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Never stop recommending https://www.rtings.com/ https://www.rtings.com/ They cover more and more gadgets but they still do the best TV reviews

bayindirh 4y ago
I've recently chosen my first and only TV in the light of their reviews, and I'm happy and content for getting what I've read so far. Their "continuous reviews" are great. OTOH, TV market has evolved to something bizarre since I stopped watching TV. Now, every big player is rolling out an armada of TVs from low end to high end, and fanboys of these brands fight relentlessly about every itty bitty detail in forums, face to face, etc.. I know, details matter, but nothing is perfect and this bike-shedding is not healthy in my opinion. When I tell the brand and model of the TV I got, some of my friends counter "but brand X's model Y is actually better because..." with flaming eyes and with an instant enthusiasm. No, it's not. I've got the best TV for my needs and budget, and I'm happy. Thank you.
- philliphaydon 4y ago
  People seem to be very passionate about tv Brand’s. I like to look at TVs when I go to the store and personally just looking at them side by side for me visually I would tend to want to pick between LG or Panasonic. But my friend prefers Samsung but it always looks tooooo vibrant to me.
  - Schroedingersat 4y ago
    I just want one without any smart features or preprocessing. Signal in via hdmi, rca, or radio waves. Attempt to reproduce exactly the image the signal describes out with no frames waiting in a buffer or other added latency.
    - philliphaydon 4y ago
      I think a lot of us do. I just want a good image and hook up an Apple TV and a computer. I can’t stand using Android TV. I’ve never seen an example of it not being slow. And with ads now becoming a thing I don’t want it even more.
      - bayindirh 4y ago
        I'm on the same page with you. Actually, I was planning to do the same thing, but the one I got turns on in 2 seconds flat, and there's no feel of lag. It works reasonably snappy, which doesn't make you say "C'mon!". I think it's quite nice. The video processor in that thing is very nice too. I'm using it with out of the box settings, and I don't feel the need to tweak anything, yet. The model I have doesn't have blatant ads (and it's not a Samsung), so I'm a happy camper.
        philliphaydon 4y ago
        I had a Panasonic using the old My Homescreen. That thing was fast. When I moved I sold the TV as the temp apartment had a TV. It was a Samsung TV and omg its is slower than any Android TV Box I've ever tried. Took ~40s before I could use the TV. In Taiwan my father in law has a Sony TV with Android, it's a tiny bit slow, but it's acceptable. There's no Ads on it yet. I'm yet to experience ad's but seems like alot of people are beginning to, makes me worried.
ta988 4y ago
Yeah that's my go to for most hardware too. Got my screen from their recommendations and really happy with it.
causality0 4y ago
Rtings is great for the data they provide, but they can have a but of a blind eye for other problems. For example, Rtings will tell you if a TV has bad contrast or poor audio, but they're not going to mention when the color is so uneven you can see a pattern on solid colors.
waiwai933 4y ago
I generally use Wirecutter for my reviews -- anyone able to, um, compare and review the two?
- onionisafruit 4y ago
  Just poke around rtings.com and you’ll see the difference. It reminds me a bit of what wirecutter was in it’s pre-nyt days before it became a click generator.
  - waiwai933 4y ago
    I have done in the past, but I'm not sure what to make of the differences - let's take wireless keyboards as I'm currently thinking about getting one. If we look at Rtings[1], the first one it recommends is the Logitech MX Keys. On the Wirecutter[2], it first recommends the Logitech K380. To be clear, I've only skimmed both reviews right now. Both go on to recommend the other's first choice as a good alternative pick (the primary difference being whether compact or full-size is better for most people). So that tells me for at least one specific category, they're in agreement. Does Rtings go into a lot more detail about each keyboard? Absolutely. But that isn't necessarily useful to me--part of the reason I use the Wirecutter is so that I don't end up spending days trying to find the perfect item in a category[3]. I read the review, seeing if there are any caveats for its top pick that matter to me, and make a choice based on that. So what I don't want to do when buying something that both review is to read through both reviews, because either: (A) they agree, like on the wireless keyboard, in which case I've wasted a little bit of time, but in the grand scheme of things, it's fine, or (B) they disagree, because now I'm tempted to go through and weigh each detailed point which is something I'm trying to avoid! [1]: https://www.rtings.com/keyboard/reviews/best/by-type/wireless https://www.rtings.com/keyboard/reviews/best/by-type/wireles... [2]: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-bluetooth-keyboard/ https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-bluetoot... [3]: https://xkcd.com/1036/ https://xkcd.com/1036/
    - onionisafruit 4y ago
      I see where you are coming from. Sometimes I feel the same as you where I just want somebody to give me a recommendation and a few pros and cons. Other times I want to deep dive into the review. I think it boils down to how big of a commitment the purchase is.
saxonww 4y ago
It's a good site, but be aware that they don't cover all the TV brands on the market. I don't see Philips or Panasonic on there, for example. The site is based in Quebec and I wonder if they are only reviewing sets that are available in Canada.
- JoshTriplett 4y ago
  Part of how they choose devices to cover (apart from popularity) is by request; if people asked them to cover those brands they likely would.
Rebelgecko 4y ago
Interestingly their "best LED TV" is a Samsung
- TingPing 4y ago
  Because by most measures they make some of the best TVs. The complaints are just about software which nobody does indepth reviews of.
  - jay_kyburz 4y ago
    Yes but, now we know not to trust their ratings. They should review the product entirely, or they are wasting everybodies time.
wolverine876 4y ago
Also Consumer Reports, who do highly scientific tests; have labs, engineers, etc.; and have decades of experience. Also, it's published by a non-profit established to serve consumers.

