"Middle of the Road" smart TV

cbo111

cbo111

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I am in the market for a 65" tv to watch cable, sports, Netflix, AppleTV, and Prime, that sort of thing. No interest in gaming features, just want a decent quality picture, something less than $1,000 US. I browsed the Costco website...lots of choices. Samsung 65" Class - Q60D Series - 4K UHD QLED LCD TV looks pretty good. Anybody recently purchased something they can recommend?
 
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The last TV we bought was for our bedroom, an LG OLED on closeout. That was in 2022. It's a fine set as far as picture goes but TBH, I avoid using their UI. It's set up to basically be turned on by the dish remote and to the last channel watched as that's what 95% of its use is. If I want to stream, I have a Roku for that. Our 75" Samsung in the lower level "media" room is about 7 y.o. That one is not OLED but has a good picture for my old eyes. That set gets a lot more streaming use, again using a Roku. If you have access to Consumer Reports, their TV tests/reviews are very good at identifying pros and cons as well providing useful set-up info for each TV model tested.
 
I would recommend shopping for a smart TV that has an easy to navigate user interface and has the apps you want built in. For example, Samsung's don't have the NFL app and LG does not have MLB TV app.

I found Samsung's user interface to be less than ideal and their remote frustrating. Sony uses Google TV interface which is busy and a bit confusing. LG's interface is also a bit busy but the Magic Remote is excellent.

The easiest to use interface is Roku. TCL and HiSense build TVs with Roku built in. They also make TVs with Google OS, so if you go with either of these brands make sure it's their Roku version. Roku also has the most apps by far.

I recommend a mid-level TCL or HiSense backlit mini-LED TV with Roku built in. You should be able to get a 65" for $749 or less, maybe even $599 if on sale.

Finally, be sure to check out the built-in stand or legs that support the TV. Oftentimes, these are angled legs that are far apart, meaning they don't fit on some TV style tables. Make sure you measure before you buy.
 
cbo111 said:
I am in the market for a 65" tv to watch cable, sports, Netflix, AppleTV, and Prime, that sort of thing. No interest in gaming features, just want a decent quality picture, something less than $1,000 US. I browsed the Costco website...lots of choices. Samsung 65" Class - Q60D Series - 4K UHD QLED LCD TV looks pretty good. Anybody recently purchased something they can recommend?
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I am interested in upgrading to a 65" or even 75". Went to Best Buy and a knowledgeable sales rep recommended this one. Link to review: Sony Bravia

Higher then $1k but might come down somewhat about 2 weeks before Black Friday.

My thought is to think of the TV as a monitor and get the smarts using something like the Roku 4k. I don't want to be "captured" by Amazon or another vendor. Perhaps someone can critique this line of reasoning.
 
Lsbcal said:
I am interested in upgrading to a 65" or even 75". Went to Best Buy and a knowledgeable sales rep recommended this one. Link to review: Sony Bravia

Higher then $1k but might come down somewhat about 2 weeks before Black Friday.

My thought is to think of the TV as a monitor and get the smarts using something like the Roku 4k. I don't want to be "captured" by Amazon or another vendor. Perhaps someone can critique this line of reasoning.
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You can't go wrong with that Sony Bravia. That is a sweet TV. The only downside I see is the unnecessarily busy user interface and the presence of plenty of ads.

Your idea of getting the TV and a Roku 4K streamer is solid. It's exactly what I did when I got my LG C2 a couple of years ago. I got the Roku Ultra (and I recommend the Ultra over the Roku sticks because it has a better wifi antenna, a better remote (backlit), and more features.) They just released the latest version of the Roku Ultra about 10 days ago.

Another reason to get a Roku streamer is because in four to five years the internal apps on the Sony Bravia may not be able to be updated. Roku will likely be able to be updated, but even if it isn't you can always buy another Roku for less than $100 and keep your Sony.
 
I noticed that the Sony Bravia comes with Google TV. Apparently the UI delivers ads and one would need an ad-blocker on the TV. I guess this is similar to the problems on a PC where I run an ad-blocker.

So is Qs Laptop suggesting just dump the Google TV UI in favor of Roku. I could do that but just want to make sure that this is an easy thing to do. I have zero experience with "smart" TV's. We do not like to watch those intrusive ads that break up the viewing experience and I will pay for apps that allow us to prevent this (example Hulu w/o ads).
 
Lsbcal said:
I noticed that the Sony Bravia comes with Google TV. Apparently the UI delivers ads and one would need an ad-blocker on the TV. I guess this is similar to the problems on a PC where I run an ad-blocker.
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Unfortunately, you won't be able to block the Sony's Google TV's built-in ads. You also won't be able to block Roku's ads. The difference is Roku's ads are mostly benign, one "tile" on the far side of the screen, whereas Google TV ads are placed anywhere they want, often interspersed in your streaming channel icons and some of them are videos. (Fair warning, Roku will likely succumb to video ads in the future.)

