Decent 65" TV with ability to flip/go directly to OTA/cable channels?

[maxq]

It's time to try a 65" TV to replace our 55" main TV. We both watch a mix of OTA antenna, cable and streaming channels, very few sports. Pets and grand kids make us want to stay away from a high end, expensive TV. Neither of us can discern the difference between 4K, UHD, and so on



Our 55" LG works fine for what we watch and is easy to channel surf cable or OTA, but we want to try a larger screen. Our study 32" Insignia (Best Buy) has Fire TV built in, and it is aggravating to use when we just want to flip through some OTA channels--connects only if WiFi also connects, mushes together our saved antenna channels with FreeTV/Pluto/etc channels on a random basis (it randomly changes the channels we selected as favorites); no number pad on the Fire remote, so have to navigate a screen at a time and there is a 10 to 30 second lag on each input; voice commands seldom work, etc etc. But not complaining -- we only paid $100 for it on sale a year or two ago and its fine for the study. But for the main TV, we prefer something more old-fashioned I guess.



So.... any recommendations on a 65" lower end TV that has a traditional remote control with channel number inputs, and is hopefully easily usable for antenna, cable and streaming? We did see this one at Costco a few days ago, and the picture on the box showed a remote control that looks traditional... LG 65" Class - UQ8000 Series - 4K UHD LED LCD TV $479. Costco warranty and return policy are a plus for this one. Others to consider?

 

[REWahoo]

LG 65" Class - UQ8000 Series - 4K UHD LED LCD TV $479. Costco warranty and return policy are a plus for this one. Others to consider?

Took a quick look at CR ratings on this set. I think you've already found what you are looking for.

 

[Freedom56]

It's time to try a 65" TV to replace our 55" main TV. We both watch a mix of OTA antenna, cable and streaming channels, very few sports. Pets and grand kids make us want to stay away from a high end, expensive TV. Neither of us can discern the difference between 4K, UHD, and so on



Our 55" LG works fine for what we watch and is easy to channel surf cable or OTA, but we want to try a larger screen. Our study 32" Insignia (Best Buy) has Fire TV built in, and it is aggravating to use when we just want to flip through some OTA channels--connects only if WiFi also connects, mushes together our saved antenna channels with FreeTV/Pluto/etc channels on a random basis (it randomly changes the channels we selected as favorites); no number pad on the Fire remote, so have to navigate a screen at a time and there is a 10 to 30 second lag on each input; voice commands seldom work, etc etc. But not complaining -- we only paid $100 for it on sale a year or two ago and its fine for the study. But for the main TV, we prefer something more old-fashioned I guess.



So.... any recommendations on a 65" lower end TV that has a traditional remote control with channel number inputs, and is hopefully easily usable for antenna, cable and streaming? We did see this one at Costco a few days ago, and the picture on the box showed a remote control that looks traditional... LG 65" Class - UQ8000 Series - 4K UHD LED LCD TV $479. Costco warranty and return policy are a plus for this one. Others to consider?

We picked up the UQ8000 65" at Costco for $479 and you get $75 streaming credit. We bought it for our garage to replace a 32" HD LCD TV. Our garage is pretty nice with stainless steel wall panels and epoxy finished floors. The picture is pretty good considering the price. They also had a Hisense 65" for about $329.

 

[jim584672]

You could get a tuner that goes into the HDMI port for about $30. Connect a hard drive and you have a DVR.

https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-H...erter-Recording/dp/B01EW098XS?ref_=ast_sto_dp

 

[Qs Laptop]

I've had an LG TV, currently have a HiSense Roku TV, and have an 8 year old LG with a Fire stick attached.

For simplicity of use nothing beats a Roku TV. For your purposes of quickly switching between cable, OTA, and streaming it would be your best choice. The Roku remote will not allow direct entering of OTA channel numbers, however, once you get the Roku TV to learn all available channels in your area it's easy to navigate quickly up and down the programming grid. You can also eliminate OTA channels you don't want the TV to remember.

Navigating cable with Roku TV will probably require using the cable company remote.

I can tell you that the LG UQ8000 series does not have a traditional remote. They have a "magic remote" that functions similar to a mouse. Instead of using up, down, left and right arrows to navigate menus a pointer appears on the LG's screen and your simply move the cursor over to your menu selection by moving your hand. It takes a while to get used to but it's quicker than using the typical arrow up, arrow down method. I know our LG magic remote on the 2014 LG TV we have can't control the cable box, not sure about the newer magic remotes.

Here is a comprehensive review of the LG UQ8000 TV.
https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/uq8000

I would recommend the TCL 555 Roku TV. This 2022 model replaces the TCL 535 model from 2020. You might be able to find the 535 on closeout. I see the 65" is $399 at Amazon. It's $549 at Best Buy but of course Best Buy will price match Amazon.

