77752389966

Funny. They suggested my 55" TCL Series 6 TV from Costco as their first one. I bought it for $399 and I think it's $449 now. Still a good deal!

 

[leebee]

For the bedroom we bought a Hisense Roku TV. We were debating between Hisense and TCL but the Hisense was in stock for a good price, so that's what we went with. We absolutely love the Roku TV! ...

That's exactly where we are!! We are totally limited, space-wise, as to the size TV we can get; 40" class is the biggest that will fit our space, and not even all of those will work (can't be wider than 35.5" to fit in the space). We have it narrowed down to the TCL or the Hisense 40". Both are Roku TVs with 1080p resolution (we'd prefer 4K but they aren't available in this size). Both seem to get pretty good resolution, too. We went to BestBuy but they didn't have anything in the size we need. However, the guy there in the TV section was very, VERY helpful and informative. He explained all kinds of things patiently, understanding that I don't understand much of anything about this. It's just a little sad that I can't buy my TV from him, as he was SO helpful! Maybe we'll replace the upstairs TV and I'll get it at Best Buy when my "new friend" is working!

 

[robinb]

That's exactly where we are!! We are totally limited, space-wise, as to the size TV we can get; 40" class is the biggest that will fit our space, and not even all of those will work (can't be wider than 35.5" to fit in the space). We have it narrowed down to the TCL or the Hisense 40". Both are Roku TVs with 1080p resolution (we'd prefer 4K but they aren't available in this size). Both seem to get pretty good resolution, too. We went to BestBuy but they didn't have anything in the size we need. However, the guy there in the TV section was very, VERY helpful and informative. He explained all kinds of things patiently, understanding that I don't understand much of anything about this. It's just a little sad that I can't buy my TV from him, as he was SO helpful! Maybe we'll replace the upstairs TV and I'll get it at Best Buy when my "new friend" is working!

Is your space requirement because of a TV stand? We thought our TV stand was too small for out 55" TCL but then I read that you can put the legs on the TV so they point inward instead of outward. It looks a little funny, but it works! Only some TVs allow this so if that's your problem, turning the legs around may be the solution.