Trying to pick a TV

emmaaa · October 2015

So DH and I have a 65" flat screen Samsung TV. It isn't flat panel because it is older. We bought it from a friend's grandpa for $300 about 3 years ago. We love this TV. However, we think it's about to die. The picture is getting so dark it is hard to watch with any lights on.

Now I'm trying to look at TVs to have an idea for when it does finally kick the bucket. I'm hoping it will wait until December when DH gets his Christmas bonus but who knows.

I know nothing about TVs and apparently there are LEDs, LCDs, HD, 4K and I don't know what any of it means.

Any suggestions? Good brands? We're thinking at least 55" - 65" with a good, clear, bright picture. Other than that, I'm lost.

cupcait927 · October 2015

I'd stick with another Samsung or Panasonic. I've now owned three Panasonic tvs and never had any issues with them (two I still own, one I purchased with an ex 5 years ago). We went with a 50" LED Panasonic Smart TV a year ago when we were upgrading and I love it. It was also very reasonably priced - $700 on sale.

PrettyGirlLost · October 2015

Do you have access to Consumer Reports? I'd check there 1st to see what their recommendations are. I'd also check CNET for reviews.

Hee's some info on the difference between LED and LCD displays: http://www.cnet.com/news/led-lcd-vs-plasma-vs-lcd/

Everything should be HD (high definition) or Ultra HD nowadays. 4K TVs are just Ultra HD displays with more pixels than before: http://www.techradar.com/us/news/television/ultra-hd-everything-you-need-to-know-about-4k-tv-1048954

ETA: Main thing is that you need to go into a store and just look at the displays to see which ones you like the best.

CMGragain · October 2015

This is a tricky question. DH is an electronics engineer (retired), so choosing a TV with him is very different than choosing one by yourself.
This is a lot like planning a wedding. 1. Budget? 2. Viewing space? 3. Vendors and recommendations.

DH bought a curved screen Samsung ultra high def TV last year. He was in love with it, the way some guys are in love with a car. Eh. We could have spent half the money and I would have been just as happy.

OliveOilsMom · October 2015

Last year we bought an LG TV. We love it! It is an LED. Something to think about, if you guys plan on cutting the cable cord, would be to buy a Smart TV, since you can plug the internet right in.

We purchased our TV from Amazon. They delivered it for free, but you need to schedule your delivery and be home. They unwrapped the TV and got it set up on the stand for us, they also took all of the packaging, which was nice! I also had the Amazon cc and got a 0% interest rate on the TV for 6 months.

We were careful to read the reviews objectively. We did not see our TV in person first, but we got a great deal on the TV! We just love it! And in person, we saw one of those curved TVs and it was amazing! But those are big bucks!

julieanne912 · October 2015

Our neighbor bought a huge curved TV and actually doesn't like it. He said it's nice if you're sitting right in front of it, but if you're off to the side it's not good.

We personally are holding out for a ginormous Samsung 4K... just waiting for prices to come down.

emmaaa · October 2015

CMGragain said:

This is a tricky question. DH is an electronics engineer (retired), so choosing a TV with him is very different than choosing one by yourself.
This is a lot like planning a wedding. 1. Budget? 2. Viewing space? 3. Vendors and recommendations.

DH bought a curved screen Samsung ultra high def TV last year. He was in love with it, the way some guys are in love with a car. Eh. We could have spent half the money and I would have been just as happy.

We would like to stay at or around $1,000 (preferrably less but I haven't bought a TV in years so...). Our living room is small but we're used to the 65" so we don't want to go much under 55".

ETA: DH and I both have said we don't really want a curved screen

PrettyGirlLost · October 2015

julieanne912 said:

Our neighbor bought a huge curved TV and actually doesn't like it. He said it's nice if you're sitting right in front of it, but if you're off to the side it's not good.

We personally are holding out for a ginormous Samsung 4K... just waiting for prices to come down.

Which is the whole point to the curve >< It's supposed to make it so that when viewing an LCD TV from the side it looks no different that viewing it from head on.

Ugh, that sucks!

Same with us. . .we waiting for the 4Ks to come down a bit and then we want to get a 55"-60"

ShesSoCold · October 2015

We like our Sony Bravia a lot. A lot of people focus on "1080p" or whatever, but depending on what you watch, the hertz (hz) is just as important. For a TV that large, I wouldn't go any less than 120 hz. We spent a little more for 240 hz because we watch a lot of sports and the picture is so much clearer when things are moving quickly. So you might want to pay attention to that too.

teddygirl9 · October 2015

We have a Samsung 3d smart 60" - eta - 7 series. Tbh we dont use any of the smart features besides having netflix in the tv lol. It has voice control, you can do PIP with the internet on one side, also surf the net on the tv, and probably alot of other useless stuff. We've only used the 3d maybe 3 times (comes with 2 glasses) and it was okay. Would need to have a 3d blueray or something to actually utilize it.

