My TV Has Died, Recommendations Please

[peanut]

Following the untimely death of my TV I'm having to look for my first smart TV min 43" screen.
I want to spend as little as possible but obviously want quality.
I've found a Samsung on JL website for £349 which seems ok?
Any tips or advice you have would be appreciated.
Thanks folks.

[Jungle Jane]

We have Samsung,they’re good,you could go pc world check out the picture & sound quality each tv might be different,that’s what we did & chose Samsung

[Mark Rand]

Haven't had a television set for 25 years, don't miss it. That'd be my recommendation.

[Plot70]

We got rid of ours 14 years ago. It was spending too much time switched off.

[Nicos]

Definitely go and look at the actual screens . I was interested in one a few years ago - can’t remember what it was but just looking at the screen made me feel queasy - turned out it had a slightly curved surface.

[burnie]

We are watching less and less tv, I watch things on the pc from youtube, you get to choose what you want to watch and there is such a huge range of things to look at, if our tv packs up we may bin the tv/sky(so long as my wife can find a way to watch Strictly that is.........................

[Andraste]

Hi Peanut

We replaced our TV a few years back with an ElectriQ model - 40 something inch smart TV. I'd never heard of ElectriQ before buying but the price was right & we're really pleased with it. It won't turn your lights on or do your dishes but it's got all the features we need & a few we've never used on top.

We're planning on getting a bigger model for the main room around Xmas time and moving the existing TV to the bedroom (although I'm not convinced we'll watch much TV upstairs - maybe cold winter weekend mornings...). Prompted by your question, I had a very quick scout and there's a 55" ElectriQ available via appliancesdirect.co.uk for £307.97 plus delivery (either £9.99 for standard 3-4 days, or £14.99 for next day/Saturday delivery).

NB I can't vouch for the seller website as I can't remember where we bought ours from.

@Burnie: with a Smart TV you can watch Youtube & BBC without needing Sky - you just need a broadband connection. Ours has built in Freeview which I think most Smart TVs have these days.

We binned off Sky a while back because we feel they're no longer competitively priced. We were tempted to upgrade to SkyGlass but after looking I feel they're really taking the michael with that idea - you could buy 2 TVs for what they're charging & not be locked in to subscribing to all the Sky gubbins on top for the next 12-24 months.

If we particularly want to watch something we use 'Now TV' to buy the Sky channels we want month-by-month rather than having to lock-in to an 18/24 month Sky subscription (most handy during the Ashes Test or Champions League for example).

We picked up an Amazon Firestick for about £30 quid & have found that really good & fairly straightforward to use - you don't have to pay any subscription fee after purchase. We personally decided to also subscribe to AmazonPrime as we order from them frequently so get free fast deliveries as well as the TV content but there's no obligation to do that.

[peanut]

Hi Peanut

We replaced our TV a few years back with an ElectriQ model - 40 something inch smart TV. I'd never heard of ElectriQ before buying but the price was right & we're really pleased with it. It won't turn your lights on or do your dishes but it's got all the features we need & a few we've never used on top.

We're planning on getting a bigger model for the main room around Xmas time and moving the existing TV to the bedroom (although I'm not convinced we'll watch much TV upstairs - maybe cold winter weekend mornings...). Prompted by your question, I had a very quick scout and there's a 55" ElectriQ available via appliancesdirect.co.uk for £307.97 plus delivery (either £9.99 for standard 3-4 days, or £14.99 for next day/Saturday delivery).

NB I can't vouch for the seller website as I can't remember where we bought ours from.

@Burnie: with a Smart TV you can watch Youtube & BBC without needing Sky - you just need a broadband connection. Ours has built in Freeview which I think most Smart TVs have these days.

We binned off Sky a while back because we feel they're no longer competitively priced. We were tempted to upgrade to SkyGlass but after looking I feel they're really taking the michael with that idea - you could buy 2 TVs for what they're charging & not be locked in to subscribing to all the Sky gubbins on top for the next 12-24 months.

If we particularly want to watch something we use 'Now TV' to buy the Sky channels we want month-by-month rather than having to lock-in to an 18/24 month Sky subscription (most handy during the Ashes Test or Champions League for example).

We picked up an Amazon Firestick for about £30 quid & have found that really good & fairly straightforward to use - you don't have to pay any subscription fee after purchase. We personally decided to also subscribe to AmazonPrime as we order from them frequently so get free fast deliveries as well as the TV content but there's no obligation to do that.

