TCL P7K, TCL C6K, Sony Bravia 3 and a streaming question

[POIDH]

I'm considering these three to replace my 2006 Panasonic Viera with Chromecast that's on the blink.

I don't have an aerial and won't be fitting one, but have a network socket at the TV with full fibre/500gb. Will these three TVs work only streaming via internet?

The Sony is the expensive but quality option, with John Lewis warranty too.

The C6K mini led seems the better one..?

I'm only looking at (ideally) 43" or 50" TV.

[Lucid_AV]

The TCLs might give you more toys and a later generation screen technology, but the Sony is the one that's going to use better quality parts and have superior picture processing. Having said that, the TCL P7K panel is hands-down better for black level, brightness uniformity, and colour accuracy.

TCL's C6K is, TTBOMK, a miniLED set. It's the sort of panel that makes bright content look very good, but it struggles with dark content. You have a TV that is perfect for the estate agent's shop window, but not so good if you want to watch movies at home.

Maybe with the safety net of the JL 5-year warranty and the mindset that TV tech is going to advance far enough in five years that you'll want to upgrade anyway, the TCL P7K is worth the gamble.

[POIDH]

Thank you, that's really helpful.

Can they run only off internet connection?

[POIDH]

An about turn...spoke to a colleague and looked into this.

I am going to have to go Freely, and I am also not prepared to have FireTV....and you cannot get Google/Freely combined. Other operating systems seem to be hit and miss or not with Freely...

So, a Hisense with VIDAA and Freely it is....

Still 43", I have narrowed down to:

- £259 E7NQTUK - (Note the 'N') a last year QLED model with Richer sounds that according to a couple of specs has a better screen than the this years model listed next?

- £259 - E7QTUK (NOT pro) - seems to do everything I need, QLED, cheap enough I could add a sound bar which might make it better than next option for less money:

- £349 - E7QTUK Pro - QLED - I would not use the gaming mode 'upgrade', but the sound is an upgrade so could run without soundbar?

- blow the budget on an E8Q (£449) - mini LED and larger (50") than I want...?

All get good reviews, no I cannot find a shop with them all in to compare, and finding it hard to understand how much 'better' rave reviews of MiniLED or a better QLED because area darkening is?

[dan98]

POIDH said:

An about turn...spoke to a colleague and looked into this.

I am going to have to go Freely, and I am also not prepared to have FireTV....and you cannot get Google/Freely combined. Other operating systems seem to be hit and miss or not with Freely...

So, a Hisense with VIDAA and Freely it is....

Still 43", I have narrowed down to:

- £259 E7NQTUK - (Note the 'N') a last year QLED model with Richer sounds that according to a couple of specs has a better screen than the this years model listed next?

- £259 - E7QTUK (NOT pro) - seems to do everything I need, QLED, cheap enough I could add a sound bar which might make it better than next option for less money:

- £349 - E7QTUK Pro - QLED - I would not use the gaming mode 'upgrade', but the sound is an upgrade so could run without soundbar?

- blow the budget on an E8Q (£449) - mini LED and larger (50") than I want...?

All get good reviews, no I cannot find a shop with them all in to compare, and finding it hard to understand how much 'better' rave reviews of MiniLED or a better QLED because area darkening is?

You can get freely as a separate device which will give you more futureproofing. I wouldn't be looking to use onboard apps as they inevitably stop working in a few years when their licenses or the OS itself becomes obsolete.
That'll also free you up to get the TV which looks best to you.

[POIDH]

Sadly the freely stand alone device is out of stock at present. They do have a Pleo puck that requires £119 upfront and monthly subscription, but again is just buying a device with Freely baked in. It is not available as an app (which seems amazing...)

[dan98]

You don't need the subscription to use Freely, only for the other nonsense.
True it's baked in but at least you won't need to bin the whole TV when they decide to bring out Freely 2.0 (or scrap the whole thing in favour of something else).

[Lucid_AV]

POIDH said:

Sadly the freely stand alone device is out of stock at present. They do have a Pleo puck that requires £119 upfront and monthly subscription, but again is just buying a device with Freely baked in. It is not available as an app (which seems amazing...)

Freely isn't available as an app because the integration goes deeper than that, and the BBC-ITV-Ch4-Ch5 group presiding over Freeview and Freesat and Freely want to control how its implemented. I guess they feel that keeping it tethered to licenced hardware achieves that better than having a Freely app. They do the same with Freeview and Freesat. It's stuff such as making sure the EPG is consistent and the hardware supports the catch-up and live streaming services from the broadcasters.

The Netgem Pleio has Freely built-in. It is £120 and available now on Amazon. Freely requires no subscription. The Pleio also offers extra channels for an optional £9.95/month subscription. This only kicks in after the 12-month included sub expires.

[TEKNOPUG]

Buy the TV with the best possible image processing and screen. Everything else is tinsel. Buy a streaming stick of your choice for the Apps.

Buying a TV based on it's Apps is like buying a car based on it's infotainment system....

[POIDH]

TEKNOPUG said:

Buy the TV with the best possible image processing and screen. Everything else is tinsel. Buy a streaming stick of your choice for the Apps.

Buying a TV based on it's Apps is like buying a car based on it's infotainment system....

I'm not.
I'm buying the ability to not have an aerial.

[TEKNOPUG]

POIDH said:

TEKNOPUG said:

Buy the TV with the best possible image processing and screen. Everything else is tinsel. Buy a streaming stick of your choice for the Apps.

Buying a TV based on it's Apps is like buying a car based on it's infotainment system....

I'm not.
I'm buying the ability to not have an aerial.

My mistake, I thought you were buying a TV purely because it came with Freely pre-installed.

[POIDH]

An update: I bought a Hisense E7QTUK 43" QLED

So far:
- picture is excellent. Turn off the 'AI' ste and adjust a couple of settings. Noticeably clearer than old TV, and newer programmes and films really pop out.
- sound is OK. Needs to be on 'Theatre' setting, and I even found out that putting something softer under the TV made a difference - so thinking the speakers are 'bouncing' sound below and off wall / back / screen...? I may get a soundbar in future.
- easy to set up, the whole 'feels like terrestrial TV with a Guide button' has gone down well with OH, and easy to fire up the few apps we have connected. VIDAA seems really straightforward and the mobile phone remote is really responsive and easy to use.
- the voice search works well - faster than navigating around with remote...

For £250 it is a great purchase IMO, and glad we have moved on from the faff of Chromecast and now notice what 20 years of screen development looks like!