Which TV?

[JHC]

I am looking for a new TV, min 50 inch WiFi built in so that I can access www via modem and it must support separate speakers through its own amplifier to give decent sound. At the moment I have a Samsung and the only complaint is the poor sound quality it will run separate speakers but only through a separate amp which I do not want to do. Any suggestions please.

 

[Dorsetmike]

I'd have a look at the LG range, I've had quite a bit of their kit over the years, can't find much mention of audio out except for a digital audio out, but it has web functionality built in. Screen sizes from 49" up to 65". I currently don't have a TV sold my 32"LG about 4 weeks ago, hadn't even been plugged in since I moved last March, so was just taking up space.

 

[teddy]

No good asking me. I still have the 12 inch black and white set I bought 37 years ago.

teddy

 

[JHC]

I had a 42 inch Dick Smith flat screen TV = G9442 106 CM. gave it away 2-3 years ago and that supported separate speakers. I had a look at a few TV on Monday and came away undecided a few were offering a deal on sound bars purchased with a TV ??? Also decided a 60 inch not 50.
I do have a spare amp that I could use but need to get it checked out also a couple of old stereo systems that although not in use could provide an amp just a matter of concealing it at least that is a free option. I see the matter of which is best sound bar or amp is contentious, the speakers that I have are not too bad Technics 3 way so mounted on stands would give better sound than a sound bar I am guessing.
So Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Sony ??????? I think LG or Samsung.

 

[Krummhorn]

I would (personally) stay clear of Sony in the present day. What they made 12, 15 and 20 years ago was far far far superior than the stuff they produce currently. The entire quality control seems to have slipped, and totally the wrong way.

Samsung and LG are better ... and Toshiba is, imho, really great. I have a 32" Toshiba color set I bought in 1998 (new) and have not had one single iota of problem with it, and no service calls either. Also have Toshiba DVD unit as well. Considering Toshiba tablet (for musicians) currently.

 

[teddy]

I have two flat screens and the Samsung is the best. Also the speaker quality is far superior to most makes. No booming

teddy

 

[JHC]

Well my old amp is out one channel so not worth fixing, may yet finish up with a sound bar but it must be a good one, I understand one manufacturer is now building their TV onto a sound bar, at last they are listening to the consumers.

 

[Krummhorn]

I have two flat screens and the Samsung is the best. Also the speaker quality is far superior to most makes. No booming

teddy

My 19" flat screen PC screen is Samsung. Bought it 10 years ago and only problem was the swivel connection broke, so it is propped up with a small block of wood.

On the other hand, we got my wife a Samsung 19" a couple years later and the power switch fell inside the casing. Returned it to the store who wanted to charge me a $50 re-stocking fee. I called the manager over and asked why they were going to re-stock a damaged item, and he could not understand why they wouldn't re-stock it.
I threatened to call the police and they suddenly backed down on that.

The replacement unit did the same exact thing and we took it back also (round #2 of the re-stocking crap - and I won that one too) and we bought a Dell screen online instead.

 

[JHC]

The replacement unit did the same exact thing and we took it back also (round #2 of the re-stocking crap - and I won that one too) and we bought a Dell screen online instead.

My desk top is DELL with a 24 inch monitor I can't fault DELL at all, and of particular use is the DELL 'restore' that never fails, unlike the MS restore which does not even compete.

 

[Krummhorn]

I'm on my 2nd Dell PC - latest one bought in late 2010 and no problems at all with it. Had the 19" flat screen monitor with previous unit.

The former Dell PC mother board crapped after 8 years, but was able to save all the data from the drive onto an external 1 TB drive.

 

[Boot]

Lovin' my two Dell 24" monitors - a 1920 x 1200 and the new one - 2560 x 1440. Should've done this years ago. I can 'see' so much more when using my DAW (REAPER).

We've had a 42" Panasonic plasma for about 10 years and it's still has a beautiful picture - not quite up to your size requirements, however.

 

[John Watt]

oh, oh yeah, I can see what you're typing out here, but c'mon, you guys plug-heads or what?
What-chew sayin', telling me screen widths. Huh!
Something tells me you're just like frustrated fishermen, fibbing about the measurements that got away.
And you're getting away, without saying if your measurements are horizontal, or diagonal.
Maybe I'm too used to American products that use diagonal measurements to advertise.
My 48" Panasonic Cinematic screen is actually 41" wide. It's rear projection type, my favorite.

JHC knows where it's at with viewing, the bigger the better.
He's just too modest to show us the small movie cinema he has on his back lot.
Everytime I access that, I'm seeing beautiful nature shots with lots of trees.

