New Television

[monkey44]

Have not bought a new TV in about ten years. We're putting the old one in the RV and buy new for home. What should we look for in specs to tell us we're buying the right technology for home?

We watch mostly sports and movies. We will probably enroll in some streaming types services too. Not even sure what to ask here. We have Cable ISP - Comcast Xfinity - that comes with our HOA, and we have Smart Phones with unlimited data - not sure how that works with the streaming access, if it does.

Not looking to break the bank, but don't want to buy technology that's on it's last legs and will be soon replaced by the 'next version' of something. We have 43 inch now, will probably go bigger a notch or two.

ON Edit - we'll probably get some wireless speakers to replace what we have (two wired) and connect in a surround type auditory. Nothing major or real fancy ...

[Dick_B]

We bought a 28 inch LG led TV but had to return it because it did not have any outputs; none! Keep that in mind in your search.
So we bought a 28 inch TCL Roku smart TV which has as good a picture and many outputs to a sound bar or headset or whatever. All TV's have cra**y sound (speakers are small and in the back) and this one is no different but hooking it to a sound bar helps.
P.S. haven't used the Roku system as the TV cannot seem to find our home Wifi so I wouldn't count on it. When you get closer to a decision check the internet for comments. I like Amazon because they note the number of reviews. It there are several thousand reviews it sort of shows the people like the product.

[folivier]

The problem I've found with smart tvs is the apps are not as frequently updated as a firestick or roku. I have 3 Samsung smart tvs and are using roku's on each of them. My son has a Roku TV and is happy with it.

[coolmom42]

OLED screen is nice.

Powered USB outlet, so you can power a Roku stick. Or add an external hard drive if you have movies downloaded to it, or want to do a photo slide show from it. A couple of HDMI inputs.

Definitely built-in wifi.

A lot of TVs will have their own apps built in for things like Netflix, Hulu, Youtube etc. I prefer to use a Roku for apps, because they generally work better than the TV apps, and there are lots more options. So you don't need to worry about what apps are built-in.

[thomasmnile]

We gave ourselves an LG 55" OLED 4K for Christmas, replacing a 50" Samsung LED which was perfectly fine, but what the hell! The usual setup aggravation and reprogramming the universal remote, but all is good. For good measure, bought a new soundbar and wireless subwoofer. The whole setup is outstanding! Color and contrast, way less glare issue than with the LED TV. And watching live sporting events and playing my PS4, amazing!

Edit: Not a real fan of LG'S Web OS platform, yet. A bit confounding to an old fart but I'm getting there.

[monkey44]

We have Samsung now ... very good set, no reason to update it but to get the old one for use elsewhere. Altho', we see a lot of visual and audio improvement over the past ten years, for sure.

I see Samsung does not make OLED, but only QLED, which seems on the cusp of its development at this time. But if only LG makes the OLED screens, then no matter the brand, you get the same screen tech. Not sure that matters in the real world.

I like Samsung and have it in the past with good quality. Will take a peek at some in the big box and see what it looks and sounds like. Wa8wym, I like your advice, and that list sounds like it covers what we need for sure. Always better to have more connections that you need because you always need more than you get. And a multi-variety is nice as well.

One thing we'll skip it all the voice activated stuff ... no need to share our lives with Alexa and the world. We like our privacy. 🙂

[BB_TX]

We have two Samsung TVs in the RV and two more at home. Never a problem with any of them.

[wa8yxm]

I am somewhat opposed to "Smart TV's" but love Samsung.

OLED is good too. most all modern tv's (one exception) DO ATSC (Digital OTA) NTSC (analog OTA/Cable) and QAM (non-encoded digital cable)

Now some cable companies (Spectrum/Charter) are nasty. you MUST use one of their Set Top boxes.. I'd like multiple HDMI inputs (At least 2 3 would be nicew)
Composite (Red-White-Yellow RCA type coxial jacks also called Phono Jacks)
At least one computer input
And optional componet (Which I have never used which is why optional)

Multiple Composite. may also be nice.
Front panel input is nice
Audio out is nice.
Digital audio out is also nice
(Feed audio to a home theater system)

[Lwiddis]

Your old TV is probably very heavy compared to a new TV. If you have $250 buy a new one for the RV with all the bells and whistles.

[ford_truck_guy]

Samsung QLED.... 4K Smart TV