Buying a new TV

[BleedBlueGold]

I have a 70" Vizio M-Series. It's amazing for the price. Note: The M-Series is not the baseline so you can't get it everywhere. But believe it or not, Sams Club had it and it was on sale. Dirt cheap. Love it. It's a smart TV, but I also have Apple TV hooked up to it. I've noticed the Apple TV is faster when streaming Netflix, etc. Just my opinion. But that TV is badass. Check into for your theater room.

VIZIO 70" Class 1080p LED Smart HDTV - M702I-B3 - Sam's Club

 

[ACamp1900]

I have a 70" Vizio M-Series. It's amazing for the price. Note: The M-Series is not the baseline so you can't get it everywhere. But believe it or not, Sams Club had it and it was on sale. Dirt cheap. Love it. It's a smart TV, but I also have Apple TV hooked up to it. I've noticed the Apple TV is faster when streaming Netflix, etc. Just my opinion. But that TV is badass. Check into for your theater room.

VIZIOÂ*70"Â*Class 1080p LED Smart HDTV -Â*M702I-B3 - Sam's Club

This is the exact same TV we have mounted in our Den (I think)... it's wonderful, only beef I have with it is there aren't any buttons on the TV, misplace or break the remote and fvkle....

but this is the TV that connects to our tablets and such...

 

[wizards8507]

I have a 70" Vizio M-Series. It's amazing for the price. Note: The M-Series is not the baseline so you can't get it everywhere. But believe it or not, Sams Club had it and it was on sale. Dirt cheap. Love it. It's a smart TV, but I also have Apple TV hooked up to it. I've noticed the Apple TV is faster when streaming Netflix, etc. Just my opinion. But that TV is badass. Check into for your theater room.

VIZIOÂ*70"Â*Class 1080p LED Smart HDTV -Â*M702I-B3 - Sam's Club

Something that size will be a tough sell for the wife but that won't stop me from trying. We'll have a lot of "needs" in the new house (dining room set, additional bedroom set, rugs, gas grill, etc.) so the TV budget might be relatively small. I also need to wait to see what kind of studs are available in the walls down there. I might be limited by weight.

but this is the TV that connects to our tablets and such...

You can do that with any TV, old man. Pop a stick in the back and cast away.

 

[ACamp1900]

You can do that with any TV, old man. Pop a stick in the back and cast away.

Too much work... but yes, old man would fit with all this tech stuff... I don't even try anymore... remember the pod cast thread? I felt like a 90 year old in that thing.

 

[wizards8507]

Too much work... but yes, old man would fit with all this tech stuff... I don't even try anymore... remember the pod cast thread? I felt like a 90 year old in that thing.

Don't feel bad. I'm only 27 and I couldn't tell you how Snapchat or Instagram work.

 

[#1rish]

Smart TVs are the biggest waste of money when considering a new TV. Like others have mentioned, you can just get a Chromecast of Amazon TV stick for $30 and save yourself $100+

 

[BobbyMac]

I'll throw this out there:

Insignia 55" Class (54.5" Diag.) - LED - 4K Ultra HD TV - Smart - Roku TV Black NS-55DR710NA17 - Best Buy

Bought it for my kids room and well, now it's in my room. Best interface in the world. Use your Roku on another tv. I haven't been this happy with a tv since i got my first 720p DLP.

...and $479 with free delivery? Can't touch it. My guy at Magnolia pushed it on me. Said I'd be wasting $$$ buying anything more. The only thing cheaper in a 55 was a Westinghouse. Zero returns at his store since they came out in May. Can't say that for Vizio as a whole. Glad you guys above had luck with your 70's.

 

[BobbyMac]

Also, if anybody doesn't know what Kodi is. Get to know it.

https://kodi.tv/

Signed, the Fiddy y/o

 

[GATTACA!]

Smart TVs are the biggest waste of money when considering a new TV. Like others have mentioned, you can just get a Chromecast of Amazon TV stick for $30 and save yourself $100+

I would have agreed with you until I actually owned one. It seems like a little thing but the difference between having to switch inputs on your TV remote then scroll to the Netflix app on your roku remote then open and wait for it to load vs hitting the Netflix button on my TV remote and navigating Netflix with the same controller is so much nicer.

It does the same thing with Amazon video and YouTube and it's actually a really nice convenience.

Plus it's not like you have two versions one with and one without the smart functions. It's mostly a brand to brand thing. Like good luck finding q Samsung that isn't a smart TV.

