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Upgrading my TV, looking for suggestions

5K views 24 replies 11 participants last post by  vmstek 
#1 ·
Hi, new around here, so apologies if this isn't good etiquette.

I currently have a 42" Samsung 1080p TV - I got it used around four years ago, so I'm guessing it's around five years old. I've got the income to upgrade right now, and so I'm thinking about moving up to a 55". Unfortunately I feel totally overwhelmed with the amount of options right now. Here's what I'm looking for:

between 50 and 55"
willing to consider 4k, if it's in budget/worth it
Main uses: Netflix, Xbox one gaming, streaming movies through KODI from my Nexus player. We don't have cable.
Not really concerned about the Smart features as my Nexus Player takes care of most of that, but Spotify would be nice.
Not really concerned about sound, as I have a 5.1 system set up already.
Budget: around 1,000 - and preferably from Best Buy, as I have credit there.

So, if my research is correct, the things I should be concerned about are refresh rate and contrast, I think - anythign else I should be considering?
Does anyone have any favorites in this size and price range? Right now I'm considering the Samsung UN55J6300AFXZC, which was down to 1,000 last week and I'm sure it will be again. Any recommendations or things to watch for would be much appreciated.
 
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#2 ·
Just one thing: service. Look for a company with a nearby service centre and who are willing to fix sets that are out of warranty. I have friends with o three to five year old sets that have had to junk them because getting service was just too cumbersome, convoluted and expensive. It was easier just to buy another set than jump through all the hoops the manufacturers threw up to discourage any repairs.
 
#3 ·
Check out the Vizio M series, best bang for the buck out there. Lot's of happy people at AVS forum and good reviews online. Has low input lag for gaming and 4k (with 4k Netflix via the app). The 55" is just a little above your price and is available at Best Buy. I'd buy from Costco though, 90 day return policy if you don't like it, 2 year warranty and you can get an additional 3 years for $99 (5 year total).
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the suggestion! I do like purchasing from Costco if I can afford the cost up-front - not sure if that's the case here or not. I have read good things about the M-series. Still a bit wary about 4k, as we have some video files which are still sub-1080 and I don't know what the upscaling will look like. Also, I'm a bit concerned about motion blur during gaming. I'll have to go take a look at a floor model and see how it looks.
 
#7 ·
but the OP mentioned that he has non 1080p material and is concerned about upscaling. That is a weak point on the Vizios and a strong point on the Sony. in person I thought the Sony had a better picture than the Vizio. You can read all the specs you want , but seeing them in person is the best way to decide.
 
#8 ·
... That is a weak point on the Vizios and a strong point on the Sony. in person I thought the Sony had a better picture than the Vizio. You can read all the specs you want , but seeing them in person is the best way to decide.
I have also personally compared the Sony and the Vizio, and I disagree with your assessment. I feel the non-partisan review by Rtings is right on the mark.
 
#10 ·
And generally speaking the SONYs last longer. They're better made with better materials. One of my old Trinitrons is still used for DVD viewing. It is 24 years old (bought 1991) and shows no signs of any trouble. Yes SONYs cost more but buying a cheaper brand can be false economy. The cheap set won't last as long nor be as trouble free. If he can afford it I'd suggest the OP include quality over time in his criteria. You do get what you pay for. Sadly that is an axiom that people today just don't understand anymore, to the delight of the junk makers and junk sellers.
 
#12 ·
Good thread, let us know what you end up getting jordan.

I want to buy a TV for my parents and my specifications are similar

- ~$1000
- 1080p will do
- mainly for my dad to watch hockey and soccer, my mom to watch tennis
- SmartTV so that they can watch Netflix
- need something very user-friendly so that my parents can use it with ease

I'm looking at the same Samsung you mentioned and the Sony
Sony 50" 1080p HD 120Hz LED Android TV (KDL50W800C) - Black : 46 - 52 inch TVs - Best Buy Canada



Any other suggestions?
 
#14 ·
@john32: If you can afford it consider a 60 inch instead of a 50 inch. The difference when it comes to sports is amazing. I've got a relative with a 50 inch HDTV and he still prefers to come over to my place to enjoy the big games on my 60 inch Sony SXRD. That extra screen real estate is worth it for sports and/or for anything scenic. Admittedly it makes little difference if all you want to watch are all those run of the mill TV series on any network/service. Oh and that's great that you're willing to do this for your parents.
 
