What TV Brand to Buy?

Right about 2 years ago we bought a Samsung TV. It's a smart tv because I don't even think a dumb tv exists in anything over a 24" size.  

Won't be buying another Samsung. It has this STUPID bar that pops up from the bottom of the screen every time it's cycled on, takes up the lower 40% for a while. Then other random bars pop up telling me that I can watch tv with the tv, or I can use the smart features, all this sales crap. Pops up at random times, not just start up. The TV is in home mode, or whatever it's called, so those #*@& banners are there for good.  

Now it's taking a long time to start up. I did a factory reset, no improvement. It's also forgotten all bluetooth devices and it took me 5 tried, one reset and three power off then on to get it to see my earbuds.  

So, I will NOT be buying another samdung tv.  

Seems like Sony has always been known for quality TVs, but I don't think they are going to be in my budget. I'm thinking I'd we willing to spend $600 for a TV, my wife would like it to be closer to $60 lol.  

Not looking for a specific model, but what brand tvs out there last 6-10 years? Is that even a thing anymore?

We have been happy with our Vizio TV's, we had a "dumb" Vizio 42" for at least 10 years and other than the remote cracking in half it still works great. Our 60" smart tv that we got last year has been great and was not too expensive. We bought the "entry level" version but it has enough HDMI and USB connections that more did not justify the price increase to go to the next level up model. 

I've heard varying degrees of horror story- but I've been pretty happy with my Hisense u8 series so far. It seems that they have questionable quality control out of the box, but I have apparently gotten lucky twice- both my u8G 55" and u8h 55" are excellent. Both were purchased well within your price range (i'm a little fuzzy on the numbers but i'm fairly sure they're both on my wall for $1200 or less combined) They were both purchased with gaming as primary focus, and that's what they do most of the time. MOST of the high end TV nerds say either Samsung or LG- but those tend to go to $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. They fire up with no goofy ass Samsung or any other overlay, just straight into android TV. It's pretty seamless. 

In reply to DrBoost :

Thanks for the warning.  I was considering Samsung TVs because I have big Samsung computer monitors and I love them.

I can't help with current stuff, but I will say that I have a 48" or so Sony that is at least 13 years old and still going pretty strong.  It has a mild issue with 1 vertical line of pixels dropping out sometimes.  Other than that, no issues.  So it might be worth spending the money.

"Dumb" TV in larger sizes still exist but you have to go for cheaper brands. I've had good luck with my totally dumb 42" Vizio and 55" RCA. 

These cheaper brands seem to always have one glaring fault, but they offer a lot of bang for the buck.

For example, my Vizio is great except for the fact that it only has two HDMI inputs. This was an easily fixed issue for me, but it might be more of a problem.

My RCA has a great image and all the inputs and outputs I'll ever need but the integrated speakers absolutely suck. But since it's plugged into an amplifier, it doesn't matter. 

DrBoost said:

Seems like Sony has always been known for quality TVs, but I don't think they are going to be in my budget. I'm thinking I'd we willing to spend $600 for a TV, my wife would like it to be closer to $60 lol.  

Not looking for a specific model, but what brand tvs out there last 6-10 years? Is that even a thing anymore?

What size? $600 will get you something pretty decent these days. Rtings is a great resource for TV testing and info.

Generally speaking, if you want the best picture quality and contrast ratio, you want OLED, probably LG. If you just want a "nice" TV, just about anything will do. I firmly believe that it's impossible to buy a bad TV in 2023, at least picture-quality wise. Our main TV in the living room is a Vizio PQ65-F1, and it's been awesome for us. For the other, smaller TVs in the house, I'm a fan of Best Buy's in-house brand, Insignia. They are cheap, easy to find, and offer decent picture quality and features. I'm not concerned with the latest HDR tech in a 22" TV in my kitchen.

Not sure what's going on with your Sammy, but that doesn't sound normal. I know a lot of people with them, and I've never heard of anything like that. I'm personally not a huge fan of their TVs because it's 2023 and they STILL don't support Dolby Vision, and their lower-end sets are overpriced vs. the competition.

Having said all that, if our Vizio died tomorrow and I had to replace it, I'd buy a Sony OLED.

We're in the market for a new living room TV for our new house build, and we built the living room to accommodate for a 75". I've been doing tons of research, using rtings.com and other review sources to try and find what would work best in our space. What I found is that there are lots of different use cases and environments that work for one TV that may not work for another. Our living room has lots of windows, so I want something bright with good contrast, and the viewing area is pretty much dead-on, so viewing angle doesn't come into play too much. I want something that's in the middle of the road and not be a giant pile hanging on the wall.