Here is the review of the 535:
https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/tcl/5-series-s535-2020-qled

Also:
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-4k-tv/

 

[Qs Laptop]

You could get a tuner that goes into the HDMI port for about $30. Connect a hard drive and you have a DVR.

https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-H...erter-Recording/dp/B01EW098XS?ref_=ast_sto_dp

OP is looking for an easy to use TV.

 

[jim584672]

OP is looking for an easy to use TV.

He says the tuner isn't right, this will fix the problem.

 

[Qs Laptop]

He says the tuner isn't right, this will fix the problem.

OP says the Firestick tuner is problematic, not the TV tuner.

 

[Qs Laptop]

maxq, do you have an OTA antenna connected to your TV?

 

[maxq]

I'm open to all suggestions. For the study TV, the separate tuner idea from jim584672 seems to be a good solution and we'll look into that. It looks like we could even stick in a USB thumb drive or an external HD and record something OTA if wanted. Another remote to deal with though....


Thanks to all for good info!

 

[Bamaman]

I mistakenly hit the screen of my grandson's 40" Hisense smart tv this week. The tv's of today are so easy to ruin. The replacement at Walmart was $178 on sale.

Went by Walmart today and found the same 43" version on sale for $153 on sale. Televisions are so cheap today.

I'd just suggest you go by your favorite television store (or Walmart) and see what's on sale. The huge screens 65" and up are ridiculously cheap--but some are ridiculously expensive. I guess it's what floats your boat.

 

[rk911]

you'll want a TV that has an antenna connection (F-connector) for OTA and an internet connector (RJ45) for streaming or at least one extra HDMI port for a streaming device. FYI..we have Comcast (Xfinity) cable and we can access most major streaming services through them (subscriptions still needed). we are partial to Samsung TVs.

 

[Qs Laptop]

you'll want a TV that has an antenna connection (F-connector) for OTA and an internet connector (RJ45) for streaming or at least one extra HDMI port for a streaming device. FYI..we have Comcast (Xfinity) cable and we can access most major streaming services through them (subscriptions still needed). we are partial to Samsung TVs.

Yes, you can get the most popular streaming services through Comcast cable. Yes, you pay a subscription for them, just like you would if you bought them directly from the streaming service.

The difference is with Roku you can access these services with one or two button presses and they connect in 2 to 3 seconds. You can't do that when you buy them through Comcast, takes a lot longer. That sort of input lag was a complaint of the OP. With Roku you can go from Amazon Prime Video to OTA TV in about 5 seconds. on the Roku remote press "Home", then navigate to the OTA tile and press Enter. Five seconds, max.

I would suggest getting a TV with at least 3 HDMI inputs, 4 would be better as you never know what you might want to plug in to your TV. One of the HDMI ports should be eArc in case you want to add a sound bar. (Most 2021 and 2022 TV's come with an eArc HDMI port, unless they are super budget models.)

 

[rk911]

Yes, you can get the most popular streaming services through Comcast cable. Yes, you pay a subscription for them, just like you would if you bought them directly from the streaming service.

The difference is with Roku you can access these services with one or two button presses and they connect in 2 to 3 seconds. You can't do that when you buy them through Comcast, takes a lot longer. That sort of input lag was a complaint of the OP. With Roku you can go from Amazon Prime Video to OTA TV in about 5 seconds. on the Roku remote press "Home", then navigate to the OTA tile and press Enter. Five seconds, max.

I would suggest getting a TV with at least 3 HDMI inputs, 4 would be better as you never know what you might want to plug in to your TV. One of the HDMI ports should be eArc in case you want to add a sound bar. (Most 2021 and 2022 TV's come with an eArc HDMI port, unless they are super budget models.)

i guess if that's important, it's not to us. we buy our subscriptions directly from the provider and usually use the Comcast link to access them. If the hook is missing from Comcast we use the built-in hooks on our Smart TV. the one annoyance is that the foward/replay/captions controls are different on each service.

eArc HDMI is something I've not heard of. we have a Bose soundbar on the family room TV that connects to the digital audio port. suits us just fine. been thinking of adding a sound bar to the sun room TV. i'll have to read up on eArc.

 

[swakyaby]

Decent 65" TV with ability to flip/go directly to OTA/cable channels?

.eArc HDMI is something I've not heard of. we have a Bose soundbar on the family room TV that connects to the digital audio port. suits us just fine. been thinking of adding a sound bar to the sun room TV. i'll have to read up on eArc.

