have you ever purchased a refurbished tv?

my head is spinning..im shopping for tv's right now and every time i make a decision i change my mind. im setting my limit at $600. for me thats a lot of money but i know in the world of tv's its going to be on the lower end.

i wanted to get as large a screen as possible but i dont want a crap picture. so, i will sacrifice size for a better picture. i have a sanyo 42inch lcd right now and i am just not that thrilled with the pic.

i am getting frustrated though because i talk to different staff at the store and they all tell me different stuff. i read reviews and they're all different.

i was just at best buy and i heard the sales guy tell a customer that he would buy a plasma over the others. so, i started looking around and the pictures on the plasma were nowhere near as clear as with the led. so, when he was done i asked him what was up and he said the ones i was looking at were 'low end' plasma.

bestbuy has a westinghouse 55 inch online only for $399. the reviews were all pretty good except they all pretty much said for killer sound you should use a sound bar. now, sound is probably the thing i am least concerned with. i never turn it up that loud and if it is that terrible i have no problem buying a sound bar for a hundo.

of course when i asked the sales guy about it he told me westinghouse was junk and to stay away from it. now i dont know if he was just trying to make a sale and he knows they are online only so he is telling me to stay away hoping i will buy one in the store....

to me the led looks the best. i know the 1080 looks the best and i want 120 hz refresh rate....

then i start paying attention to the plasma and their 600hz refresh rate.

and to confuse me more i talked to a guy a know that has a monster tv he got for a great price refurbished. that makes me nervous but he swears by it...

so i guess my question is would you buy refurbished?
do you think a 1080 led with 120hz refresh would have a better picture than a 720 plasma with a 600hz refresh?
do you have a westinghouse tv and if so what do you think of it?

im not worried about it being a smart tv but if the price is right i would be fine with it. i have a smart blu ray so it is not really an isssue...

any help would be appreciated it even though i am sure it is just going to confuse me more.

i really dont want to go lower than a 49inch unless the picture quality is just out of this world.

so i am thinking between 50-55 is probably going to be where i am at for the cash i want to spend...

walmart had a 58 for the right price but it was refurbished and that turned me off.
i was pretty much set on the westinghouse until the best buy sales guy told me to stay away

my max budget is $600. i would/could probably go a little higher but it would have to be a killer picture or a monster screen size...

Hold out a few more weeks for the Christmas sales..

and one more thing. my gut tells me this is a rip...its hard not to be intrigued though.
$449 for a 50 inch 4k ultra hd.

www.amazon.com...=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1412801364&sr=1-6&keywords=tv

i know there is not too much content out there right now in the 4k range but im thinking within the next 12-18 months we will see more and more of it. might as well get the jump because when i drop this cash this is the last tv i will be buying for a LONG time.

the brand though...TCL??

the reviews are decent on it

originally posted by: Hoosierdaddy71
Hold out a few more weeks for the Christmas sales..

i was thinking that. i refuse to rush out black friday. no matter how god the deal that is not my bag. i could do the cyber monday thing...

either way, i would like some opinions on the specs as well.

Forget the refresh rates for plasma vs led. They don't translate well. A 120hz refresh rate for an led is not as good as a 240hz refresh rate, but still better than a plasma. A 240hz will ensure the best picture. But if you get a 4k resolution, a 120hz will outperform a 240hz with 1080p. If you get Oled, the refresh rate is said to be infinity.

Plasma is the way of the dodo, anyone telling you to buy is pushing their old stock. If you are on a budget I would look for a 240hz with 1080p resolution LED-LCD.

I think you can find one a few years old for a reasonable price.


I just looked into the models around, I think maybe I was off, as it seems the intro level of refresh rate is 60hz, so maybe I was off by 1x factor. I was under the impression a few years ago the top LEDs were 240hz but now it seems most are 120hz that are still available, with 60hz being the basic.

In any case, a 120hz with 1080p should be fine quality if you can find that within your budget.

Why just Best Buy? IME, they are the worst. We bought a 42" 3 HDMI LED smart TV for about $500. I actually had one found for $420, but my husband took the step up and added to that.

