Electronics

[gardenman]

What it comes down to me is this, "Can I see or hear a difference in my normal TV viewing?" My first HDTV was a higher-end 40" Samsung. It was great. (It's my kitchen TV now and still works flawlessly.) My next TV was a low-end RCA 42" for my bedroom. You know what? It also looks great and sounds good. My third and current primary TV was a 55" Element 4K Fire TV. It's also been nearly perfect. (A few apps issues now and then, but nothing dramatic.) All three give me good to great images. I'll move from one to another and not care which I'm watching on. If what you're watching is interesting, you forget what you're watching it on. People exclaim, "Look! You can count every hair on that actor's arm!" If I'm so bored I'm counting hairs on an actor's arm, I'm switching channels to something more entertaining.

Unless you get a complete dud of a set, you'll be pretty happy with whatever you get. If you find yourself wishing you could count the hairs on an actor's arm, turn off the TV and find something better to do. Assuming you're watching something entertaining, you won't care that you can't see every hair on an actor's arm. 

It's hard to find a TV these days that's not 4K. As to the 120-240 refresh rate, it only really matters if you watch a lot of fast action sports, like auto racing or the like. And frankly, the blurring never bothers me. I don't even notice it. My sets are all 60 Hz (I think.) Brand names with HDTVs don't really matter as modern sets are largely assembled like computers these days with one company supplying the panel, another supplying the motherboard, another supplying the power supply. You can find a no-name TV that's using parts from Sony, Samsung, or other major market players. (The exception being the very, very high-end sets which tend to be all made in-house.) Any new HDTV you get will likely look better than what you had, and you'll be happy with it.

[mspatmac]

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@Just Bling wrote:

What do you look for in a new TV, of course, determing the size you want.

I'm not streaming, I don't have Alexa.  

Anyone know?  Nice to talk to someone on here because they aren't on commission let's say like a Best Buy salesperson.

@Just Bling I always buy at Best Buy as the salespeople are not on commission and in my experience give great advice and service.  With so many brands on the market it can get confusing. (Speaking as a single woman)

[Nuttmeg]

@Just Bling

I would start my hunt for a TV right here on QVC, because the company sells most brands. You can decide the size and features you want.

Most sets today are smart TV with Wi-Fi, apps and all that stuff. They will stream right out the box and most higher end sets will have voice  activated remote . 

Amazon and Crutchfields.com sell most  brands and you can find a service manual on one of the sites. 

Amazon has small  reviews videos on their product pages.  Amazon and Best Buy do price matching. 

I like to buy a TV with as many connections as possible. HDMI, Bluetooth, and good basic sound. 

I am a Sony fan, but Samsung makes some very nice sets, and LG makes the lowest priced OLED TV. 

Please do not allow Best Buy to sell you a expensive HDMI cable . Amazon will sell a cables with all their TV.  I usually buy a 8-10ft cable with a set . The basic size provided by your cable company is only 6 feet. This maybe too short. It all depends on where the HDMI connectors are located and the placement of your cable box .  The location of the connections can be found in the service manual. 

Enjoy shopping. 

[chickenbutt]

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@ThinkingOutLoud wrote:

I haven't done wall-mount so if I can, I choose one that's on a base that can swivel. My current tv doesn't have that feature and I wish it did. 

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Wall-mount isn't for me, either.  I just cannot get comfortable with that.

I've never had a tv that had a swivel stand, so what I do is I have a swivel stand that sits under the tv.    Some swivel stands have a shelf, which is nice.

On both of my larger TVs, that also have Tivos, I use a swivel stand with a shelf for the Tivo to go just below the tv, so I get two functions - swivelability and a shelf for  other equipment. 

[Fribwl]

@Just Bling , Good question!  I wish I knew then what I know now.  I have 2 fairly new TV's.  I have a Sony in my living room and a Roku in my bedroom.  After buying these tv's, I found out that some TV's speakers are better than others.  I have to put up the volume on my bedroom Roku TV because the speakers are so bad.  It seems that nowadays, they are making tv's so slim and thin that there is not enough room to put in good speakers for sound.  My Sony is good.  But I will not buy a Roku ever again.  So do your research on the speakers on whatever TV you want to buy.  Probably why Roku is less expensive.  Good Luck!

[SilleeMee]

@Just Bling 

Did you see HSN has a Samsung Smart Deal?... in your choice of sizes.

https://www.hsn.com/products/samsung-q60a-qled-4k-uhd-hdr-smart-tv-w2-year-warranty-/10086060

[patbz]

If you are dissatisfied with your t.v's sound just buy a sound bar ( $100- up). We recently bought a JBL refurbished sound bar from Amazon for $220 and we are very pleased.

[gadgetgal613]

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@patbz wrote:

If you are dissatisfied with your t.v's sound just buy a sound bar ( $100- up). We recently bought a JBL refurbished sound bar from Amazon for $220 and we are very pleased.

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I agree.  I can't think of a TV I've owned where the built-in speakers had good sound. 

[Mindy D]

@gardenman @Most people with a 4K TV are not watching things in 4K. To do so requires high internet speeds. It requires you are not connected to a satellite set top box, such as DirecTV. It requires you are streaming a 4K movie or show to your device. Most of the time, even though a person owns a 4K TV, they are watching it in 180P. 

If you pay for a 4K program, have very high speed internet, and have a good 4K TV, like a Sony  Bravia then you will see what 4K is all about. I remember ordering a 4K movie on my Sony and expecting it to look incredible. Then I found out that at that time I did not have a high enough internet speed to really see the movie in 4K. 

Number of devices	Use Cases	Recommended Download Speed
1-2	Web surfing, email, social networking, moderate video	Up to 25 Mbps
3-5	Online multiplayer gaming, 4K streaming	50 - 100 Mbps
More than 5	All of the above plus sharing large files and live streaming video.	150 to 200 Mbps

[Sooner]

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@SilleeMee wrote:

Do buy:

- the size you want (buy the biggest one, no one ever said "I should have bought a smaller one")

- nothing less than 4K resolution

- 120 Hz refresh rate

- OLED or QLED (those have better screen quality than regular LCD, QLED is the middle-ground, OLED is expensive)

- at least 4 HDMI ports

Don't buy:

- Less than 4K resolution

- 8K resolution

- extended warranty

Brands to search for (QLED):

Samsung, Vizio, TCL

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@We have been happy with OLED LG's.  And a tv can get too big if you are too close.  Your eyes have to move around too much and it can cause headaches.