Thank you so much for your recommendation Andraste I've shopped with Appliancesdirect before and they're fine. I I will check out the make you said. Thanks again

[Vince G]

Thank you so much for your recommendation Andraste I've shopped with Appliances direct before and they're fine. I I will check out the make you said. Thanks again

Top advice here!

Me and Mrs G bought a Smart TV when they were a fairly new idea and it's still going strong, a Samsung. I recently renegotiated my Sky contract and the very helpful chap said don't get Skyglass. It might well be good in the future but for now it has so many issues / teething problems. This from a Sky employee! My problem with it is that it bends you further over the Sky barrel, once you've got one you're in too deep...

[peanut]

Top advice here!

Me and Mrs G bought a Smart TV when they were a fairly new idea and it's still going strong, a Samsung. I recently renegotiated my Sky contract and the very helpful chap said don't get Skyglass. It might well be good in the future but for now it has so many issues / teething problems. This from a Sky employee! My problem with it is that it bends you further over the Sky barrel, once you've got one you're in too deep...

Can either of you lovely Samsung owners set my mind at rest Jungle Jane Vince G? I've been looking at Samsungs, the lower price range and some reveiwers complain there is no freeview so they can't watch live bbc, itv etc. Have they just set up their TV's wrong? Or do all channels have to be accessed through apps? I'm a bit confused and as I only really watch the bog standard freeview channels this would be a deal breaker for me. Many thanks

[MelanieSW]

Can either of you lovely Samsung owners set my mind at rest Jungle Jane Vince G? I've been looking at Samsungs, the lower price range and some reveiwers complain there is no freeview so they can't watch live bbc, itv etc. Have they just set up their TV's wrong? Or do all channels have to be accessed through apps? I'm a bit confused and as I only really watch the bog standard freeview channels this would be a deal breaker for me. Many thanks

The thing with Freeview is that you need an aerial; if you have that already your good. Smart TVs afaik usually come with Freeview Play, which bundles in the various apps (BBC iPlayer, All4 etc). But in order to have the programme guide that easily allows you to see what's on right now and have the classic linear TV experience, you'll again need an aerial.

Although there are currently plans underway by the public service broadcasters for a free service called Freely, which would offer something like the Freeview linear experience but via broadband streaming. So you may want to wait for that?

[Andraste]

Hi Peanut,

I wonder if these links might help:

freeview.co.uk/help/categories
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/compare/...0to%20use%20it

Edited to add: I just asked OH as I know we haven't got a Freeview aerial and he understands how these things actually work better than me. He says that's 'cos we don't use the Freeview bit, just the Smart TV/internet streaming and watch everything through apps (proving you don't have to understand it to use it, and apps can't be too hard to negotiate if I never noticed lol).

He says you can get 90% of the standard Freeview channels via Apps e.g. we watch live BBC on the BBC app not just old shows. Without using Freeview and only using apps like we do, there are some channels you might have to subscribe to through a paid-for app e.g. Discovery.

As MelanieSW explained, if you don't want to watch via Apps then you would need to have a Freeview aerial. However, I'm guessing your knackered TV wasn't a Smart TV from what you've said, so I'm thinking you might already have a Freeview box and aerial? If that is the case there's apparently no reason why you couldn't connect those to your new Smart TV if you wanted to as long as it's got the right hole to stick it into.

OH says (a little bit smuggly but nevertheless) that the only reason for having Freeview built in to a Smart TV is for people who already had Freeview before and don't want to get rid of it - or if you live in the wilderness where your internet is super slow. So really the only real advantage I can grasp of a new Smart TV having built in Freeview is you wouldn't need to dust the Freeview box any more

[Vince G]

Can either of you lovely Samsung owners set my mind at rest Jungle Jane Vince G? I've been looking at Samsungs, the lower price range and some reveiwers complain there is no freeview so they can't watch live bbc, itv etc. Have they just set up their TV's wrong? Or do all channels have to be accessed through apps? I'm a bit confused and as I only really watch the bog standard freeview channels this would be a deal breaker for me. Many thanks

Honestly I'm not sure peanut. I've always had Sky and negotiate the best deal I can with them, so I don't really know enough about Freeview to be able to comment

[Jungle Jane]

Most smart tvs have freeview built in,the people that could only go on the apps probably had internet connection but no aerial. When the tvs plugged into the aerial you can tune in the channels,there’s quite a few & radio stations. The apps appear when you press a button on the remote control,they’re hidden until you want them. If you have no internet the tv freeview will still work but the apps need internet.