I know nothing about TVs at all. I want something between 45”-55”. Budget is as cheap as possible, but willing to spend a little more so it’s not totally bottom tier quality. Budget is $400ish.

For what it’s worth, I have pretty bad eyesight so I don’t notice the nuances of clarity as much as some may. The TV will be in a room with two decently sized windows in case that makes difference. I just want something reliable / long lasting that doesn’t crash or get mega slow.

The only two TVs I have experience with are my previous roommates’ TVs - a Hisense Roku which just got slower and slower over time and crashed every 20 minutes, and a Toshiba Amazon Fire TV which also had a tendency to be slow, but was a bit better than the Hisense Roku. I definitely won’t trust Hisense again. I think both were purchased at Walmart.

Many people in my extended family have the LG OLED series and I understand these are top tier, but I just don’t have that budget.

So here I am to ask Reddit - what’s the best budget TV in my size and price range available at Costco in the SoCal region? They all have meh reviews, and I’m so lost!

Edit: typo and also adding that I am moving out so I have to get my own TV - I don’t have one of my own

UPDATE: I am soo torn about my decision. 90% of sources are telling me TCL is the way to go, specifically the TCL 55" Class - Q77K Series - 4K UHD QLED Smart TV. In the store, looking at the screens, I saw no huge difference in glare / lighting between this model and the LG 55" Class - UA7700 Series - 4K UHD Smart TV.

I almost got the TCL because it is better reviewed on RTings and everyone here loves TCL, but my line of work is in legal tech / infosec and we are strongly advised against getting softwares with known “spy” issues, such as Roku and companies partially owned by Chinese state such as TCL.

So, I went with the LG even though it was only $10 cheaper and not as highly reviewed as the TCL. I’m having a little remorse and considering an exchange if I can figure out how to use a Raspberry PI for security purposes, haha. Even the TV guy at Costco recommended the LG TV to me, he said he just trusts the brand more. I’ll let you guys know if I make the exchange! Also, regardless of the brand, data security should be everyone’s concern!

I watched DigitalTrends last night, and looking at last year's TV brand might be a good idea. But what about looking for 2023 TVs from TCL, Sony, Samsung, etc? My Vizio is about 10 years old, so something from 2023 would be a huge step up. Would TVs from 2023 or even 2022 have models that match what I want? Also, In thinking about it, I guess I am looking for:

1. 50-inch or bigger, the TV is in a bright living room

2. Coax for OTA TV

3. Dolby Vission

4. Amazon Fire TV

5. 3 or 4 HDMI ports

6. eARC

7. Dolby Vision

8. Ethernet

9. Price $100 to $250

Does the TV OS matter as much? Would it be possible to have both Amazon and Google interfaces on the same TV?