Off brand TVs your opinions

Our old 50' Panasonic plasma TV is on it's way out. I've been casually looking around and there seems to be some awfully good deals on off brands like Visio and Seiki. The online reviews of them are mixed but generally positive. What say the hive? Worth considering or run away?

I'm not sure I'd consider Vizio an off brand anymore. In any case, we have one (Vizio) and it will occasionally restart itself. About 3 times a week. Annoying, but at the time (4 years ago) the price was right.

We got another at Costco (well, my FIL did and I used it for a week on vacation with them) and it would do that regularly--probably 1 time every 2 hours of viewing. That one went back. I think it was a TCL brand. I'd recommend buying from a store with a generous return policy, like Costco.

All that being said, my next TV will be a Samsung/Panasonic/Similar.

Vizio have really come into their own as a brand. Aside from a delayed start issue, my only problems have been with Comcant.

I've had mine a bit over a year, and seeing it still retail for the same price is reassuring. It took some fiddling for a good color with gaming, but movies and tv are great. Even the yahoo operating system doesn't suck entirely.

Visios are sort of sleepers. Last time I was shopping tvs I almost bought one. Name aside, they often use panels and electrics sourced from Sony, Samsung, and the like. If you check avforums out, they'll know which ones are sleepers.

Rtings.com is fantastic for comparing TVs and finding the right one for the way that you will be using it. They also search prices nationwide ten times per day and tell you who has the best deal.

I had two Vizio plasma TVs that failed. Both had an audible "pop" and shut off. They were both bought at Costco and both returned for full price (return policy on electronics has changed since then BTW). Plasma have/had a life span anyway, I think it was something like 10,000 hours of on-time.

Finally stepped up and bought a Sony LCD and it has been perfect for about 8-9 years.

I believe the seiki is made by the same people that make the element. I had a 46-inch element about 4 years ago. It was a pretty nice unit had a really nice picture and a lot of features, more than the LG that replaced which was $200 more. Unfortunately it would not save the channels and had to be rescanned every couple days do to channels dropping. It really sucks when you went to put on Sunday football at the start of the game and channel was gone and you had to wait 20 minutes for this TV to rescan. This was less than three months in to my ownership and it had a one-year on-site parts and labor warranty. For the next 9 months the parts where on a boat on the way from China. I finally convinced Walmart to take it back. If it weren't for the fact that there were no parts for warranty service I probably would still have the TV. It's unfortunate as element is putting u.s. citizens to work assembling these. I have purchased rwo additional smaller TVs, a 24-inch to use as a monitor in the office and recently a 32-inch to replace an old CRT in the bedroom. I avoided element due to the above issue. I ended up with insignas from Best Buy, because they were cheap basic no frills tvs. The 32-inch is currently on sale for a hundred bucks. The 24 is currently 70. I've had the 24 for about a year and haven't had any issues. I picked up the 32 a couple of days ago so time will tell but so far it seems okay.

The CRT on the other hand was manufactured in the US in 1996 and it's still functional. I'd still be using that if I hadn't dumped my cable and gone to a Roku stick. There was no place to plug it into the CRT.

The TV'S in my kids rooms and our master bedroom are all $99 Black Friday specials. Don't recall the brand off hand. We're not TV aficionados, so they work perfectly fine for us. We bought them all in 2015 and they are HD. For us, they were money well spent, anything fancier would have been a waste.

I've had a 50" Toshiba dumb LCD(bought that on purpose I have plenty of peripheral gadgetry that works far better than built in TV apps) for a great price 5 years ago and couldn't be happier with it. I did my research. Definitely research, buy from a retailer with a good return policy, and check things out in person to see what you'd like too.

clutchsmoke wrote: I've had a 50" Toshiba dumb LCD(bought that on purpose I have plenty of peripheral gadgetry that works far better than built in TV apps) for a great price 5 years ago and couldn't be happier with it. I did my research. Definitely research, buy from a retailer with a good return policy, and check things out in person to see what you'd like too.

