TCL 55-Inch 1080p 240Hz LED HDTV $699 FS (Amazon and Costco)
 

At Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/LE55FHDF330...5FHDF3300Z

Also available at Costco
http://www.costco.com/TCL-55%22-C...61067.html


Specifications:

Extends manufacture warranty to 2 years
Screen Size: 455" (54.6" Diagonal)
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Refresh Rate: 240Hz
Dynamic Contrast Ratio: 100,000:1
Display Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Colors: 16.7 Million
Response Time: 12ms
Viewable Angle (HxV): 178° x 178°
ENERGY STAR Qualified
Wall Mount Compatibility: 200mm x 200mm
Weight: 47.6 lbs (w/ stand), 38.8 lbs (w/ out stand)
Dimensions (WxHxD): 49" x 31.6 x 10.9" (w/ stand), 49" x 28.8" x 3.8" (w/ out stand)


I didn't see any posts on this so sorry if this is a repost.

EDIT: Costco no longer has FS but this TV may be available at the local B&M

Well based off the other one thats for sale 'supposedly' these use samsung panels which I never verified.....

The TLC channel has TVs now? LOL (I Know its TCL)

100,000:1l :lmao:

just an fyi - this price is in-line with 55" 1080p LED seiki and coby brands at walmart. not sure how the quality is differentiated between TCL and those brands.

this price doesn't get me too excited.

this model is actually amazingly similar to the black friday special samsung that best buy has.. probably made by samsung if i had to guess.

One HDMI port, I'm out!

read that again.. it has 2 and 1 usb

It has 2...

Isn't that the spec that means nothing and there's no standard or something to that effect?

This LED HDTV has output options for headphones, analog audio output, and coaxial digital audio output. It includes inputs for: two HDMI, one composite, one component video, one RF, one PC video, one PC audio, and a USB 2.0 port.

I love how there are so many people who believe or make-up these lies. Yes, there are suppliers of LCD/LCD-LED parts and many manufacturers will buy from the same supplier. Does that make all TVs the same? Why does Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic charge double, triple, or quadruple the price for the same size TV?

I guess those people deserve a TCL TV. I have a 5-year old 40" Samsung 720P 60Hz 8ms, and I'd never replace it with a TCL even if I got it for free. For one, my TV will probably last longer than a brand new TCL. But the most important thing, my TV still has BETTER PICTURE QUALITY.

LOL. The most important spec in regards to picture quality is Dynamic Contrast Ratio. I take that back. If you have a huge screen (like 50"+), then it's the resolution. The most useless spec is the 240Hz. Once you get to 120Hz, I feel the extra is BS, especially for POS brands.

if same price between the 2, def get it from costco for easier returns and exchange. i didn't realize amazon no longer offers free returns on tv so that's a minus on their part.

This made me laugh. Glad you have a sense of humor.

What I love is the fact that you even think your 5 year old samsung lcd would even compare to this. I have seen some brand name tv's next to some no name tv's side by side. Are they as good? 99% of the time they are not however, some no name tv's do use 90+% of the hardware that Brand name tv's use. Some of these no name tv's have a picture that NON videophiles would not see a difference in. For the general population this is a pretty decent deal for a 55" LED considering if you purchase through costco your warranty is like GOLD.

Brand name sells. Just like name brand food compared to store brand. Most it made by the same companies of name brand item.

799 for the Samsung 6000 series LCD is a far better deal. Anyone with two eyeballs, and no macular degeneration can plainly see the difference if you simply point it out. His 5 year old samsung probably matches up pretty evenly TBH. It's true that LCD panels are distributed by only a few companies, they sell different grades of panels. There is a damned good reason an LCD that costs 3x as much costs 3x as much. LCD manufacturing still isn't perfect, and Top grade panels are still not a guarantee. If the certain tolerances aren't met, the manufacturer will sell those lower grade panels to other companies at a huge discount. True, it might be the same panel model, but it probably got rejected by QA because of a failed tolerance test.

Straight from wikipedia:
LCD panels also have defects known as clouding (or less commonly mura), which describes the uneven patches of changes in luminance. It is most visible in dark or black areas of displayed scenes.

These panels will get sold to mass chinese manufacturers.

