The Swamp

A_B wrote: ↑Mon Dec 03, 2018 8:15 am At this point, I would picking a size and then find whatever deal is the best for you. THe last one I bought was and Amazon Fire TV enabled Toshiba. It is 4k and it has been great.

Looks like they have them up to 55 IN. I like it because there's no external box or stick. Everything is in the TV.

PLUS, Toshiba guts.

I walked into Best Buy pre-Thanksgiving and got a 52 inch "smart TV" (which meant pre-loaded with Netflix, hulu, etc.) for just $399 (Samsung) and the pic has been perfect.

Anyone got a TV outside? I've got a porch that screams for a TV. Not quite sure whether to just buy new ones as they failed or pay up for some sort of outdoor rated tv or cabinetry.

HaulCitgo wrote: ↑Mon Dec 03, 2018 9:52 am Anyone got a TV outside? I've got a porch that screams for a TV. Not quite sure whether to just buy new ones as they failed or pay up for some sort of outdoor rated tv or cabinetry.

Indoor TVs won’t be bright enough in sunlight...and if the water doesn’t get it, the humidity will.

Nowadays with not being tied to a cable outlet, I will occasionally just move my TV outside if having a cookout or something that warrants it. But you definitely have to account for the sun if it's during the day.

TVs are ridiculously cheap. Take AB's advice on choosing a size and working backwards for the best deal.

My 55" HD in my living room is eventually going into the kitchen and I'll get a 75" for the living room to mount above the fireplace.

The top of the line is OLED. So that means 4K TVs are affordable. And we're reaching the stage where 32" TVs are probably going to come as accessories for larger TVs. That linked 55" Toshiba was $249 at Best But on Black Friday. And it's regularly $399? Unreal.

HaulCitgo wrote: ↑Mon Dec 03, 2018 9:52 am Anyone got a TV outside? I've got a porch that screams for a TV. Not quite sure whether to just buy new ones as they failed or pay up for some sort of outdoor rated tv or cabinetry.

I have a 36" TCL Roku TV outside in the protected part of my porch. I have taken it down during blizzard-like weather (a couple of years ago), but otherwise it's been up all spring/summer/fall with no issues. It is pretty protected, so it would be really difficult for precipitation to get to it, and it's generally not too humid here in CO.

The only problem with it has been, once I put in a patio and firepit, it was a little too small to see well from the patio. I have a 55" I got on clearance a couple months ago, but haven't had the time to put it up yet.

What do people think of curved TVs?

I have one. Bought it a few years back (maybe as many as 4 or 5) when we moved. I don't notice that it's curved. It's a Samsung, somewhere between 40-50 inches, and it's given us no issues.

Curved TVs seem cool, but my wall isn't curved. Just make sure you get the curved soundbar with it.

With the curved don't you have to pay a bit more attention to how far away your viewing area is? I seem to recall something about that when I was researching.

A_B wrote: ↑Mon Dec 03, 2018 2:38 pm With the curved don't you have to pay a bit more attention to how far away your viewing area is? I seem to recall something about that when I was researching.

Probably. We're a good 10-15 feet at the optimal spot on the couch, and about 6-8 feet at the closest.

I'm seriously ratcheting up the hunt for my eventual new living room TV, so I'm googling around. Here's a website I forget about but is always dependable. Tom's Guide.

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/tv-buying- ... -1943.html

I gotta rack and stack priorities. OLED is out of my range, but everything under it seems gettable.

Costco has a 65" TV for $500 right now. I almost impulsed buy one to make the basement even dumber.

82" Samsung QLED $2,549 from Walmart.

Damn. That seems like a slick price. Too bad I'm paying down on my credit cards still.

Bought this and I love it:



I even saved a bit more because I opened an Amazon credit card and got a $200 gift card during Prime Day.

Anyhoo, the only thing that I'm aggravated about is that if I'm using YouTube on it through its native software I'm getting ads every 2 minutes no matter what I'm watching. This gets bad when I'm trying to watch longer videos.

Should I just use a Fire Stick all the time? Would that work? I seem to avoid excessive ads when watching on my cell phone or laptop.

Johnnie wrote: ↑Sun Sep 04, 2022 9:10 am Bought this and I love it:



I even saved a bit more because I opened an Amazon credit card and got a $200 gift card during Prime Day.

Anyhoo, the only thing that I'm aggravated about is that if I'm using YouTube on it through its native software I'm getting ads every 2 minutes no matter what I'm watching. This gets bad when I'm trying to watch longer videos.

Should I just use a Fire Stick all the time? Would that work? I seem to avoid excessive ads when watching on my cell phone or laptop.

Are you logged into your YouTube account and still seeing frequent commercials?

In my experience, apps that run on the LG and Samsung smart TVs aren’t nearly as stable as the ones that run on Roku, Fire Stick and Apple TV.

Yes, and that's what's throwing me off.

Maybe this just happened very recently, but I'm watching a 20 minute video and you get the typical 2 5 second ads to begin the video. No big deal. But then 2 minutes later, 2 more ads. And again after another 2 minutes. And again. And again. I timed it. And there's no heads up. It just cuts.

