My 14 yo 60" Panasonic TV went kaput yesterday

[jcam222]

Setting cost aside an OLED is the ticket. They have come me down a lot and many now come with burn in protection. I will say I bought a Hisense QLED w/ full array dimming and mini LED. It closely rivals OLED without burn in risk. The full array dimming and mini LED are far superior to the regular 4K I had in th bedroom before.

 

[normanaj]

If you're using your TV for OTA channels DO NOT get a smart TV you will be disappointed as all smart TVs regardless of brand integrate broadcast channels into their "plus" services now. Use a "dumb" TV with a streaming device and save yourself a major headache.

 

[Hijack73]

My eyes are so bad I can't see any difference in a $15,000 or a $450 TV - though I do not like Vizio TV's - peoples skin tones (and especially the lips) just look weird. Doesn't matter which Vizio or what show, every Vizio I've ever laid eyes on just has that 'what is going on with that dude/dudettes lips' factor for me.

Sucks for shooting, but I'll never need to spend big bucks on a nice TV ;)

 

[Smokin Okie]

I went with the Samsung. And my old Panasonic was a smart tv in its day, but it was nothing like this. Gonna be an adjustment.

My only problem making the transition, this tv does not have an optical audio input. I used that on my old tv to connect my 1990 Kenwood receiver. The only ports I have open now is an HDMI and a USB.

 

[normanaj]

My only problem making the transition, this tv does not have an optical audio input.

Really. I have a Samsung that's less than a 8 months old and it has optical for audio.

Just remember your ota channels will go through Samsung TV Plus which is far from ideal as when it has issues it will affect your ota channels, disconnecting from the net will solve this but then you can't stream. If the Internet goes down completely the Samsung will default to ota unlike say Vizio where you must shutdown wifi or disconnect the ethernet cable to get ota.

Also with the Samsung on occasion you'll see a pop-up on your screen to chat with fellow viewers. This is the Chat Together app which has to be deleted to avoid getting the popup, problem is it redownloads itself on a daily basis so you have to delete it daily,this also applies to Samsung's gaming app Blacknut which so far I've never seen a pop-up from.

Best option is a dumb TV with a streaming device.

 

[JckDanls 07]

LOL>.. I'm still on my 42" Panasonic Plasma Viera... With Directv and OTA... Have no clue how old it is... At least 15 years old ... Never been down off the wall mount ...

I've said before how Old School I am that I don't even own a cell phone... LOL

 

[MJB05615]

I'm using an 11 year old LG 65" every day and works perfectly. The only problem, I cannot get the MLB app as LG and MLB are in a dispute, so had to add a Chromecast to it. The oldest one we have is a Sharp 60" from 2009. Still works well, but takes a few more seconds than newer ones to turn on. I recently got a 60" Samsung at Sam's for $397.00.
Thanks for the info fxsales1959 cleared up a lot of questions I've had.

 

[Smokin Okie]

LOL>.. I'm still on my 42" Panasonic Plasma Viera... With Directv and OTA... Have no clue how old it is... At least 15 years old ... Never been down off the wall mount ...

I've said before how Old School I am that I don't even own a cell phone... LOL

My Panasonic lost the picture, the screen went black. But it still had audio. There's was nothing I could do to bring it back.

I knew it was gone.

 

[Winterrider]

Samsung fan. Sony has great pictures but I did not care for the price.
Bought a 55" Phillips about 4 yrs ago on a Black Friday deal ( wasn't even looking for TV ) to replace a smaller 32" for the basement. Actually pretty impressed with the picture for $297

 

[TNJAKE]

85in Samsung QLED in the living room. Bought last year for around $1500 at Sam’s. Has a great picture. Same tv but 65in in our bedroom. Both have been great and we use fire sticks. All 4 kids have 55in Roku tvs. Good pictures but hate the Roku platform

 

[Fueling Around]

Ok OP got a TV, but adding opinions for other shoppers

Went TV shopping late last year in Florida. Found a very knowledgeable person at Costco.
He found all the LCD screens are made by Samsung and LG.
We ended up getting a Sony (screen made by Samsung) as their put more into the stock sound systen than Samsung. Price was very good. Very impressed with both sound and screen quality. It was only a 55" (largest that fit in the Buick) for around $500. First time in 35 years I have paid less than $1,000 for a TV and the first one was a monstrous 27" NEC back in 1985.
Here in MN we have a 10+ year old Visio and the the screen quality has always annoyed me with darker scenes. The built in Chrome is the old style which completely sucks. We are happy with Roku sticks, but the Visio fights it. The Visio is also the cheap out version that is a monitor only and no OTA broadcast reception.
Watch the options and features

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

We also have a 82" Samsung that is over 5 years old now. It works great.

