I am in the market for a smart tv and gathering info is one commercial after another. Has anyone gotten a smart tv lately and tell me both good and bad. My budget is $ 500.

The TCL Roku TV's are fantastic for the price. The 4 series is great and the 6 series competes with much more expensive TV's.

I have a 75" Samsung QLED and three TCL Roku TV's and I can't find anything better on the Samsung even though it cost $1000 more.

We have a TCL Roku 4k. 50 or 55"

Works great as a projection screen in one of our conf rooms. Have heard good things on using them as a TV as well.

Check out TCL 4K RokuTVs. Bought two this past year: Series 6 (2018) 65" and a Series 5 (2018) 49"

Series 6 is what you want. The 2018 models (55" and 65") are at a great price point now that the 2019 ones have just been introduced.

We have 3 Visio 55" TV's and all have been flawless. Not to mention the first was much more expensive as the prices have dropped dramatically.

Oldest is 5yrs old, then 3yrs old, and the last was purchased last year.

We bought a Vizio 58" from Sams during Christmas time for $298. Great picture. 4K HDR, V series.Plenty of apps, Airplay, free Vizio TV, Pluto channel,....nice TV

My brother has an LG OLED 55". It appears to be a very nice TV with one MAJOR exception for me...for some reason LG must not have rights to the NHL app because it's not available/listed in the "LG Content Store" for download to the TV. That is an INSTANT no sale for me. Not sure what $500 will buy you in the LG OLED line, though.

Just checked costco go to the web page and login if you are a member, they have over 20 TV under $500 from various manufacturing companies.

Lots of choices.

IF you move up to $550 they have a Samsung 65 in 4K UHD LED/LCD tv

https://www.costco.com/samsung...oduct.100498843.html

We have the Samsung Q60 smart TVs. Very easy and you inky need one remote if you stream tv. We don’t even have it hard wired. We just run wireless from the router.

Haven’t shopped for a TV in awhile.

However, bought a Smart TV in 2014 and now it is Dumb.

If there is a good Dumb TV, that would be your best option.

Buy a Dumb TV and hook up a Smart device such as Roku, Apple TV, Firestick, etc.
Upgrade the Smart Device when it becomes Dumb with age.

quote:

Originally posted by kimber1911:
Haven’t shopped for a TV in awhile.

However, bought a Smart TV in 2014 and now it is Dumb.

If there is a good Dumb TV, that would be your best option.

Buy a Dumb TV and hook up a Smart device such as Roku, Apple TV, Firestick, etc.
Upgrade the Smart Device when it becomes Dumb with age.

I agree. I have a smart tv that is now dumb.

We have multiple tv’s in our house not all the same make. With a firestick on each tv I do not have to explain to others that this smart tv’s app works different than the tv in the den. Much less in house app support.

quote:

Originally posted by kimber1911:
If there is a good Dumb TV, that would be your best option.

I don't know if it's even possible to buy a dumb TV any more. You see: The manufacturers found they could sell "smart" TVs more cheaply, then more than make their money back by selling customers' data.

Don't believe me? Read, actually read the Terms and Conditions Of Service to which you agree before the "smart" features will be enabled.

We have a shiny new 55" LG we bought at Costco. I read the Terms and Conditions Of Service. Said "nope" and let it remain a dumb TV. The only reason it's even connected to the network is for firmware updates.

quote:

Originally posted by Vanwall:
We have multiple tv’s in our house not all the same make. With a firestick on each tv I do not have to explain to others that this smart tv’s app works different than the tv in the den.

That's essentially what I've done, here in the ensigmatic household.

I plan to eventually replace the Fire TVs and Android TVs with Apple TVs.

quote:

Originally posted by Vanwall:


We have multiple tv’s in our house not all the same make. With a firestick on each tv I do not have to explain to others that this smart tv’s app works different than the tv in the den. Much less in house app support.

Our provider is about to go the same route. Have you had any issues with the firestick hookup? My main TV (smart tv) is connected via Ethernet cable. No idea if that will still
be beneficial or not. We have 1 gig service.

I bought a TCL Roku TV recently and love it.

They are quite a good deal for the money, mine was $285 out the door for a 50” model.

I purchased a 65" Vizio about 3 years ago, and when I set it up that night, I noticed very uneven lighting on a completely white screen. I took it back and got a replacement. It wasn't nearly as bad, but I still notice uneven lighting here and there.

I'm not talking bad about Vizio, but I am not brand loyal when it comes to TVs. I'm not up on the latest, but my wife will probably get a new 45"-50" Sunday. I need to read up myself. She only cares it has Netflix, Youtube TV and Amazon Prime.

TCL will probably get you the best bang for your money. They're like the Camry of TV's.
This is a good sight for comparisons, tech specs and legit testing. https://www.rtings.com/

Consider a standalone box like a Roku for $50. They generally work better than any built in option.

I’d do that and never even enter the wifi info into the new tv itself.

Best Buy has a lot of options for under 400.

I just got a 70inch vizio from target for $520. It's great.

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:
The TCL Roku TV's are fantastic for the price.

This. Get a 5 or 6 series. (Not the cheaper 3 or 4 series.) They're the best value in "budget" smart TVs these days, and their picture quality in particular rivals that of $1k+ brand name competitors.

If you have some wiggle room in your budget, you can get a 55" TCL 6 series for around $550 (plus tax): https://www.amazon.com/TCL-Cla...id=1579356200&sr=8-3

Otherwise, the TCL 5 series has slightly fewer bells and whistles, but you can get a 65" for around $450 (which will be right at your $500 budget after tax): https://www.amazon.com/TCL-Cla...id=1579356357&sr=8-3

I’m in the dumb tv with a smart device connected camp too. My 12 year old 58” Samsung plasma soldiers on while the attached Roku device has been upgraded 3 or 4 times. I use harmony remotes to unify everything.