So after several months with no TV (there was an incident with a 2yr old and a field hockey stick that killed our 42" Plasma) and Football season now in full swing we are ready to drop some coin on a new set for the new house.
We’ve been waiting for the new Vizio M series to come into stock for weeks and for some reason they have not. The E-series is everywhere leading me to believe Vizio or the stores are making way more margin on the cheaper tv and holding off on the more feature full M series since you can order the M and get it in about 3 days. The problem is i’m not going to order a TV i’ve never seen especially one with a new panel.
So last night we went to best buy to look at all the TVs and we came out (will Mrs. T’war) wanting a 4K TV and a curved one at that. The pricing on these beasts have come down enough out of the stratosphere that it is almost justifiable to go to the 4K over one of the 240hz LCD models. I know 4k is not here yet, but it is coming and I figure for an extra cost now I’m not going to be dropping another $2,000 in five years.
Any how anybody have thoughts on 4K, upscaling, and the Samsung Curved 65" 4K tv?
I haven’t kept up enough to give specific advise. I can tell you that when we were in the market 6 years ago, I bought my Pioneer 60" plasma from a West Coast dealer, delivered to me for 1/2 of Best Buys best price. If I can find the name/link I will post. In general, Best Buy is not the best buy . . .
I don’t know if you’ve looked at crutchfield or not but I bought our TV there years ago and I got a better model for cheaper than what I was eyeing at Best Buy PLUS free 3-day shipping AND no tax AND a free 19" Samsung flat panel. Excellent customer service too.
The consensus seams to be that curved tvs are simply not big enough to make you feel “immersed” in the picture. They would have to be significantly larger to have any really effect. The curve is purely cosmetic and does not enhance the viewing experience.
4k is the real deal. I am holding off b/c they will continue to drop in price. Right now, there is very little available to take advantage of the 4k. But, if I was going to buy a new tv, I would plunk down the extra coin for 4k, especically if I expected to keep the tv for some time.
Then buy a 4k OLED TV in a year. The OLED TV’s are getting insane reviews and folks are saying they have superior picture quality over plasma. They’re still slightly too expensive for me to justify right now.
I read that article too. seems like it is a bit of a gimmick but my wife swore it was easier to look at than the TV below it that was flat. Since the pricing is nearly identical to the flat models now it seems like it would be cool. 65 curved is supposed to look like 70 flat. IDK about that but i’m having a hard time finding a 70" which woudl be ideal.
IDK if the OLED 4k TV is going to be price competitive for a while. I’ve already doubled my budget to go to 4K and with prices rumored at the $7000 mark that is doubling down on a double down. I learned in Vegas a few weeks ago that is a bad move
I know they will come down in price but it is hard to think about spending $1500 jsut to wait for the next big thing that may not get here or be reasonable for several years.
I know 4k is not here yet, but it is coming and I figure for an extra cost now I’m not going to be dropping another $2,000 in five years.
Maybe you should go back and read your first sentence
~Matt
+1
I would also look at Costco, there prices are very competitive and their extend warranty (above their normal doubling of the oem warranty) is really cheap. (You can actually buy the tv somewhere else, and then go to costco to buy the warranty).
Have made a few claims on Costco’s double manufacturer warranty and its was easy. Also used my AMEX warranty and it was easy also.
About the 2 yr old and the hockey stick? yeah, well that was partially due to the tv being on the harth of the fireplace and not mounted on the wall after we moved. this tv will be going hopefully out of reach for that type of incident.
Yeah, I hear ya. It’s always a tough decision whether to buy something now or wait a bit because the latest and greatest are always right around the corner. It’s rather annoying.
Couple of things that I’ve been keeping in mind that may apply;
4k content. There’s still not too much out there but it’s getting better. Also consider that if you plan to stream your movies, you may need to have one of the faster internet service plans just to be able to have enough bandwidth to stream 4k content and take advantage of your 4k TV.
Hardware standards. CNET did an article about HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 here. Bottom line is that many 4k TVs will support HDCP 2.2 out of the box but your current and near-term A/V receivers may not - which may cause issues later on down the road.
We bought our 55" 1080p Vizio E-series from Costco for ~$650 when our Panasonic plasma bit the dust. I’ve been very happy with the image quality of the TV and plan to keep it for 1-2 years. At that point, I hope to jump to a 4k OLED set if they’re around the 3k pricepoint but who knows.
Then buy a 4k OLED TV in a year. The OLED TV’s are getting insane reviews and folks are saying they have superior picture quality over plasma. They’re still slightly too expensive for me to justify right now.
This is basically my strategy right now.
The best LEDs use software based localized dimming of the LED lights for contrast ratio, covering small zones at a time to lighten and darken, probably hundreds of zones in the higher end models. The OLED can turn on and off individual pixels, effectively 4096x2160 zones, pretty much infinite contrast ratio… I will definitely want one when the price comes down and technology improves.
Yeah, I hear ya. It’s always a tough decision whether to buy something now or wait a bit because the latest and greatest are always right around the corner. It’s rather annoying.
Couple of things that I’ve been keeping in mind that may apply;
4k content. There’s still not too much out there but it’s getting better. Also consider that if you plan to stream your movies, you may need to have one of the faster internet service plans just to be able to have enough bandwidth to stream 4k content and take advantage of your 4k TV.
Hardware standards. CNET did an article about HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 here. Bottom line is that many 4k TVs will support HDCP 2.2 out of the box but your current and near-term A/V receivers may not - which may cause issues later on down the road.
We bought our 55" 1080p Vizio E-series from Costco for ~$650 when our Panasonic plasma bit the dust. I’ve been very happy with the image quality of the TV and plan to keep it for 1-2 years. At that point, I hope to jump to a 4k OLED set if they’re around the 3k pricepoint but who knows.
They are not too big on 4K, at least not yet, because of the limitations of content and the size of screen and closeness needed to really tell the difference between 4K and 1080p. There are other nice features to the tvs outside of pixel amount. They have these articles:
