TCL TV Advice

[Taco]

So I'm in the market for a new TV. Nothing wrong with my TV but I want a bigger screen and a smart TV with the ROKU OS. Currently I have an Emerson and its 720p.

I've been looking at this TCL. Loaded with features.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/TCL-55-Class ... om=/search

Any thoughts or comments on TCL? The reviews look mostly good. Some of the not so good reviews are troublesome but the TV still rates 4.2 out of 5 stars. Plus for some reason, the reviews are identical with the 50" model so it makes me question if the bad reviews are accurate.

[ZenithCKLW]

No specific advice on TCL, but in my experiences with smart TV's, I hate them. I was in the market this year for a new non-smart TV after my experiences with smart TV's, but I guess those aren't made anymore. I've resorted to disconnecting the TV from wifi and plugging in a Roku stick or similar and skipping the TV's built in smart features, as the 2 year old TV is now just a slow ad machine that doesn't run Paramount or Prime apps. Easier and cheaper to update and replace a Roku stick when necessary instead of the whole TV every 2 years.

[Taco]

For Roku TV's at Walmart, I see TCL, Hisense, and Onn. These would probably be considered throw away TV's. But damn, the price point is spot on for my budget. I think if you got two years out of those sets you'd be doing pretty good. My brother has an Onn TV, a 55" model and hasn't had any real issues with it and has had it for a few years. From what I can tell, Vizio, Samsung, LG's, and among others have other platforms like Google TV or FireTV, but not Roku. I think most TV's nowadays are all smart TV's. I have a Roku Ultra box but at least having it built into the TV would save an HDMI port.

[ZenithCKLW]

2 years is good? My standards for product quality must be too high.

[Taco]

2 years is good? My standards for product quality must be too high.

I just mean that from the negative reviews I have seen, 2 years would be good. But of course having it last for 6-7 or more years would be ideal. At the end of the day, I have to realize that every item, no matter what it is will have negative reviews.

[MWmetalhead]

So I'm in the market for a new TV. Nothing wrong with my TV but I want a bigger screen and a smart TV with the ROKU OS. Currently I have an Emerson and its 720p.

I've been looking at this TCL. Loaded with features.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/TCL-55-Class ... om=/search

Any thoughts or comments on TCL? The reviews look mostly good. Some of the not so good reviews are troublesome but the TV still rates 4.2 out of 5 stars. Plus for some reason, the reviews are identical with the 50" model so it makes me question if the bad reviews are accurate.

You can always buy a Roku stick for $35 or so.

I'm not a fan of the Roku remote. The keys tend to stick, and it sucks using that remote with the YouTubeTV app.

However, if you're dead set on a budget TV with Roku built-in, this is a good deal.

You may want to cross shop this TV against a 55" Insignia. I have a seven year old Insignia 40" TV in one of my bedrooms, and I find the picture quality to be pretty good overall. The OTA tuner is also above average. When I bought my Insignia, Roku was the native smart TV app. I am unsure if that's still true today.

[fairbankshockeypuck]

I have been really happy with my 32 inch Hi Sense and just picked up a Philips 32 inch that was also ROKU ready...running Direct TV stream, over the air antenna, and PLUTO TV..I am a simple man LOL caus thats all I want and need...will agree the keys seem to stick as they jump over channels from time to time and have to skip back.....

[Taco]

I do have a Roku box but it would free up an HDMI port plus a bigger screen would be nice. I also have a full HDMI port expander.

[Willie108]

I bought a 32" TCL TV about a month ago, to use in my living room as a secondary TV. I'm happy with it so far.

[teetoppz28]

I do have a Roku box but it would free up an HDMI port plus a bigger screen would be nice. I also have a full HDMI port expander.

How many HDMI ports do you need??

[Taco]

I do have a Roku box but it would free up an HDMI port plus a bigger screen would be nice. I also have a full HDMI port expander.

How many HDMI ports do you need??

I need them for Dish Network, Roku, FireTV stick, Chromecast, and Blu-Ray player.

[Taco]

So I picked up the TV I linked to above yesterday. It's really great! Coming from a 720p TV, this is a massive upgrade. All that said, do HDMI cables really make the difference? Mine are old. I just ordered an HDMI 2 cable.

[billmich88888]

there are cheap , remote controlled HDMI switchers available that would solve your HDMI capacity issues.

I have a tv with only 2 HDMI, and I have cable box, blu-ray player , chromecast, and a trusty old DVD recorder -
This has worked wonders:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VW ... UTF8&psc=1

[Taco]

Well, I decided I am returning the TV and get a non 4K TV, such as the Hisense 43" Full HD TV. I mostly watch older content and it looks like shit on 4K. There just isn't enough 4K content out there and I think it's a long ways off from being mainstream.

[MWmetalhead]

It's not the fact the TV is 4K compatible that is causing the old content to look poor; it just looks poor on the particular model of TV you purchased (it's a budget model, so you're not going to get high end performance).

I have a 4K TV in my living room, and old content looks better than any prior TV I've owned.