TCL Smart TVs = Opinions?

[hk blues]

6 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

Slightly disagree because I think you forgot one thing.  Quality control and testing is key to the final product.  I have read a few articles about this.  In many cases, a manufacturing plant will be building for many clients, and they can customize their QC and testing to meet the clients individual requirements.

For example, a TCL plant might make TVs for other companies (according to what I read yesterday they do).   Each client such as HiSense, Insignia and Vizio (made those up) will give the design and technology specs, AND, the QC / testing requirement.  The client can have QC / testing requirements for all the parts suppliers too.  Those companies with the highest standards for QC and testing will end up with better quality end products, with fewer lemons and failures.  And of course a higher price.

I was on Amazon looking at the TVs and Amazon now has their own branded TVs, with nice prices.  I looked up where they are made:

Reportedly, all the exclusively developed Amazon Fire TV models and other Amazon media devices are made by Foxconn Technology Group, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry.

Probably just bias on my part, but I tend to think Taiwan products are better than Mainland China.

I didn't forget about QC as it's part of the manufacturing process but I suspect the Chinese manufacturers have equivalent QC capability to anywhere in the world (almost) - the only variable is the demands of their customers. When we take into account the size of the market in China it's no surprise they can churn out TVs for a hundred dollars and also no surprise that compromises are made to meet that.  If we stick to TCL they are a major global manufacturer these days, IIRC number 3 in the world - that isn't all down to being cheaper.   

For balance, I bought a 55"Sony a year ago and the ARC connection is very temperamental but works a treat on the TCL.  

Taiwan has a good reputation for electronics for sure but bear in mind Foxconn have 12 factories in China! 

 

[OnMyWay]

12 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Taiwan has a good reputation for electronics for sure but bear in mind Foxconn have 12 factories in China! 

I wonder how they sort that out given the political situation!

[hk blues]

3 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

I wonder how they sort that out given the political situation!

Money has a way of easing such tensions! 

[Heeb]

We bought a 65” TCL almost 3 years ago. It now has vertical lines developing on the left side. I don’t cate for the app interface either

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, Heeb said:

We bought a 65” TCL almost 3 years ago. It now has vertical lines developing on the left side. I don’t cate for the app interface either

That sucks.  Thanks for the info!

[OnMyWay]

6 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

So anyhow, we took the Samsung to the shop this afternoon, and it worked fine there!  We showed him the error message but is was not specific.  He says sometimes they have funny issues due to network issues and that it is best to hard wire the network, so I will.

I played with that thing for a few days and could not get it to work.  Unplugged it and left it several times.  Tried to find a way to reset it, but that required being able to toggle around the menus, and that was what was wrong.  I couldn't move around with the remote or the joy stick on the back.  I have not hooked it up yet, so we will see.  p500 for they 10 minute diagnosis.  p6oo actually, but of course my wife haggled!

Ok, sheepish update.  No longer in the market for a new TV.  The old one is ok.    

Hooked up the TV to test and it acted up again.  My wife said she thought it was the remote.  Nah, that can be it, because it is not working with the toggle switch on the back either.  Then all of a sudden, it started working.

I took several hours doing a deep clean on the home theatre area before I mounted the TV back on the wall.  Turned it on.  Same issues.  Could not control the TV and it was doing crazy stuff.  So my wife takes the remote control that was lying near the TV and tucks it away in the sofa cushion.  TV works fine with the toggle on the back.  Wifey was right.  The remote was throwing crazy commands and the TV couldn't cope.

In the 6 years we have had the TV we have gone through remotes.  The original lasted a few years.  Kids are hard on remotes!  So I ordered a genuine Samsung replacement at the service center, and it was expensive.  I think p2500 or so.  So after a few years it is on it's last legs and I discovered that they have cheap replacements on Lazada and Shopee.  I paid ~150 p for one, and it worked fine.

Until now.  My kids dropped that darn thing so many times, and so did I.  Put it back together several times.  So apparently it got totally whacked out a few days ago and was sending constant signals to the TV and it made the TV go crazy.  My wife picked up on this, otherwise I would still be pulling my hair out!

Just ordered 2 new cheapie remotes.  However, this time they have something new on the market.  Protective silicone covers.  This should help them last longer.  Got bright green and bright blue so we can see the remotes on the black sofas.

Oh well.  It was fun thinking about buying a new TV.  Thanks for all the inputs!

Edited August 18, 2022 by OnMyWay

[Dave Hounddriver]

13 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

Ok, sheepish update.  No longer in the market for a new TV.  The old one is ok.

I did not think I was in the market for a new TV but I just shelled out 50K pesos (CDN equivalent) for a Samsung QLED 4K UHD 55" Smart TV.  Not for me, for my mother.  She bought a similar RCA TV on a Black Friday sale last year and has been complaining about it ever since. So I bought this one for her. Things are getting complicated out there.  Samsung makes about 80 models of Smart TV in the 51 to 59 inch size.  Why?  I have no idea.  And why do they have LED, QLED, and OLED?  And why are the prices ranging from 30K to 100K (PHP) for what looks like the same product.

So how did I decide?  I let my 87 yr old Mum pick the one she thought looked nice.  How do you folks decide?

[Major Tom]

1 hour ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

How do you folks decide?

I always read everything available about the latest brands and models for the product that I'm either replacing or buying for the very first time.

[Kingpin]

2 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

How do you folks decide?

In the US: research every TV made until you find the exact one you want, casually compare prices, place order.

In the Philippines: Check two sellers, abenson.com and SM Appliance, to see the limited selection available, then decide based on those meager selections. And decide fast before it sells out.

Years ago I tried it the first way but in the Philippines: checked all ratings online, then hours, days visiting every mall only to learn that they don't have anything I wanted, they mostly have older models, and everything is overpriced.

The other day  I wanted an 85", couldn't have been easier because there are only about 10 models in the entire country. The desirable half costs way too much, 'the 'cheaper' half were all rated poorly, except for one. Placed order.

 

[hk blues]

12 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I did not think I was in the market for a new TV but I just shelled out 50K pesos (CDN equivalent) for a Samsung QLED 4K UHD 55" Smart TV.  Not for me, for my mother.  She bought a similar RCA TV on a Black Friday sale last year and has been complaining about it ever since. So I bought this one for her. Things are getting complicated out there.  Samsung makes about 80 models of Smart TV in the 51 to 59 inch size.  Why?  I have no idea.  And why do they have LED, QLED, and OLED?  And why are the prices ranging from 30K to 100K (PHP) for what looks like the same product.

So how did I decide?  I let my 87 yr old Mum pick the one she thought looked nice.  How do you folks decide?

I start with the screen size, then to what's available in that size in the store and then which model I prefer - price is always a factor.  In SM Appliance 2 weeks ago we wanted 43" and had a choice of 3 when we narrowed it down to the 2 brands we were interested in based on price - Samsung and LG.  From there it was down to special features - we chose the model we did because it was the 22 model compared to the 21 models.  

I don't buy online as there is simply too much choice which isn't always a good thing.