On my computer I have(had) a TCL 50" that just died yesterday from water getting in the back of it. I play Red Dead Redemption 2 in 4K 120H and it has been so good I just ordered a 55" to replace it. I only went up to a 55" because it was cheaper than the 50".

 

[tpc74]

I have a Vizio uhd and qled. 50 and 55 inch. Honestly can’t tell the difference between the 2 or the old led lg 55 I have in the basement. Buy what’s cheap.

I got a 20 percent coupon from Meijer one day…the ones that spit out of the register as you check out. 20 percent off 1 electronics item.

So that’s when I bought the 55 qled. Was on sale for 399 from 599. Used the 20 percent off on it. Great deal.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I went with the Samsung. And my old Panasonic was a smart tv in its day, but it was nothing like this. Gonna be an adjustment.

My only problem making the transition, this tv does not have an optical audio input. I used that on my old tv to connect my 1990 Kenwood receiver. The only ports I have open now is an HDMI and a USB.

You should be able to get an optical audio adapter.

 

[Winterrider]

85in Samsung QLED in the living room. Bought last year for around $1500 at Sam’s. Has a great picture. Same tv but 65in in our bedroom. Both have been great and we use fire sticks. All 4 kids have 55in Roku tvs. Good pictures but hate the Roku platform

View attachment 700652

My neck would get sore looking from side to side trying to take all the action in

 

[noboundaries]

Sony enthusiast here.

Here's our TV story. I had a little 12" B&W TV left over from my uni days when I got married and deployed in the Navy. I came home from an 8 month deployment, slept for 18 hours straight, fixed dinner, and we turned on the TV to watch while eating. As we sat there in silence, I said "WTH are we doing?" I turned off the TV and tossed it in a closet for years. Then the kids were born. Time to buy a new TV. We agreed we'd only ever own one at a time.

1st TV: 1984. RCA 19". Best color available for our budget.

2nd TV: 1993. Sony 32" from Best Buy when the RCA lost color balance. The Sony was a CRT and was HUGE! Weighed a ton, too.

3rd TV: early 2000's. Sony 48" HDTV from Costco. The 32" Sony was still working fine, but we wanted a 1080p flat screen. It is still working every day. When it dies, a Sony OLED will replace it, probably from Costco.

3 TVs in 40 years? We're getting our money's worth.

 

[zwiller]

You should be able to get an optical audio adapter.

+1. All sorts of adapters for this stuff now.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2959917756...LWbJL1/rVPyye6yLZbDXX83T64zh|tkp:BFBM1s75v5dk

 

[Smokin Okie]

You should be able to get an optical audio adapter.

+1. All sorts of adapters for this stuff now.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/295991775659?itmmeta=01J2XZYCX7PHMC2D1ZMR6X8E7C&hash=item44ea7c11ab:g:FXUAAOSwPQxlLmIF&itmprp=enc:AQAJAAAA4BLOmW8e8EzWPOd6XltBR/7JNFoeG/oTrWn6wJXqzn6heID/D62xwE49ojBd+N7KRGzB8G9JkeMO1Efvvq9+4goZiLcSGZ92FK4TFFSwHLoIXLOOQfKdr6uZ1+OlF4Md7zbshpVLT8QYMPh0RViZBVBLnuOSQCEC+cgzsN2hJ4QA5K155WhEepQB7L1fNTjt8xiV+95PUQcRjC7J+iaue53mpOOvP3F3YUf1zM9o64KNzKpt9secMe8cXBXC9GRo9CCIRo2JjY/qY8g5LWbJL1/rVPyye6yLZbDXX83T64zh|tkp:BFBM1s75v5dk

My old tv had an optical out that I adapted to analog and could run the tv through my stereo system.

But I don't think this tv has an audio out, unless I can use HDMI or USB ?

 

[BigW.]

HDMI will be your best plan.

 

[normanaj]

My old tv had an optical out that I adapted to analog and could run the tv through my stereo system.

But I don't think this tv has an audio out, unless I can use HDMI or USB ?

If you want to run the sound from your TV to what I'm assuming is an older stereo system you could use component cables. If you're stereo system accepts HDMI or USB then you're all set.

All newer TVs as far I can tell have an optical in/out port. You might want to look again.