I have a 50' 4K Vizio, and it is a good TV. And when I bought it, it was cheap - there was a really good sale. It was about half the cost of a comparable Samsung or Sony.

But Samsung and Sony had better pictures. Is it worth the money? Your call. Vizio gets a lot of press as being really good for price. For me, it is fine - I am not a videophile.

I've become a big fan of LG TVs and monitors. I can't see a difference in picture quality between the LGs and Samsung and Sony offerings.

Jim

For the size you are looking for I would go with a 1080P Samsung. It is the same price as the 720p but you will appreciate the added sharpness, especially with native 1080P content.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/s...3048.p?skuId=3813048

I have become a recent LG convert after being a big fan of Samsungs for years as we recently purchase a 55" LG OLED C7P TV as our family room surround setup TV and it has been phenomenal!

Thumbs down on Vizio.

Bought new 32" about 2 years ago, immediate tech issues. Ran all the remedies, contacted "Support", no help.

Big box store feigned interest in any help. Vizio continued to talk big but deliver absolutely nothing.

Finally got some supervisor, he said send in photos to show our complaint issue and photo of the ID# plate along with copies of purchase etc.

That was ignored.

The damn thing cycles brightness over a several minute period. Start at normal and decent picture, over several minutes it will darken to very murky/gloomy picture. After a few minutes of that, back up to 'normal' for maybe 5 minutes.

Took photographs of this along with a video, sent to their 'customer service' which after reviewing denied anything was wrong.

Some day this will make a fine target.

I would go to WalMart and see what they have. They also have an additional warranty for 2 or 3 years which is cheaper then what Best Buy offers.

You may find a TV marked down and hit gold.
They had a GAMO Wasp Maxxim today for $69 which normally sells for $144.

I recently purchased a 43" 4K HDR TCL Roku TV from Amazon and it is a fantastic TV. I got it for my office and would not hesitate to put it anywhere in the house. Great picture and sound for the price I paid.

The 4K version was $350 and the 1080p was less than that.

Looks pretty well covered.....but I'll add that I'd own a samsung product LONG before a vizio. Lately (a few months ago) I set out to purchase a new 65" samsung, and ended up coming home with a Sony.

FWIW when I bought my TCL back in December 2010, my pre-purchase research indicated that the same plant also built many Samsung models. Don't know if that is still true or not but were I in the market today I'd be looking at both Samsung and TCL.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
FWIW when I bought my TCL back in December 2010, my pre-purchase research indicated that the same plant also built many Samsung models. Don't know if that is still true or not but were I in the market today I'd be looking at both Samsung and TCL.

I bought a TCL (47") 5 years ago thinking it was a cheap TV I'd use until it broke and hopefully I could afford a nicer one then. I finally got tired of waiting for it to quit. 5 years and 3 moves (including the Alcan Hwy) later...it's still working pretty near perfectly in my bedroom.

I would definitely own a TCL again. I am (for the record) very happy with the 75" Sony I purchased this summer though. I'm waiting for my pre-ordered X box one X to arrive so we can finally see what the 4K picture quality promised is all about.

Samsung. You will be happier with the picture and longevity of the TV.

My 12 year old 48 inch Samsung blew up last night made a loud popping noise and went blank I unplug it dang lucky we were home, so I'm watching this one as we need a new tv the Samsung we had had a great picture.

quote:

Originally posted by Dtech:
For the size you are looking for I would go with a 1080P Samsung.

Gosh, Dtech, the one you listed may be a winner! It's not a smart TV, alleviating some of the privacy concerns ensigmatic mentioned, and it's got better picture. Thank you for pointing that one out.

Since I had to give up my Zenith purchased in 1990 I have not had ONE SINGLE TV last for more than 5 years. Just like clockwork sometime between 4 and 5 years some capacitor on the TV goes bad and I have a TV that won't turn on. My response to this is to head to Best Buy and purchase the least expensive 32 to 34 inch TV they have in stock.

So I have a message for all those "premium" TV manufacturers, you won't sell me one single unit because you insist on using capactors that don't last any longer that the ones used in the cheapest sets. In fact having looked at the motherboard for a Samsung that went bad it was the same exact brand capacitor as those on the motherboard of an LG that was purchased to replace that failed Samsung. BTW, that LG also failed after 5 years and now I'm using a cheap bargain basement Panasonic.

PS: that Zenith I had to retire will still power up but as it was made in 1990 it can't receive any US broadcast and the picture quality of those vintage sets doesn't hold a candle to a modern 1080P. However that was a TV made in the days when they were built to last. And Yes, it really PISSES me off that nearly everything sold today was manufactured to fail in 5 years.