Video processing is also extremely expensive, companies such as Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, etc etc guard those techniques very closely. It's very easy to save money in a tv's manufacturing cost by buying your tuners off the shelf in bulk from the lowest bidder. I guarantee you top teir companies arent selling their quality video hardware to TCL.

So you're saying your 5 year old TV has better picture quality than 2012 ones? :shake: Also any HDTV can last 4-5 years with normal use. Actually a lot of earlier samsung tv models had their capacitors blown within 3 years, they was sued with a class action suit just last year.

My Samsung was among the top 5 LCD TVs with the best picture quality when I bought it, so yes, it looks better than this TV.

Dynamic Contrast Ratio: 100,000:1
Response Time: 12ms

Need I say more? LOL!

no way your 5 year old tv is better looking than this model lol

not a good price at all.

people must be thumbs upping just for trolls

if one is willing to pay $699 to buy this tv, then its better to add $200 to $300 and get a good brand tv..the product you get is what you payed.I always prefer to buy TCL when it is below $200, above that if one is willing to spend more , go for branded ones.I got 40" samsung and TCL led tv,but really i can see superiority and clarity in samsung compared to TCL, also TCL looks and Media player software is very much outdated,they wont play any video files through USB.

mattzane is right about contrast ratios.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_1...s-to-you/#!

I am not comparing this brand with Samsung but claiming that your 5 year old TV has better quality than a 2012 TV is a bit too much bragging...;)
You kind of sound like an Apple fan-boy claiming iPhone3 is better than Galaxy S3...lol
You have an outdated TV (which can't be compared with ANY of today's TVs), accept this fact and move on mate. You should actually gift it to your grandparents or something like that ;).

LOL. You obviously missed in every single sentence. I'm not bragging, I'm belittling (I thought it was obvious).

I'm a 2007 LCD-TV fan-boy?

Obviously, my TV is outdated, which is why I'm on SD looking to buy a new one. Duh? Unlike you, I actually use SD to look for deals and buy stuff.

You are not Australian. Accept this fact, and move on.

Repped!! Same argument applies to my Sony XBR2. It has the better pic quality compared most of the 2million:1 contrast ratio TVs. Most of the guys here may be upgrading from tube TVs or from similar TV brands like TCL.

Sounds like bragging to me...

Ignorance is bliss. I need not say more...

not that anyone is asking, but IMO if you keep any piece of electronics for 5 years you don't really belong on slickdeals because things become outdated so fast and once new things come out the value drops fast.
so the best thing to do is try to buy low and sell hi (duh) and just keep upgrading constantly. if you buy at a low price you can usually flip it in 1/2-1 year later for the same price on craigslist. and if you only own it for that period of time it doesnt need to be super long lasting.
if you still have a tv that is 5 years old you might as well sit on it until it does die because the resell value is too low now, kinda like an old car, just drive it into the ground now.
and as for the the "5-year old 40" Samsung 720P 60Hz 8ms", the stats on this are pretty good except 60Hz might be a little low for some movies and sports and 720P might start to be a little low when you get up to 40". but the real problem is the other things. wouldn't surprise me if that tv has as many component inputs as HDMI, and does it have wifi built in so i can relentlessly connect my laptop? then your tv is horribly out of date, and oh yea it weighs like a million pounds in comparison to this tv. picture quality isnt the only thing, and is becoming a stagnent things since 1080P is basically standard on all TVs now, the upgrades are in inputs and features and with LEDs the weight.

You have no idea what you are talking about...Dynamic Contract Ratio means nothing it is the static true contrast ratio that matters...and at the end of the day, that is probably one of the most important features of a TV...not some crap dynamic ratios with silly 50000000:1 crap...why do you think most manufactures do not advertise the true contrast ratios for LCD/LED TVs...because they are awful...stick to plasma for the best picture quality

Here is a good article...
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_1...es-to-you/

TCL is not no brand name. It is a huge global company and no 1 in China, like GE in US.

One TCL model in the past used a Samsung panel and the same thing gets repeated in every TCL thread. Who knows what panels are actually in the TCL models on sale these holidays...

Well I bought one, so quit your bitching and I'll let you know by Friday.

