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Our tv is about 15 years old and we would like to replace it with a nice new one, larger than what we have now, maybe 48-50" or so. I am conflicted as to what we should get. We have a 32" Sony Bravia at our place down in Arizona, we like it pretty well. A friend has a Sony Bravia 48" which is really nice. I priced the dang things and they are WAY out of our league, so on to other things.
Should I be looking at a "smart" TV? I have no idea what is a "smart" TV or what I would be doing with it. Am I smart enough for a "smart" TV? grin
What can you recommend to me for the best picture at the lowest price? Your personal experience would be helpful to me. Thanks.
PS, of course this tv would be used for watching old western movies with lots of lever guns in them.
BlaineG wrote:I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have any use for a smart tv....I'd head to WallyWorld, and get whatever was on clearance....
"Smart TV"... will decide what you like to watch based on previous viewing... Just get a 4K TV... I'm waiting on one just so I have an excuse to upgrade to HD DirecTv... Make the most of your Blu-ray discs.
Griff,
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we recently bought a 40" Samsung from Costco for $300. it's 3' wide. HD with built-in digital tuner. we quit cable and use an antenna for the "over the air" (OTA) stuff. super high grade image when the sun and clouds aren't juking with it. looking for an amplified tv antenna to boost signals.
this samsung is "smart" with built-in internet capabilities, and "apps" such as netflix and hulu for direct streaming if you have their service. I'm not using it that way, if I do I will hardwire it to my router so I have control.
IT HAS A BUILT-IN CAMERA , which I have turned off and TAPED OVER. It would be handy for skype if you do that kind of thing while reclining in front of the tv. Heh. I skyped on it using the tablet wifi connection and it's high quality imagery, the old Dick Tracy wrist radio writ large.
I streamed a netflix movie wirelessly from my surface3 for another way to interface content with the tv, turning it into a giant monitor, great for powerpoint slide presentations and home movies.
surprising to me the sound is so good that I can actually hear most of it, even turned down low if the dogs are asleep and it's not a british mystery.
we don't want anything bigger. the talking heads are already bigger than lifesize when they zoom in tight on them, and that makes me uncomfortable. everyone has different 'druthers, and I suppose some folks MIGHT want to see a three foot diameter shot of obama. note that I said "of" ob.
can't think of anything else. best picture I've ever had. best tv sound I've ever heard. runs cool and is light as something that is light. think it was good value for the outlay. cheaper than a telephone these days. and way easier to see
. . . Grizz
the Good Confession >The Only Begotten Son of God >
The Samsungs we've had have all been good, You only need the smart version if your using it like Grizz, with the streaming stuff. They are often on sale , Walmart has/had, a cheap product service insurance that is hassle free, and...cheap. good luck
Viewing angle matters to me. I have a 12x20 room with the TV on the long wall which gives me some wide viewing angles.
This website has great comparisons of many TV attributes. I went with Sony xbr43x830c. It's been good. It is a "smart tv" but I don't use it as such. I use OTA for TV and a Roku and Amazon Prime for movies. No Cable other than internet.
I wouldn't like a TV or a phone that's smarter than me....
I have a 46" (due to wall space limitations, between 2 doors) Toshiba flat-screen/HD TV that's had zero issues in the past 8 (or so) years I've had it.
BTW, my cable TV provider recently added an HD channel (GRIT) that runs to 75% old cowboy movies & 25% action films.
I bought a vizio smart tv for about 250 bucks and for the 2 years I have had it I have no complaints. Ditched cable got an antenna and a media streaming box. Buy the media box for a one time price of about 50 bucks and you can watch gunsmoke from season one to twenty with no commercials. Some will have a lower quality picture, especially on the older ones but not a big deal. Newer shows come out way sooner than netflix also. Google MXQ / OTT tv box.
Marvin S wrote:I bought a vizio smart tv for about 250 bucks and for the 2 years I have had it I have no complaints. Ditched cable got an antenna and a media streaming box. Buy the media box for a one time price of about 50 bucks and you can watch gunsmoke from season one to twenty with no commercials. Some will have a lower quality picture, especially on the older ones but not a big deal. Newer shows come out way sooner than netflix also. Google MXQ / OTT tv box.
What box is that? I'd like to get more shows on my I-Mac.
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I just got a 46" Samsung Smart TV after my 7 year old 42" Magnavox (Philips) konked out (was actually quite good til it wasn't). I have not engaged "smart" functions yet--which works by relatng/synching to my wi fi--and I am another who's just on antenna.
I was very pleased with the 42" size before and for the room size the 46" is perfect...just enough of a bump up. (47" is common and would be similar). You have had a 32" which, if widescreen, you know the ratio means the 32" isn't even--or is at best just--"equivalent," image wise, to a 26" 4:3 old school square box. A lot of people have found out the hard way when they got their new widescreens home only to find the image (vs picture) was actually smaller than before. The key is to not be so taken by the larger diagonal measurement but, more importantly, at least match the size of the same image (like a person or face, tree, building...from TV to TV) or larger depending on your objective. I forget the formula but oftentimes sales staff will neither know or acknowledge this characteristic that is all important. So the question to ask--which often confuses them--is what size widescreen do I need to at least match (or better) my old 4:3--in terms of image to image size?" Especially early on--but folks have become more educated--the salesmen sold a slew of 32" widescreens to unknowing customers thinking they were of course getting a larger image. 32s are bare minimum and usually reserved for guest rooms, offices etc.
For a smallish--but not tiny--room, a 42" can be just about right. 46-47 class is a great do-all for all but the largest of rooms--covers a wide variety of medium rooms,...and 50s then for larger living/family rooms. I think Sony, Panasonic and Samsung all have good reps, not saying others don't. Toshiba (and Sony) used to be the giant back in the 4:3 days, but no longer. Most TVs are now are made in China so take that for what you will..., but at least as of a few years ago Panasonic was, while mostly Chinese parts, still assembled in Japan (or was that vice versa?), which could only be a good thing.
Another aspect to watch out for, apparently, is refresh rate...many mid pricer 42+ historically have run 120hz, which has sorta been the standard. 240hz came along and touted as the ones to get especially for sports to better capture the action...and then started to becime a sort of standard. Well, I never had a problem with 120 on my old Magnavox/Phillips (Costco) but now "upgrading" in size and sophistication figured 'what the hell, go for it..' Well, to me, I believe it's the 240 aspect that can be a little off putting. Everything to me now looks like it was shot by a typical good store-boughr video cam or GoPro--high end certainly, but video neverthless. (Think - soap operas vs how high buck productions such as Breaking Bad or Mad Men or movies etc are shot, almost like on film, which almost have a "good grain" to it vs zero grain on a video) . Someone mentioned Gunsmoke...well it's "perfect," amazingly so as never before--bell clear, but you notice every camera move, including zoom in/pan out actions. It's like, before, your brain couldn't distinguish or process such movements, and now it picks them all up--and to me not for the good. It is a similar effect to what you see a cameraman sees through his viewfinder vs the final production/broadcast cut. At first I thought this was maybe just how the new tech related/adjusted to snd processed the old production. But, watching newer high $ productions has the same effect.
I don't know if others have had the same experience, but in a do over I'd ignore the salesman's hype over the 240 and just get 120 again if I could still get the other features I wanted, usually at a savings--if you can get them any more--of $50-100.
and way easier to see 
