Best TVs - review

thanks for that ,will be interested to see how the series 8 performs.

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77-inch, 8K and $35,995 RRP - check out one of the most expensive TVs we’ve ever reviewed:

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I think I would still prefer a car. At least it has real 3D, infinite pixel imagery through the windows as one travels around the countryside.

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A TV for the price of a vehicle which, unlike the vehicle, probably cannot be fixed at an acceptable price if the main PCB fails.

I don’t need to read the article to vote.

image

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You get to take it home after the review is finished? :slight_smile:

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From the review:


our home broadband network is only just capable of streaming 4K.

Maybe where the reviewer lives, but most of us cannot even get that!

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I really like the disclaimer published at the bottom. It clearly outlines why and how, Thank you CHOICE for putting it so clearly.

" Accepting product for review

The TV reviewed here is a loan product supplied by the company and not purchased. Occasionally CHOICE has chosen to accept one off loans when we feel you want to know about a product that is unique or significant but not within our product testing budget to purchase. CHOICE continues to act on member feedback and will continue to accept one-off loans for large TVs over 75-inches (because you ask as to test these products) even though we could not justify spending over $35,000 of your money (CHOICE is funded only by our members) for a TV."

A small spelling mistake I noticed “you ask as to test these products” probably is meant to be “you ask us to test these products”.

Now to price and function, we in our family could never justify that cost just to have a big screen with 8K. We could do so much more for us and those we help support through charity donations with that money and in so doing bring some help to those who suffer from a lack of even basic necessities. But that is our view and I and we as a family realise there are many differing opinions out there. I am sure eventually prices will come down as more of these become more “everyday” items just as the prices of PCs have dramatically decreased since their first appearances.

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Products like this possibly should be loan models. 
otherwise Choice’s limited budget would disappear quickly.

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I agree but previously the disclaimer on loaners had not been so well laid out as this now has. Good to see and good to have these reviews.

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Reading the review, my scepticism of the value was overcome. There is actually an end point to all this large screen high definition 8K monitor nonsense.

Politely I will not call it a TV as the best performance does not come through the tuning of broadcast content.

The best can only be viewed using high speed internet streaming, Blu-ray content, or a quality gaming console/PC.

So one day into the future the promise of 8K may deliver. That’s when we can all have a 77” display of such capabilities for a more modest and affordable $1,000. Not that there is a lot wrong with today’s $1,000 offerings.

I suspect until then our current monitor with Smart TV tuner will do just fine. Likely in dumb monitor mode. It will also be more than adequate for the Full HD media content no longer broadcast. Instead only available over the internet. Hope our 12Mbps can keep up.

Back in the late 1990’s when the first large screen plasma TV’s hit the market I recollect HM had store models with price tags of $40k with very average performance/specs by today’s norms. It is interesting to see what the grandkids have to look forward to.

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I recall seeing some large TV’s at Myer in the early flat screen days at around $20,000.

Analogue models for around the price of a car. Now totally obselete but the car may still be useable.

It certainly confirms the old saying that “Fools rush in where angels fear to thread”.

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Glad you commented this, @Fred123, I remember seeing a PLasma screen which was maybe 32cm or possibly 43
 no bigger
 and it was $25,000 at Hardly Normals. And generating a ton of heat. UGH. I was still using a 14” CRT at the time.

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I feel we have been stitched up: the correct quote is “Fools rush in where angels fear our Fred”.

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Great comedy is often the genius of two very different characters.
Dean Martin and a Jerry Lewis
Abbot and Costello (the original duo)
Graham Kennedy and and Bert Newton
Roy Slaven and HG Nelson

Might have to add two more memes to the list? :rofl:

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I wish :joy:

I could never fit this in the house anyway.

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Being in the market to update a smaller bedroom TV it seems two issues are not front and centre in reviews. One being how up to date the manufacturers keep their proprietary apps stores (when applicable), and many reports Samsung displays ever more intrusive advertisements that cannot be completely disabled.

I was gravitating toward an LG until I saw a trend of comments that compared LG apps/store quite unfavourably against Samsung, then found comments about Samsung displaying advertisements, then looked at Android TVs that seem to be mostly 2nd or 3rd tier, and then my head started to ache.

Maybe these facets could be addressed in more depth for future reviews and a proper mention in the buyers guide?

The gold standard as mentioned in other topics is to use ‘another device’ (eg a PC or tablet or even phone) for the ‘heavy lifting’ and use the TV as a display. Yet when one buys a TV there should be minimal expectations in functionality and support that work at least as advertised if not quite as expected.

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This is but one example of the problem of buying a package where there are several components provided by more than one vendor. In the case of the smart TV we have hardware, OS, an app suite and many streaming services. Typically you will need the hardware and software of three or four providers to work together correctly to get a program on the screen. There may be dozens of entities involved altogether.

The maker of the hardware advertises all the benefits of the package but will generally only take responsibility for the hardware. In some cases diagnosing the cause of a problem is difficult and getting the provider of that component to admit responsibility and take action is even more difficult. And then we have the issue of one component being upgraded breaking another component.

It is not that the overall task is too complex to be done effectively, it comes about for the same reason many computer failures do; failure of coordination of components and sufficiency of and adherence to standards. These are political not technical failures. The smart TV is still back where the PC was a generation ago.

The solution you mention is to disaggregate the mess so that you can more readily determine where problems lie and who is responsible. The trouble is that cuts across what many people wanted (and thought they would get) when they bought the smart TV, an integrated one-box turnkey solution.

Consumer legislation is way behind the technical advances that have enabled this class of product leaving the buyer to diagnose the nature of the problem and to attempt a solution. Many are just not equipped to do this due to lack of time or expertise and even if a knowledgeable person has time to devote to it they may still be stuck in a dead end where ‘nobody’ is responsible.

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Fortunately we never saw any on our ~10yo Samsung, but have just purchased an LG 109cm from the Choice recommended models. Just checking through the menus and see you can limit tracking related to ad targeting, but there is no way to stop the ads from appearing, although I haven’t spotted any so far (since yesterday afternoon), but have mainly only used tuning and settings menus. Searching for microphones and cameras, and covering them is the next task.

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I am not so concerned about identifying the source of the mess as to highlight to unsuspecting buyers it exists, and which companies are doing better or worse managing it, or pretending to manage it, or not making much or any effort to manage it.

I suspect that is the only text in the templates most of our lawmakers use, and they just build legislation atop it.

I suspect that was the first one I focused on and remain focused on. Please add your satisfaction survey after you feel comfortable you know the products ins and outs. Choice comments web site for the wider audience, or a PM.

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Yes, I plan to put some thoughts down about it in the Choice review comments in a week or 3.

Initial thoughts - picture and sound quality noticeably better than the Samsung, and less prone to picture and sound breakup and loss, and associated loud noises due to our extremely weak signal*.

*Antenna pointed almost opposite to tower direction, to receive signal bounced off the top of a ridge a few km away, due to 150m high ridge immediately behind the house concealing the ~25km distant tower.

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