Most certainly on the Costco! I shoulda mentioned that in my earlier rant. You get a free 2nd year at minimum there, and often Costco will give a further extended warranty automatically.
New TV Recommendations
- Thread starter CYdTracked
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Plus their prices are equal or they will match what Best Buy or other places offer. Also you can order from their website and have it shipped directly to your house if you are not in a bigger hurry to get it home.
The Super Bowl week is supposed to be the cheapest price time of the year to purchase a new TV, I have been getting a lot of tweets from LG which is currently having a post Christmas sale.
We own a 55" and 65" LG OLED, and personally, would not buy anything else. They did change the software UI at some point, and we liked the older version better. New UI is trying to be too fancy.
Pair with a Roku 4k stick if you hate the UI of the TV you buy.
H
Saw the LG 55" B4 OLED in person today and have to say the picture looked great. Many places have it on sale right now for $999 and looks like it usually is around a $1400 TV normally. There is a B3 model for $200 less, what is the biggest difference between the B3 and B4? Wondering if I wait till closer to super bowl if I am going to find any deeper cuts on these LG models than what they already are on sale for currently?
I have a Roku Ultra so not too worried if I don't like/use the LG apps as am pretty happy with the Roku for that if needed. My current main TV is a 48" Sanyo that I don't even remember when I bought it but it was probably at least 15 years ago so anything is going to be a big step up from that.
I have a Roku Ultra so not too worried if I don't like/use the LG apps as am pretty happy with the Roku for that if needed. My current main TV is a 48" Sanyo that I don't even remember when I bought it but it was probably at least 15 years ago so anything is going to be a big step up from that.
I love my LG oled. I never use built in TV features on any TV I buy. I'd buy without if I could. Rokus are cheap.
FWIW, I would not recommend buying a google TV right now. They have some ridiculous 3rd party app installed as a system app that makes watching OTA TV virtually impossible.
i bought a hisense with google TV about 3 months ago. At first, I thought it was laggy and kind of slow so I just plugged my ROKU box into and used that software instead. About 3 weeks ago, though my TV had an update and google mustve had a nice update or something because now it doesn't lag at all.
When I say lag, I mean using the YouTube TV app and trying to get through the guide was very slow/laggy
I use my old 60" Panasonic to provide supplemental heat in my living hot in the winter.
I do occasionally check to see if the two little cooling fans are still operating after 12 years.
It's always difficult to recommend a TV to someone because it depends on a lot of things like:
1) Is there a lot of natural sunlight in the viewing room?
2) What kind of viewing angles in the room?
3) How far away are you watching the TV?
4) What does the budget look like?
5) How sensitive are you to picture quality?
I am a TV junkie and follow this stuff every year (and end up buying a new TV every year) and am a bit of a picture snob.
Here is what I currently own:
1) 65 inch Hisense U8N (2024 model mini-LED QLED)
2) 55 inch LG C2 OLED (2022 model)
3) 48 inch LB B3 OLED (2023 model)
4) 50 inch Samsung Frame TV (2024 model)
5) 43 inch LG Nanocell (2021 model)
Let's start with the basics.
Most panels are LED based panels and are marketed as 4K UHD (ultra high definition). Cheaper TVs are either edge-lit or back lit with no dimming zones (more on that later) and have a limited color gamut (think the 178 dollar Hisense referenced in this thread from Walmart). A QLED TV is a tv that has a quantum dot filter on top of the LED panel. This widens the color gamut tremendously and things just pop more in ultra high definition. There are two kinds of ultra high definition: HDR 10/10+ (mostly used by Samsung) and Dolby Vision (they use color/light encoding to generate a high definition resolution (HDR) image standard). All 4K content must be in either HDR 10+ or Dolby Vision. Finally, most live TV broadcasts are in 1080p are are 60 hz.
Let's move on to more advanced:
There are a ton of things to consider when your image palette is a little more sharp. QLED is a must for me. I also enjoy high contrast image processing and TVs with dimming zones. A dimming zone is a section of the TV that can turn off/on depending on the image (darks are more darks). Sony/LG are the best at this technology while Samsung is middle of the road in their QLEDs (their OLEDS are quite good but pricey). If you are interested in a QLED, then Hisense and TCL are the BEST bang for your buck. The Hisense U8N is an absolute beast while the TCL QM 8 is neck and neck with it. Honestly, the Hisense U7N and TCL QM 7 are waaaaaaay better than anything any other manufacturer makes at their price range. A Samsung Q80 can cost $1300 for a 65 inch while a U7N or QM 7 will cost half that and are actually better.