When we purchased our 4k oled LG tv at Best Buy in 2017, the salesman told us that the one disadvantage of our model was that it lacked an eARC hdmi, and instead had the older ARC hdmi. He explained it meant we would not get full Dolby Atmos. I thought, well our sound system in the family room is not set up for Dolby Atmos anyway, so it doesn’t matter.

But now we have the latest Sonos soundbar with subwoofer and surrounds and regret the short-sightedness of not getting a tv with eARC hdmi.

 

[bloom2708]

If the OP goes into settings, they can not display Pluto and FreeVee channels. They can be removed.

Seems the easiest is to just show what they want to see. OTA only.

 

[rk911]

When we purchased our 4k oled LG tv at Best Buy in 2017, the salesman told us that the one disadvantage of our model was that it lacked an eARC hdmi, and instead had the older ARC hdmi. He explained it meant we would not get full Dolby Atmos. I thought, well our sound system in the family room is not set up for Dolby Atmos anyway, so it doesn’t matter.

But now we have the latest Sonos soundbar with subwoofer and surrounds and regret the short-sightedness of not getting a tv with eARC hdmi.

hmmm. other than for power are the speakers wireless?

 

[swakyaby]

hmmm. other than for power are the speakers wireless?

Yes. Only the soundbar connects to the tv via an hdmi input, preferably eARC or if an older tv, arc. The subwoofer and rear speakers are wireless, through wifi.

 

[TripleLindy]

Our largest screen is 55”, but we’re fans of the TCL Roku TVs. We opt for their 4 series, which for us is a great balance of price and features - great picture. The Roku platform is super simple and has a specifically designated OTA selection, making it easy to switch between streaming, cable and OTA. The Roku Channel, which is free, actually has some very good movies and even original content. It also includes a live TV option, which has some of our local broadcasts, but is mostly 3rd-tier channels.

 

[Jerry1]

The Roku platform is super simple and has a specifically designated OTA selection, making it easy to switch between streaming, cable and OTA.

Is the OTA option only on ROKU TV’s? I looked for it on my ROKU (streaming stick) and don’t see it. It would be nice to jump to OTA without having to find/use the tv remote.

 

[rk911]

Yes. Only the soundbar connects to the tv via an hdmi input, preferably eARC or if an older tv, arc. The subwoofer and rear speakers are wireless, through wifi.

thanks

 

[Qs Laptop]

Is the OTA option only on ROKU TV’s? I looked for it on my ROKU (streaming stick) and don’t see it. It would be nice to jump to OTA without having to find/use the tv remote.

Yes, switching to over-the-air broadcast content on a Roku TV can be done easily with the Roku remote. There is a tile on the Roku home screen labeled "Live TV" or possibly "Antenna TV" that you simply select and press enter.

If you have a Roku stick you will need to use the TV remote to switch inputs.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Yes, switching to over-the-air broadcast content on a Roku TV can be done easily with the Roku remote. There is a tile on the Roku home screen labeled "Live TV" or possibly "Antenna TV" that you simply select and press enter.

If you have a Roku TV that came equipped with the voice remote you could also easily access the antenna input by pressing the microphone button and saying "Live TV."

Here's a little known trick for Roku TV owners whose TV came with a remote that does not have voice control (like TCL 4 series, TCL 5 series). You can buy the remote with the microphone button separately for $19.95 and pair it with your Roku TV and you will gain the voice control functionality.

I found voice control to be immensely convenient when searching for specific movies by title or for specific TV programs by name. No more entering letters one by one using the arrow keys, you simply press the microphone and ask for what you want to find.

 

[ncbill]

Those planning on watching a lot of OTA TV & who can install an antenna should consider purchasing a base Tivo Roamio or Roamio OTA with lifetime service off eBay...probably $250 or less delivered.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Those planning on watching a lot of OTA TV & who can install an antenna should consider purchasing a base Tivo Roamio or Roamio OTA with lifetime service off eBay...probably $250 or less delivered.

That's a great idea.

Most don't know this but Roku TV's have a rudimentary OTA "DVR" built into the operating system called Pause Live TV. Basically you plug a blank, unwritten USB stick into the back of the Roku TV. Then when you are watching OTA content and you can't be there to see the rest of the program (phone call, bathroom break, need to run errands, etc.) you press pause on the Roku remote control and the Roku TV will record up to 90 minutes of the ensuing OTA content to the USB thumb drive.

So, if you wanted to "record" an OTA show at 4:00pm, you would plug in the USB thumb drive, tune to the channel you want to record at 3:59 pm, start watching the first several seconds of the show, press pause on the remote control, then go run errands or whatever you had planned. When you get back to the TV and hit play, the Roku TV will play that programming from the point at which it had been paused.

(This only works on over-the-air broadcasts and I am not sure if the program is permanently recorded on the USB stick or not.)