Need a TV – Suggestions?

I need a TV for the basement in the new build. I’m far from a Television expert. We don’t watch a ton of TV but do host for sporting events as well as watch film after HS games.

The room it’s for is about 32’ x 19’ with a large sectional and chairs on one side and a bar on the back end. There’s a window about 9’ in width and a sliding door on the exterior wall that both let in a lot of light. We’d like the TV to be visible throughout most of the room when games are on (obviously not in great detail from the far opposite side). I’d love to keep it under $1500 for something that is a reliable “Smart TV” and has a nice picture. Latest and greatest doesn’t really matter. Any suggestions? I laid out cardboard pieces and think that 70 or 75” seems about right. All the online formulas for size seem to suggest way larger. Brand reviews are all over the place with LG, Samsung, and Sony getting the most backing (and higher costs).

Thanks for any help you can give.

If you have a bright room you will want an OLED TV. They have the brightest picture.

I think you can google how far your sitting area is to the TV and they calculate the “ideal” size. Too small and it looks small, too big and you have to shift your field of vision to see the whole screen.

From my experience don’t overthink it and over pay. Get a Costco TV the size you need and maybe get the extended warranty.

I’m a fan of Roku for streaming, Apple TV not so much.

We have 2 65 inch LG tvs I bought on black Friday. Both do exactly what we need them to do. Both are smart tvs and are fast loading. Had a TCL for a little while and the sound sucked.

TCL 6 series is pretty much always the best bang for the buck when it comes to picture and the 75″ is $1299. If you are using the built-in speakers on any TV you are doing it wrong, even the cheapest soundbars will be way better.

I grabbed a nanocell and has been kickass. Great picture and easy interface imo. Took me awhile to get used to smart tvs.

Ill echo reefs suggestion on upgrading the sound. I got a few hundred dollar sound bar, woofer and 2 wired satellite speakers(bought seperate satellite stands off Amazon) and has completely transformed my TV experience. I’d be as bold to say I’d upgrade the sound experience over picture quality, but I use it to jam out on my main level as well.

Working on finishing our entertainment area of the basement . Installed a 85” Samsung Q80A QLED.. I bit more $ then you stated but IMO you should go 85”.

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FYI – We are using a LG soundbar and woofer temporarily until I get around to installing speakers in the ceiling…. had it prewired when we built the house.

couple things,

1) make sure you create an in-wall “cable chute” so all of the power/hdmi/coaxial cables go behind the sheetrock from the back of the TV to down near the floor where you can then connected them to the different boxes (Cable/DVD/Optical Audio/Game system, etc) This makes for a very clean installation. I made mine out of 3″ PVC and then used special wall faceplates that cover the holes but let the cables pass through…

2) Get a good soundbar with a wireless subwoofer you can stash behind a couch or chair

3) I’ve always owned Samsung LED tv’s, best picture imo and they support video playback from a USB or wireless external device (most tv’s do this now, but Samsung seems to support the most video file formats .mp4/.mkv)

I’d go to Costco and chat with the person in the TV department. We bought new TV’s like 6 years ago, and Vizio was the best value (quality vs cost), but when one broke from a 3 year old with a strong arm they said Vizio’s were getting returned a ton and Costco was phasing out the amount of Vizio’s offered. He recommended then a LG, which has been fine. Was planning on Samsung, but their quality seems to fluctuate a lot from year to year as when we bought they had a lot of issues too.

I would stick with a big 3 brand: Sony, LG, or Samsung. They all make great TV’s that will last a long time. OLED offers the best picture, period, but its out of your budget for the size of TV you want/need.

I also wanted to stay around $1500 and ended up with a Sony X90J 75″ for around $1550 on a black Friday sale. Its an excellent LED TV, but again, its not an OLED so its black’s are not perfect. The comparable Oleds in a 75″ were all just over $3,000 when I was shopping, and I didn’t want to go down in size since I have a larger space similar to yours.

If I were you, I would find the best deal on a 75″ from one of those brands (with the 120 refresh rate) and go for it.

Remember when a 55″ TV was huge?

BigWerm wrote:

when one broke from a 3 year old with a strong arm

Oh, you’ve had that happen, as well?

Unfortunately this is a week late because Amazon had some amazing deals on TV’s during Prime Week last week.

Sam’s Club and Costco would be where I’d head. IMO outside of a really good deal, I’d want to buy this type of purchase in person and where I can easily return it.

