TV Died Last Night. Looking for Advice on a New One

The1theycalldaz on 19/10/2023 - 23:52
Last edited 20/10/2023 - 08:53 by 1 other user

Hey guys, I'm looking at getting a new TV in the next couple of days (can't really wait for Black Friday sales). I am down to one TV in a family of 5 so need one sooner rather than later! Old tv was a >10year old plasma and haven't really kept up with all the advancements.

I have been looking at 65 and 75" but am new to all the technology. I'm leaning towards 75". I have a home theatre set up, so sound isn't important. Current TV has a PS4 (PS5 maybe coming at Christmas), Switch and Apple TV attached. So looking for something that is good with games as well as movies/sport/TV.

So far I am thinking:

Hisense u7K 75" $1730 (65" $1490)

TCL c745 75" $1665 (65" $1315)

TCL c845 65" $1590

Samsung Q60 65" $1530
Q70 65" $1890

They all looked pretty good in store (granted I only was able to have a quick look today).

Have I missed any other options? Is there a clear winner/loser on that list? Any better prices around?

Any advice is appreciated!

Cheers.

Electrical & Electronics TV

Comments

  • abs898 on 20/10/2023 - 00:13
    +1

    If you have access to Samsung Edu or EPP store, it will open many more options for you.

    • BigLeviathan on 20/10/2023 - 08:03

      I really need a friend with school email address…sigh

    • Mokr on 20/10/2023 - 08:33

      Easy way for uni students to make some cash. But warranty would be

  • Hybroid on 20/10/2023 - 00:14
    +1

    www.rtings.com for the rabbit hole of TV comparisons.

    • Djfhsd1 on 20/10/2023 - 00:16
      +2

      Yeah they are thorough, but useless if you want a model that’s only sold in AU.

    • KaTst3R on 20/10/2023 - 09:33

      They recently limit the numbers of reviews you can view per day? Kinda sucks for research.

      • John Kimble on 20/10/2023 - 09:40

        Clear cache/Private mode?

        • KaTst3R on 20/10/2023 - 09:45

          I just had a look, i think they changed their business model and it is fine now. I remember a while back I was doing research for a second tv and Rtings stops you after a couple of reviews. They probably figured out it killed their traffic.

          • FlipperMeTimbers on 20/10/2023 - 10:03
            +1

            @KaTst3R: They still do, if you hover over the "REVIEWS" button in the navbar, it shows a green lock. This means you can read through it without the review limitation. However, for most of the rest of the categories you need a membership or just keep clearing cookies every three articles.

  • Djfhsd1 on 20/10/2023 - 00:15

    I have the 75c845 and the picture is great. It does get a little warm and the energy rating isn’t great, but for the money, the features are almost unbeatable.

    • jlapr1 on 20/10/2023 - 05:59

      Looking at this tv, if you don’t mind me asking, what do you typically watch on it and how do you find the motion handling? Any negatives?

      • Djfhsd1 on 23/10/2023 - 21:28

        Sorry for my slow reply, I don’t check in here often. It’s great, I watch mostly Motorsport such as MotoGP and F1. It’s pretty damn good for both.

  • dtc on 20/10/2023 - 00:18

    I feel oddly out of touch when I mention that my family of 4 (2 adults, 2 teens) has only ever had one TV in the house. Yes, one of the kids has an ipad that is sometimes used, but otherwise we just 'negotiate' what to watch. Which, admittedly, can take 10 minutes but we end up with an outcome.

    The Hisense is perhaps the best apart from narrow viewing angles. The Samsung is also good

  • Mechz on 20/10/2023 - 00:23
    +3

    Alternative option: get one someone is giving away on marketplace to hold you over and wait for the sales.

  • jlapr1 on 20/10/2023 - 05:58

    I’m also in the market for a tv (75”), this far down the rabbit hole I’m strongly considering the C845, never had a TCL tv before, but price to performance seems a winner. Some reports of blooming in black bars when watching movies in a very dark room, but seems not to affect all sets and depends how fussy you are on that. Upscaling and motion processing is reportedly good but Sony/Samsung still ahead in this area.

    • Megatron29 on 20/10/2023 - 12:42

      And milky blacks. Below average upscale of SDR content. This is why I've decided on the Sony x90L. For me and my budget it was between the c845 and the x90L

    • spiderbite88 on 05/01/2024 - 19:04

      I'm at the same crossroads. Did you end up buying the C845?

      • jlapr1 on 05/01/2024 - 20:10

        I liked it in the showroom but ended up getting a good deal on a demo LG B3 77”, and haven’t looked back.

  • JIMB0 on 20/10/2023 - 07:00

    Save some coin and give the no tv lifestyle a go.

  • John Kimble on 20/10/2023 - 07:21
    +2

    You can probably wait, family of 5 also…we waited over 6 months. Was tough, but phones, laptops and tablets got us through. Was kind of like a partial detox I suppose? 😂

    You can do it! We believe in you!

  • EightImmortals on 20/10/2023 - 07:55
    +1

    No OLED's in that list?

    Despite the improvements over the years I still hate looking at LCD based screens, not sure why, they just look 'plastic' or over processed or something. Still loving our Plasma for now though so no huge problem but when it's time I guess that OLED will be the next one.

    • andresampras on 20/10/2023 - 12:50

      I think I know what you mean (switched from plasma to LED many moons ago and initially noticed the difference) but whatever it is, you'll get used to it

  • Nugs on 20/10/2023 - 08:53
    +3

    "I am down to one tv in a family of 5"
    sorry children, go do your homework/walk the dog/read a book/sleep
    .

  • ESEMCE on 20/10/2023 - 08:55
    +1

    Coming from a Plasma (or for anyone who values Picture Quality), ideally you'd want to stretch the budget to an OLED.
    Barest minimum a miniLED.

