Dont think I’d feel comfortable buying a tv online either. Too much of a chance for damage. That said, they sell them online. They have to have a better chance of not being damaged or they wouldnt sell them online. Just find the tv you like and compare proces from local stores to online retailers. If cheaper online, ask if they’ll price match

TV shipping cartons are very secure. I wouldn't worry about damages since there are no moving parts to a TV. If a product is received in damaged condition, you're not responsible for it. File a claim and order another.

My last Samsung was purchased at B&H Photo. Excellent service, best price, free shipping, two day delivery to Ohio. Nice people to deal with.

Thanks for a new source. Did you buy a smart Tv? What kind?

Look at Walmart - I buy most of my grocery's, some casual clothes & other things delivered from Walmart - 95% of the time Fedex brings it.

Fedex will do a ding-dong doorbell press and a minute later a text message on my phone when delivered - I hate shopping.

Have learned to dislike even trying ordering from Amazon if you're not a paid membership & their oddball delivery services.

I've bought two TVs on line and had no problems - once from Amazon, once from Walmart.com. It's not like they change the protective boxes they leave the factory in, same thing whether you get it at the store or have it delivered, except for the enroute handling. If it arrives damaged, your seller should replace it. If you're not home to receive a delivery, maybe you know someone nearby who is.

The other option is someone steals it before it gets to the door. On Listserv everyone asks if they have received their pkg. by mistake. It is a very bad situation. The television box may be at the door when you see it delivered but not the television. Neighborhoods set up cameras or pretend they are not home to see what the contractor will do if he comes to the door. Everyone has each other's back. Others can't get home and they may or may not have a package. You have to change plans at last minute and know you will be robbed somehow. These are the facts of life these days. If it doesn't happen in your neighborhood it doesn't mean you are richer or poorer. It is a moral problem that is getting worse.

Elmer J. Fudd I would like your opinion on a smart television at about 42 inches wherever it may be sold.

Mikie_gw I agree with so much you are saying about Walmart. I looked at their tvs and I need help. I don't know what their warranty is. I have stayed out of Walmart because of the way the treated their employees, They are pretty much scum and provide jobs with no chance of working a full week. Now they want to compete with Amazon so we will see what they can do with Trump adding to our misery with trade agreements.

Try Costco. Good selection and prices.

maggie, I'm not current current with brands or models. My last purchase was 5 years ago.

Take a look at sites like Walmart (and not Best Buy) and look at customer review trends as being data points to think about though they're not fully objective ones. The size you're looking for should allow you to get a great price (just a few hundred dollars) because most people these days think their TV needs to be at least as big as their room and the 40-something sizes are in less demand and so cheaper. A few younger members of my family bought Vizios (they're usually at the low end of cost) and have been happy. Be careful about internet sites that look like independent product raters, most aren't. No need to buy extended warranties.

sushipup, I'm going to take exception with your Costco recommendation. Costco tends to up sell and then discount larger electronics. Meaning - you get a good price on buying something that may be more expensive or more feature filled than you are looking for. You can often spend less and get more from your money from a more straight-forward pricing operation like Walmart, without overbuying. Maybe not in this case if they sell small TVs at popular prices. Costco does have a more generous return policy than others.

maggie, do a google search for best 40" tv's of 2018. Read a few of the pages from the search results and you'll likely see a few models that are consistently recommended and would start your search with those TV's. Here is one such result. LIke Elmer, my current tv's are pretty old, one is about 9 years, and the other that won't die is about 15. Both are higher end Samsung series that were highly regarded in their time. I do know 3 family members who purchased Vizio tv's and all three of them like them very much. They aren't going to give you top notch picture quality like the most expensive TV's, but their quality for their price is pretty darn good.