Note that these ads are different than ads that happen when you are watching programming. These Google TV and Roku ads appear on the home page of your TV's interface, BEFORE you start watching anything.


Lsbcal said:
So is Qs Laptop suggesting just dump the Google TV UI in favor of Roku. I could do that but just want to make sure that this is an easy thing to do. I have zero experience with "smart" TV's. We do not like to watch those intrusive ads that break up the viewing experience and I will pay for apps that allow us to prevent this (example Hulu w/o ads).
Click to expand...

It's very simple you plug the Roku device into an HDMI port on your TV and the Roku takes over as the streaming channel "selector". Using the Roku remote, not your TV remote, you pick your streaming channels using the Roku interface. So, you would select Hulu from the Roku home page and after Hulu pops up on your screen you pick the program you want to watch on Hulu. Once you are done watching your program on Hulu, you want to watch something on Netflix, you go back to the Roku home screen and pick out the Netflix icon, click on it and now you are on Netflix.
 
The sound on most smart TVs is an issue with me. Even the top end smart TVs have poor sound quality. Trying to improve the sound quality by adding a sound bar presents audio sync/lip sync "out of sync" issues that are quite annoying when watching and listening.

Mike
 
Thanks Qs I currently use Roku so at least for now no annoying af experiences.

Curiously our son is in the digital ad industry.
 
wrigley said:
The sound on most smart TVs is an issue with me. Even the top end smart TVs have poor sound quality. Trying to improve the sound quality by adding a sound bar presents audio sync/lip sync "out of sync" issues that are quite annoying when watching and listening.

Mike
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Currently I have a Sony receiver with 5 speakers for surround sound. That includes the subwoofer. These were not that expensive since they came from Amazon. The 2 in the back are just small speakers.

As I understand it I may want to change the receiver even though my 11 year old Sony can take 4k. Apparently the newer receivers can offer newer audio formats and switch to them automatically depending on the movie being streamed. I want to keep things as simple as possible (although it might not sound that way to some) as I am not an audiophile and have no interest in getting into the weeds on this. Or am I already into the weeds? :facepalm: ;)
 
wrigley said:
The sound on most smart TVs is an issue with me. Even the top end smart TVs have poor sound quality. Trying to improve the sound quality by adding a sound bar presents audio sync/lip sync "out of sync" issues that are quite annoying when watching and listening.

Mike
Click to expand...
Our home audio system plays the TV sound which it receives from the Apple TV box. AppleTV sends the stream to our audio system which sends it on to the TV. We have a 5 channel surround sound setup (with dual subwoofers).

We have a 77” LG OLED TV.
 
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With anything google, you are the product. I bought a 65” LG OLED TV last year and couldn’t be happier. And as a former audiophile, I’m actually impressed with the quality of the built-in audio.
 
cbo111 said:
I am in the market for a 65" tv to watch cable, sports, Netflix, AppleTV, and Prime, that sort of thing. No interest in gaming features, just want a decent quality picture, something less than $1,000 US. I browsed the Costco website...lots of choices. Samsung 65" Class - Q60D Series - 4K UHD QLED LCD TV looks pretty good. Anybody recently purchased something they can recommend?
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Look at Consumer Reports. Many TV's do not fo well with the HDR format. The digital version of the magazine is $25/year.
 
Black Friday is just around the corner.
On BF a few years ago we got a 65" TCL Roku 4K HDR TV for about $450.

Works fine, picture is good quality. Sound was the same quality as other TVs. Adequate; not great, not terrible.

Got a Yamaha sound bar also on BF for $150.
 
If you would like something that will keep you up to date in the future and deliver an upscaled picture with any source (DVD or streaming) then you might want to consider the Zapperbox M1. It can receive the newest broadcasting standard, ATSC 3.0, which will have a ton of features for individual over-the-air (OTA) stations now and in the future. Great way to "cut the cord" and ditch cable/satellite. It is also a DVR, which is a necessity for me.

Works with ANY modern TV!
 
When our local utility company bought me a replacement TV for the one they admiutted to burning out, I made a beeline for another LG OLED screen. My neighbors, who helped me hoist the TV to its ceiling mount, had tried to convince me to switch to their Sony Bravia. But as soon as I switched on the LG, they said that they wish they had saved a few thousand dollars! Deep blacks, brighter colors, & a decent UI put the LG well-above the other screens I had checked out. YMMV.
 
catii said:
When our local utility company bought me a replacement TV for the one they admiutted to burning out, I made a beeline for another LG OLED screen. My neighbors, who helped me hoist the TV to its ceiling mount, had tried to convince me to switch to their Sony Bravia. But as soon as I switched on the LG, they said that they wish they had saved a few thousand dollars! Deep blacks, brighter colors, & a decent UI put the LG well-above the other screens I had checked out. YMMV.
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Here is a link to a review of the LG OLED C4 : video review of LG
and another text based review: Wired review

I see it's at Best Buy for $1500. Maybe a good one for us?