#16 ·
Nope. There's no beer fridge. We don't drink alcohol for different health reasons. He says that the picture just looks more spectacular on my set. We both have SONYs by the way so his TV also isn't cheap although his set is an LCD while mine is an SXRD. His is also newer by about four years. I'm not sure of the percentage that is 60 inch set is larger than a 50 incher but it's quite substantial.
 
#20 ·
Well I am in the exact same boat. 14 year old Sharp Aquos (one of the early 1080p sets) just went bad.
I have a spare Panny 65ZT60, but it would only be a few days before the wife caused IR burn-in from CP24, if I move it upstairs.

I want to move into 4K primarily for work reasons, and have narrowed my choices to the Vizio M55-C2, and the Samsung UN55JU7100
There are 3 concerns with the Vizio...lack of a web browser (mostly used for HorsePlayer Interactive), the reported motion trails (this is after all a Hockey town) and the upscaling quality.
The Samsung is reviewed as a superior set in these areas, but is also $1K more.

This week I will assess each with a full compliment of tests and demo content.

OLED was not an option, as I want 4K, and I feel the tech is not mature enough for that purchase.

However, Panasonic has just re-engaged the elite market with the CZ950, an OLED 4K, which is fantastic news. But it will probably be few years before the price point drops to a regular consumer range.

The Vizio Reference Series looks promising, but where is it, and will it be trumped by OLED?

Right now, sight unseen, I am leaning toward the Vizio M55-C2, with an Android box, since most of my sports viewing is in the ManCave on the ZT60 or the AE2000 projector.
With the Vizio's low price, I can wait it out for a Panny 4K OLED and feel good about it.
 
#21 ·
Hey all,

I wound up purchasing a Vizio M55-C2. Best Buy matched Costco's price (a 20 dollar difference) and gave me the four year warranty for the price of the two-year. It wound up being quite a hassle however, as my local Best Buy (Vancouver Granville) didn't have that particular model in stock, and told me it would be special ordered in for Monday (I bought and paid for it in store on Friday). Monday came and no TV, but the rep assured me that it would be there Tuesday morning. I called on Tuesday and still no dice - at this point I'm getting frustrated. I laid out 1500 bucks after warranty and taxes - they should at least be able to tell me when it would arrive, especially because I had to borrow a car and work around my work schedule. I was assured that it would 'be on the truck that night' and would be in store Wednesday. I went into the store Wednesday, and the floor manager told me that it would be impossible for it to be there, as the trucks only come Monday and Thursday mornings. At this point I was pretty irate, but the floor manager was good and comped me a 50$ gift card for my trouble.

So Thursday morning rolls around, I call in, and STILL no TV. Not only is it not in store, but they can't actually tell me where it is, why it isn't there yet, or when it will arrive. I was pretty furious at this point. The rep on the phone said they would contact the shipping/receiving manager and find out what's going on. Meanwhile, I've lost confidence that that they have any clue at all, and so I go online and reserve the same TV, in stock at Best Buy Metrotown, around a half-hour drive away. The rep calls me back around 2pm, and admits that they have no idea what's going on, where the TV is, or when it will arrive. I tell him that's not acceptable, and that I want to cancel my purchase, and that I'm going to drive out to metrotown and buy it there. He says that's fine, but that he can't actually refund the purchase unless he has the physical product in the store!

At this point I freak out, tell him that's completely unacceptable, that this wasn't my problem but his, and that if he doesn't figure out how to refund the purchase, I'm phoning my credit card company and getting the purchase written off as fraudulent. twenty minutes later he calls me back and said that the manager had OK'd the refund without the product there (why was this even a question? sheesh.) Anyhow I wind up driving out to Metrotown, and they gave me the exact same deal I had on my earlier receipt, thank goodness.

As for the TV itself:

size - It feels ALMOST too big for my living room. The couch is only about 8 feet away, and the picture is large. I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but it's growing on me. I'm still debating taking it back and getting a 50" - I've got four more days to decide.