I had a 42" Toshiba lcd dummy that worked great. Went to the wife in the divorce. I kept the tank, a 42" Hitachi plasma I paid something like 1400$ for like 10 years ago. It's awesome.

I have 3 Vizio's, all from Costco. Two 32" (3 and 5 yrs) and a 47" (3 yrs). All have been rock solid. Would recommend.

Vizio LCD is 2 years old. Bought because it was the right size, and cheap. Still perfect.
Good bang for the buck.

I like my Vizios.

I know LG is not really off brand but after only 15 months old the screen on mine went blank for good. $$$$ flushed down the toilet.

Westinghouse makes some pretty good Tvs at fair prices as well. I've owned a couple, the last one was a 32" dumb LCD I bought at target for $130 back in 2013.

But I do love my Vizio 4k smart TV.

Word of advice though, don't buy a TV from Walmart. Sams Club is OK, Best Buy or an electronics store is better, but like most things, Walmart gets their own special models that just aren't up to normal quality regardless of the brand.

RevRico wrote: Westinghouse makes some pretty good Tvs at fair prices as well. I've owned a couple, the last one was a 32" dumb LCD I bought at target for $130 back in 2013. But I do love my Vizio 4k smart TV. Word of advice though, don't buy a TV from Walmart. Sams Club is OK, Best Buy or an electronics store is better, but like most things, Walmart gets their own special models that just aren't up to normal quality regardless of the brand.

Costco or no go here. Dem giant screens.

Inlaw's have multiple vizios, several years old and running fine. My 7 year old Panasonic dumb tv is chugging along just fine, as is my 3 year old LG smart.

I won't touch any tv that isn't a philips/magnavox. To me, side by side at the store, best picture. My 42" lcd is 10 years old and got put on bedroom duty. The 32" that was in the bedroom was a trash night pickup that is even older, and i gave it to FIL. 55" LED in living room was sub $600 at target.

Had a 37" Magnavox. Ex has it now. Apparently still going. Next one was a 46" Toshiba. Ex has that one too. Apparently still going. I bought a 58" toshiba a few years ago. I don't use the "smart" part at all but it came that way. After using a setup bluray (Disney's) I would put it up against anything for picture quality.

I have a Vizio that's over 10 years old now. Certainly dated, but everything still works except the buttons on the TV itself. Remote controls it just fine. Based on that experience I'll likely replace it with another Vizio.

Vizio isn't off brand anymore. Pretty main stream I think they are the #1 selling TV in some categories (I remember reading that somewhere) I have had a Dynex (Best Buy knock off brand) and now have a Spectre (I have no clue, it was free with a previous apartment move in.)

The Dynex worked great and even survived a screen strike with an allen wrench from my little one, when he was little. Survived 3 moves before it finally died. About 8 years.

The Spectre is now about 3 years into use and is working fine.

My very old Montgomery Ward TV is still plugging along. Serves it's purpose.

I'll replace it when it dies.

2 Vizio LED TV's in out house. The living room is the newest at 2 years old. It's a 60" "smart TV" and works flawlessly. The bedroom is a 42" non-smart that is about 4 or 5 years old. IT's also brilliant. I recommend them in a heartbeat. Great TV for good prices.

Looking at the prices at WalMart and Costco, I don't know why you would need an off-brand. I swear by Samsung TVs because I ship them to Trade Shows all the time. They get bumped and dropped and abused and they always work. I have on in the den and it has never given me a single issue. The newer "smart" models are great too. Just don't loose the remote, there are no buttons on TV's these days!

I also have a tv in the bedroom that is some way-off brand that I have never heard of. It's been 10 years and it has never had an issue either. I think modern LCD tvs are just pretty good all around.

My 50" LG plasma TV just died a few days ago. It lasted for 10 years (nearly to the day), so I guess I should be happy. It seems modern TV's don't last anywhere near as long as they used to.

The picture was fantastic, so I've been looking at the modern 4K, HDR "Smart" TVs, as I'd like to be happy with it for the long term. The highest ranked ones are just under $1K, so I may wait for a bit. It's amazing how quickly prices come down for new tech.