I watch zero TV, but my wife does watch. I bought a TCL 43” from Costco in October 2017, fourteen months ago. A “smart” TV that uses streaming via wifi for services like NetFlix, Amazon Prime, etc.

Worked fine for the first year, then a few weeks ago, just over halfway into the warranty period, it started dropping the wifi connection on a regular basis. I have to reset the wifi connection almost daily. It will work for a few hours, maybe a day, then rinse & repeat.

NOT an internet problem, and NOT a problem with my wifi network, as every other device is strong. It is the wifi hardware in the TV.

I am hearing impaired, so “phone calls” go through a relay service. Almost three hours today, with Costco’s “Concierge Service” department, and the conclusion was that I will return the TV tomorrow to exchange for another.

I am looking for recommendations based on personal experience (apologies to RogueJSK re yesterday’s suggestion to google).

Need something in the 40” to 45” range, smart in terms of wifi streaming for Netflix etc., Definitely do not need anything super in terms of 4K or the like. 1080P with 120 Hz refresh rate is plenty.

What good news / bad news can you offer, in terms of your experience?

Note that any replies after 10:00 am EST tomorrow, Wednesday, December 12, 2018, will be of academic interest only, as I expect to be at Costco by that time.

I have, as have both of my adult children, had great luck with Samsung TVs. We have purchased them all from Costco. Their service, prices and selection is second to none.
Mike

Both my TVs are Samsungs. Had them for several years now. No problems. Still look good as new.

https://slickdeals.net/f/12079...hd-led-lcd-tv-499-99

will be my next tv
the remote is a big deal for me,

Sony if watching live action shows
Samsung if more animated or gaming is what it is used for.

I also don’t worry about the smart capabilities of the TV. I use a separate device.
Much better interfaces, upgrades to the device.
TVs are updated so often they tend to fall behind in support for the smart apps built into the TV.

So far, I see a lot of votes for Samsung, with a handful of others thrwown in.

We're really not looking for anything sophisticated.

Basically, my wife has the morning news shows on while she's getting ready to go to work.

She'll record a few things that she'll watch in the evening, stuff like "Dancing with the Stars." On her day off she might relax with a movie or two. That pretty well sums up the use.

It's not clear to me exactly what Costco is going to do for us, other than accept the problem unit back. They will either do an exchange for a similar model, or will issue a credit / refund to be used toward purchase of any other TV. The Concierge Services department indicated that the store would let me know when I take the failed unit back, tomorrow.

I see one advantage of the TCL vs. the Samsung -- three HDMI inputs, as opposed to two. Right now we're only using two, but the existence of the spare is comforting, in the event that we pick up another device like Apple TV or whatever.

I like my Samsung electronics

Our 2 TVs are both Samsungs. a ~10yr old 42" LED (non-smart), and an almost 1 yr old 65" 4K series 8.

Quite pleased with both.

I'm going to buy a new TV for our condo next summer about the same size as you are looking at. I have been leaning to the TCL Roku line as I have read some good things about them. Sorry to hear you have issues with a TCL.

quote:

Originally posted by cne32507:

Sorry to hear you have issues with a TCL.

It's a device. Devices break. The true test is, how does the vendor (Costco, in this case) take care of you when that happens.

I'll find out tomorrow morning.

I would only consider Samsung and Sony. There are other notable brands offered in Japan but in the US market, I would only consider these two. Not that you can't buy something more cost effective or something that will provide a good viewing experience. But all told, again, it's only Samsung and Sony for me.

But while Samsung offers nice panels, I will usually buy a Sony XBR series. In a nutshell, it's basically for similar reason why I will always buy Lexus over Equus.

I will second any motion to minimize the 'smartness' of the TV. If you need that, get a device (Roku, Apple, Amazon, whatever). The smart aspects of TV's suck.

But YMMV.

