Anyone familiar with the TV market? (1 Viewer)

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rajncajn said:
Nothing larger than a 50" would suit, both practically & financially. Quality is much more important to me.
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I think his point was that we talked about a lot of TV's in there too. I bought the Samsung QLED 65Q80T a few weeks ago.

Here's my advice.

You will have a few less options at 50in vs 55in, since 55in is more of a standard size. But, I'll ignore that for now.

Go look at some TV's in Costco or Best Buy. Realize that most are set to vivid or a brighter than usual setting. Try to note the overall brightness (they likely will never be brighter in your home, most good settings like movie/cinema are a bit darker). If it's too dark in the store, you'll hate it, unless you have a very dark room. Check the viewing angle. I think the 80T does a very good job. Not OLED good, but it's almost perfect at any normal viewing angle. Check the reflection. My only gripe about the 80T is that I do feel like it's a bit more reflective (I see more glare) than my old plasma.

Look at the stand, unless you plan on wall mounting. Center stand vs the side feet. How much do you care? For me, I needed a center stand, or I'd have to buy a new media console.

Costco has an 8DT, that's their version of the 80T. I saw that next to one of the LG Nano's, and it made the Nano look like sheet. I was really considering that Nano, but I heard it was a bit too dark. I saw it, nope. dark, faded, just looked like it was dying already.

I really like the QLED technology and local dimming. The black's are so intense. My wife is watching Hannibal lately, a 5 year old show on Netflix, and it looks amazing with the HDR. Anything in 4k with good HDR and a cinematographer worth anything, and those TV's just make everything pop. Any pictures I take don't do it justice. But red pops on an all white background, or the all blacks.. wow.

Really depends on what you watch, what kind of room. If you have netflix, you can stream 4k content, but it will use up data faster, if you have a cable internet data cap. Otherwise, you'll need a UHD blu ray player and UHD blurays. However, a lot of regular HD stuff sometimes also have HDR, and the HDR is what really makes the images pop.

Basically, if you walk in front of the OLED TV's and they're playing their usual demo reels, you'll know what I"m talking about it. The QLED's aren't as good, but they're very close and no burn in risk.
 
Oh, and you won't get the top or even too many mid tiers this way, but if you don't need a 'smart TV' you can save a decent amount of money. But not many are just TV's, and probably only a Vizio or something out there that's any good picture wise.

Sometimes the Samsung is a little too smart or needs to get rebooted (read, unplugged), because it gets fussy.
 
Mr. Blue Sky said:
Really? I would assume it’d be the opposite, since so many people are looking to upgrade at that time.. but what do i know.

In any case, i wouldnt wait too close to SB day since I’d want everything set up and fine tuned well prior to the big day, especially since the Whodats will likely be playing in it this year.
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New models drop right after the super bowl, so that's why they're cheaper. Also, harder to find particular models.

Basically, Black Friday until the Superbowl is usually deal time.
 
Mr. Blue Sky said:
My only advice to you is COSTCO... Great selection, and the best prices I’ve seen.. Picked up two LGs there last year.. They have just about any model you can imagine in-store, but if not then do costco .com... If not already a member, the savings will easily pay for the cost of membership.
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Got my vizio 40ish in (I’m not a size queen like some of you people) maybe 5-6 yrs ago at Costco
still going strong
 
I just ordered the Q80T earlier today after about a month of research. I really just wanted a way to play HBO Max on my tv without having to use my phone or any other interface and Samsungs got the built in capability. But the more I looked into it the better this model looked. The viewing angle and antiglare was a big one for me. Samsung seems to be the best in this department. I either have daylight or bright light from my kitchen glaring on my current one and it's extremely noticeable. It also has FALD which for what I need is probably better than OLED, especially for the price difference. And from what I found probably the best FALD set available other than the Q90T.