$350 48" 1080p = no brainer... gonna look beautiful right in front of my crapper.

Look like they are desperately trying to sold out all these TCL. This is like the 5th TCL on sale since BF.

I do agree...nothing more than 60mhz is needed...remember nothing is recorded or broadcasted at more than 60mhz...if you use the 120 or 240 feature, everything you watch will start to feel like the 2pm "soap opera"...you will hate it...it makes watching TV unnatural...(remember, the 120/240 MHz is not the subfield speed that this is being referred to, where for example a plasma has 600hz for a ultra smooth image but displays an image at 60mhz)...

I just got my 42" TCL for my parents as a gift. Arrived today. For an LCD, it has an amazing image. And for $179 with shipping, was truly a sweet price from Amazon. The viewing angles are also great...I was worried about them, but this TV delivers. Image is excellent for less than $200 for a 42" TCL.

I will let you guys know this week...simply plug in your laptop with HDMI, and you will get the true panel name...(Zenith for example shows as LG display when you plug in through HDMI to your laptop, thus this confirms Zenith Plasma TVs use the LG panels)...

Only high end TV uses Samsung panel, the low end, like Samsung itself uses Taiwan made panel.

Interesting...don't recall that happening with my Toshiba LCD w/Samsung panel (of which picture isn't that impressive). Will have to try again.

Sounds like this post was for a BAD deal to me......and everyone else.
Wow! What? We buying stocks and ETFs now? lol. I have a 60" Plasma Samsung in my living room. Was looking to replace my bedroom 40". TBH, I was gonna just donate my old TV to goodwill or salvation army.
You have no idea what you are talking about. Truthfully, all specs are BS if you want to get nit-picky about it. But, since people do like to "measure" things, we look at the specs. So manufacturers inflate the contrast ratios.....okay. To me, that shows how crappy this TV is because the contrast ratios was inflated to only 100,000:1.

I do agree that plasmas are king, but they can get bad when there's too much external light.

Here's a link:http://hdguru.com/which-hdtv-spec...bers/7435/

Amen, I constantly hear people say TCL use samsung panels but most don't realize there are different grades, thats how they can be sold much cheaper, and I just received my TCL 39 inch LED, guess what, it has clouding, not very bad but its there, most people may not care but it certainly isn't a Grade A panel or their QC department isn't doing their job.

I had a 3500 dollar 2008 Sammy 52 LCD. One of the best LCD's at the time. 3 repairs later, it died finally. Samsung took care of me and I now have 2 Sammy's still.

That said, if you think a 2007 Sammy has a better pic than this, you are either a complete idiot, or you are just being a smartass. Probably a bit of both.

But you keep on thinking that....and we'll keep LOL'g at you....;)

I can believe that a 5 year old top of the line Samsung out does a 2012 tcl tv. The pioneer kuro plasmas from 2008 still out perform most of not all plasmas now.

Now there is a man who knows the value of tcl!!!

TCL tv? 240 hz.? Not even 240 hz? Bought one, return it to the store.

$350 for 48"...........$350+$350 for 48"+7"
See the difference?

Considering the Sharp Elite Pro series blows away any plasma TV out there... Oh what? It's a LED? Considering its been a while since LEDs have surpassed the average black levels of plasmas and are also more luminescent, Plasma is just an power hungry and dying tech that those who are ignorant still believe to be superior.

You are correct Sir.

Well, 350+350 is acurate. You will be buying another in a few years. Its still not a good value, its cheap. There is a huge difference. Second rate electronics, sub par panel, come on, Lets not kid ourselves. If its all you can afford, by all means, but lets call a spade a spade.

I would partially agree, the sharp is hands down he best lcd on he planet, the old Pioneer Kuro panels still rate better with professional reviewers. Panasonic purchased pioneers manufacturing process a couple years ago. Plasma isnt going anywhere as long as video purists demand them. The VT panny panels use kuro tech. Imo, they are on par with the sharp. Plasma still has superior screen uniformity and black levels, the sharp is still an absolutely stunning set.

Wow! Don't get mad at me because you're getting so many thumbs down; post deals that aren't at MSRP.

