The left part of the screen of my parent’s Samsung TV have seriously blackened recently, so they are thinking of buying a new TV. We probably bought this like 6 years ago maybe, but I absolutely do NOT want to buy a Samsung again (6 years is just planned obsolescence reliability + their OS didn’t let me remove the bloatware in any way or shape of form)
Which brand has been the most reliable for you, and also have you been able to remove the bloatware from your TV via dev mode or with a different method?
I don’t use “smart” features my current TV is a MicroLED with local dimming zones hooked up to a full fat PC running Linux with GNOME because the GUI works well in a living room environment with a wireless trackpad keyboard. The Logitech one is best, there’s not many options there unfortunately but it’s a good one except the lack of backlit keys.
So ignoring the crap onboard APU and shitty TV OS, well I’ve never had a TV break before I’ve replaced it frankly…except my previous TV. OLED aren’t worth it unless you don’t care about them being expensive disposable items that absolutely will degrade over time.
Current TV is an 75" LG and it’s fine. I wanted VRR and 120Hz for gaming. Are the dimming zones apparent when scrolling websites in dark mode? Yep but I don’t care.
Obviously if you don’t care about games then get a cheaper mini-PC instead.
Well my parents do not game at all, so they don’t need VRR and such, but do you think a 90 / 120 hz TV can be beneficial just for watching movies and normal TV shows?
No, in this case I’d say 60hz is totally fine (maaaaybe if someone is an avid sports fan, black frame insertion for blur busting on a high refresh rate screen I suppose, but it’s just a nice to have feature, nothing critical) and I’d be more concerned with nit numbers / HDR certs if they’d like that sort of thing at extra expense. I don’t think anything less than 1000 really counts personally if you want HDR. Lower is all marketing wank IMO. Did have a nice wow factor with my parents when they upgraded from a plain 1080p LCD recently. My mother doesn’t really care she’d be fine with a 300 dollar TCL lol.
LG seems to be ok with internet disconnected, my cousin recently got one. I have a samsung and yeah the software is atrocious, tho mine’s from 2016 or so and still working pretty well.
I have a 43" 4K Sharp I bought back in 2016 that’s still going strong through two moves.
None, go by a decent monitor as big as you can and use that instead, or a decent LED projector if you’re so inclined (going that way myself, since my lamp projector ate the last bulb I bought). Actual TVs are trash and just awful to use.
LG has been great but protip - don’t use the built in “smart” features as they seem to get outdated faster than the panel. Get an external device such as an Nvidia Shield, Google TV, Apple TV.
There will be so much “Ying and Yang” to this discussion that the answer will be … all of them…
Could be the case, but it’s never worth to not ask your opinion.
I won’t use any smart tv features. As soon as they’re connected to the internet they start sending data about everything you do. So I plug in an apple tv and stream everything through there. We have a FireTV and it nags me to connect it to the internet every time I turn it on. I hate it. We also have an LG. It does exactly as I would expect and I’m pretty happy with it. I’ve had good luck with other LG products in the past.
Reliable, or lacking in bloatware? Which is the priority here?
We have a Philips 43pfs5525.
No smarts, just a chromecast plugged in and working like a charm.
Today I would say that Samsung is the most reliable brand for TV’s. If your tv would last longer than 5-10 years you would never buy a new one.
Have you had messy experiences with the other brands?
Personally not, I primarily use Samsung but hear from colleagues that they had issues with other brands. The other thing is that there are only 2 brands that make screens, Samsung and LG. Those screens are used by all the other brands as well.
I’m a fan of both Sony and LG. LG makes TVs that have the deepest blacks which is really nice for movies. Sony doesn’t quite have the same darkness to their blacks, but the displays are very nice and the comparable Sony’s tend to be a little bit cheaper than LG’s. In my house I have a Sony and an LG as the main TV. I also have a Hisense if you want something that’s really nice and fairly cheap go for high sense.
I bought an LG in 2014 and it lasted ~10 years before the backlight died. I bought a new LG that has a bunch of smart features but I’ve never connected it to the Internet, and it’s largely stayed out of my way and not been annoying.
So I guess LG has been good for me.
And what’s your experience with the newer LG TV? Can you delete it’s bloatware apps?
I don’t think it has any apps by default, or if it did I removed them. I just plugged in an Android TV and that seems to be working just fine.
But the TV itself isn’t connected to the Internet and it doesn’t bug me to connect and the default is just a nice background image without pestering me.
Zenith.
I have a sceptre. Dumb as fuck, enough plugs of various types to get whatever I want on the screen. Has been working well for ~6 years now, though it’s not a daily use item. I’ve used it as a second monitor for ~3 of those 6 years, and never noticed issues with the quality.
Sceptre monitors are good. Have a 55" we’ve been using as our main television for 8 years without issues. Have a 32" as my computer monitor as well, about 6 years so far. They just work, no bullshit smart features.
Instead of a specific brand, I looked at what open box / display models the local places had available. I ended up with a Samsung model that was marked 70% off MSRP.
The operating system is probably not great but it’s connected to a Nvidia Shield so I’ve never interacted with the OS beyond the initial setup.
I’d say this kind of decision has more to do with the user interface being easily navigable for your parents and what their technical proficiency is rather than trying to pick a television that might last a decade or more.
Oh that’s a great tactic. How easy do you find open box TVs in local shops?
A few of the larger electronics retailers here have open box sections on their websites. I called several smaller ones, but due to their size they either didn’t have model units at all or only had one or two. One place I went to found they had some returned televisions in the back that they’d never put back on the sales floor, but being effectively brand new they only offered a ten percent reduction.
The website listings were ideal because as made it less arduous to compare specifications. In my case I was rather particular about certain technical details, so it might be simpler for someone that cares less about colour uniformity or input lag for example.
That said, I’ve now remembered that once I’d narrowed it down from a couple dozen options to three televisions, the deciding factor was nothing technical but instead it was the only user interface factor that I do see: it turns on and off with an animation reminiscent of old tube television. I’m not looking forward to replacing it because I find this power on visual so funny with a modern screen.
It might be handy for you to check out rtings accelerated longevity tests and see if you can find those models at a discount. I make use of their tests pretty often.
