I picked up an LG B8 when it hit 899 on ebay. Couldn’t pass it up. The only thing I’m worried about is a black crush issue that arose from an LG firmware update for these 2018 models.
Btw, if you’re feeling like you don’t need the latest & greatest technology, nothing wrong with getting used IF you find something that looks good.
I have a Sony XBR 46” that’s 1080p, that I picked up off CraigsList. It was once the highest model that Sony made. It’s the one with excellent built-in surround sound speakers, and that clear 2” Lexan border around it. Heavy! That model developed a ribbon cable problem where it would experience separation that caused weird screen display issues. Physically pressing on the case could clear up most of it, then it would go away completely once the unit sufficiently heated up (about 15 mins). Someone posted a DIY fix on-line and I was able to do it (just took a few hours). Cost for the TV? $60. In perfect physical condition. It does consume more power than present models, but it’s on for only a few hours a day.
Point is, if you’re gonna stick with older tech like 1080p only, might be worth saving yourself a bundle by buying used (again, if available). Couldn’t hurt to look around.
So it’s up to what you watch really. I know this because I bought the 4K last year thinking everything was going to look super clear and that’s where I learned. So if you watch a lot of Hulu and Netflix and so on, with a 4K everything will look good. However, if you watch a lot of cable television, just be ready that not everything is going to look as super clear as you might have thought it was. It won’t be bad, but it won’t be great either.
My parents bought a high end 1080p display (some Samsung, 46” or 49”) back in 2010. It has amazing image quality and still looks good to this day.
So I wanted to buy a TV this month, and got to looking. 1080p is now the realm of “you can’t afford a real TV, here is the cheapest crap we could assemble”. I ended up narrowing it down to the Sony XBR900F and Samsung Q70R in 65” (both on sale at best buy and elsewhere for 1100 and 1200 respectively). Ended up with the Samsung because Sony’s android TV is a hot mess.
It’s amazing image quality. There’s an LG OLED under $2k as a step up, but I wasn’t ready to commit that kind of cash and I know from my experience with OLED phone screens that if I didn’t get burn-in I’d at least have anxiety about it for the entire life of the television.
Also, use rtings.com for television reviews.
To get rid of the well known Soap-Opera effect all you have to do is turn off “true motion”, “pure motion”, “soft motion” or whatever term your tv manufacturer use.
(Personally I turn off almost every settings that are “supposed” to enhance the Picture)
If you want a great tv I recommend you to look at LG:s OLEDs. In Sweden the 65 inch oled65c9pla costs less than 20 000 sek (less than 2 000 USD) during black friday
Kind regards
This would be my choice also. I recently bought the cheaper version of this with built in Roku and I am pleased.
As the comedian joked, the brightness control on my set doesn’t work. I cranked it all the way up, and it was still the same dumb crap!
Here is one thing I am considering. (EDIT Fixing broken link) Amazon.com
I like that I can get the compatable sound bar and subwoofer. I have a surround sound but its like 15+ years old, has wires and needs its own remote…
When I compared big screens, it came down to QLED vs OLED. The Quantum dot tech, color rendering, and local dimming won me with Samsung’s QLED. And since Samsung bought Harmon Kardon, I paired it with one of their new sound bars with Dolby Atmos. We watch a lot of HGTV, Animal Planet and Nat Geo, and the picture is amazing.
Hate to break it to you, but any LCD TV you buy is going to look that way to you coming from a CRT television. It’s just a fundamental difference in display technology. CRTs have a rolling refresh rate, where the screen is re-drawn line by line over a period of time. On LCD panels, the entire display is more or less refreshed at the same time.
The good news is you’ll get used to it pretty quickly, and it won’t look weird to you anymore.
How do you cope with not having discovery channels?
That ‘smooth motion’ feature gives me the creeps, too! 
I’ve noticed that on some TVs, ‘smooth motion’ is configured for each input source.
For example, disabling it while on HDM1 won’t necessarily disable it on all sources.
Have you ever considered a one remote for all your devices, I have” this one”:Amazon.com and with one button turns the tv-stb-stereo combo on, been using it for last 10 years, just reprogram it as needed with the addition of new equipment.
edit: I think this is their new one.
Two years ago I bought a Samsung 49inch 4k tv for £550. It was complete crap. Blurry picture and washed out colours. I use it with my PC so it looked even worse. My old 1080p Hannspree which I practically got for free is waaaay better. The only good TV I found under £1200 was an LG one which was priced at £799. Funny thing is there was an LG right next to it in the store which was £699 and the difference in picture quality was huge. I don’t know if they’re the same now in a 2019 but I doubt you’re going to get a great 65 inch TV for under $800.
I swear some of their models exist for only two purposes:
- To get sight-unseen sales based on price alone
- To sit next to the models that are actually good for comparison purposes
More specifically for you:
or
Thank me later
I set up the Harmony 650 for my mother. It works pretty well. Trouble is with older components is that ON/OFF is the same signal, just toggled. So, if you’re sloppy with the control, you end up out of sync. I’ve had to field a number of calls from my mother with “TV is on but there’s no sound!”. I’d gotten her this terrific Integra receiver for managing the sound, which does very well. Sounds great. TV is Samsung, though. These days if you don’t get all the same brand then you’ve got complications with universal remote programming.
Its later. Thanks. This is actually a very good place to get TV reviews. Their videos on YT are good too.
.
.
.
In the end I decided to go with the Samsung Z7100 65”. Its a 4k smart tv. Got it for $600. There is actually one that rated much better on the rtings review (the UM7300) and costs $100 LESS, but it has privacy invasion technology hardwired into it so I paid the extra $100 to get the Samsung 
.
I also picked up the R650 sound bar from Samsung for another $200. I chose the 650 because it has the independent center channel which is primarily responsible for dialog (volume of voices vs music) that I can adjust. My sound bar is here, the TV should be on Thursday. I will let you know how it goes…
^ Cool! Good to see you were able to decide on a TV so quickly. I’d take a few weeks to finally decide, I get so overwhelmed with tons of data. Curious about that privacy invasion technology “hardwired.” What’s that all about? I wonder if there’s some way to physically defeat it.
I think it’s LG that has some models with a concealed webcam to monitor the faces that are watching it. And it won’t even work until you accept the service agreement that makes that legal.