That said it's not going to ship until the end of the month so I doubt this is much help to the OP lol. But I'll give you a little review when I get mine in.
 
guidomerkinsrules said:
Got my vizio 40ish in (I’m not a size queen like some of you people) maybe 5-6 yrs ago at Costco
still going strong
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One of mine was a 50 in, the other was a little 32 in for like $99 for my office.. Put them both together and divide by 2 and it comes out to 40ish in! :jpshakehead:
 
Well, after doing a bit MORE research I've just found out that the 50" Q80T model also does not have the viewing angle feature of the larger models just like with the Sony X950H, so that boils it down for me to two TVs:

Sony - 49" Class X950H Series LED 4K UHD Smart Android TV

Pros:
- Best picture quality available outside of OLED TVs
- Same price point to the Q80T model & reviews show a slightly better picture quality, but what truly makes this TV stand out above the Q80T is the fact that it has VRR support with 120Hz refresh rate which make it better for both watching Saints games and playing games.

Cons:
- I missed the boat on the deep sales and don't want to go $200 out of my budget of $800, so if I want it I'll have to wait a couple of weeks to see if they cut the price again.
- Does not have the Xwide angle feature, which was a concern for me considering my tight viewing area. Basically, I don't want to pay for quality that I'm not getting simply because most of the family can't be seated directly in front of the TV. I don't know if I'm worrying too much over this or not and really wish I could see for myself how bad it might be.
- No one has the 50" model in stores locally so that I can see for myself if I would be satisfied with the TV and the model they do have has the Xwide angle feature so I am unable to properly judge it.

LG - 49" Class NanoCell 85 Series LED 4K UHD Smart webOS TV

Pros:
- Well within my price point at $600
- Does have the 120Hz refresh rates as well as the HDMI 2.1 ports
- I can get it now rather than waiting weeks
- I can see it in store (different size, but same specs)
- Best viewing angle feature of any TV outside of OLEDs

Cons:
- Picture quality ratings are a sizable drop from X950H


I think that what I'll do is wait the couple of weeks until the sale prices start up again. If I can't get the Sony for the price I want then it's a deal-breaker & I'll go with the LG. Also, waiting a few weeks may give me the opportunity to see the X950H in person to clear my concerns over the viewing angles. Again, I don't know if I worry too much over this, but if my concerns are justified then it's again a deal-breaker. I think that regardless I'll be happy with either TV since it'll be a major upgrade over the 10 year old 32" Sharp I have now. I just want to make the most certain I can be that what I purchase is going to meet the expectations I have for upgrading from a 720p to UHD.

Thanks all for the help & whatever I end up settling on & I'll post it here as well as my thoughts on the TV once I've got it and have used it a bit.
 
This may appear to be a strange point, but if you use a Samsung phone, I would strongly suggest a Samsung TV. They work very well together and it is very easy to screen mirror your phone to your TV. Really helps out when streaming things that there is no TV app available for. I have used my phone to send streams to my TV for all kinds of things, also very easy to send photos from your phone to you TV. I do that sometimes to show my dad things on the TV from my phone, pictures, videos, maps, etc. They all look way bigger of a 65" TV. Get the biggest TV for the room that is not too big. I also agree, that prices will continue to come down, but are still incredibly cheap.
 
rajncajn said:
Well, after doing a bit MORE research I've just found out that the 50" Q80T model also does not have the viewing angle feature of the larger models just like with the Sony X950H, so that boils it down for me to two TVs:

Sony - 49" Class X950H Series LED 4K UHD Smart Android TV

Pros:
- Best picture quality available outside of OLED TVs
- Same price point to the Q80T model & reviews show a slightly better picture quality, but what truly makes this TV stand out above the Q80T is the fact that it has VRR support with 120Hz refresh rate which make it better for both watching Saints games and playing games.

Cons:
- I missed the boat on the deep sales and don't want to go $200 out of my budget of $800, so if I want it I'll have to wait a couple of weeks to see if they cut the price again.
- Does not have the Xwide angle feature, which was a concern for me considering my tight viewing area. Basically, I don't want to pay for quality that I'm not getting simply because most of the family can't be seated directly in front of the TV. I don't know if I'm worrying too much over this or not and really wish I could see for myself how bad it might be.
- No one has the 50" model in stores locally so that I can see for myself if I would be satisfied with the TV and the model they do have has the Xwide angle feature so I am unable to properly judge it.

