What 43inch TV?

[Billyboy294]

Any experts on TVs out there. I am considering buying a 43inch TV and I am looking at two ,

 

LG 43LJ500T at around 10,000baht and a TCL 43S62 at around the same price.

Anyone got any opinions on which would be better.

[Hallmark]

I bought an LG 40" TV 9 years ago and it's still working perfectly today. 

[Kahoy]

Does it need to last? Buy a Japanese brand. Sony, Panasonic Toshiba

[Garzan]

Whichever one has the most HDMI ports. :-) That's the area I find most lacking on my Samsung 3D 46" (and btw, IMO "3D" is a waste of money on a television), I currently have three ports, and four things I want to use on the TV. 

They're probably both good televisions. Perhaps the question is do you want to buy Korean, or Chinese? For myself, I tend toward Korean electronic; my TVs are phones are Samsung. But, China is an up and coming economic power. 

[Scuba+]

Have they both got "Smart TV"?
Its worth getting a Minix TV box separately for around 6k fully loaded.

I bought a Sharp 40" TV recently, I'm happy with it but volume could be better so maybe opt for the one with better speakers. Also the Sharp has no buttons on the TV at all, so if the remote breaks i can't even use TV buttons, I'd need to order another remote

[Garzan]

Yeah, if there's a plan to get an android tv box (the "smart" function), then any sort of smarts on the TV are pretty much bypassed. I've got a Minix box on one of them, and a Windows 10 PC going into another one. Both are Samsung's version of "Smart TV" and I never, ever use them for that. Even though I paid extra for the smarts, all the "smart" stuff is done on the PC or the Minix box. The TV portion is just a dumb display. :-) 

I put a Chromecast on the living room TV, so now I can tell my Google Home Mini speaker, "Hey Google, turn on/off the TV" and it does. I can use voice to play YouTube stuff via voice commands, but I'd still need the remote to change input source to go from the Chromecast to the TV box, or to the Xbox. You're pretty much screwed with a current TV if the remote breaks. 

[petermik]

No brainer LG......TCL shite

[Lok Jit]

You will want to kick yourself after buying a TCL

[Billyboy294]

The TCL is Smart. I dont think the LG is. I have a Minix box.

[davidge]

When looking for a TV:

1. Panasonic;

2. LG.

[seans]

I think the TCL has a 3 year warranty in Power Buy 3rd floor Central Festival

The LG has 1 year

 

[Scuba+]

The TCL is Smart. I dont think the LG is. I have a Minix box.

If you plan on using a Minix box you won't need smart TV functionality anyway so LG would be ok

[MF-AJ]

LG and samsung are the best is my opinion. If they are new and 1080p or better they should both be smart tvs. Make sure its LED or QLED and they should have at least 2-3 hdmi ports minimun and a couple usb ports. 

[Billyboy294]

16 hours ago, Garzan said:

Whichever one has the most HDMI ports. :-) That's the area I find most lacking on my Samsung 3D 46" (and btw, IMO "3D" is a waste of money on a television), I currently have three ports, and four things I want to use on the TV. 

They're probably both good televisions. Perhaps the question is do you want to buy Korean, or Chinese? For myself, I tend toward Korean electronic; my TVs are phones are Samsung. But, China is an up and coming economic power. 

LG has 2 HDMI and 1 USB; the TCL has 3 HDMI and 2 USB. It is Smart, the LG is not.

[Scuba+]

LG has 2 HDMI and 1 USB; the TCL has 3 HDMI and 2 USB. It is Smart, the LG is not.

2 HDMIs and 1 USB are more than enough

[Garzan]

13 minutes ago, Billyboy294 said:

LG has 2 HDMI and 1 USB; the TCL has 3 HDMI and 2 USB. It is Smart, the LG is not.

The "Smart" or "not Smart" really is not an issue. My opinion is that in the long run, most people end up getting a TV box that runs Kodi or Plex to do the "Smart" stuff, which makes paying for that function on the TV a waste of money. At that point, your TV is a dumb display for the TV box/laptop/PC. All the "smart" is done on the other box and none of it on the TV.

For HDMI, my own rule of thumb is to get as many as possible. For me, I thought three would be enough, but I find myself one short for what I want for my own livingroom. For my bedroom TV, I think I can get by now and in the future with two (android tv box, Chromecast). The more HDMI you can get the more future-proof your TV is. But, it also depends on how much of a gadget guy you are. I enjoy exploring new technology, but not everyone does. :-)

[Garzan]

7 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

22 minutes ago, Billyboy294 said:

LG has 2 HDMI and 1 USB; the TCL has 3 HDMI and 2 USB. It is Smart, the LG is not.

