Looking for advice on a new TV: TCL 6 Series vs Vizio P Series or something else? (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

I'd go for Best Buy and opt for their five year in-home warranty, which is about an extra $100. Best Buy will also usually price match Amazon and Target.

 

[Osato]

I'd go for Best Buy and opt for their five year in-home warranty, which is about an extra $100. Best Buy will also usually price match Amazon and Target.

Thanks!!
Still mulling it over.
I could wait for later in the year too.
I don’t see an updated version of this tv coming out from TCL this year.

 

[Hanson]

Best Buy price matched from Costco to bring the price of the P75 down from $1650 to $1500. I ended up cancelling my first order and ordering it again (long story) -- the first time the guy just took the $150 off the price. The second person charged me for the $1650 and then credited the card $150. So you don't have to wait for the set to be delivered if you want to price match, which is what a third person told me, so I hung up with them and called back.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Best Buy price matched Costco???

Remember that Costco gives you the second year warranty for free.

 

[Osato]

Is there a huge difference between the p series and the TCL series 6? Price wise I’m leaning towards the TCL for $800.

https://www.cnet.com/topics/tvs/best-tvs/

I may just continue saving as I’m ahead of my savings goal and could go higher. Just trying to decide if spending double on the Vizio p series?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I was between the Vizio P series and the TCL 6 series, and ultimately, I didn't see anything in the specs or user reviews or professional reviews to justify spending the extra money on the Vizio. I also had heard some troubling reports from a couple people who had worked retail/hardware and who had noted that the Vizios seemed to be brought in to be replaced/needed to be repaired at a higher rate than TCL, although of course that's anecdotal.

Ultimately, I went with the cheaper TCL, but hedged by bet with Best Buy's 5 year geek squad protection plan, which was only an extra $130 for my model. (So the TCL with the Best Buy protection plan was still less than the Vizio without a plan.) I'm usually not an extended warranty guy, but for $130, they were promising in home service and easy replacement should any problems arise, and some people I trust verified that they had had good experiences with that service.

When my LG plasma TV had died, the cost for just getting an estimate for a repair was $150 -- that didn't include any of the work, that was simply the cost of putting it on the bench and taking a look at it. So if it would cost me $150 to get a TV diagnosed in the future, it seemed that Best Buy's $130 for diagnosis and repair was a no-brainer.

I also think this stuff just isn't made to last the way older TVs were... my LG plasma only lasted six years. So if that's going to be the lifespan of a TV these days, for me it made sense to spend less with the idea that it was going to need replacement sooner than I'd like. I think for budgeting TVs these days, you almost need to look at how much you could afford to spend every five years and pick something within that comfort zone, vs looking at it as if it might last ten or twenty years. I was comfortable with the price I paid for the TCL with the idea that it was going to last for five years. If I get more out of it, fantastic, and I'm not going to throw it away when five years rolls around, but that's what I'm expecting the lifespan to be. Not because it's behaving badly or because I have any indication that it won't last, but it just seems like the days of long lasting consumer electronics are behind us.

 

[Hanson]

The reason I bought it at best buy was because they offered 24 months interest free. Made it a lot easier to pull the trigger on a $1500 TV.

The reason I ultimately went with the Vizio was the native 120hz panel, allowing for perfect 24fps playback without the need for pull down or smooth motion, and the better local dimming performance. Even though the TCL has more dimming zones, it didn't perform as well as Vizio on that front. I probably would have stuck with the TCL if Costco didn't drop the P75 to the same price.

 

[Osato]

The reason I bought it at best buy was because they offered 24 months interest free. Made it a lot easier to pull the trigger on a $1500 TV.

The reason I ultimately went with the Vizio was the native 120hz panel, allowing for perfect 24fps playback without the need for pull down or smooth motion, and the better local dimming performance. Even though the TCL has more dimming zones, it didn't perform as well as Vizio on that front. I probably would have stuck with the TCL if Costco didn't drop the P75 to the same price.

So the TCL May have 24fps issues? Also it may have smoothing or motion issues?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I have experienced absolutely no issue with 24fps content or with smoothing or motion. All of the auto-motion and frame interpolation stuff that comes on by default has been turned off on my set. I know in theory, there are benefits to having a 120hz panel over a 60hz panel, but in actual practice, I'm not seeing any troubles with my TCL set. It is the finest television set I've ever owned. It beats my former LG plasma in ever metric I can think of.

 

[Osato]

I have experienced absolutely no issue with 24fps content or with smoothing or motion. All of the auto-motion and frame interpolation stuff that comes on by default has been turned off on my set. I know in theory, there are benefits to having a 120hz panel over a 60hz panel, but in actual practice, I'm not seeing any troubles with my TCL set. It is the finest television set I've ever owned. It beats my former LG plasma in ever metric I can think of.

Thanks Josh! I appreciate it.

I was ready to pull the trigger the other day. But I have decided to keep saving. I’d love to get the player and tv at the same time.
I’m doing a lot of selling on eBay which has gone really well. My goal was having enough by next January and I have around $700 saved at the moment.

So not too much further to go. I set up slickdeals on the lg player and the TCL tv as well.
I also know Black Friday and next January may help with prices too??? Again I’m not in a hurry so I’m trying to balance being patient too.