LG - 49" Class NanoCell 85 Series LED 4K UHD Smart webOS TV

Pros:
- Well within my price point at $600
- Does have the 120Hz refresh rates as well as the HDMI 2.1 ports
- I can get it now rather than waiting weeks
- I can see it in store (different size, but same specs)
- Best viewing angle feature of any TV outside of OLEDs

Cons:
- Picture quality ratings are a sizable drop from X950H


I think that what I'll do is wait the couple of weeks until the sale prices start up again. If I can't get the Sony for the price I want then it's a deal-breaker & I'll go with the LG. Also, waiting a few weeks may give me the opportunity to see the X950H in person to clear my concerns over the viewing angles. Again, I don't know if I worry too much over this, but if my concerns are justified then it's again a deal-breaker. I think that regardless I'll be happy with either TV since it'll be a major upgrade over the 10 year old 32" Sharp I have now. I just want to make the most certain I can be that what I purchase is going to meet the expectations I have for upgrading from a 720p to UHD.

Thanks all for the help & whatever I end up settling on & I'll post it here as well as my thoughts on the TV once I've got it and have used it a bit.
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I have the sony x900h. The only issue that I have with it is that the YouTube app drops audio. Everything else is great.

I paid $900+ taxes for a 65" a few months ago. I wouldn't pay more. If you really want one, the price will come back down if they don't sell out.

If you go looking, check out the Hisense h9g. It gets great reviews. When I was looking, nobody had it.

 
Just an update:

Last weekend we were in Mobile & I had a chance to check out a demo 49" model of the Sony X950H and it was everything I'd hoped it would be. My biggest concern with it was the viewing angles, but looking at the TV I didn't notice much degradation in color even at pretty sharp angles. I don't know if they've added the viewing angle feature or not, but regardless, it doesn't seem like it will be an issue at all. Now I'm just waiting in hopes that it will go on sale within the next couple of weeks & it remains available.
 
Just my 2 cents...a year ago I was shopping for a 55 in. Doing my homework I decided don't care about 4k or any of those that require you to upgrade your TV box. Just give me HD and will apply savings to a sound bar. Well wife really liked the 65 in TCL Roku Series 6 and found it at Costco for $700. We're sitting about 10 feet from this billboard looking monster and no regrets. Looks great from the kitchen also as I like to watch game sitting at the bar.
 
rajncajn said:
I've been looking for a new TV for our small living room. The last "big" TV I bought was a Sharp Aquos 32" and it's way past time for me to upgrade. Granted, I'm not an "it has to be the biggest I can afford type of guy. Neither I or my wife really want a TV to be the focal point in our living space, so we both decided on nothing larger than a 50" TV. I also don't want to spend the type of money it would cost to get an OLED TV, more like the $800 range or very close to it. So my search began and I quickly started doing research on what would be the best for us. What are the current standards to judge TVs by, what particular specifications matter most to us, what will we be using the TV for... For starters, as I said, we have a small living room. There's no arrangement we can do in the room where the TV can be viewed head on & some seating is at a fairly sharp angle to the TV, so viewing angles are important. We also have a lot of windows so, while the living room can be dark, there can be glares as well. Of course we want a TV that can handle high def movies and Saints games and the kids play some high def games as well with the Playstation & Switch.
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I have not read the entire thread, but I'm another vote for the TCL Series 6. It's also highly recommended from Wirecutter, who does a fantastic breakdown and usually nails the choices in my experience for me. BestBuy has the 55" for $699 right now, however I am waiting for the new models which will have mini-led and use Android TV instead of Roku.
 
MLU said:
I have not read the entire thread, but I'm another vote for the TCL Series 6. It's also highly recommended from Wirecutter, who does a fantastic breakdown and usually nails the choices in my experience for me. BestBuy has the 55" for $699 right now, however I am waiting for the new models which will have mini-led and use Android TV instead of Roku.
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I looked closely at the TCL online as well. The 50" is a 5 series & is a very good TV. But overall I liked the LG a bit more because of the viewing angle feature and the higher refresh rate. I may have to give that one a look in the store as well though.
 
rajncajn said:
I looked closely at the TCL online as well. The 50" is a 5 series & is a very good TV. But overall I liked the LG a bit more because of the viewing angle feature and the higher refresh rate. I may have to give that one a look in the store as well though.
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The TCL 6 has a 120Hz refresh rate.
 

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