TCL Smart TVs = Opinions?

[hk blues]

On 8/30/2022 at 3:36 PM, OnMyWay said:

We drop ours a lot!  One of my key duties is to fall asleep in front of the TV, with the remote on my lap.  Then I wake suddenly and stand up.  Crash!  The sound of hard plastic meeting tile floors!  Now, it is Plunk!  The sound of silicone hitting the floor!

My comment was not really aimed at you.  It aimed at all the other members who might need protection for their precious remote!  

Just got my protective cover yesterday - wrong one , no opening for USB cable or solar panel at the back.  So, I had a go at cutting holes to adapt.

Another (correct) one on order as of now! 

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, hk blues said:

Just got my protective cover yesterday - wrong one , no opening for USB cable or solar panel at the back.  So, I had a go at cutting holes to adapt.

Another (correct) one on order as of now! 

My kids!  Aaaarrrgggg! One of them nibbled a hole in the corner of the silicone cover! 

[hk blues]

4 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

My kids!  Aaaarrrgggg! One of them nibbled a hole in the corner of the silicone cover! 

If I send mine, could you get them to nibble a hole about 5cm x 2cm?

[BrettGC]

2 weeks in and the Devant 50" is going great guns.  No complaints so far with the picture or sound.  Whilst the sound isn't Sony standard (they are the best sound on TV's without adding speakers by a longshot - it's their thing thanks to the influence of Sony Music etc) it's as good as the Samsung upstairs.  The Devant came with a soundbar which boosts the quality minimally but volume greatly.

Edited September 10, 2022 by BrettGC

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, BrettGC said:

The Devant came with a soundbar which boosts the quality minimally but volume greatly.

With sub-woofer?

[BrettGC]

1 minute ago, OnMyWay said:

With sub-woofer?

Digital woofer but it doesn't have the equaliser controls to make it truly standout.  I'm sure it's there somewhere in the advanced sound controls but I haven't dug that deep yet.  

[hk blues]

18 hours ago, BrettGC said:

2 weeks in and the Devant 50" is going great guns.  No complaints so far with the picture or sound.  Whilst the sound isn't Sony standard (they are the best sound on TV's without adding speakers by a longshot - it's their thing thanks to the influence of Sony Music etc) it's as good as the Samsung upstairs.  The Devant came with a soundbar which boosts the quality minimally but volume greatly.

I think it's a clever enough marketing strategy by Devant - throw in a "free" soundboard to boost an otherwise average audio performance. Customer gets something for nothing and a better sound and Devant sell more units. Cost of the soundbar is probably 50 dollars so makes sense.

I've toyed with buying a soundboard but accepted wisdom is a cheap one will simply increase volume and a better one will deliver performance but cost around 50% of the TV. I've resisted so far.

[BrettGC]

6 hours ago, hk blues said:

I think it's a clever enough marketing strategy by Devant - throw in a "free" soundboard to boost an otherwise average audio performance. Customer gets something for nothing and a better sound and Devant sell more units. Cost of the soundbar is probably 50 dollars so makes sense.

I've toyed with buying a soundboard but accepted wisdom is a cheap one will simply increase volume and a better one will deliver performance but cost around 50% of the TV. I've resisted so far.

I had a nice home theatre setup back in Australia with Nakamichi surround system.  Nah it wasn't Bang and Ofulsen or Bose but still very nice.  That was about $1500AUD (58kPHP) about 8 years ago so yeah, reasonably expensive and not worth putting on what we have here I guess. But having said that, we do play a lot of our Spotify/Amazon music through the TV so maybe worth it after all.  I wish had room for it in the luggage when I moved over here.  It didn't make it to the container either, took pity on a mate and gave it to him. 

Edited September 11, 2022 by BrettGC

[Kingpin]

18 hours ago, hk blues said:

a cheap one will simply increase volume

Compared to TV speakers, even cheap soundbars will sound better in every way, especially bass from the subwoofer.

18 hours ago, hk blues said:

a better one will deliver performance but cost around 50% of the TV.

Depends on the TV, and like with the TV shopping, all you need are Abenson and SM Appliance.

Cheap one, worth it just for the sub - https://www.abenson.com/samsung-hw-t420-xp.html

Better one - https://www.abenson.com/samsung-hw-q990b-xp.html    once you hear an Atmos movie you'll never go back. However you need a TV with eARC which the cheapies won't have. 

Then you have something like this - https://www.abenson.com/sony-ht-s20r.html

Cheap, adds subwoofer, and adds rear speakers. Changes the experience completely and only 13k

 

 

 

[OnMyWay]

3 hours ago, Kingpin said:

Compared to TV speakers, even cheap soundbars will sound better in every way, especially bass from the subwoofer.

Depends on the TV, and like with the TV shopping, all you need are Abenson and SM Appliance.

Cheap one, worth it just for the sub - https://www.abenson.com/samsung-hw-t420-xp.html

Better one - https://www.abenson.com/samsung-hw-q990b-xp.html    once you hear an Atmos movie you'll never go back. However you need a TV with eARC which the cheapies won't have. 

Then you have something like this - https://www.abenson.com/sony-ht-s20r.html

Cheap, adds subwoofer, and adds rear speakers. Changes the experience completely and only 13k

 

I agree.  Back in the USA I had 3 TVs and bought mid-range 2.1 sound bars for 2 of them.  I loved them.  For my main home theater I had a high end surround system.

I think those high end sound bars are bit much, but might be ok for those wanting nice sound with limited space.  I bought a Yamaha AVR and Yamaha speakers (2 front towers, center and 2 rears) for less than some of those, I think.  Added a cheap Konzert sub-woofer and it is fine.