Our viewing room has a lot of back windows with plenty of light so maybe there will be a fair amount of reflections? Only time this is a concern is in the summers when we watch shows before the sun sets. I have a surround sound setup and would probably use a roku (ultra?) and maybe a new receiver. Our current TV is a Panasonic plasma one from 20 years or so ago. It was top-of-the-line in its day but then again so was I.

I would wait until maybe 2 weeks before Black Friday when these probably will be on sale.
 
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As mentioned in my previous post. Check out the Costco, Hisense 65". Under $400.
Real sleeper. I own a couple. Picture quality very good. :) Sound good.:) Price so low.:)
Don't let the low price keep you from buying. :dance:
 
Lsbcal said:
Here is a link to a review of the LG OLED C4 : video review of LG
and another text based review: Wired review

I see it's at Best Buy for $1500. Maybe a good one for us?

Our viewing room has a lot of back windows with plenty of light so maybe there will be a fair amount of reflections? Only time this is a concern is in the summers when we watch shows before the sun sets. I have a surround sound setup and would probably use a roku (ultra?) and maybe a new receiver. Our current TV is a Panasonic plasma one from 20 years or so ago. It was top-of-the-line in its day but then again so was I.

I would wait until maybe 2 weeks before Black Friday when these probably will be on sale.
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The LG "C" series OLED TV's are always rated at the top of the lists of best TV's. I own the C2. I am certain you would be very pleased, probably astonished, at the picture quality of the LG C4.

Some reviewers will claim OLEDs are not as bright as QLED TV's. Technically, it's a true statement when these things are measured in the lab but in practical terms it's a non factor. I have a south facing patio door opposite my LG C2 and I have zero problem with brightness or reflections when watching in the daytime.

My setup: 77" LG C2, Roku Ultra, Yamaha AVR surround sound with 12" subwoofer. I love it. I've had it since Christmas 2022 and I'm still in awe of the picture quality of the TV and also the total experience of the TV matched with the surround sound system.

If you have a Costco membership you might want to check the LG C4 price at Costco. Costco also extends the LG factory warranty to 3 years and they have some of the best return policies on electronics in the world.
 
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cbo111 said:
I am in the market for a 65" tv to watch cable, sports, Netflix, AppleTV, and Prime, that sort of thing. No interest in gaming features, just want a decent quality picture, something less than $1,000 US. I browsed the Costco website...lots of choices. Samsung 65" Class - Q60D Series - 4K UHD QLED LCD TV looks pretty good. Anybody recently purchased something they can recommend?
Click to expand...
Look carefully at Costco. They often sell several year old models. If that is ok with you fine.
 
It's funny how people claim how awesome or not pictures are on their chosen TV. While you can see a difference between an LCD and an OLED side by side or near each other in a store, the fact is few if anyone can see that difference once you get it home. In a store, you have no idea how the picture is tuned in (brightness, contrast, color mode, etc.), that can make a HUGE difference in what the picture looks like there. A 4K picture at home on either will look the same as far as you know. So spending more than the OP's budget is not likely to add anything re: picture quality.

Like others here, there is not a native smart interface that's as good as a streaming device, some are still downright awful. Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire with a good TV is the better choice IME. And add a soundbar or system if that's really important to you.
 
Midpack said:
It's funny how people claim how awesome or not pictures are on their chosen TV. While you can see a difference between an LCD and an OLED side by side or near each other in a store, the fact is few if anyone can see that difference once you get it home. A 4K picture at home on either will look the same as far as you know. So spending more than the OP's budget is not likely to add anything re: picture quality.
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Totally disagree. It's easy to see the difference between an LCD and an OLED TV. Just look for the picture quality in the levels of color saturation and contrast. OLEDs have true blacks, LCD's have dark grays. I'm constantly amazed at when there is no picture signal going to my LG C2 because the screen is absolutely black, it looks as if the TV is not even turned on. When this happens on a LCD TV you see dark gray. The screen is obviously lit up, though faintly.

Another easy test is to look for blooming--the phenomenon of white objects or white letters on black backgrounds "bleeding" or having a halo around the letters. LCD TV's will show this almost every time, OLEDs almost never. Once you see this you can't un-see it. (Sorry...)

OLED-vs-LCD-Halo-Effect.jpg


Yet another test is viewing angle. LCD TVs picture quality degrades as the viewer gets off-axis viewing angles. They lose color quality and contrast really plummets. Not so with OLEDs.
 
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