    I say this as a former owner of 2 Plasma's both of which died within 6 months of each other.
    We bought a Sony x90J (mid tier Sony Full Array local dimming LED) and a LG C1 (OLED)

    And the LG is simply an astoundingly good TV (as you'd hope for the money)

    • EightImmortals on 20/10/2023 - 09:34

      How would you rate the 'nauturalness' of the OLED compared to the Plasma?

      • ESEMCE on 20/10/2023 - 10:18

        Not sure what you mean. (I always turn off the frame interpolation stuff, did it with the Plasma's as well, cause that makes it look unnatural to me.)

        If anything, I'd say OLED is unnatural… the picture "pops" from the screen cause of that glorious contrast.
        Our Panasonic Plasma's (V and G series, so high and mid tier) had a greyness to the actual screen (even powered off). The OLED on a true black screen looks no different from when it's turned off.

        The LED is great in most scenarios, but I need a light on to help hide the backlight blooming in dark scenes.
        Generally push the kids to that screen anyway.

        • EightImmortals on 20/10/2023 - 10:49

          Thanks, we have a G series Panasonic and I like the image it produces, just wondering , apart from the brightness and contrast levels which screen do you prefer look at? The plasma or the OLED? (Sorry to be a pest, just after some real life subjective comparisons. :) )

          • Morien on 20/10/2023 - 11:24
            +1

            @EightImmortals: Plasmas had great black levels for their times, but they weren't really black. They were just a more natural (brown) looking grey than the navy blue grey that LCDs had at the time (and many do still). OLED is leagues ahead in this.

            OLED aren't perfect, and while every time you hear of them people say they are, they are misleading you.

            But while they aren't perfect, they are still the best we have for many situations.

            Negatives of OLED:
            - Poor "near black" screen uniformity. This will often show as Venetian blinds down the image when the display is nearing black. This never used to be an issue, but more and more material is being produced with these inbuilt torture tests. eg. episode 7 of house of the dragon, a scene in Captain Marvel where they are exiting water, lots of Dune. It can vary drastically between sets, and most say you don't notice it in normal use, but you do, and the bigger you go the worse it becomes.
            - Choppy frame rate. OLEDs have a VERY low response time. They don't naturally smear motion like LCDs and Plasmas did. So when you see a panning camera, without any motion interpolation enabled in the tv, it can be pretty choppy.
            - Brightness. Becoming less of an issue, but OLEDs aren't as bright as LCDs can be.

            Negatives of LCD:
            - Poor black levels. Top ones get around this with miniLED or dimming zones, but you will inevitably get blooming. Even miniLED don't have enough backlights to match the amount of pixels, so you will have light bleeding into areas it shouldn't. Just like the poor near-black of OLED though, how much it will bother you is up to you.
            - Dirty screen effect - especially big LCDs can have a lot of uniformity issues across the screen. Clouding, etc.

            If we compare Plasmas at their peak to OLEDs and LCDs today, I'd still go with OLED every day. But nothing is perfect.

          • JimB on 20/10/2023 - 11:25
            +1

            @EightImmortals: I switched over from Plasma to OLED.

            OLED is better.

            It's not a massive jump but decent jump when watching FHD.

            For 4K content, it's fantastic.

            We only upgraded from our 65" 1080P Plasma because of the size. I'd be happy with a 83" Plasma (my back won't).

          • ESEMCE on 20/10/2023 - 12:47
            +1

            @EightImmortals: I concur with Morien's comments.
            It's not perfect, but as close as we have to perfect today.

            But I would say it's actually a massive jump, unlike JimB.
            Remembering of course that I'm comparing PQ between a worn out and 1080p only Plasma and brand new 4K OLED.

            I haven't bothered since setting it up, but I should try the LCD with local dimming turned off. I suspect it'd annoy me less in a dark room than local dimming turned on.

  • KaTst3R on 20/10/2023 - 09:35
    +2

    I made the jump from cheapie TV to LG C1 + PS5. Still feel in love everyday i turn on the TV even after almost 2 years.

    • ESEMCE on 20/10/2023 - 12:47

      Ditto…

  • djsweet on 20/10/2023 - 09:47

    LG C1/2/3 is an awesome TV. Its awesomeness may be lost on the kids though - if that is the primary user base. TCL c745 is pretty middle of the road, good bang-for-buck TV. If its just for the kids I would probably go that. If its for me - C3.

  • Groovyuvi on 20/10/2023 - 09:49

    I have a tclc745 65inch that I bought from JB a couple of months ago. I am really happy with the picture quality and would definitely recommend. It is great value for money imo.

  • Brucet on 20/10/2023 - 09:53

    Shop around first before head to Costco.( You may get better deal even need to pay for membership.).

  • Morien on 20/10/2023 - 11:28
    +1

    At this price range I don't think there's a clear winner.

    Some things to be aware of though. Do you have a soundbar or sound system? The only flat screen TVs I have ever heard sound good were the high end Sony's with an acoustic panel. The thinner the screen, the thinner the speakers. You might want to factor this into your budget just in case you can't listen clearly in store.

    If you are expecting this TV to last as long as your previous one did, then consider one with HDMI 2.1. While not necessary for everyone (in your case you'll benefit from VRR/High frame rate with a PS5), I'd caution against getting a set without.

    Also remember, if it looks bright in the showroom, it will look blinding at home.

    Edit: To be honest… pain the ass, yes. Inconvenient, sure. Risky, perhaps. But if I was in your shoes, I'd probably buy a $100 set off gumtree to tide me over until Black Friday/EOY sales. Might end up costing less (or the same) for a better product.

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