The left part of the screen of my parent’s Samsung TV have seriously blackened recently, so they are thinking of buying a new TV. We probably bought this like 6 years ago maybe, but I absolutely do NOT want to buy a Samsung again (6 years is just planned obsolescence reliability + their OS didn’t let me remove the bloatware in any way or shape of form)
Which brand has been the most reliable for you, and also have you been able to remove the bloatware from your TV via dev mode or with a different method?
My Samsung dumb TV is still going strong after about 10 years but the slightly newer “smart” TV is already looking dodgy and I hate the software on it.
Unfortunately, I think we’re trapped in planned obsolescence. I’ve been taking the approach of looking at cost as a primary driver.
The difference between a crappy 4K tv and a quality 4K tv is hard for me to distinguish in most cases. Especially, if they’re not side by side.
Let’s say I set my max price at $550.
You can find a cheap brand Onn or TCL in a 70” range size. If you go smaller you’ll likely find “better” brands.
I don’t think there’s much that makes one brand better than others. 5-7 years is probably max life of anything you’ll buy today. Unless you’re willing to open it up and start trying to find the bad capacitors and re solder to the board.
Rule #1. The tv never connects to internet Rule #2. Rule #1 never gets broken Rule #3. Use another device to play signal (fire stick, Apple TV, cable box, Xbox, PlayStation, pc, etc) Rule #4. Use a sound system not the tv speakers. Go big with surround systems or don’t. Anything is better than tv speakers. I’ve used a 2.1 setup for decades. A soundbar with sub is simple to setup and use.
I’ve heard Roku is one to potential avoid now as I’ve heard they may require Internet connection on setup of some new tvs.
A good tv has an acceptable picture, size, and plays a video source.
Panasonic. Bought current Panasonic TV a few years ago based on the strength of our previous one. Brilliant picture quality on both. Never connected to the interpipes
Have you considered trying to repair it? Darkened screen sounds like failed LED lighting strips and those can be replaced. Watch a few videos on the subject to get an idea of what you are getting into. I did it on a vizio TV and it took me about an hour all told.
There will be so much “Ying and Yang” to this discussion that the answer will be … all of them…
Could be the case, but it’s never worth to not ask your opinion.
LG has been great but protip - don’t use the built in “smart” features as they seem to get outdated faster than the panel. Get an external device such as an Nvidia Shield, Google TV, Apple TV.
Panasonic dumb plasma is going on 14 years. We’re hopeful we can get about 6-10 out of it.
None, go by a decent monitor as big as you can and use that instead, or a decent LED projector if you’re so inclined (going that way myself, since my lamp projector ate the last bulb I bought). Actual TVs are trash and just awful to use.
No idea, but my 15 year old Sony seems to be hanging on just fine.
Maybe the old ones but the current ones have absolute dog shit software. Random crashes, audio dropping out, notifications that the network connection isn’t working even if you deliberately turned it off, the audio level is in the bottom center of the screen, covering up subtitles and a bunch more annoyances. I don’t know who shipped this and thought it was good enough.
We have a Philips 43pfs5525.
No smarts, just a chromecast plugged in and working like a charm.
Philips. I’ve had my last one for 15 years before it died and the picture still had better colors than my sister’s new ultra thin LG. Can’t say much about their newer models as I haven’t bought a new one yet, but I also use Philips monitors on my PC and I’m very happy with them.
I also got a really old Philips TV that is still going!
Just be aware that since 2011 the Philips brand for TVs and monitors was sold to TPV Technology.
Doesn’t mean they’re bad now, but maybe not worth it paying a premium for that brand name.That’s true of course. But they must be doing something right, because even their lower-priced models are pretty good. Last year I bought a 144Hz desktop monitor for a little more than 100€ and it’s been great so far.
I have a 43" 4K Sharp I bought back in 2016 that’s still going strong through two moves.
Not sure it’s what you’re looking for but we use a computer screen to watch stuff (DVD and, back when we subscribed to those, streaming services). To be clear, we don’t have a tv and have not had any for over 25 years as we don’t watch TV (but we probably could watch it on the computer screen if we wanted to by hooking some USB converter thingy to it; sorry I’m really not an expert in those questions).
Our last screen (from Dell) lasted 18 years before we had to replace it… The ‘new’ one, unsurprisingly, is also from Dell but I don’t expect it to last as long, if we get 10 years out of it we will consider this good enough.
Not sure it’s what you’re looking for but we use a computer screen to watch stuff
While I agree, options for very large computer monitors are quite limited. If you’re using a large room, you’re going to have a hard time finding a computer monitor that’s as large as television displays.
You can use a projector, but that has its own set of drawbacks, like fan noise and limited brightness and contrast, which one typically mitigates by keeping the room darker. Those may or may not matter to you. Flip side is that you can enjoy a very large display area with a projector, if you want.
I don’t use “smart” features my current TV is a MicroLED with local dimming zones hooked up to a full fat PC running Linux with GNOME because the GUI works well in a living room environment with a wireless trackpad keyboard. The Logitech one is best, there’s not many options there unfortunately but it’s a good one except the lack of backlit keys.
So ignoring the crap onboard APU and shitty TV OS, well I’ve never had a TV break before I’ve replaced it frankly…except my previous TV. OLED aren’t worth it unless you don’t care about them being expensive disposable items that absolutely will degrade over time.
Current TV is an 75" LG and it’s fine. I wanted VRR and 120Hz for gaming. Are the dimming zones apparent when scrolling websites in dark mode? Yep but I don’t care.
Obviously if you don’t care about games then get a cheaper mini-PC instead.
Sony makes amazing TVs.
The screens Sony uses are Samsung or LG but just against a premium price.
