[TV] Anyone got any tips for a new smart T.V.?

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

My toddlers ramrodded the T.V. screen with their teepee yesterday afternoon and I’m going to have to buy a new one.

Our previous one was a Panasonic smart T.V. bought about 5 years ago. It was a really bad T.V. with a very laggy remote, numerous random malfunctions like not allowing the volume up or down, freezing and needing to be turned on and off at the mains, limited apps etc.

So what brand of T.V. would people recommend? Don’t want to spend an arm and a leg and don’t want to end up with a pile of crap Panasonic either so I’d say looking at a mid range T.V., sized about 50inches.

Anyone got any tips?

Cheers NSC!

 

[schmunk]

Very happy with my Samsung Neo QLED. HDR content is amazing (e.g. some Attenborough doc with the sun setting over the desert, absolutely searing itself out of the screen).

If you have any kind of Employee Discount Scheme (Xexec, CSSC, Blue Light, etc.) you can often find pretty steep discounts on list price - e.g. I paid about £800 after cashback for a TV listed at about £1,400. I believe LG participate in these too, and their TVs also get very good reviews.

If you want to spend less, Hisense and TCL make some very good TVs, despite their 'off brand' names.

This is a genuinely useful (and free) ratings site: https://www.rtings.com/tv

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

We have a couple of LG smart TVs in the house we are happy with. Not overly expensive and as @schmunk says, they get good reviews.

 

[Sussax]

We have a couple of LG smart TVs in the house we are happy with. Not overly expensive and as @schmunk says, they get good reviews.

Ditto, we’ve had a LG Nanocell TV for a few years now and can’t fault it. Creat picture quality, all the features of a smart TV and at reasonable price.

 

[Weststander]

Samsung OLED's.

 

[Official Old Man]

LG here and very impressed with it. I also had Panasonic before, indeed for the last 20+ years all my audio & video gear was Panasonic including my video camera. As they use AVCHD format I needed a card reader in the TV to watch back my holiday videos.
When I went over to LG (my 1st 4K TV) there was a huge difference, mainly because Amazon & YouTube had tons of stuff in 4K.
Worth remembering you never have enough HDMI inputs. Also, if you have a 5.1 system check that at least one HDMI input has ARC (most do now).

 

[Ooh it’s a corner]

LG and Samsung for brands imo - Richer Sounds for service

 

[PTC Gull]

Another vote for LG. Had them in our two previous houses and left it behind when we moved to Florida as we got a 70 inch Sony with the flat. Not impressed with that so went and got another LG OLED last week. I got a 65 G series but the smaller ones are good as well. Has Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple apps already loaded and they have their own LG apps as well. Well worth the investment. Would also recommend adding a sound bar as typically the speakers whilst good are backward facing.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Can't recommend one to get but avoid at all cost a JVC. We have one and the kettle is smarter than the TV !

 

[METALMICKY]

Another vote for LG here. I'm not heavily into having the super high tech so have been very pleased with the mid range 43 in ( we have small lounge) we purchased about 2 years ago. No problems with Picture, sound and reliability. The Smart remote is also very good.

As people have said Richer Sounds is a good place to purchase where they will know their products unlike places like Curry's. Be wary that shops like Curry's will ensure the best picture feeds will be through the pricey options so as to make you dismiss some of the cheaper models.

When it comes to spec don't be too bamboozled and get wrapped up in things that don't matter. Sometimes it's simple things you ought to check like viewing angle. We have a smaller LG 32 in slightly cheaper set in the our bedroom and whilst the picture is fine there is definitely an optimum viewing angle.

 

[PTC Gull]

Another tip. If you are looking at the tv in a store ask them to set the picture to “home or standard”. They will have it at “store” setting, which boosts the picture.

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

Thanks everyone, will look at what I can find from Samsung or LG that fits the bill

 

[Bakero]

More than happy with my Samsung QLED. The Oled was a bridge too far price-wise.

 

[spongy]

We bought a HiSense 4k smart TV a few months ago for the bedroom.

I think it beats our much more expensive Sony Bravia in the living room and the remote is better.

Apart from Samsung, ALL 4k screens are made by LG, it's just the housings and internal bits that differ between manufacturers.

 

[boik]

Mum and Dad have just got an LG nanocell and my god the remote is a pain. Tries to be too clever and is ergonomically terrible.

 

[Is it PotG?]

Another tip. If you are looking at the tv in a store ask them to set the picture to “home or standard”. They will have it at “store” setting, which boosts the picture.

At the same time reduce the contrast to about 75 from the default 100. Gives a more genuine picture and probably prolongs screen life too.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

All TV’s in the house are LG and I wouldn’t deviate

Replaced our previous LG (4K) that was 8 years old for an LG OLED in the lounge and it’s incredible

 

[WhingForPresident]

I got this Hisense QLED TV recently, the picture quality is superb and the interface is much better than our old Samsung, which has been relegated to the kitchen. Mounted it, stuck some £10 LEDs on the back and you'd think it was a £1k jobby.

https://ao.com/product/65e7kqtukpro-hisense-tv-black-97339-108.aspx

 

[CheeseRolls]

My toddlers ramrodded the T.V. screen with their teepee yesterday afternoon and I’m going to have to buy a new one.

Our previous one was a Panasonic smart T.V. bought about 5 years ago. It was a really bad T.V. with a very laggy remote, numerous random malfunctions like not allowing the volume up or down, freezing and needing to be turned on and off at the mains, limited apps etc.

So what brand of T.V. would people recommend? Don’t want to spend an arm and a leg and don’t want to end up with a pile of crap Panasonic either so I’d say looking at a mid range T.V., sized about 50inches.

Anyone got any tips?

Cheers NSC!

Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again?

Failing that Nemacom look quite good nemacom solution for well hard toddlers and er prisoners.

 

[Hudson Hawk]

The high end Panasonics are decent, the low end are not made my them. Same for a lot of manufacturers, they rebadge TV's made by Vestel, a Turkish company with their logos and OS software for their budget range.

Go down Richer Sounds (5 year guarantee) and have a chat with them, give them your budget that you want a 50" ish Smart TV and see what they offer. Then check some online reviews before you buy just to be sure.