Brightness:
It's important to realize that QLEDs and OLEDs have differing benefits. QLEDs are fantastic for well lit rooms as they get much brighter than OLEDs and burn in isn't a thing. The cost is less contrast and blooming in image quality. Mini-LED TVs are a solid balance between QLED and OLED (but can get pricier). Nothing will beat an OLED when it comes to contrast and images "popping". This is because each pixel turns on/off. Black is literal black. The drawback is brightness. ALL OLED displays are manufactured by LG. All LG displays come with a heat plate that was introduced back in 2020. Burn in is much much much much rarer these days. It's still a thing, but not that big of a thing. OLEDs also have the best viewing angles while QLEDs often struggle with off-angle viewing.
Motion:
I am super sensitive to motion and cannot stand soap opera effect. Sony and LG have the best image processing out there while Samsung/TCL/Hisense are #2. Sony/LG are also the best at upconverting 1080p content to HDR while Samsung/TCL/Hisense are #2.
If you want to spend more on a higher quality TV:
Image quality is everything and don't overpay with Samsung. LG and Sony are where your dollars should go because of image processing and quality control in panel manufacturing. Look up dirty screen effect and you will see LG and Sony the absolute kings of high quality manufacturing. Samsung has really struggled in this area and their premium TVs are actually poorly made with tons of quality issues. You shouldn't have to play the panel lottery when you pay a premium amount (that is why you should go with Sony/LG). Go OLED. Nothing pops like OLED tvs. They get decently bright and perform so so so well in a dark room. You will feel like you are in a movie theater and it's incredible.
If you still want quality but on a budget:
Hisense and TCL are crushing it in the budget space. Your dollar cannot be beat with these brands. You can get all the bells and whistles with the U8N/QM 8 or U7N/QM 7 without breaking the bank. A 6 series TCL is also a solid tv along with the QD6 from Hisense. A decent budget Samsung is the DU7200 (and the A series Hisense).
Stay away from Vizio. Walmart just bought them so avoid that trainwreck.
Finally: don't worry about the user interface on the TV. Spend the money on an 4K apple tv or Roku Ultra. Avoid any other streaming device (I have had 4 amazon Firesticks brick out on me the past year alone).
Hopefully this helps.
1) Is there a lot of natural sunlight in the viewing room?
2) What kind of viewing angles in the room?
3) How far away are you watching the TV?
4) What does the budget look like?
5) How sensitive are you to picture quality?
I am a TV junkie and follow this stuff every year (and end up buying a new TV every year) and am a bit of a picture snob.
Here is what I currently own:
1) 65 inch Hisense U8N (2024 model mini-LED QLED)
2) 55 inch LG C2 OLED (2022 model)
3) 48 inch LB B3 OLED (2023 model)
4) 50 inch Samsung Frame TV (2024 model)
5) 43 inch LG Nanocell (2021 model)
Let's start with the basics.
Most panels are LED based panels and are marketed as 4K UHD (ultra high definition). Cheaper TVs are either edge-lit or back lit with no dimming zones (more on that later) and have a limited color gamut (think the 178 dollar Hisense referenced in this thread from Walmart). A QLED TV is a tv that has a quantum dot filter on top of the LED panel. This widens the color gamut tremendously and things just pop more in ultra high definition. There are two kinds of ultra high definition: HDR 10/10+ (mostly used by Samsung) and Dolby Vision (they use color/light encoding to generate a high definition resolution (HDR) image standard). All 4K content must be in either HDR 10+ or Dolby Vision. Finally, most live TV broadcasts are in 1080p are are 60 hz.