bayindirh 4y ago

I've recently chosen my first and only TV in the light of their reviews, and I'm happy and content for getting what I've read so far. Their "continuous reviews" are great. OTOH, TV market has evolved to something bizarre since I stopped watching TV. Now, every big player is rolling out an armada of TVs from low end to high end, and fanboys of these brands fight relentlessly about every itty bitty detail in forums, face to face, etc.. I know, details matter, but nothing is perfect and this bike-shedding is not healthy in my opinion. When I tell the brand and model of the TV I got, some of my friends counter "but brand X's model Y is actually better because..." with flaming eyes and with an instant enthusiasm. No, it's not. I've got the best TV for my needs and budget, and I'm happy. Thank you.

philliphaydon 4y ago
People seem to be very passionate about tv Brand’s. I like to look at TVs when I go to the store and personally just looking at them side by side for me visually I would tend to want to pick between LG or Panasonic. But my friend prefers Samsung but it always looks tooooo vibrant to me.
- Schroedingersat 4y ago
  I just want one without any smart features or preprocessing. Signal in via hdmi, rca, or radio waves. Attempt to reproduce exactly the image the signal describes out with no frames waiting in a buffer or other added latency.
  - philliphaydon 4y ago
    I think a lot of us do. I just want a good image and hook up an Apple TV and a computer. I can’t stand using Android TV. I’ve never seen an example of it not being slow. And with ads now becoming a thing I don’t want it even more.
    - bayindirh 4y ago
      I'm on the same page with you. Actually, I was planning to do the same thing, but the one I got turns on in 2 seconds flat, and there's no feel of lag. It works reasonably snappy, which doesn't make you say "C'mon!". I think it's quite nice. The video processor in that thing is very nice too. I'm using it with out of the box settings, and I don't feel the need to tweak anything, yet. The model I have doesn't have blatant ads (and it's not a Samsung), so I'm a happy camper.
      - philliphaydon 4y ago
        I had a Panasonic using the old My Homescreen. That thing was fast. When I moved I sold the TV as the temp apartment had a TV. It was a Samsung TV and omg its is slower than any Android TV Box I've ever tried. Took ~40s before I could use the TV. In Taiwan my father in law has a Sony TV with Android, it's a tiny bit slow, but it's acceptable. There's no Ads on it yet. I'm yet to experience ad's but seems like alot of people are beginning to, makes me worried.

ta988 4y ago

Yeah that's my go to for most hardware too. Got my screen from their recommendations and really happy with it.

causality0 4y ago

Rtings is great for the data they provide, but they can have a but of a blind eye for other problems. For example, Rtings will tell you if a TV has bad contrast or poor audio, but they're not going to mention when the color is so uneven you can see a pattern on solid colors.

waiwai933 4y ago

I generally use Wirecutter for my reviews -- anyone able to, um, compare and review the two?

onionisafruit 4y ago
Just poke around rtings.com and you’ll see the difference. It reminds me a bit of what wirecutter was in it’s pre-nyt days before it became a click generator.
- waiwai933 4y ago
  I have done in the past, but I'm not sure what to make of the differences - let's take wireless keyboards as I'm currently thinking about getting one. If we look at Rtings[1], the first one it recommends is the Logitech MX Keys. On the Wirecutter[2], it first recommends the Logitech K380. To be clear, I've only skimmed both reviews right now. Both go on to recommend the other's first choice as a good alternative pick (the primary difference being whether compact or full-size is better for most people). So that tells me for at least one specific category, they're in agreement. Does Rtings go into a lot more detail about each keyboard? Absolutely. But that isn't necessarily useful to me--part of the reason I use the Wirecutter is so that I don't end up spending days trying to find the perfect item in a category[3]. I read the review, seeing if there are any caveats for its top pick that matter to me, and make a choice based on that. So what I don't want to do when buying something that both review is to read through both reviews, because either: (A) they agree, like on the wireless keyboard, in which case I've wasted a little bit of time, but in the grand scheme of things, it's fine, or (B) they disagree, because now I'm tempted to go through and weigh each detailed point which is something I'm trying to avoid! [1]: https://www.rtings.com/keyboard/reviews/best/by-type/wireless https://www.rtings.com/keyboard/reviews/best/by-type/wireles... [2]: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-bluetooth-keyboard/ https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-bluetoot... [3]: https://xkcd.com/1036/ https://xkcd.com/1036/
  - onionisafruit 4y ago
    I see where you are coming from. Sometimes I feel the same as you where I just want somebody to give me a recommendation and a few pros and cons. Other times I want to deep dive into the review. I think it boils down to how big of a commitment the purchase is.

saxonww 4y ago

It's a good site, but be aware that they don't cover all the TV brands on the market. I don't see Philips or Panasonic on there, for example. The site is based in Quebec and I wonder if they are only reviewing sets that are available in Canada.

JoshTriplett 4y ago
Part of how they choose devices to cover (apart from popularity) is by request; if people asked them to cover those brands they likely would.

Rebelgecko 4y ago

Interestingly their "best LED TV" is a Samsung

TingPing 4y ago
Because by most measures they make some of the best TVs. The complaints are just about software which nobody does indepth reviews of.
- jay_kyburz 4y ago
  Yes but, now we know not to trust their ratings. They should review the product entirely, or they are wasting everybodies time.

wolverine876 4y ago

Also Consumer Reports, who do highly scientific tests; have labs, engineers, etc.; and have decades of experience. Also, it's published by a non-profit established to serve consumers.