Looking to get a TV and wanting to get a 40’ tv. I was going to get samsung but then i saw LG seems to have similar tv and the price is a bit less. Is it worth it getting an LG?
I always assumed samsung and sony were first tier but from checking online so is LG and Panasonic?
I do know sharp and vizio are second tier then u got those not so good brands like westinghouse etc.
As far as I know, they are all pretty much the same. Chinese made stuff put into a plastic box and a name painted on them. I’ve taken a few apart and Sony’s have Panasonic chips, an RCA had Sony chips on a Samsung board, etc. etc. Probably all come from the same factory in China.
I’d pick the one with the best one-button “sleep timer” and easiest remote to figure out, or the cheapest and not worry to much about it. Lasts a few years, then toss it for the new stuff.
Gone are the days of “quality electronics”. All disposable crap, in my opinion.
The Samsung smart TV interface and connectivity are very good so that’s what I plumped for.
Unless of course you don’t use it in that way, in which case I got nothing.
Disposable, certainly, in the sense that in real terms they are very cheap, compared to what they used to be.
But “crap”? No, modern televisions offer vastly better performance and reliablity than the televisions of a generation ago.
You need a specialist forum like AVForums | Home Entertainment Tech Forums
+1
I’ve had a 42" Sharp Aquos TV for about five years now that I am very happy with.
Other than that, I’ve found that just about anything made by Panasonic will give good performance and be reliable as hell. I didn’t buy their TV because they only make Plasmas, and I couldn’t stand the reflectivity.
Not all electronics are the same quality. Not by a long shot. Look at product reviews at Amazon for anything made by Colby for example. Or those no-name Android tablets you see advertised for far less than name brands.
The cheap stuff lasts for a few months if you’re lucky. I have no idea why anyone buys those now that on-line reviews are available.
LG used to sell stuff in the US under the Goldstar label. These were total junk. They relabeled themselves, upped the quality and so now they’re a mid-tier brand. Not quite as good as Samsung or Panasonic. Sony is also quite good but generally cost a lot more for a little better quality. I have a fondness for Toshiba for historical reasons.
Note that RCA, Westinghouse, etc., are just mid-to-low end no-name sets with US brand names stuck on. The original companies don’t have anything to do with that stuff anymore.
Vizio is the best budget brand. But still a budget brand.
[ul]
[li]If you want quality at a decent price and very good support, go to Costco*.[/li][li]If you want crap, go to Walmart.[/li][li]If you want to pay more for crap, go to Best Buy.[/li][/ul]
There are specialty stores and they run the gamut of quality and price. A year ago we were about to buy a quality Panasonic at Costco. The local specialty store matched Costco’s price with one model better. YMMV.
- Vizio notwithstanding.
Dont i need to get membership if i want to buy something from costco?
okay assuming a 42’ led tv 1080p 120 hz from LG and a samsung one thats 40’ led tv 1080p and 60 hz from samsung and lg one cost 50 dollars less… which one would be better? The thing is its the 60hz thing that sort of bothers me as i read if u watch sports, 60hz isn’t that good?
Not to threadshit, but how about just reading reviews on Amazon or Cnet?
Top tier brands include many of the old Japanese brands (Sony, Toshiba, Sharp, Panasonic, JVC, etc) and Samsung.
Mid-end includes LG, Philips, and Sanyo. Vizio could probably be included among them now.
Between mid-end and low-end are somewhat well-known Chinese brands like Haier, Hannspree, and Seiki.
Low-end includes store brands (Dynex, Insignia, etc), and mystery Chinese brands. Some actually offer good performance for the money, but they may have strange quirks, like a less-than-user-friendly UI, long delays when changing channels, twinkly jingles that play when you turn on the TV that can’t be disabled, and so on.
The rights to use most old-school American brands (RCA, etc) have been bought by third parties, and they’re usually applied to generic TVs.
Each brand has a range of product lines with different features and quality levels.
Within one brand, there can be a range of qualities. Brand should be a factor, but you shouldn’t buy a cheap TV because it’s a Samsung necessarily. Sometimes the model numbers can be very similar, but one is a specialty product made for Walmart stores or something (which isn’t specifically bad, but possibly so!).
I bought a 46" Westinghouse for $1400 for the den about 8 years ago. I keep hoping it will die so I can get a bigger, better TV, but the damn thing is as good as the day I bought it. From what I’ve read, it’s basically a Samsung.
With some immaterial quibbling, I will second this. Both the recommendation to read reviews and the brand breakdown are more or less on target. Cnet is a great source for reviews of specific TV model lines, and they are generally consistent with the user experiences at avsforum.
The problem with shopping for big screen TV’s is that the quirks and shortcomings of various models are not immediately apparent. From the spec sheet, two models may look the same, but may operate completely differently once you get them home. Whenever you can check out the reviews or get recommendations from friends who are happy with their set.
I have a Samsung Smart TV
One “feature” which I don’t like is that anything via Internet is not available if SAMSUNG servers are down. So, even though Netflix is up and you could go there from your Wii, Laptop, DVD player, etc, you can’t go there from Smart TV Netflix tab. This was not mentioned in any reviews, and not really clear in the manual etc, but you’ll figure it out when their servers are down.
So, if there had been another internet-enabled TV that did not do things this way that would have been enough to make me pick another brand.
PS - Servers are high availability, but not 100% uptime, of course.
Also, TV and Yamaha receiver I have are slow to recognize where sound is really going, so you often have to toggle AV receiver power on/off 1x more to get TV to figure out to keep speaker off and also ignore remote volume and let AV receiver do things. This is true via optical out or HDMI ARC.
Sharp Aquos here and we’ve been very pleased.
It’s indeed a fact that a just a few manufacturers make all the TV’s for all the brands and the guts are frequently interchanged. The same applies to computer monitors, phones, and probably most electronics. There’s more testing and tighter limits on the better brands and models. Raw parts too. But there are frequent supply constraints so there are allowable substitute parts as long as they meet approved quality specs. (Former Buyer of parts for Mfr)
You should also consider how you receive the signal. We get nearly all of ours OTA for free, with (what used to be) Netflix via the internet. My Samsung seems to cope with this at least as well as any other brand, and it is compatible with my BR player which makes the internet link work.
I go for Sony TV’s because they are nearly indestructible. My first TV was Sony and that was 50 years ago and its still working like new. I bought an LED TV from Sony and yet that brand did not upset me.
Moderator Action
While this question can be answered factually by citing things like consumer ratings and reliability reports, the nature of the question invites opinions and many of responses here have been opinions. I think it is best to move this to IMHO.
Moving thread from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion.
When I bought my flat screen we looked at all the units on the market.
I settled on a Sony as both my wife and I noticed that when viewed from beyond normal viewing distances (like from the edge of the TV dept say 30’ away) that the image on the Sonys were noticeably clearer and sharper than the other brands.
When viewed up close the picture becomes stunning.