So the Sharp Elite Pro blows away any plasma TV out there? I guess the conversation ends there. :lmao:

BTW, let's think about this logically.....why is TCL the #1 brand in China? You probably think it's because of its great reputation and picture quality. When I think about it logically, I see that the overwhelming majority of people in China have yearly incomes of what most people in Los Angeles make in a month. Who in the U.S. would spend $23,000 on a HDTV? That's what buying a $1,500 HDTV is like for the Chinese. To spell it out for you, they are poor, and that's why TCL is the #1 HDTV brand in China.

The Panasonic TC-PVT50s have the best picture quality, and it costs less than 50% of Sharp Elite Pros. OP is not well-informed (as evidenced by what he perceives as "good deals"), and it is hilarious when he says that they "blows away any plasma tv".

Yup, some of the older TVs (from as far back as 2007) rate better than current models, especially budget current models.

...wow...

Visit a 3rd world country and you might learn a thing or two about how "normal" people behave. A major purchase isn't made lightly. Anyone with half a brain would be able to tell that anyone that is on a budget seeks out the most for their yuan which would mean the best quality at the lowest price.

LOL, who said China was a 3rd world country? You did. Last time I checked, China was never considered a 3rd world country. lol. Since you don't seem to read articles or watch the news, i'll type it here: the average disposable income of a Chinese person is $3,000 a year. Hopefully you can link that fact with my logic.

Reread what I said. I never said China was a 3rd world country. It is 2nd world. However I did state that you should go visit a 3rd world country to understand behavior of individuals who you perceive to be impoverished.

Either way, you are going on ignore. An arrogant fool is a fool nonetheless.

TCL makes an amazing TV. It is not Samsung-tier, but beats any of the Insignia/Westinghouse/Sceptre/etc TVs by a large margin IMO.

I would equate TCL with Vizio or entry-level LG.

Enough, both of you. Either just don't reply to each other, or put each other on ignore. The next instance here from either one of you will be considered trolling.

Wow, pretty harsh.....wouldn't take a 15" diagonal increase, a huge resolution bump, 4x increase in refresh rate, 2-year warranty, on a full backlit LED panel for FREE!?!?

I assume you also wouldn't stop to bend over to pick up a $100 bill if it was just sitting on the street, Would you be willing to step over it at least or would you have to stop to defecate on it as you passed by. Election season is over, let's try to give the overly dramatic statements a rest. Besides, it's likely untrue as we're slick dealers....we'll take almost anything for free ;)

Seriously though, have you seen this TV in person? Pretty strong words, so I'm assuming you've spent some time with this TCL TV too. Personally, I was considering it but was able to get a Visio 60" on Amazon Black Friday for slightly less $$$ and have had good experiences with other Visio TVs. I spent a fair bit of time researching the TCL and saw a lot of comments like yours but not a lot of facts or experience. On thing that seemed interesting, and I couldn't verify it though, is that rather than Samsung making the TCL panel it may be that TCL makes the panels for some Samsung TVs (which is why Samsung became a large investor in TCL). I couldn't verify but it's worth looking into for someone who wants a screen this large with decent specs for a inexpensive price....even with a square trade warranty added (in case you don't "trust" the 2-year mfgr warranty it is still a pretty inexpensive 55" fully backlit LED.

As an aside, this has been the price on this TV for at least the last month, so doesn't seem like anything special.

Also available at BJ's for the same price.

Don't donate anything to Goodwill -- they're just gonna' take it from you for free, turn around and flip it for profit. They also take clothes that aren't sellable in the US and take it to third world countries like Africa and sell them there for-profit... the people I know who own such business tell me it's very lucrative (especially the selling overseas part) -- and it's all about preying on the ignorance of the person who thinks he/she is donating to a good cause.

The name of the company (GoodWill) is misleading and is essentially a marketing slogan in disguise, they're out to prey on the generosity of the avg. individual...
In short give it away to the Salvation Army or give it away to a local shelter or something.

I've seen this and the 48" versions at Samsclub hooked up to a blu ray player. After seeing them next to vizio and samsungs, I'd buy one. The picture is bright, evenly lit, and the color seems well balanced with deep deep rich blacks you'd find on no other cheap television.