I would get an LG or a Samsung. Don’t use the smart features for the most part on TV’s they are slow and problematic. I recommend spending $40 extra and buying a Roku player. It attaches to the HDMI port and is a much more stable, robust, and user friendly way to stream on a TV. There are also more options of streaming services of which many are free. This way you also won’t have to worry about dealing with WiFi on the TV itself. I have a $3000 LG tv and the WiFi drops at least once or twice a month. A $40 Roku is the answer for me.

4 Samsung tv’s in our house. We have been satisfied with their sevice/performance.

The oldest Samsung was an early smart tv. Samsung quit supporting smart software years ago. I will not buy a tv based on built in “smart” features.

LG Oled is awesome!

I have 4 TVs in the house... A samsung, a vizio, an RCA, and a Sharp Aquos. I have also owned LG.

IOW, brand doesn't really matter a whole lot to me*. Some of those TVs are better than others but it is not a big enough difference for me to spend much/any extra money to choose one brand over the other.

I also use Amazon FireTVs instead of on-board streaming apps so the "smart" abilities of my TV are completely superfluous.

*The Sony XBR series are incredible TVs but not enough for me to spend the extra money so far.

quote:

Originally posted by bigeinkcmo:
Just a few other sleuthing ideas for your WiFi issues. If you haven't already, check the TV for any system updates. A device working great then all of a sudden not connecting right causes me to think that could be a possibly culprit. Based on a google search it looks like TCL tvs did have some Wifi issues with a semi-recent patch. Hard cycle both your router/modem. Trying connecting to a different frequency if possible, ie. 2.4 vs 5 Ghz. Possibly try factory restore on the TV. Some people recommended enable a Fast boot on certain models of the Tv. Not familiar with that but might be worth a try. Also, have you added any other new WiFi devices around the time problems came up. There are some scenarios where you have too many devices of varying standards that the router could be having issues supporting them all.

Did the factory reset. Did power cycle the router, did not mess with the modem as this has nothing to do with wifi (separate modem & router boxes).

Resetting network on the TV restores service. For a few hours, maybe for a day. Then same problem, wifi connection is lost. Rinse. Repeat.

No other changes in wifi network, no new devices. Problem is isolated to the TV. Costco says that they will make me whole. We'll see, tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the older Sony CRT (Trinitron) keeps chugging along.

Another vote for LG here. The Wifi on our 46" TV works just fine and it's 4 years old.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by cne32507:

Sorry to hear you have issues with a TCL.

It's a device. Devices break. The true test is, how does the vendor (Costco, in this case) take care of you when that happens.

I'll find out tomorrow morning.

It's Costco, they will take care of you, don't worry. They will likely let you decide what to do, either same size/specs (probably one model year newer) or refund and get whatever you want, you then pocket or pay the difference.

I'd go with the Samsung 43" 6 or 7 series. They will be model numbers 6xxx and 7xxx, both are smart TVs which uses Samsung Smart Hub for connecting to Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, etc. They are MSRP about $300 and $400 with the 7s being slightly better and slightly more expensive. I believe both come with three HDMI ports. Their 6 series is their base model. I wouldn't bother with 8 or 9 for your needs

The smart hub is pretty darn good, they will be some points where they are a day behind updating an app and it's annoying, but it's extremely infrequent. I like that I can use one remote to access apps and Vs buying a ruku or similar.

I bet you're glad you bought at Costco since it went out 2 months after warranty would've ended in most other stores. My first flat screen was about $2200 and went out 2 months after the warranty. The repair place nickel and dimed me into 2/3 the cost of a new TV. That experience really sold me on buying TVs from Costco.

I have two 2015 smart TVs in my house - a LG (larger of the two) in the living room and a Samsung in the master bedroom. The LG was more money, and it's noticeably better. It is 240 Hz so sports like hockey are much better, it remembers passwords longer for SmartTV, rarely comes up with service unavailable for Amazon (Samsung routinely says unavialable), and best of all it has the magic remote which works like a mouse (i.e. fantastic for inputting e-mail and password for smart tv).

Another recommendation for Samsung. I've had mine for about 3 years and never had an issue with it.