Smart tv

[BearTricks]

I'd be tempted to go for John Lewis if not solely because they've always had fantastic customer service, good products and they seem to be in a bit of trouble in recent years so could use the help.

I've had nothing but issues with Argos and Curry's etc. I'd also be tempted by Costco who seem to have good stuff at good prices whenever I go in.

 

[Terrytpot]

Was quite happy with our initial foray into large flat panel TV's with our 42" plasma Hitachi back in 2006 but that did eventually start to suffer from issues so was replaced in 2016 with a curved 49" 3d Samsung which to be honest, failed in its main design promise..it didn't reduce reflections, it increased them! We sold that on last year to someone who's kids now have it in their bedroom. Our current Samsung QLED 4k 65" TV knocks spots off everything we've ever had and if it's fed with decent quality content has a stunning picture and with low rent content its still watchable although knowing how good it can be makes you want to find a better copy of dodgy stuff and really hurts if you're stuck watching content that was made poorly originally and hasn't been improved since (eg: the Mrs is partial to "Alas Smith and Jones" but it looks so grainy that I can use the excuse "this is dire" and not worry about offending her ) Historically myself and family members have always tried to use JL for their generous warranty options (although other places have leapt on the same bandwagon now as JL were stealing a lead on them in that dept. and no doubt gaining market share) but this time around we actually got the QLED direct from Samsung as they were offering 10% off on those work place type discount schemes most employers run and SWBO had the relevant offer , worked out cheaper than JL or Currys. We also don't have a Beeb licence as our abode would need a massive tv antenna or a dish (neither of which we have), and as we tend to view stuff we get on-line , it's not needed. My only gripe with the modern stuff is "why does it have to be so damn complicated?" I fondly remember the days when there was only one port on the tv's back for an antenna and if you plugged something other than an aerial into it you needed to tune in to ch36 to see what it was...either games or video..so much easier. Now we have a room littered with RC's with multitudes of buttons that I can't see or comprehend...rant...rant...rant...you get my drift

 

[mikej460]

We bought a Samsung 55" 4K Curved TV from Richer Sounds (excellent service) and two other smaller Samsungs from JL. All have been excellent. Having said that LG OLED get top marks on Which?. We also have a Roku stick in the back of the 55" and that has always been excellent value. Check the TV has all the features you want and not simply promised e.g. 4K ready or 8K ready or My5 catch-up coming soon - it never happens. Also be wary of features you don't need but add to the cost e.g. 8K or 3D. Lastly, be warned the screen always looks far better in the showroom than it will in your home! The only beef I have with our 55" is reflections from a window or lights during darker scenes, some TVs are better than others at minimising this.

Is your head spinning yet

 

[Mal-110]

Our new Samsung QE50Q60TA. 50" turned up on time carried by staff from the local shop, who under normal circumstances will set it up for you (for a fee). Took a while sorting out the cables from the old TV and the peripherals. The scart has disappeared but made up for with the HDMI's. The Teac and Humax were found automatically on setup as was the PC. Not exactly as I would have liked but the are fairly old tech. I could not find the manual, just a set up guide. The manual is online. I am not sure I like this aspect but as it happened the TV is actually smarter than me and knew what it was doing. I got confused over setting up Samsungs SmartThings before realising I didn't really need it. So setup took a bit of time but straightforward. The picture is excellent exactly why we bought it in the first place. We debated on purchasing the 55" which would have been the max for the room but the stand would not have fitted so it was ruled out but having watched it for a few days we could have purchased a floor standing stand and bought the 55" on balance however the 50" fits the room and we are at the correct viewing distance.
Aside from the manual which I like on paper so I can annotate where necessary, we are really happy with the TV. Its the picture you buy it for and its fantastic. There are still loads of features we have not yet explored, like Samsung TV or voice control, steaming to other devices. It seems it will do them all. A little overwhelming perhaps but given time we will learn.

 

[John Brown]

We're still happy with a 32" LG we've had for some years. But then we don't watch a lot of sport, and I never find myself saying, "great program, just wish it was bigger". Using a Firestick for the most part, my main gripe is, why can't all the streaming services standardize on audio levels? You switch from iPlayer to Netflix, and there's a 50 dB volume change...



They're just picked at random, iPlayer and Netflix may be similar levels, but some are wildly different.