What keeps me from buying it though it the 240hz. Some people love it, others hate it. I need clarification if this will create massive input lag for gaming or not since that's what I mainly use my TV at home for now. I'd love to have a great cheap TV, but if it sucks at gaming due to lag, I'd rather spend more money and get a name brand.

oh wally mart why won't you bring back the Vizio 60!!!

Wish people could see the picture quality of a recent TCL tv before they talk out of their ass. Picture quality is leaps and bounds above other cheap tvs.

Thumbs Up, For Costco and their extended warranty.

5 pages on this already, and nobody has noticed that this TV has been this price for just about a month now! Seriously? Thumbs down.

There is some truth to this, if you want a full HD laptop screen, your only options are <13in or >17in, why? Because no manufacturer is making anything between these sizes so people assume that the screens are made by the same company.

Intel and AMD take partially defective CPUs, modify them, and re-brand them as a lower end model. This is why you can unlock hidden cores or other features, say a quad core processor has 1 faulty CPU, they disable 2 cores and sell it as a dual core.

It may be possible that LCD manufacturers have panels that don't meet the spec for a brand name company, but a no-name company will buy them at significant discount and add them to a TV. This could explain identical specs along with the reasoning why the no-name TV's have more issues.

I'd love to know if anybody agrees or can verify my hypothesis

All the people saying their old piece of trash tv is better than this are completely wrong. I have a 48 inch Samsung LCD TV that I use and bought this for my girlfriend's parents. After setting it up to test if it works, the picture of the TCL blows the Samsung out of the water. Please don't talk crap on a product you've never even had.

According to the service manual it's a 60Hz panel. Just FYI in case someone wanted to know. Doesn't matter to me LOL

not exactly true
The motion interpolation systems can vary in quality by brand...just like their picture quality

Unless you are looking at a Samsung or Sony then what you are looking at is not true 240hz

Vizio, LG and Toshiba( and possibly others) use a simulated 240hz by putting a scanning backlight in a 120hz panel

Speak for yourself. I absolutely adore my 240hz LG. The picture is sharp, the "soap opera" effect adds a bit of depth to the picture, and sports look absolutely gorgeous.

To each their own. If you can't handle it, doesn't mean that others cannot, or won't.

This. I saw this one the other TCL thread as well. I can see how they can interpolate it to the next logical jump (60 --> 120, 120 --> 240) but making two leaps is a bit much and the quality suffers for it.

lol..not true

you should check out the Panasonic VT50

I think this professional reviewer mentions that it is the "pinnacle" of picture quality right now
http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-pane...18304.html

I agree with them and worth every dime of its MSRP even

and its about 40% less than the Sharp Elite.....I wonder which one of them is outselling the other one?

I see either..Sharp adjusting the price of their TV downward...as its vastly overpriced...or them discontinuing it

Off angle viewing and color accuracy are always better on a plasma

as for power usage...is $15.00 more a year going change anyone decision( based on 8 hour a day TV usage) when they are spending $3000( or more) on their television?

Actually, it is Hz, not MHz. And you won't get the soap opera effect unless you turn on the motion enhancement feature. And 120Hz IS useful for 24fps content, even w/o motion enhancement.

Goodwill is a nonprofit. I deduct all my donations to them come tax time.

You can turn most features that create lag *off*. Anything that does image processing of any sort will add lag.


Static contrast ratio is THE most important factor in perceived image quality, even greater than resolution. W/o a static contrast ratio, you are rolling the dice with this TV.

TCL is makes a really good TV. I have about 5 of them (various sizes) for my business and they are on 14 hours a day, 7 days a week -- no issues. Highly recommended for a budget screen.

I think Frys has this TV as well for $688 currently

Wrong. Contrast ratio (dynamic or static) is not standardized among manufacturers and is therefore useless.

Why do so many people whine and cry about "only" 720p resolution on 42" and 50" tv's when they love 1080p on 70+, 80+, and now 90+ inch screens? The detail quality of those huge tv's at 1080p is worse than 720p on the 50 inchers.....unless you sit FAR away.

60Hz is better than the garbage 120Hz/240Hz marketing gimmick. Most people turn off the 120Hz/240Hz feature if possible.