I got a 70″ on Black Friday for under $500. IMO the quality of the picture is nowhere near as good as the Plasma I had, but I had a black bar running down the left side of the screen that was driving me nuts. Its crazy I spent nearly $2000 for the plasma back in the day and you can get an incredible TV for less than 1/3 of the price now.

I’d go Samsung or LG from Costco (or Amazon)

CaptainMusky wrote:

Its crazy I spent nearly $2000 for the plasma back in the day and you can get an incredible TV for less than 1/3 of the price now.

No doubt i paid just under 3k for the 55 inch Sony in my living room like 8 or 9 years ago. Now you can get a tv the size of the wall for that price.

Samsung all the way…..

I wouldn’t blow the bank on a tv nowadays.

Go to Costco, get one that looks decent.

They’re basically throwaway items now. You’ll be getting another new TV in 5-6 years..

stout93 wrote:

I wouldn’t blow the bank on a tv nowadays.

Go to Costco, get one that looks decent.

They’re basically throwaway items now. You’ll be getting another new TV in 5-6 years..

That’s probably the best advice so far. I bought a 65″ LG at Sam’s club a couple months ago and was barely over $500. Picture was just fine and sound too so I haven’t used the sound bar much.
The old one(maybe 6 years) could have been fixed but by the time I took it in and picked up, along with the repair(which can be hard to find a place that still does it), I bought bigger, new one for not much more.

bigcrappie wrote:

Samsung all the way…..

X 2

don’t be afraid to try Hisense tv’s. i got a 50″ 10 years ago and was skeptical because it was considerably cheaper just as the 4K tv’s started to hit the market…..we now have 2 of those and they have an amazing picture for the price point. not too impressed with my Vizio but it was an entry level one. my last Samsung which was not a smart TV had some weird glitch but if you go to the store, you will be able to decide what works for your eye and your budget.

Smart T V are LOTS of canned video that is old stuff……..Including major news stations broadcasts. They are NOT LIVE. They slip up with a weekday that is yesterday . Canned video from the web archives. Smart T V is old stuff we have seen for decades. There is very little LIVE t v except for some sport channels like golf & tennis.

SAMSUNG if you want as good of quality TV as they now make.

I used to like the Roku platform (available on mostly bargain brands) for their ease of accessing/managing all streaming services. But most manufacturers have caught-up. Samsungs Tizen TVs are really easy to use, you can access any service you want and more. The remotes have about 5 buttons, not 500.

Sadly it’s not like the old days, nothings built to last. If you get 5 years out of it consider yourself lucky.

Thanks for the advice. I think I’m narrowed to LG or Samsung after window shopping and reading reviews.

I’ve got a 55” Samsung AU8000 sitting in a box waiting to go above the fireplace upstairs. I’ll probably hang that and try it’s features for a week or so and then either go Samsung again for the basement or try LG.

One question from a non-tech person. Is the 60hz refresh rate a bad idea versus the 120hz? That seems to be the big difference in a $700 TV and a $1500 one

You will only notice the difference in refresh rates if watching fast action like sports etc. if the camera has to move fast, you get a bit of a blur before the picture catches up again with a slower refresh. I notice it the most when watching hockey and there’s a long, quick pass up the ice. you might lose the puck for a fraction of a second, but it’s tolerable.

buckybadger wrote:

Thanks for the advice. I think I’m narrowed to LG or Samsung after window shopping and reading reviews.

I’ve got a 55” Samsung AU8000 sitting in a box waiting to go above the fireplace upstairs. I’ll probably hang that and try it’s features for a week or so and then either go Samsung again for the basement or try LG.

One question from a non-tech person. Is the 60hz refresh rate a bad idea versus the 120hz? That seems to be the big difference in a $700 TV and a $1500 one

Jittery motion in sports or smooth motion. I played heavily on this when I made my last purchase in 2007. It will come to play in other things as well but, that is the most noticeable every time.

I went with the higher as the slower drove me nuts!

That TV is their entry level TV, Had one and returned it, was no where close to my older Samsung TV that I wanted to replace. My old one was top of the line 12 years ago and the picture on the AU8000 was not as crisp and colors were not as bright. Had to get the QN90 series to match the picture.

buckybadger wrote:

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I’ve got a 55” Samsung AU8000 sitting in a box waiting to go above the fireplace upstairs.

Depends on what you are watching. You’ll notice it in hockey but not in golf
SAMSUNG x3