 

[wizards8507]

I would have agreed with you until I actually owned one. It seems like a little thing but the difference between having to switch inputs on your TV remote then scroll to the Netflix app on your roku remote then open and wait for it to load vs hitting the Netflix button on my TV remote and navigating Netflix with the same controller is so much nicer.

It does the same thing with Amazon video and YouTube and it's actually a really nice convenience.

Plus it's not like you have two versions one with and one without the smart functions. It's mostly a brand to brand thing. Like good luck finding q Samsung that isn't a smart TV.

It would be nice to run the Comcast through the Xbox and then I'd never have to change inputs...

 

[Henges24]

I'll throw this out there:

Insignia 55" Class (54.5" Diag.) - LED - 4K Ultra HD TV - Smart - Roku TV Black NS-55DR710NA17 - Best Buy

Bought it for my kids room and well, now it's in my room. Best interface in the world. Use your Roku on another tv. I haven't been this happy with a tv since i got my first 720p DLP.

...and $479 with free delivery? Can't touch it. My guy at Magnolia pushed it on me. Said I'd be wasting $$$ buying anything more. The only thing cheaper in a 55 was a Westinghouse. Zero returns at his store since they came out in May. Can't say that for Vizio as a whole. Glad you guys above had luck with your 70's.

I bought a 55" Hitachi - Roku Installed at SAMS Club for $300 last October. Best $300 I've ever spent. I went from my college 34" TV to a 55". No comparison.

Roku is terrible (slow and no Kodi ) but I also have an Xbox One that can do all of that, plus I bought the GF a Fire Stick last Christmas that I need to steal back to get Kodi for Sundays.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

This is the exact same TV we have mounted in our Den (I think)... it's wonderful, only beef I have with it is there aren't any buttons on the TV, misplace or break the remote and fvkle....

but this is the TV that connects to our tablets and such...

Aren't there buttons on the side or bottom? Maybe I'm mistaken...

Something that size will be a tough sell for the wife but that won't stop me from trying. We'll have a lot of "needs" in the new house (dining room set, additional bedroom set, rugs, gas grill, etc.) so the TV budget might be relatively small. I also need to wait to see what kind of studs are available in the walls down there. I might be limited by weight.

Two things: My wife thought it was way too big for our living room prior to purchasing. When she saw it on the wall, she realized I was right. (I never let her forget it either). As far as weight, it's ridiculously light. Technology is crazy. Bigger TV than what we replaced and probably half the weight.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

I bought a 55" Hitachi - Roku Installed at SAMS Club for $300 last October. Best $300 I've ever spent. I went from my college 34" TV to a 55". No comparison.

Roku is terrible (slow and no Kodi ) but I also have an Xbox One that can do all of that, plus I bought the GF a Fire Stick last Christmas that I need to steal back to get Kodi for Sundays.

I have a ten-year-old Hitachi Plasma 42" that Best Buy basically gave me out of their Magnolia Room. That thing is still going strong and has a fantastic picture. It's in the kid's room so they can watch all the Pixar movies. Insane color and graphics.

 

[BobbyMac]

I bought a 55" Hitachi - Roku Installed at SAMS Club for $300 last October. Best $300 I've ever spent. I went from my college 34" TV to a 55". No comparison.

Roku is terrible (slow and no Kodi ) but I also have an Xbox One that can do all of that, plus I bought the GF a Fire Stick last Christmas that I need to steal back to get Kodi for Sundays.

I like Roku now that it's built into the TV. I find it's the fastest, maybe it's the wifi hardware built into the tv by Toshiba/Panasonic/Sharp/whoever builds this model for Best Buy? My Sis works for Amazon so she hooked me up, a must for Kodi as you know. But when I'm watching Amazon in my bedroom, it's nice to just hit the Amazon App thru Roku and go. Zero buffering.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Too much work... but yes, old man would fit with all this tech stuff... I don't even try anymore... remember the pod cast thread? I felt like a 90 year old in that thing.

I'm in the same boat. And I'm in my mid 30s.

 

[ACamp1900]

I'm in the same boat. And I'm in my mid 30s.

 

[BobbyMac]

I have a ten-year-old Hitachi Plasma 42" that Best Buy basically gave me out of their Magnolia Room. That thing is still going strong and has a fantastic picture. It's in the kid's room so they can watch all the Pixar movies. Insane color and graphics.

I bought a 60" LG Plasma that was for a theatre room. Color was absolute perfection with Blu Ray or broadcast 1080i. I then moved to a house where the tv had to go into a great room with lots of windows. Had to get a LED for brightness. Miss that plasma. Was nice in those days too because of zero pixelization during football... back when that was a problem for 60Hz or even 120Hz refresh rates.

I have to say, the new UHD tv's have much better color display, not as warm as plasma but they make up for it in brightness.

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

Bump (three years later). We're getting ready to move into a new house next month and we'll need a new TV to put in the finished basement. That'll be our movie / video game / play room space. Is there any reason I shouldn't buy the Vizio 50" 1080p, which is insanely cheap at $300 including shipping from BJs? I have the same 37" Vizio that I got seven years ago at Notre Dame so I might end up replacing the living room TV as well.

Basement:

Living room:

The 50" should go in the living room.
There's no way that's big enough for your man cave.
Get something bigger AND put the 37" in the basement as your second tv so you can watch multiple games at once or not have to turn around while shooting pool.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Smart TVs are the biggest waste of money when considering a new TV. Like others have mentioned, you can just get a Chromecast of Amazon TV stick for $30 and save yourself $100+

I have an Amazon Firestick and love it! It's great for the kids.

I'll be in the market for a new TV soon. I want a 55 inch 4k. Gonna see what comes out in the new year.

 

[Irish YJ]

I have a 70" Vizio M-Series. It's amazing for the price. Note: The M-Series is not the baseline so you can't get it everywhere. But believe it or not, Sams Club had it and it was on sale. Dirt cheap. Love it. It's a smart TV, but I also have Apple TV hooked up to it. I've noticed the Apple TV is faster when streaming Netflix, etc. Just my opinion. But that TV is badass. Check into for your theater room.

VIZIOÂ*70"Â*Class 1080p LED Smart HDTV -Â*M702I-B3 - Sam's Club

I've got the M70 series they just replaces with the new M70 smartcast. I waited till they clearance it. Was CNET's number 1 pick early this year. Awesome TV and very reasonalbe. Paid 1500 which included the 5 year warranty from Sams.

Smart TVs are the biggest waste of money when considering a new TV. Like others have mentioned, you can just get a Chromecast of Amazon TV stick for $30 and save yourself $100+

I'd disagree. Smart TVs are almost more common, if not already more common than a dumb set. I have every type of stick/smart input in my house as well. It all depends what you do. If you're an Amazon and Netflix only person, by the Smart TV and forget the added layer of a stick. If you do more, go with the stick.

It would be nice to run the Comcast through the Xbox and then I'd never have to change inputs...

Comcast announced earlier this year that they will be the first major cable provider to go boxless. Roku and Nvidia will be their first devices with a Comcast app and cloud DVR option. They did say that they will be pushing out to other devices as well. Can't wait to cut the cord...

The 50" should go in the living room.
There's no way that's big enough for your man cave.
Get something bigger AND put the 37" in the basement as your second tv so you can watch multiple games at once or not have to turn around while shooting pool.

A 60-70 would look great above the fireplace....

 

[BGIF]

Getting in touch with your inner self?


uh, Men's room or Ladies' room?

 

[ThePiombino]

best picture quality is either gunna be samsung or sony

No. This isn't 2005

 

[wizards8507]

Went with a 48" Samsung smart TV for the family room, and it fits my stand perfectly, might actually be a tad large. I'm still researching something bigger for the basement, but I want to see what the mounting situation is like down there so I won't be able to pull the trigger until we move in.

One thing that I need to figure out with the smart TV is how to get audio into my receiver when I run something native to the TV. Normally, my STB and my Xbox run through the receiver, and the receiver feeds audio to my speakers and video to the TV. However, when using content native to the TV itself, I'll need to run audio out from the TV to the receiver. I'm thinking this might cause more latency than it's worth.

 

[Irish YJ]

Went with a 48" Samsung smart TV for the family room, and it fits my stand perfectly, might actually be a tad large. I'm still researching something bigger for the basement, but I want to see what the mounting situation is like down there so I won't be able to pull the trigger until we move in.

One thing that I need to figure out with the smart TV is how to get audio into my receiver when I run something native to the TV. Normally, my STB and my Xbox run through the receiver, and the receiver feeds audio to my speakers and video to the TV. However, when using content native to the TV itself, I'll need to run audio out from the TV to the receiver. I'm thinking this might cause more latency than it's worth.

Optical output rocks. You will need to ensure you tweak the PCM settiing in your TV if you are running surround.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

No. This isn't 2005

Who do you suggest then?

Samsung and Sony still make the top of line.

 

[gkIrish]

Last Thursday I bought that Vizio D-Series 55" that was mentioned somewhere earlier in this thread for $600 at Target. Very happy with it.

However the only aspect of the Smart TV that I would ever use is Netflix so not sure it was worth paying whatever extra I paid for that.