Picture quality - Netflix 4k (Daredevil) looks great. 1080 looks terrific, so long as played on any HDMI port OTHER than 5. I originally had my amp (which all my inputs are routed through) into 5, and 1080p content looked blown out and blotchy. I switched to input 4, and these problems disappeared. 720p content is decent, not too smudgy, and lower than 720p is watchable. Kinda ugly, but not really worse than what it looked like on my 1080p set.

Color - this is a weird one. I used the rtings settings tweaks, and this made it look a lot better - the color was quite washed out and flat at first. I think I've got it to where I like it, but still tweak once in a while. There are a LOT of color settings for white balance, and it is a chore to get it looking great. I ALMOST wish I paid for professional calibration. regardless, it looks pretty good now.

motion trails - Haven't noticed this at all. I play a lot of video games (Xbox One mainly) and watch netflix, and Blu-rays, and haven't noticed any trails so far. I haven't watched any sports or cable TV though.

contrast - At first I didn't like it at all. The picture seemed quite flat. after I tweaked it with rtings settings, it's much better, but still doesn't seem to have the boldness that my Samsung did. This may be that the samsung was over-contrasted and over-saturated and I just got used to it, I don't know. The picture looks great, the blacks are black and the whites are white, so I think it's just something I have to get used to. The picture just doesn't seem as 'punchy' as my old set.

Sound - sounded decent, but I've got my own amp + 5.1, so I don't use the onboard speakers except during setup. One weird thing - after I'd been using the TV for about a week, the internal speakers switched themselves back on somehow. I don't know how it happened, and hasn't happened since, so I'm not sure what that was.

Other details - the set is a little more reflective than my samsung 42" was, but that might be at least be partially due to the size. Set is sturdy and well-built. The remote is a little weird, but it works. It is an IR remote but doesn't look like one (the sensors are hidden inside the shell of the remote) and so I kept accidentally covering up the sensors with my fingers when using the keyboard on the back of the remote. Once I figured out what was going on it was fine. The onboard apps are fine - netflix, Flickr, and spotify work well, and they're the only ones I really care about. I've got it hooked up to a Nexus Player Android box running KODI, and that all works great. an onboard browser would be nice, but I can cast pretty much anything I need to the Nexus Player. One other weird quirk - the picture settings are per-source, and so have to be fiddled with independently for Xbox, Netflix, etc. The white balance settings, however, are universal. Not a huge deal, just a weird software quirk. If I think of anything else I'll add another note here! If anyone has any questions about the set, I'd be happy to try and answer them.
 
#22 ·
Looking as well

I am beginning to look around as well. Interested in a 65" vizio.

How hard is it to sell a used TV :/. I'm assuming quite difficult. TVs seem quite cheaply priced now a days.

I have a 58" Panasonic plasma.

Thanks
 
#23 ·
Congrats on the purchase.
After a week of researching (searching) I am rethinking the 4K option.

I could find the Vizio M55-C2 in stock at any of my local Bestbuys last week, and the Samsung UN55JU7100 is currently onsale at BB, but is sold out eveywhere.
Also none of the stores use any standard sources to assess the upscaling quality, so I need to build my own USB stick.
I always bring my own remotes to the store...and that always upsets the sale staff :)

It is normal for each input to have it's own settings.

"can't actually refund the purchase unless he has the physical product in the store!" - this is hilarious...but typical Bestbuy con.

You were probably much better off picking it up yourself, rather than having it kicked around by delivery.

Copying settings from another TV setup will never get you "all the way there".
You will be much better off getting a professional ISF calibrator, who is properly equipped, when you are ready.

ISF has held only a couple of ISF Level II training courses in the Toronto area in the last few years...and there were no BestBuy Geek Squad staff in either.
I do not know why they are able to list every BB store in the ISF vendor list.

If your calibrator shows up and starts by loading a DVD in your Blu-ray player...kick him out right away.
 
#25 ·
That was a good choice.
All 4 HDMI inputs on the JU7100 are HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 compliant, so you are future-proofed for 4K video @ 60Hz.

On the Vizio, only Port 5 is HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 compliant. Ports 1 & 2 will support 4K @ 30Hz (HDMI 1.4 / HDCP 2.2), and Ports 3 & 4 will support only 1080p (HDMI 1.4 / HDCP 2.0)

My biggest beef with Samsung is there are just too many different model types for the same size screen.
 
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