Take your time and shop around. We actually found the picture we liked, assessed our actual needs and the size we would need as opposed to what we wanted (42" is perfect for us) and then I started looking at all the places that carried what we wanted. It came down to between Target and Nebraska Furniture Mart depending on the sales and the offers we could get. Best Buy was the most expensive.

So, best advice is make sure you know what you're after and shop around for it.

a reply to: CardiffGiant

I have a 4k that upscales the resolution the same technology is found here, in LG's $20,000 84 inch.

I have to admit the technology works, even though I didn't think improving resolution was possible. As whatever you have can only be as good as the original.

In any case though, watching a show from the 60s on that TV vs my other ones, it looks as clear as it were shot yesterday. I kid you not.

I find that the best TVs right now are LGs 4k, Samsung, and Sony.

Unless you can repair the item yourself you should leave refurbished alone. You don't want other peoples issues.

I have never purchased a refurbished TV, but I have purchased other refurbished electronics. My experience with them has been fine - I have never had an issue with a refurbished product. One way to think of it is this: A refurbished television had a defective part. This happens in electronics and is not a reason to think that quality control is bad, or that the manufacturing standards are low - every once in awhile you get a dud, even with the most stringent QA standards..

The refurb TV (or whatever) you are getting goes through this quality process twice. That means everything (other than the defective and replaced component) has passed QA two times.

My brother bought a 40" refurbished Samsung probably 4-5 years ago, and it's still working just fine.

Here's a bargain for you: www.newegg.com...

One other thing: Westinghouse IS crap.

I'm typically not one for brand names, but when it comes to electronics (I'm a gadget fiend) I am. If you're buying a TV stick with LG, Samsung, Sony. You'll be glad you did.

I will say that there was a blind man in our hometown who made a fine living refurbishing various electronic appliances. We bought our first refurbished air conditioner from him and it worked fine. You probably want to know the reputation of the person doing the refurbishing if possible.

originally posted by: ketsuko
Why just Best Buy?

im wide open.
not many stores near me except best buy, wal mart, and k mart but i will buy online if its the best deal.


the tv thats on amazon seems like a good deal...same tv at fryes for $799

originally posted by: boncho


In any case, a 120hz with 1080p should be fine quality if you can find that within your budget.

oh yea...im seeing them all over the place in my range

this tv is on sale at my local k mart...seems like a good price with the above mentioned specs

www.kmart.com...

originally posted by: TinkerHaus


Here's a bargain for you: www.newegg.com...

that price is nice but it is only 60hz

a reply to: TinkerHaus
The problem I have is how often I've gotten a refurbished cell phone through warranty that came to me with an issue.

I would pay that much for an item that I was hoping went through good QC

originally posted by: boncho
a reply to: CardiffGiant

I have a 4k that upscales the resolution the same technology is found here, in LG's $20,000 84 inch.

.

that is crazy...
20 grand....8 feet corner to corner...
i would certainly love that....

Get something as small as possible. I watch plenty of tv news shows, etc on my laptop.

If the picture is smaller, it's slightly easier to ignore the brainwashing.

Don't let the marketers make you believe 120hz is better than 60hz. Rather that attempt to explain it, I'll just let you read this:

www.pcmag.com...

originally posted by: TinkerHaus
Don't let the marketers make you believe 120hz is better than 60hz. Rather that attempt to explain it, I'll just let you read this:

www.pcmag.com...

i just read it and i guess it make sense however...

how come at the stores the tv's with the 1080 120hz always look much better than the 1080 60hz or the 720 60 hz?
do they mess with the display to make the 120hz look better so people will buy them? that kind of makes sense as well but a sale is a sale...they have to sell the 60hz also. does not makes sense that they would almost sabatoge them....

a reply to: CardiffGiant

If you're comparing two completely different televisions with different refresh rates it makes sense that one might look better than another.. I can't really answer your question but if one looks better to you than the other you should buy what you like the best.

Plasma looks great in low light, but if you're using the TV in a room that will often have natural or artificial light LED is the best bet. Plasma is more for like, your basement TV room.

Also this site is really good if you want a guide as to what TVs are good, which are bad, and why.

www.avforums.com...