I know with the spending freeze…
But my tv is on its last legs. It works but I have to unplug it every so often for it to turn on, which is becoming more often. I’ve nursed this tv for at least 3 years but I think the time has come to replace it.
What should I buy? Where is the best place to buy a tv these days? The one I have, we bought when we moved into this house 9 years ago.
I need a 55” and want a smart tv. Other than that, I’m clueless.
Oh deb… we just went through that. Got a 55 inch LG TV to hang on the wall in the kitchen. It has all major streaming providers’ apps built into the set. Be aware that not all models have all providers’ apps built in. Mr. wanted a TV that would be Sling compatible without the need for a Roku or any other such thing. The Samsung he liked did not have a Sling app. There are also TVs with built in Rokus…
We buy all our TV’s at Costco. Every month they have different models on sale. You can also look online and perhaps have shipped???
That’s where our LG came from! 
We went through this last summer. We chose a SONY X800E 50” but they come larger. We bought it at Best Buy in their Magnolia Department (they handle the home theater and pricier TV’s.) installation was free. Not every Best Buy has that dept, iirc. TV has all the apps already built in. It does lots of other stuff (like playing my music from Spotify.) It also responds to voice commands but I rarely use that feature.
We had a Samsung plasma before this and after 5 years TV started turning itself on and off by itself. Got it fixed for free even though warranty had expired. 5 years later it happened again. I will never buy another Samsung TV. It’s a shame because the picture on that TV was outstanding.
We got our latest TV at BJs. It’s an LG, and it’s terrific.
If you want the best 55" TV, get the LG OLED at Costco. 2 years warranty, plus a free 3 year SquareTrade warranty, and if you use the Costco Visa you’ll get 2 more years. Picture is spectacular. Has Sling, Netflix, Amazon apps, etc built in.
^^I believe that is the one Mr. B bought… The set up was quick, and the remote had a “mouse over the screen” feature. Makes it easier to navigate options.
I have Insignia and have been happy with the three I have. Biggest and oldest is 8 years old and no problems from any of them.
Another pet peeve of mine with TV’s these days…don’t know if this will apply to you.
Do you hang the tv or stand it on a unit of some kind? We still stand ours. The base or “legs” of tv sets these days are pathetic.
I have to say, a new tv is not something I’m thrilled about buying. My H wants to buy it in town, where there is one place to buy it.
The suggestions are very helpful.
We bought our last tv a couple of years ago from Abt Appliance; we’ve been customers for 40 years through three stores and now long distance. They have excellent customer service and will match advertised prices. I bought my iPad from them last December - started out on live chat where I sent them a link to a lower price than they had, then finished the purchase via phone. Our tv is a 40 inch Samsung smart tv; so far so good.
If I can piggyback on this TV thread–I’m wondering whether anyone has any leads on TVs that have decent sound. We have an 55inch LG and the picture is great but the speakers are in the BACK and I think it sounds very muddy especially when listening to dialogue. Know of any TVs with speakers in the front or with good sound without hooking up a sound system or sound bar?
Get a sound bar. We have one and it’s terrific. Honestly…many are now wireless, and take up almost no space.
TVs keep getting cheaper and cheaper. It’s great! I keep thinking and talking about getting a new one - do I want 65"? 70"? bigger? We still have hanging on the wall above our fireplace the 42" plasma set we bought in the early 2000s when the price finally dropped to our price point of $2000. So now whenever I think I need a new bigger one I just stand up and move closer to the TV on the wall.
I like your approach, NJres. B-) The best TV, IMO, is no TV. I only need it once in a blue moon - to watch the Olympics. That said, our TV was so dumb that when Mr. B plugged a Roku in it, the TV said, “What’s that?!” Off to the recycling place it went.
A lot depends on what you do with it. Sports, movies, news, etc.
Oled is the current state of the art. So that should be on any list. Good old led is tried and true these days. All the brands have there good units and a few dogs. If you watch sports, pay up and get the highest processing speed, motion flow or whatever they call it, otherwise the images will jitter. And 4K is the new buzz. Looks good in the store but, Very little content yet. Never used it or the 3D.
I have Samsungs now. I am boycotting Sony. Bought a receiver which was supposed to have an app to control it from the phone. Worked ok for about 2 years. Then they discontinued functionality with the app without mentioning it. So when the app was updated it no longer works with the receiver. Won’t even make an older version of the app available. I don’t trust them.
As for speakers and sound, with the thin screens there is no longer room for good speakers. So if sound is an issue, the sound bar is the easy fix. Or run thru a full surround sound system.
Mine is 4K but cable box isn’t so it doesn’t work with regular TV through cable box. But all the streaming (ESPN, NetFlix, etc.,) is 4K.
Sound on mine is very good. I never use our sound system. H uses it when watching movies.
Probably more for watching sports than anything else.
I feel so out of touch with the new smart tv’s. We are paying a fortune for cable right now.
I’m not sure I’m willing to pay for the OLED, they are so expensive.
If you’re on a budget there’s no real reason to spend extra money for an OLED tv, especially in the 55” and up category where OLED tvs can get quite expensive.
To future-proof yourself I’d recommend getting 4k, and make sure there’s at least a couple HDMI inputs (one for your cable box and a spare for other stuff). First-gen LCD/LED tvs had issues with sports, but I believe they’ve all moved past that now with 120Hz sets being pretty standard. There’s tons of perfectly good 55” sets available for under $1k, and even under $600 during sales. Go check out the different technologies locally (OLED, LCD, LED, 120Hz, 240Hz, etc) and decide what you can live with based on how the screens look, then shop the sales.