We don't have cable. Haven't watched it for about 5 years now.
What we do have is streaming services.
Any suggestions for mid-range Smart TVs?
I am in Canada. I know this is important because the OS on some models is different from Europe to North America.
The big "How do I choose an HDTV?" thread.
But also the LG brand C1/C2/C3 (OLED model, new releases over a few years) is fantastic.
GWJ Vanilla Minecraft Server
Need to know:
Size
budget
primary use cases, if any besides streaming
ambient light levels
care/don't care about burn-in risk
"With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." - Christopher Columbus
"There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind." - Vonnegut
Whichever “smart” tv you buy, get an AppleTV or Roku and use their apps instead.
Also, don’t add the tv to your home wifi. Hook it up to ethernet for firmware update ONLY and yank the plug when not in use.
“Hacked by bourbon, maybe.” - Jonman
Size - 40-50 inches
budget - no more than about $600
primary use cases - STreaminig, with the occasional hooking up of a laptop or XBox
ambient light levels - Basement, with light coming through blinds off to the side
I would rather not worry about burn-in
Why?
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You might want to consider going with 55", as features even on a mid budget tv trend to drop off below that.
My suggestion is to look at TCL and Hisense, which give a lot more value in that price range. Take a look at what a TCL 6 series or Hisense U6 or U7 cost at 55", I think either would work great in your situation.
"With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." - Christopher Columbus
"There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind." - Vonnegut
Unless you are trying to go high end with an OLED, I would just look at whatever models have Roku UI built in these days. It used to be TCL, not sure about now.
If you don't want those brands, get whatever brand you do want and instead of using their built in junk, get a Roku to plug in.
2nd the built in Roku or stand alone roku. So much easier to use than the tv apps.
"What I lack in skill, I make up for in comedic relief, and I'm really funny."
SteamID: grinds2gwj
1) Multiple instances of TV's being wildly insecure devices
2) Several instances of them just straight up containing spyware by default
3) Many of them have built in microphones for voice commands and some even have built in cameras of one variety or another. Those things combined with their relative lack of security is more than enough for me to keep my TV's offline except for firmware updates.
On top of that the built in apps are almost always worse in noticeable ways than if you just get a dedicated streaming box of your choice. And that's if they have access to all of them to start with. There's still times when certain TV manufacturers just choose not to pay whatever the price is to include certain apps on a given lineup of their TV's and you just can't use the built in interface for one specific service. If you just get a box you generally dodge this.
I vastly prefer the Shield TV options, but the current top end Apple TV is genuinely good if you like the Apple ecosystem.
Roku has a lot of fans as well, obviously. Last time I used one Roku did not have native apps for at least two things I was using regularly, but if they do have apps for all the services you want they have good devices.
I think the HiSense U7H and TCL S series should both be available at the 55 inch size right around or even below your $600 budget. In that range I think those are probably the two I'd look at hardest.
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