Tv buying advice

What in your opinion is the best bang for your buck when it comes to buying a flat screen TV? I'm moving out of my parents house and need a TV for watching muh moobies. My price range is 400-600 dollars but cheaper would be awesome. 40~ inches sounds perfect. I looked for a "stupid questions"/"questions that don't need their own thread" thread but its max bump and saging. Thanks for anything you can gimme.

Look around for a plasma. They are superior to non-4k HDTVs, and there are still some left (particularly Samsung, but if you can find a Panasonic definitely go for it instead) at bargain prices if you look around. The whole LCD/LED is better crap is a meme for real. The reason those were pushed over plasma, and why they quit making plasmas was all about money. Plasma cost manufacturers more to make, had a lower profit margin to begin with, and with cheaper LCD/LEDs flooding the market it just was not profitable to continue making them.

I bought my grandma a 65 inch Samsung last summer for $350. I found it on the Sears Surplus website. It was a floor model, but it was in great condition. The downside was that I had to drive to Atlanta (I live around Chattanooga) to pick it up, because they wouldn't ship it. There were actually cheaper ones available, but farther away. One was $150, but it was in Asheville, NC, and I really didn't feel like driving that far to save $200.

There's another potential downside to Samsung plasmas. If you are a console gamer, I've read that they don't handle controller input exactly like they should. There's supposedly some slight delay. From what I read it's not horrible (some even say it's barely noticeable) just keep in mind the issue does exist. I don't game, and neither does my grandma, so it was a complete non-issue here.

Another thing I'd always heard was that plasmas aren't good in areas that have a lot of light. It's why I was a little hesitant to buy one. I put hers in the living room, close to a big picture window, so it's very bright there during the day. Honestly I don't see that it's a problem at all. The picture is still perfectly visible and clear even with all that sunlight. coming in.

Plasmas are fucking shit. If you cant afford an LED go for an LCD. Plasma tvs are terrible when it comes to dark scenes. Also if you want to move the tv, good luck! Plasma tvs break easily when you move them around. I cant remember why... something to do with the crystals moving or someshit.

I agree there is alot of shitty tier plasmas out there but voltage modded ninth generation Pioneer PDPs are still _the benchmark_ by which everything else is compared, even unmodded some have sent back their 2016 OLEDs because they don't hold a candle to plasmas in motion quality or shadow rendering

The only LCDs that can run against a decent plasma are Sony XBR 8xx or 9xx series with all the meme magic activated (motion flow and such)

I'm about to buy a DLED 40” JVC branded TV for $300.
is it a good buy?

Im about to buy the cheapest Philips, TCL or Samsung tv. Cant decide on which one though.

My parents have two fucking Sony tv's and they are complete garbage due to the slow OS, takes literally seconds to change channel

You don't need to worry too much on resolution, so long as you get 1080p. Not much handles 4k, and the stuff that does tends to be pricey, so you'll be paying for a feature you won't be using.

Refresh rate is important, but if you can't find 120hz, 60 hz will be fine. There are also features that imitate 120hz, like Sony's Motion Flow (they all have their own stupid names, I was just giving an example).

Lighting preference should be:
OLED>Plasma>LED>LCD
If it isn't one of those things, or is labeled something stupid, like ELED, ignore it.

My starter TV was over a decade ago, before LED was mainstream, so I wouldn't recommend that one. That said, a few years later I got a Sony KDL-40R450A that was within your price range. It's nice, has that Motionflow thing (which you can turn off if you don't like), looks nice, and is decent for the price. That said, it isn't smart, but I like Roku better than any budget smart TV I've seen.

Make sure to get a good soundbar, too.

Why in the fuck do you need it to change channels? If you're gonna go with cable, you're gonna want a box. That said, there's no reason to want cable, anyways.

If a fucking tv can't even change channels properly how do you expect it to handle anything menu related like selecting hdmi input or startup

I take it you don't want an HDMI-capable sound bar. Got an HTCT 100, and switch my HDMI shit through that. Costs about 100 bucks on ebay. WAY better sound than any thin tv, and 3 HDMI inputs.

Besides, even if you aren't, how often do you suppose you'll be changing inputs?

Im going to use a HDMI -> HDMI and DVI splitter. HDMI out from my computer (which also is connected to proper speakers) to my monitor and DVI to my tv so i dont have to give a fuck about fiddling with sound settings. Basically my computer will mirror the image to my tv and monitor, audio will be played through my computer speakers

In that event, why not just get the cheapest TV you can find, and just watch through the monitor? It's not like you'll be using the TV itself for much.

>In that event, why not just get the cheapest TV you can find, and just watch through the monitor?
Because i want a bigger screen for movies

I don't understand the point, then. I'm not trying to throw stones, just not seeing the point of what you're trying to do.

Not that I need to. Do what you like.

Been looking at TVs myself, leaning towards a 40" Panasonic with Firefox OS... I was considering a 43" Sony with Android TV, but i'm kind of wanting to get away from Android these days.

Older smart TVs do have woefully inadequate processors, but modern ones are getting a little better.

And man, plugging in a HDMI cable is fucking seamless, i'm pretty sure even Linux can handle it with absolutely zero issues these days. Unless you are some kind of incredible autist who gets all itchy if things get out of your control for even a moment.

Just get Matchstick if you want FF OS. I don't understand why people limit their TV choices to the OS that they want.

Alternatively, Roku is Linux based.

The Matchstick project is dead according to their Kickstarter page

Not him, but what's wrong with Roku?

Well, OS is just a factor, hardly any low end TV have a decent amount of HDMI inputs, none of the 'dumb' TVs really do. Nobody really makes a high end 'dumb' TV any more.

They are out there, but like that other user said, a good sound bar more than makes up for it. And "good sound bars" can be had for dirt cheap, if you're willing to get models that are 3-5 years old. $300-$400 sound bars can be found for $100-$150.

dude no, panasonic is usually fastest for chanel changing but samsung and sony are easy 2nd

also sony have the lowest input latecy for muh gayming