 

[JHC]

Finally the Samsung smart 60 inch (thats diagonal John) has been installed with a Samsung soundbar, had to wind the woofer down on the sound bar it sounded like a boy racer's boom box, even @ only 5mbps I have had no buffering from the www, the pic is superb for TV stations that transmit in HD even a lot of Youtube videos are good, still getting used to it the built in keyboard is a bit tricky and will require a big extra effort on my part, I suppose a wireless key board is the answer they are pretty cheap now.

 

[John Watt]

wow! I never heard of a TV with a keyboard before, but, over here,
a lot of people are using an X-box for games and online.

I got lucky with some Samsung, my last two purchases.
The Flea Market friend next door sold me a bakc-up DVD player, Samsung, for $20 five months ago.
I haven't even tried it.
When I bought an indoor portrait camera, to take photos of my artwork,
a Chinese guy from St. Catharines delivered, and even if he could hardly speak English,
he got excited. He showed me it was a Samsung with photo options,
and he had a cord that would plug it into the DVD player.
That was so nice, catching a free lesson,
when he said he had some personal photos in the camera, I let him keep the chip.

I'm not sure if I'm really seeing all the screen when I'm watching.

 

[JHC]

Does anyone know how much data (G) 1 hour of 4K streaming uses up I believe Netfiix streams in 4K.
Why do I ask ? Well, I can now get the Berlin PO concerts streamed about 40 new concerts per year + hundreds from archive and all pre concert talks and all interviews etc, sure it costs but as I can no longer get to local concerts this will do nicely for approx &NZ300 per year

https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/home

 

[John Watt]

Wow! I just finished looking around that link.
Just like thinking Deutche Grammophone had some of the best quality vinyl recordings,
I'm now seeing the equivalent as a domain.
It would be very interesting to go through five decades of concerts,
and see how performers, or conductors, changed.

You get what you pay for, even if NZ300 per year is unknown to me.

 

[JHC]

I was a bit out John it is $243/yr 30 days $32 and 7 days $16 I now realise that I get a 7 day free trial (as part of the Samsung app) so I will try it out and see how much data it hogs. but when you consider that to attend a concert we were paying about $120 for a couple of tickets plus a trip and a night in a motel about $200, it is not too bad. OK you don't get the atmosphere so it is a compromise as is life.

 

[Krummhorn]

Hi Colin,

I can only supply you with figures we have for the US:

We can select our own "rate" for streaming off our Roku box when accessing Netflix:

Low ... 0.3 Gb/hr
Medium ... (standard def) 0.7 Gb/hr
High ... up to 3.0 Gb/hr for high def and up to 7.0 Gb/hr for ultra high def

I have our system set for "high" as I have a 40 Mb downstream connection on my DSL service. I route the audio through my stereo system. I do not have a HD TV set ... mine is a 1998 Toshiba 32" set that still has a great picture and has not (yet) had the need for any service or adjustment. My next set will be HD, but I'm not going to replace it until this one craps out.

Lars

 

[John Watt]

One of my favorite concert experiences in the early 1990's,
considering Mr. George Benson gave me a backstage lesson in 1970.

I was living in Queenston Heights with my girlfriend, house-sitting for her parents until they retired,
looking out the front window to see the Brock Memorial at Queenston Heights Park. Yeah, all historic.
I was walking her dog, half Collie and half Golden Labrador, a friend at first meeting, a polite animal.
Sitting under an apple tree along the Niagara River, down from the Queenston-Lewiston Generating Station,
I could hear Art Park start to fire up, and the announcer said to welcome George Benson.
Sandy and I sat there, listening to every note, hearing the entire show, reflected across the water.
The Niagara Gorge added it's own, soft echo, the breeze of the moving water skirled it a little,
adding Hendrixian effects, and my heart was at peace.
When Sandy put her paw up on my leg, looking at me, we both had the same look in our eyes.
That's not a ticket anyone can buy.

Too bad you don't live in the big city, for one good reason.
I've stood outside venues to listen to bands far more times than I've paid to get in,
and sometimes that meant hanging out with other musicians who want to jam.

 

[JHC]

@John, Listening to music from outside the venue rings a bell with me, I once heard a discussion on good HiFi set ups in the home and what did it deliver. The man answered “it is like listening to a concert from out side the hall compared to actually being inside the hall, and I agree 100% but then I am classical man and classical music has a range of dynamics right from fff to ppp and you would miss the really soft, quite passages which is another reason I don’t listen to classical when driving.


@Lars, since my earlier post I have reached the figures that you quote ie 7GB per hour of ultra high def (4K) so my 40GB package would have to be increased, in the end I will try the 7 day free package and then decide, in NZ we have to buy packages and pay according to amount of data ??? We have some catching up to do.