GREAT POST. Just about every sentence contains great information!!!:shake::shake:

So, you said "720P might start to be a little low when you get up to 40".

So, according to you, with what size tv does 1080P start to be a little low?

Crakarjax touched on this, but there's a ton of mis-information floating around about 120 and 240Hz TVs. We need to stop throwing around bad information so we can actually help each other make informed choices.

1) 120Hz is a TV spec, not a software setting. A 120Hz TV shows 120 frames per second (fps). With a 24fps movie, it will display each frame 5 times consecutively. A 60Hz TV shows 60 fps. A 60Hz TV relies on 3:2 pulldown to cram a square peg in a circle hole (making a 24 fps movie display on a 60 fps screen...if you're not keeping track, 60 is not divisible by 24). Basically, every third frame is tripled instead of doubled.

2) The "soap opera" effect is a setting in the menu of some (not all) 120 and 240Hz TVs. Common names are Motion Plus, True Motion, "120Hz mode," etc. Instead of showing each frame 5 times, it will interpolate frames (i.e. guess) to create new information that doesn't exist in the source data in an attempt to smooth out motion. This fills in the gaps between the "real" frames in the movie to produce that weirdo "super smooth" look.

3) The chances are very low (if not totally non-existant) that this is a true 240Hz display. Instead, it's most likely a "240Hz effect" tv. The difference is that a 240Hz TV displays 240 fps while a 240Hz effect TV shows 120Hz, but simulates twice the frames by quickly strobing backlighting to double the perceived frames. That being said, there's no real advantage to 240Hz displays until we have a) an HDMI spec that supports 48 fps video and b) 48fps Blu-Ray players.

4) All this 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio junk is marketing fluff and not based on anything measurable in real life. Manufacturer's can whip whatever number they want on a TV as there is no standard.

In short, it's not your fault you don't understand 120Hz technology because the tech industry has been extremely misleading. As there's no immediate benefit of 120Hz panels vs 60Hz panels while browsing TVs at stores (even though 24fps video most definitely looks better on a 120Hz TV), the "soap opera" effect became the selling point to distinguish 60Hz from 120Hz. And, honestly, for some things the "soap opera" effect isn't that bad. Just realize that it's a software feature that is made possible with 120Hz panels, not the benefit of 120Hz over 60Hz.

Not that great of a price when you can get a Sammy in the same size for probably $200 more.

I liken TCL to Olevia and Vizio. Both sold a lot of TVs because the quality was pretty good at lower line price levels.

Unfortunately, Olevia couldn't survive selling for that cheap. As for Vizio, they were the #1 selling TV brand for a while. Now that they have established themselves, their prices are in Samsung and Sony's ballpark. I saw a 55" Vizio for $899 at Wal Mart regular price. The Sony was $999. For $100 I'll go with the top tier brand.

For a 55 inch off brand, I'd expect it to be in the 500-600ish price range.

I seriously doubt this is using a Samsung panel. I heard they are using some third party chinese branded panel.

Decent for the price.
 

I've had my TCL 43'' LED TV for a few months now and had no issues whatsoever. It's a great simple LED TV for the money. I think they also use Samsung panels which is nice. I wish they had a 65''.

They charge more for proprietary software, proprietary color rendering software, proprietary apps/menu controls and proprietary algorithms for anything 120hz and up. There are only something like 3-6(?) screen manufacturers world wide. So even companies like Sony buy all or some of their screens from other manufacturers.

There is little difference in the actual screens. There is a great difference in color reproduction softwares.

People that go with TCL do not necessarily look for the best possible picture quality, or the latest and greatest options available, they just want a basic LED TV for a low price. I'm very satisfied with the picture quality of mine, especially for the price I got it for.

Look at the reviews on this TCL LED TV [amazon.com]at Amazon for example. They better than on most Samsung TV's :-)

Here's another website worth looking at for reviews.
http://www.avsforum.com/products/...y/led-hdtv

What's the verdict? Samsung panel or just false hopes of Samsung panel in every TCL thread?

Fry's has it for $688..
http://www.frys.com/ads/page11#AdNavi

The idiots complaining were the same ones who said the Vizio's were garbage and only lasted 1 yrs(if that).