Let's move on to more advanced:
There are a ton of things to consider when your image palette is a little more sharp. QLED is a must for me. I also enjoy high contrast image processing and TVs with dimming zones. A dimming zone is a section of the TV that can turn off/on depending on the image (darks are more darks). Sony/LG are the best at this technology while Samsung is middle of the road in their QLEDs (their OLEDS are quite good but pricey). If you are interested in a QLED, then Hisense and TCL are the BEST bang for your buck. The Hisense U8N is an absolute beast while the TCL QM 8 is neck and neck with it. Honestly, the Hisense U7N and TCL QM 7 are waaaaaaay better than anything any other manufacturer makes at their price range. A Samsung Q80 can cost $1300 for a 65 inch while a U7N or QM 7 will cost half that and are actually better.
Brightness:
It's important to realize that QLEDs and OLEDs have differing benefits. QLEDs are fantastic for well lit rooms as they get much brighter than OLEDs and burn in isn't a thing. The cost is less contrast and blooming in image quality. Mini-LED TVs are a solid balance between QLED and OLED (but can get pricier). Nothing will beat an OLED when it comes to contrast and images "popping". This is because each pixel turns on/off. Black is literal black. The drawback is brightness. ALL OLED displays are manufactured by LG. All LG displays come with a heat plate that was introduced back in 2020. Burn in is much much much much rarer these days. It's still a thing, but not that big of a thing. OLEDs also have the best viewing angles while QLEDs often struggle with off-angle viewing.
Motion:
I am super sensitive to motion and cannot stand soap opera effect. Sony and LG have the best image processing out there while Samsung/TCL/Hisense are #2. Sony/LG are also the best at upconverting 1080p content to HDR while Samsung/TCL/Hisense are #2.
If you want to spend more on a higher quality TV:
Image quality is everything and don't overpay with Samsung. LG and Sony are where your dollars should go because of image processing and quality control in panel manufacturing. Look up dirty screen effect and you will see LG and Sony the absolute kings of high quality manufacturing. Samsung has really struggled in this area and their premium TVs are actually poorly made with tons of quality issues. You shouldn't have to play the panel lottery when you pay a premium amount (that is why you should go with Sony/LG). Go OLED. Nothing pops like OLED tvs. They get decently bright and perform so so so well in a dark room. You will feel like you are in a movie theater and it's incredible.
If you still want quality but on a budget:
Hisense and TCL are crushing it in the budget space. Your dollar cannot be beat with these brands. You can get all the bells and whistles with the U8N/QM 8 or U7N/QM 7 without breaking the bank. A 6 series TCL is also a solid tv along with the QD6 from Hisense. A decent budget Samsung is the DU7200 (and the A series Hisense).
Stay away from Vizio. Walmart just bought them so avoid that trainwreck.
Finally: don't worry about the user interface on the TV. Spend the money on an 4K apple tv or Roku Ultra. Avoid any other streaming device (I have had 4 amazon Firesticks brick out on me the past year alone).
Hopefully this helps.
My 48"(?) Panasonic plasma still ticking too. I still contend it (plasma) has the best picture quality, period.I use my old 60" Panasonic to provide supplemental heat in my living hot in the winter.
I do occasionally check to see if the two little cooling fans are still operating after 12 years.
It was the biggest jump in image quality of my lifetime (going from 480p to 1080p). Those panasonic plasmas were incredible. They don't hold a candle to modern OLEDs and image processing, but I get your passion for plasmas.
There are models now that let you do separate windows. I could have Dush open in one, espn+ open in another and Netflix in a third. After we finish remodeling this winter spring I am going to buy a new 80+ inch tv.
I don't have any OLEDs but it beats the snot out of my 5 & 7 yr old Sony Bravia 900 series, and whatever higher end Samsung (not sure on model/tech). This includes image processing (smoothness). I should note this particular Panasonic was one of the last plasmas on the market when I bought it. It is one of the 3D models.
The old Panasonic ZT60??? Those things were amazing. I think they also put out the heat of a space heater, but were top notch with picture quality back in the day.
Well the new TV may be on the backburner after this week. Been an expensive one that started with an ER trip last Saturday for 1 kid (they are fine) then yesterday had to replace the springs on the garage door because 1 broke, then today by far topped all that as had to replace our tankless hot water heater and likely need to replace the water softener too that isn't working but that one can wait a bit and we'll just bypass it. So yeah, this week has sucked and a new TV may have to wait till later this year or beyond.
Unsolicited advice: Fix the softener when you get a new heater. Hard water is the biggest cause of water heaters failing early. It’ll seem cheap compared to the water heater.