Target is really tempting with the 5% off and another 5% for record holders.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I totally get the desire to wait. I did some of that too. My plasma died last June, but I didn’t get the TCL until December. I temporarily moved the bedroom TV into the living room until then.

I wanted to be sure I was making the right call, and I also wanted to be sure I was getting the best price. The TCL that I bought didn’t have any special Black Friday pricing, but it didn’t hurt to wait and see. I was able to see what did go on sale for Black Friday, but nothing that would have changed my mind about what I ended up with.

Waiting didn’t get me anything tangible in terms of a better price or different choice, but it did give me the peace of mind knowing that I had made the right decision for me. And that was ultimately worth something.

 

[Osato]

I totally get the desire to wait. I did some of that too. My plasma died last June, but I didn’t get the TCL until December. I temporarily moved the bedroom TV into the living room until then.

I wanted to be sure I was making the right call, and I also wanted to be sure I was getting the best price. The TCL that I bought didn’t have any special Black Friday pricing, but it didn’t hurt to wait and see. I was able to see what did go on sale for Black Friday, but nothing that would have changed my mind about what I ended up with.

Waiting didn’t get me anything tangible in terms of a better price or different choice, but it did give me the peace of mind knowing that I had made the right decision for me. And that was ultimately worth something.

That’s good to know as well.
I looked online for pricing and I believe the 65 series 6 was around $900 on Black Friday.

What I am unsure of is if their is a new model coming in 2019 to replace. I don’t think there will be any changes to the tv I am looking at for 2019.
All the TCL news for 2019 is about their focus on 75” 8k panels...

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Yeah, I’m honestly not sure how much room for improvement there could be with the model I have - seems about as good as you could ever hope for, particularly in this price range.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

The new 2019 low-end Vizios (V and D series, I think) are available now at Walmart and a couple of other places. They're much cheaper than the P series. I know Vizio is ramping up their tech, but haven't seen any reviews yet.

Hopefully, this means the new P, PQ, and PQ-X models will be out soon.

 

[Hanson]

The TCL is better at smooth motion converting 24fps source to 60fps than the Vizio. If smooth motion from 3:2 pulldown is important to you, you should get the TCL.

I'm actually outputting 24fps directly to the TV which bypasses any need for pulldown. That's where the 120hz comes in handy. If this isn't something you're doing, the TCL actually performs better 60fps conversion.

Whether it's a new TV, or graphics card, or whatever, I always think of it like a game of double dutch. At some point, you have to just jump in. Tech always progresses -- the new tech is just around the corner. Then it's here but it's a bit too expensive, Then it hits your price point but there's a new tech just around the corner. You just have to jump in at some point, tech isn't going to stop and accommodate you.

 

[Hanson]

First impressions of the P75-F1:

The picture is a big jump from my M65. Colors pop and the scaling engine does an amazing job. The contrast enhancement from FALD is incredible. The 33% increase in size is awesome. Before the delivery, I started to get worried the set would be too big but it's not.

Where the TV just blows me away is HDR 4K mode. My girls were squealing at how amazing Infinity War looked. You could make out every detail, and even though we've seen the bluray version a dozen times, there were new details that popped out in every frame. It blew past every expectation I had.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Before the delivery, I started to get worried the set would be too big but it's not.

You know better than that!!!!!

 

[Hanson]

I got quite worried that the TV would be so big that it would physically get in the way of our daily goings on. So it was a huge relief that it didn't turn out to be a giant eyesore. I had built it up so much in the anticipation that it ended up being smaller than I imagined and it didn't feel much larger than the old 65" TV. I wasn't disappointed, but I had anticipated more of a, "Holy cow that's huge!" reaction for me, which was the exact reaction elicited from the wife and kids.

And then yesterday I was watching World of Dance and felt myself becoming disoriented. Because, holy shit, 75" is HUGE.

For starters, I have to retrain the way I watch shows. The amount of eye movement and the amount of the screen I can process at one time is different now. The effort made me a bit dizzy. The other thing is that so much more detail is apparent that close ups take on a whole new level of accuracy. I can see every whisker, every hair follicle, every wrinkle, every pore. It's so detailed it's hyper-real -- I don't see this kind of detail in real life because you would have to invade a lot of personal space to get that sort of perspective. I sometimes get lost in a scene because I'm so distracted while cataloging all of the stray strands that couldn't be tamed by hair and makeup. Ultimately, I just have to get used to it. I have traded up in size since I bought my first big screen TV in 1996, a 36" CRT behemoth and always need some time to adjust to the novelty.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

My wife ALMOST talked me into getting a 65". Two things nixed that:

1. My old set was a DLP, and actually 65". It seems like all LCDs are actually 64.5". So slightly smaller. Fuggeddaboudit!

2. The DLP was massive and bulky. A flat 75" on a stand will be wider, but not much higher and probably less overpowering in the room.

 

[Hanson]

I loved my DLP when I got it, changed the lamp like 5 times and used it for almost 10 years. The day I got my first LCD TV it was the biggest leap in display fidelity I had ever experienced. It took my breath away the first time I turned it on and took months before that feeling of awe dissipated. To no longer deal with geometry and convergence issues after 17 years of projection displays was worth the upgrade alone