That led me to the Sony X90L series. It rates well and is priced well against its competition. I considered pretty much all the big brands, but this Sony came out on top. UI is clean, simple, and based on Google, the picture is supposed to be better than anything else in its price range, and it connects well with things like Bluetooth sound bars, which we are also in the market for. On paper, it doesn't have QLED or OLED tech so people knock it, but it does have a full array of LEDs and local dimming which some QLED TVs don't have, making for a great picture in the actual, real world. 

We currently have a 6 year old Vizio 55" that will become our bedroom TV. That has been a good TV with a decent picture, but the UI is slower than molasses, so you need a smart stick of some sort to use it these days. We also have an Insignia 40" Roku TV as our current bedroom TV, and for a cheap TV, it's been great. The Roku interface has been OK, but again, it can get slow with age, so a smart stick works well here too. I also have a Samsung 50" smart tv in the garage that's about 5 years old. That thing already had the LED strips fail, so I replaced them. It's been wonky ever since, and the UI is HORRIBLE. I did get it for free, so YMMV there, but Samsung's UIs leave a lot to be desired with their behavior as the OP said. I'm also getting a game room in the house, and that's going to have my ol' reliable Panasonic Viera 42" 1080P plasma and a CRT TV for the really old games. 

I would definitely check out rtings.com to get a sense of what tests well for your room and purpose. No canoe! 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Way back when I used to be a bit of an equipment nerd, but I have to admit I am totally at sea these days.  There are just too many models with no clear differences, even within a given manufacturer.

Such as these:  Sony A80L vs Sony A75L - both are 65" OLEDs and both appear to be current models.  I read as far as I could into the specs before my eyes glazed over and didn't see a meaningful difference.  Why are they $300 different?

In these days of big box stores getting specific models tailored to meet their specific price points, I have a very hard time shopping for stuff like this.

Duke said:

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Way back when I used to be a bit of an equipment nerd, but I have to admit I am totally at sea these days.  There are just too many models with no clear differences, even within a given manufacturer.

Such as these:  Sony A80L vs Sony A75L - both are 65" OLEDs and both appear to be current models.  I read as far as I could into the specs before my eyes glazed over and didn't see a meaningful difference.  Why are they $300 different?

In these days of big box stores getting specific models tailored to meet their specific price points, I have a very hard time shopping for stuff like this.

 

One is 5 more than the other! 

In reply to Mndsm :

But oddly enough the one that is 5 more is $300 less!  So each number is like -$60.

My 65" Samsung I bought last year from Best Buy has been perfect. I spent $600 last year. However, I use my TV as a display and don't use any of the built-in apps or even the speakers. 

We use an Amazon Fire Cube for all streaming apps and a PS5 for Blu-Ray/gaming. Both run an HDMI cable into the Denon Receiver, and then an HDMI from the receiver to the TV. And the receiver powers all the Polk speakers. 

Also, don't be tempted by Black Friday deals. They are typically inferior parts/features to hit those low prices. 

Shamelessly stolen from:  The pc enthusiast

So, What’s the difference?

Luckily, there’s not a lot of difference between the A80L and A75L. The A80L features a built-in mic used for Google Assistant, but the A75L doesn’t have a built-in mic. Second, the A75L’s stand is fixed, but the A80L features a multi-position stand offering three variations (standard, narrow, and raised).

The most noticeable difference is in their built-in speakers. The A80L comes with Acoustic Surface Audio+ (with a Plus) and support for Dolby Atmos. Meanwhile, the A75L lacks the “plus” on the Acoustic Surface Audio. The A80L has a 3.2 channel setup with three actuators and two subwoofers, a 10W + 10W + 10W + 10W + 10W configuration. Meanwhile, the A75L only has a 2 channel setup with two full-range drivers (Bass reflex) and two actuators, a 10W + 10W + 10W + 10W configuration.

If you use the built-in speaker, this difference is definitely noticeable. However, if you use an external speaker or sound system, this is a non-issue. Preferably, to get the most out of your viewing or gaming experience, a much better sound system is a must.

Aside from those, the A80L is available in 55″, 65″, 77″ and 83″ sizes. Meanwhile, the A75L is only available in 55″ and 65″ sizes. So, there are only two TV sizes to choose from with the Sony A75L.

So the A75 won't spy on you, as deeply, as the A80. That's why it costs more, less data to sell on the backend. 

I am a Samsung guy, but given that the brand is not an option, I just got this email from Costco. 

I have no idea how good they are, but the prices seemed good:

In reply to travellering :

Thanks for that.

So... the TV with fewer features if $300 more expensive?  What is that $300 going into?  Better internal components?  Higher profit margin?  Who knows?  Like I said - "This place is so confusing!"