2 HDMIs and 1 USB are more than enough

For you. :-) Not even remotely enough for me. 555

[Scuba+]

For you. :-) Not even remotely enough for me. 555

Yes, I'd say 2 is enough for most people unless you are pretty techy and want additional devices attached. A TV box is the most important one

[Garzan]

So another thing to look for would be HDMI-CEC (by whatever name the TV manufacturer you select calls it. When your TV has it, and the device you plugged into the HDMI port has it, it lets magic happen.

For example, I have a Samsung TV with HDMI-CEC (Samsung calls it Anynet+) and my Samsung Bluray player also has HDMI-CEC. When the wife turns on and puts a dvd in the dvd player, the dvd player talks to the TV via the HDMI cable. It turns on the TV, and selects the proper input source for the TV, all automagically. It cuts way down on the "Honey, can you set up this movie for me?" queries a lot. I've got a somewhat technophobic friend that the capability would also help, but I'm not sure he'd spring for anything other than the least expensive model available. 

While you certainly don't need to have HDMI-CEC, if you're shopping for a new TV, it certainly is a handy thing to have. LG calls it SimpLink. I don't know what TCL might call their version. It would be nice if manufacturers would call things by their generic name, but marketing needs a hook. :-) 

[Billyboy294]

Thanks for all the replies.

I have been looking at them both closely over the past few days (they were almost adjacent to each other in Powerbuy ) and could not see any difference in picture quality and tonight got  the salesman to show me the remote  and  how to work the Smart TV.

So decided for educational purposes to update,  and go with the TCL Smart TV. 

I already have a 40 inch Samsung about 5 years old but still works well after a recent major repair.

 

[Garzan]

Since you bought your television, I've learned some stuff. I didn't realize how big, and growing TCL is. https://www.statista.com/statistics/267095/global-market-share-of-lcd-tv-manufacturers/

They are in the top three television makers in the world (Samsung, LG, TCL) and at least visually on the graph, the only one of the three really growing their market share. Perhaps it's like the old Avis rental car ads, 'We're number [three], we try harder.' 

When I was shopping for a new 32" for the in-laws, I was specifically looking at TCL models. They have some pretty feature rich sets, for not a lot of baht.

So now that it's been a couple of months, how are you liking your TCL?  

[Oukiva]

On ‎27‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 22:16, petermik said:

No brainer LG......TCL shite

On ‎27‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 22:40, Lok Jit said:

You will want to kick yourself after buying a TCL

IMHO you are wrong. TCL are absolutely not shite  ! 

That was probably true till 5 or 3 years ago, but not anymore 

Just have a look to this video; a good analysis of why TCL sell so well.

BTW, as Sean said above, TCL TVs come with a 3 years warranty  while LG, Samsung, Sony and other only offer 1 year. That's a rather good sign of their good quality IMHO.

 

About the sound, it's rather weak on most TVs (not only TCL!) and an opportunity for shops to try to sell you "sound bars" that may cost more than the TV itself! 

TCL must be conscious of this problem because several of their 2018 model come with "the Harman Kardon Sound system" and their sound seem very good, even in the exposition hall of PowerBuy.

 

About the TV Box and the HDMI connector it uses, more and more TVs that are not just "Smart TV" but "Android TV". In fact they have a TV Box already integrated on their mother board. Less devices, wires and connectors needed 

 

About prices, it's just crazy how they are falling while the size of the screen is increasing.

With TCL you today get UHD 4K Smart TV at about 11'000B for a 43", about 13'000 for a 50" and about 19'000 for a nice curved 55" ! 

 

BTW, with so many TVs 55", 65", 75"(or more!) in display, anything below 50" looks like a ridiculously small monitor just good enough as a substitution if ever the big TVs is not available...

[Billyboy294]

I decided it was time I learned to use a Smart TV so got the TLC. I had the option of moving back to an older Samsung 42 inch.

I am very pleased with it and it has more than enough sound. I seldom go above the lower 25%.

I have had an android box for a few years and have been paying 380 bt per month for HDPrime just in order to get rugby on Setanta Sports.  I was surprised to find when i friend came to connect up another box that i did not need it as it was built in and i can get Setanta Sports (and others) on the Smart section of the TLC.  Excellent picture quality..

I have Sophon cable from my Condo and the Sophon channels are now numbered 90XX with the Smart section just normal. Setanta sport is 178 and some movies down at 6 etc. although there are gaps in the numbering.

[Farangkie]

I bought an LG OLED TV , absolute piece of junk , got a full refund after 8 months of problems  , TCL gets very good reviews on here :

https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/best/by-size/40-42-43-inch

[Soi7]

On 4/28/2018 at 05:29, seans said:

I think the TCL has a 3 year warranty in Power Buy 3rd floor Central Festival

The LG has 1 year

 

At Numchai as well

2 years ago I wanted a 32 inch TV that would double as my PC Monitor. Went to see what they had at Big C extra found a Panavox (I never heard of it either) 32 inch for 4590 baht 2 usb ports 2 HDMI as well so cheap could not pass it up and happy I did not spend more for a Brand name as this unit still going strong