If I were to go back, I'd probably get a larger 65" more basic model. Actually, there is one other nice thing about it - if you have a samsung phone, you can DL an app that will control the tv. So that's kind of fun.

cupcait927 · October 2015

ShesSoCold said:

We like our Sony Bravia a lot. A lot of people focus on "1080p" or whatever, but depending on what you watch, the hertz (hz) is just as important. For a TV that large, I wouldn't go any less than 120 hz. We spent a little more for 240 hz because we watch a lot of sports and the picture is so much clearer when things are moving quickly. So you might want to pay attention to that too.

Agree with this. H was really big on making sure the TV we got was at least 120hz.

emmaaa · October 2015

cupcait927 said:

ShesSoCold said:

We like our Sony Bravia a lot. A lot of people focus on "1080p" or whatever, but depending on what you watch, the hertz (hz) is just as important. For a TV that large, I wouldn't go any less than 120 hz. We spent a little more for 240 hz because we watch a lot of sports and the picture is so much clearer when things are moving quickly. So you might want to pay attention to that too.

Agree with this. H was really big on making sure the TV we got was at least 120hz.

Thank you. I wouldn't have thought of that. We watch sports so that could be worth it.

FWIW, since we don't have internet, we have no desire for a Smart TV

PrettyGirlLost · October 2015

emmaaa said:

cupcait927 said:

ShesSoCold said:

We like our Sony Bravia a lot. A lot of people focus on "1080p" or whatever, but depending on what you watch, the hertz (hz) is just as important. For a TV that large, I wouldn't go any less than 120 hz. We spent a little more for 240 hz because we watch a lot of sports and the picture is so much clearer when things are moving quickly. So you might want to pay attention to that too.

Agree with this. H was really big on making sure the TV we got was at least 120hz.

Thank you. I wouldn't have thought of that. We watch sports so that could be worth it.

FWIW, since we don't have internet, we have no desire for a Smart TV

I think most TVs on the market now are Smart TVs, but there may be some that don't have internet connectivity.

DarthV8r · October 2015

Vizio Smart T.V. if you're on a budget but want a a good t.v.

FrankensteinBride · October 2015

I had a 32inch vizio smart TV that I absolutely loved, we don't have cable so using it for amazon/netflix/hulu and DVD's was GREAT. and it wasn't horribly priced, in the $300 range

Unfortunately my kitten broke it. Smashed right onto the floor... if you have animals or children.. I recommend wall mounts. They're very lightweight TV's

*edit, sorry I didn't notice you don't have the internet, most tv's now a days seem to be smart TV's regardless

Cookie Pusher · October 2015

We just bought a Samsung LED tv this summer. We didn't bother with a Smart or 4K tv since this is just going to be a spare tv once we get a house. There are still several non-Smart options on the market, you just have to look.

CSunshine76 · October 2015

I need a new tv, but just haven't pulled the trigger on buying one. I've been pricing them for probably a year, and Amazon has great prices on Samsungs. They even have a few that aren't smart tv's, but still 1080p, 120 Hz, etc. definitely worth doing a price compare.

CMGragain · October 2015

My new issue of Consumer Reports just arrived today, and they rated big screen TVs. They like Samsung and LG. They point out that there is not much media available in the oh wow ultra hi-def yet. You might want to pick up a copy of Consumer Reports Nov. issue.

emmaaa · October 2015

A lot that I look at are Smart TVs. I'm not against one because I hold out hope that eventually we can have internet.

littlemushroom · October 2015

My super techy husband picked out our new 65" Vizio Smart TV and we love it. We do gaming on it and the picture is great. Best Buy does price matching, so we got it there and had them price match Sam's Club, so we got it for less than $800. We don't use the "smart TV" features because we always have a computer hooked up to the TV anyway.

For the price and quality, Vizio is great. We had Sony and Samsung tvs before and the Vizio is just as good.

CMGragain · October 2015

A Consumer Report "Best Buy" is a 60" LG, 60LF6100.

http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-60LF6100-60-Inch-1080p/dp/B00TRQPCGA/ref=sr_1_1?s=tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1444417969&sr=1-1&keywords=LG+60lf6100

PS. DH just read this over my shoulder. He says you should go to Best Buys if possible, due to the problems of removing and disposing of your old TV. They will take care of that for you. Disposing of older TVs is hazardous waste, and besides being bulky and heavy, it can be difficult, depending on your local waste disposal laws.

OliveOilsMom · October 2015

CMGragain said:

A Consumer Report "Best Buy" is a 60" LG, 60LF6100.

http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-60LF6100-60-Inch-1080p/dp/B00TRQPCGA/ref=sr_1_1?s=tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1444417969&sr=1-1&keywords=LG+60lf6100

PS. DH just read this over my shoulder. He says you should go to Best Buys if possible, due to the problems of removing and disposing of your old TV. They will take care of that for you. Disposing of older TVs is hazardous waste, and besides being bulky and heavy, it can be difficult, depending on your local waste disposal laws.

I think that link is the one for our TV, if not, the models are very close to each other! And we love our LG!

Trying to pick a TV

Re: Trying to pick a TV

Choose Another Board

Search Boards