I do all my switching at the Denon AVR (currently in 5.1 mode), with a single HDMI out to the TV, so I don't care too much about inputs or the TV's on-board audio.  But I really would like a strong performing TV for movies and gaming, that is as future-proof as modern electronics can reasonably be.

My plan was to buy a Roku box at the same time.  The Sonys come with Google OS, and we're already in the Google Home environment.  How bad is the on-board streaming likely to be?

[edit] Actually, on-board streaming won't really work, I guess, since I'm peeling off the audio before it gets to the TV.

Duke said:

In reply to travellering :

Thanks for that.

So... the TV with fewer features if $300 more expensive?  What is that $300 going into?  Better internal components?  Higher profit margin?  Who knows?  Like I said - "This place is so confusing!"

I do all my switching at the Denon AVR (currently in 5.1 mode), with a single HDMI out to the TV, so I don't care to much about inputs or the TV's on-board audio.  But I really would like a strong performing TV for movies and gaming, that is as future-proof as modern electronics can reasonably be.

My plan was to buy a Roku box at the same time.  The Sonys come with Google OS, and we're already in the Google Home environment.  How bad is the on-board streaming likely to be?

 

4k 120hz refresh is basically all you need. PS5 only runs 60hz at 4k. 

8k and/or 240hz is way overkill for any content at this point. 

ChrisTropea said:

We have been happy with our Vizio TV's, we had a "dumb" Vizio 42" for at least 10 years and other than the remote cracking in half it still works great. Our 60" smart tv that we got last year has been great and was not too expensive. We bought the "entry level" version but it has enough HDMI and USB connections that more did not justify the price increase to go to the next level up model. 

Same for us. An almost 10 year old 42" in the bedroom and a 5 year old 60" in the living room. I'm jonesing for a 65" Vizio next with the apple air play thingy. 

I'm looking at 65 or 75 inches.  

In response to z31, mine is only a display as well. It's connected to a mac mini. The mac does all the heavy lifting, the samdung just makes the picture. I'm fine with the picture, it's the stupid banners that pop up that cover 33-40% of the screen, depending on the banner. but now, at right around 2 years old it's taking a long time to turn on, and lost all bluetooth devices and took about 30 minutes to find them again. 

2 years is shameful. 

Have you tried turning off the smart hub on the Samsung? How to activate or deactivate the Smart Hub (samsung.com)

We have two Vizios and one Samsung.  The Samsung has a good picture but casting to it is a pain where the Vizios have a great phone app/remote control (not required for casting) AND (at least the ones I have) they have RCA jacks for audio out.  The Samsung only has optical and HDMI for audio out.

mtn said:

Have you tried turning off the smart hub on the Samsung? How to activate or deactivate the Smart Hub (samsung.com)

That looks like it'll defeat one of the annoying banners, and the worst offender at that. Man, I've searched for that a number of times, but could never find it. Thank you!!! I'm still unloading the turd because of the loooon turn on time (60-90 seconds now, used to be 15) and bluetooth issues. At least that'll save my sanity until we replace it.

In reply to triumph7 :

The Vizio I have uses some sort of Chrome or Google OS, so if you have an Android phone, it makes casting to the TV very simple. You just use the Chromecast feature in whatever app you are using, select the TV as the casting object, and BAM! Content on the TV. It shouldn't be harder than that, but some manufacturers haven't gotten the message. 

z31maniac said:

Also, don't be tempted by Black Friday deals. They are typically inferior parts/features to hit those low prices. 

Not really, or at least not anymore. There used to be "loss leader" el cheapo stuff on Black Friday where a store would have just a few of them to get you in the door. But these days all the major stuff goes on sale, too. I just got the same email from Costco that Slippery posted, and there are a ton of good, high-end TVs on sale there right now.

Basically, the two best times to buy a new TV are Black Friday (which is basically most of November nowadays) and the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. 

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

This right here. There are still some real cheap TVs that get trotted out by retailers to get people in the door, but all the good stuff also goes on sale. This is when you see places that don't usually stock electronics sell TVs, and they are usually from once-trusted brand names that haven't been around in decades that are resurrected to slap on lower priced stuff, like Westinghouse, Bell + Howell, etc. 

DrBoost said:

I'm looking at 65 or 75 inches.  

In response to z31, mine is only a display as well. It's connected to a mac mini. The mac does all the heavy lifting, the samdung just makes the picture. I'm fine with the picture, it's the stupid banners that pop up that cover 33-40% of the screen, depending on the banner. but now, at right around 2 years old it's taking a long time to turn on, and lost all bluetooth devices and took about 30 minutes to find them again. 

2 years is shameful. 

Interesting. Mine is only 1 year old, but I don't have any banners or anything that ever pop up on the screen.