Personally, I wouldn't buy either one. Lots of folks have touted Samsung, but don't tell that to some of my friends, and my in-laws who have had horizontal black lines appear in their screens. When they spoke to both tv repair shops and the vendors who sold them, they heard "oh, that again."They sadly also learned that the cost to fix the problem was prohibitive and the only answer was to buy a new tv. Nope, I'll stay with Sony because every one I ever bought NEVER needed a repair, and that's over the last 17 years.

I bought a 32" Samsung 1080p Smart TV earlier this year from Costco for under $200 on sale shipped to my house...great picture and the sound is good...I like the Smart feature also...I never feel alone ...

I've got three Samsung TVs that have been great (knock on wood)

Samsung, all day every day without a doubt.

They still make some without the 'smart' stuff and if you want to add in Netflix or something buy a kindle fire hdmi stick.

Look REALLY close at all of the information, what resolution does it come with, what refresh rates does it have? 60HZ is acceptable because most content only comes in at 60HZ anyway.

I don't know anything about capacitors or mother boards. I just plug them in.
I have 5 Samsung TVs. Not all are the smart TVs. A couple are the older plasma ones and they are the ones that get used daily. The other ones don't see much action but I have had zero problems with any of them.

Update: today I ventured back out to Best Buy (after visiting the LGS and loading up on Mini-Mags) fully intending to buy the non-smart/1080p Samsung mentioned earlier in the thread.

While I was there, I ran into one of my friends from work and her husband, also looking at TVs. There were looking at the big ol' fellas, 49- and 55-inch characters. Way out of my budget, and way bigger than the space I have.

After spending a while with them and a very enthusiastic Best Buy associate, my friend asked me which I was getting. I told her, "the two-hundred buck Samsung." She wanted to see it, recognized that it was for a small room and said, "are you sure you want a TV that small?"

Long story short, I ended up buying a 40" Samsung (UN40M5300AFXZA). It was over my initial budget, and Dave Ramsey would kick my teeth in for that, but... I've gotten it home and in place and all I can say is "Gee, I'm glad she convinced me to look at the 40" unit." Few people, I suppose, go home and say "Gosh, I wish I had bought the smaller one."

It's 1080p and Smart, though the answer to the security problem ensigmatic mentioned is easy: I'm just not putting it on my network. There's no need.

I got this beast in place (the stand barely fits on the bookcase I hand intended to use as a stand) and spent a few minutes with the initial configuration. Having watched some college football for a few minutes now, I think I did well.

[Disclaimer: I really haven't been a fan of TV in the bedroom in the past, but I got used to it a while back when Mrs brought one in when I was sick. That unit has since been moved, and I have realized that I did enjoy being able to get the morning news and having some background noise when doing the mundane chores upstairs.]

I'm not really one to watch TV in bed (I'd prefer the La-Z-Boy and the bigger -- closer to the fridge -- TV), so it's probably somewhat frivolous to have spent "over budget" on this. That said, I think I'm going to like this one. Time will tell.

Thanks, all, for your input.

You did good vthokey! It is true about you usually won't regret going with a larger TV, but only to a point, depending on your viewing distance. The 40" should work out well. It is definitely possible to go too big and end up with a pixelated picture instead of a smooth, sharp picture. I was going to suggest the one you bought but you seemed pretty set on your budget. Again, for the cost difference, you got an ideal size for a master bedroom. I moved our 46" Samsung into our master when we got the 55" LG for the family. The 46" was replacing a 32" Samsung LCD that was still going strong with a great picture even after about 12 years of use. I ended up giving the 32" away to someone that needed it at the time.

A quick aside for others looking as well....We didn't have good luck with a 55" Sony 930E we bought and returned after just a week of use due to several pixels having gone bad. I have never had any other TV develop bad pixels before, even after years of use. I'm glad it happened though because my first impression was to get the LG but then thought the Sony was "good enough" and a bit less expensive. I was wrong, and the LG OLED technology was worth the price difference. I see it as a long term investment from something we will get plenty of use out of. Great 0% financing through Best Buy too to soften the blow.

Enjoy the new TV vthokey!

Thank you, Dtech. I think the 40" is about the max I could put in this room, a 46" would dominate the room. And you're right -- I was pretty well set on my budget. I won't claim anyone twisted my arm; I'm glad my friends and the BB fellow encouraged looking at the larger one.

My only grouch so far is that the SOURCE button on the remote doesn't bring up the option to change inputs. I'm not sure what's up with that. More research to do.

------------

Update: a five-minute chat with a rep on Samsung's support web site has gotten my remote working properly.