I said fuck it and watched on my phone. 1 ad break total. So ridiculous.

And it's all very effective Mark Kelly ads going after Blake Masters. So I'm just like....will this end after the election is over?

Johnnie wrote: ↑Sun Sep 04, 2022 10:00 am Yes, and that's what's throwing me off.

Maybe this just happened very recently, but I'm watching a 20 minute video and you get the typical 2 5 second ads to begin the video. No big deal. But then 2 minutes later, 2 more ads. And again after another 2 minutes. And again. And again. I timed it. And there's no heads up. It just cuts.

I said fuck it and watched on my phone. 1 ad break total. So ridiculous.

And it's all very effective Mark Kelly ads going after Blake Masters. So I'm just like....will this end after the election is over?

If the ads are coming at you that frequently then that might be due to something that’s happening within the LG’s operating system, cuz stopping a video every 2 minutes to show ads makes for an insufferable experience.

EnochRoot wrote: ↑Sun Sep 04, 2022 10:06 amIf the ads are coming at you that frequently then that might be due to something that’s happening within the LG’s operating system, cuz stopping a video every 2 minutes to show ads makes for an insufferable experience.

Absolutely is. And I just put ublock Origin on my laptop because I'm late to every ad block party, it seems. So nice.

I've bought several TVs with built-in Roku software and that's the way to go. I'll never buy a TV with their proprietary apps again. They always suck and they don't get updates.

Shirley wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:03 pm I've bought several TVs with built-in Roku software and that's the way to go. I'll never buy a TV with their proprietary apps again. They always suck and they don't get updates.

Alternatively, I'm a big fan of my TCL with Google TV. It was either that or Roku, and I'm used to the Google/YouTube/YouTube TV software.

govmentchedda wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 5:47 pm

Shirley wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:03 pm I've bought several TVs with built-in Roku software and that's the way to go. I'll never buy a TV with their proprietary apps again. They always suck and they don't get updates.

Alternatively, I'm a big fan of my TCL with Google TV. It was either that or Roku, and I'm used to the Google/YouTube/YouTube TV software.

Yeah, I think embedded Google, Roku, Amazon Fire, etc are all good. Just stay away from the proprietary TV manufacturer apps.

The TV I bought just recently is down to $1100.

LG 86UQ7590 86 in; Class UQ75 Series LED 4K UHD Smart webOS TV

What’s the deal w Hisense? I know they’re Chinese and probably assembled by kids, but other than that. Are they any good? Remarkably cheap (65” for $299 at Costco) compared to Samsung or LG. We aren’t frequent tv watchers enough to be nit picky. We watch and stream, not video games (yet).

I’m fully of the opinion of get the cheapest tv that is the size you want. I literally bought a tv to use exclusively as a second tv while sports were on because it was 98 bucks. 42 inches and Roku embedded. Have Wi-Fi will travel.

bfj wrote: ↑Sun Jul 30, 2023 12:51 pm What’s the deal w Hisense? I know they’re Chinese and probably assembled by kids, but other than that. Are they any good? Remarkably cheap (65” for $299 at Costco) compared to Samsung or LG. We aren’t frequent tv watchers enough to be nit picky. We watch and stream, not video games (yet).

I looked into them about 4 or 5 years ago. I was planning on getting one, but Best Buy had a crazy sale on a Samsung, so I went with that instead. Back then the quality difference was negligible and I’m not too discerning on tv picture.

We have a TCL, that I think is Chinese too. I subscribe to AB's school of television purchasing as well.

ETA - the Google TV, not Roku one.

bfj wrote: ↑Sun Jul 30, 2023 12:51 pm What’s the deal w Hisense? I know they’re Chinese and probably assembled by kids, but other than that. Are they any good? Remarkably cheap (65” for $299 at Costco) compared to Samsung or LG. We aren’t frequent tv watchers enough to be nit picky. We watch and stream, not video games (yet).

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/hisense-tv ... -6030.html

Bottom line

This is the bargain you make as a shopper when buying a low-end product: Lower prices mean lower quality. Hisense offers basic products, and does so at bargain prices year-round. It does so by saving wherever possible, and passing the savings on to you. It all comes down to what you consider acceptable, both in terms of price and quality.

that review is from 2018 and I think it's fair to say that their quality has increased since then

not top of the line sets by any means now, of course. but they're perfectly fine, especially if you get a soundbar. I have that $300 one on my porch and it's been great so far

I think for most people, bargain TVs are totally fine. if you want to be discerning, then go from there within your budget. but a vast majority of the population isn't going to be that.

eta: the costco return policy also means that if you don't like it for whatever reason you generally won't have any issue returning it

I had an Insignia tv in the past, Best Buy store brand, and I forgot it was a Hisense tv with a different label. Worked great for about 5 years, which was fine. TVs made a huge advance in those years, so I want upset buying a new one.

amazon had been running a sale on an insignia 24" TV for $65 which is a hell of a deal if you needed a small TV for a kitchen/office/smaller room. I should have just bought three of those to fulfill my dream of having a TV in every room of the house.