Steve J. I come to Garden Web because it is really the only place where customers give honest conversation about their experiences with the plethora of things I have had to buy. A lot of these sites like Best Buy and some others that are in my town ado not have not factual.opinions. In fact , the same scores are found on other store sites. ExCt same numbers. The applied stars speak to the store not to the appliance I am asking about. And Five stars means nothing when it is reviewed by people who have only had such a product for two weeks or three weeks or admit that they just got it out of the bag. Here is the only place that you will get from a buyer the truth we are looking for. I am quite sure consumer report is very close to the same group of people in giving out stars. People have very little to say unless they are super consumers that really are smart and detailed in their opinion. Those are the people I am looking for because they could tell me to go buy such and such appliance and here is the make and model and this is where I bought it. Giving advice like a friend. I am not going to be able to google those kinds of reports. If people tell me to buy Vizio they just bought Visio and don’t tell me the model number and where they bought it then all I have is Visio. This happened on other sites here while in search of appliances. Looking for refrigerators that actually work and last longer than six or seven years. None of them last 30 years anymore and I don’t know why but it’s the standard for all appliances to be crappy and expensive. I read on here that Samsung makes terrible refrigerators but oh boy do they make good televisions. I have had two Samsung’s and it’s true I never had a problem until they suddenly keeled over and died. I went to the Samsung page and everyone had the same question which was not answered by Samsung. The questions were dated two years ago and people have to move on like I do and ask. But I want to ask an honest person who has bought a television and a smart television at that because I have just started getting Flexnet ( is that it) because PBS does not offer many good documentaries and British shows anymore. I think it is the work of Trump taking away funding. That's what I am told. Steve thank you so much for advice but I need to zero in a little bit closer to advice from people who share the same details as I would and that is here from people like you.

Steve J I am sorry I am long- winded. I actually want to thank you for giving me a link to.a nice with very detailed reviews. The theory is the Visio that you chose for me because it meets my size and I want a good smart television has a more complex review than I could handle on my own. They are very upfront about some of the annoyances or things you have to get used to but for the price they say it is good and I believe the reviewer is very honest. This site is not like CNET which I think is spiked. I really am very grateful that you took the time to do this for me. I think there is a new were version on Vizio that is going to do away with some of the more complex features like smart cast. I’m going to launch my search into Visio because you and I think two other people including Elmer like it. I might be able to spend a little bit more money on a new or model. Anyway lots of kudos to you and I haven’t awarded you the praise for helping me so much. Thanks for your time and advice.

I buy TVs at Costco because of the good prices, the generous return policy, and the fact that they extend the standard 1 year warranty by an extra year. This turned out to be very handy when my $1600 Panasonic failed in the 13th month and they completely fixed it by installing a $400 internal electronics box and a new screen for free...and it's still functioning fine after more than ten years.

I buy lots of things from Amazon and eBay. As far as thefts or rough handling of deliveries, there have been some viral videos of a few egregiously bad drivers -- who were fired -- but I don't see that as representative. I've been in my current home in a major metropolitan area for almost 15 years and I probably get at least 1-2 packages delivered a week; I have never had something stolen or broken or not delivered by FedEx, UPS, DHL, or the US Postal Service. If thefts are a problem in your area, there are many solutions: have it delivered to your work address, or to a neighbor who is routinely home, or to an Amazon locker, or have it held by the deliverer so you can pick it up at a local location, and in any case, sign up for shipping updates so you know when to expect things. I typically get notice on my smartphone of most packages delivered to my door within 5 minutes of delivery. I once got notice of an expensive purchase I made on a foreign trip delivered to my doorstep before I arrived home; I sent a text to my neighbor and she walked over to pick it up immediately. I also got together with my neighbors to install a community mailbox with a large parcel locker that can handle quite large boxes, and we have had no problems.

If you buy from a reputable company like Amazon, they're going to send you a replacement if your purchase is damaged or stolen. If you're looking for reasons to not buy online, I'm sure you can find them, but I think this is overblown.

I do a bit of research looking at reviews and then I shop on the basis of lowest delivered price from a reputable merchant. I have had everything from bathtubs, to toilets, to large power tools delivered without incident. I've also found that some local merchants will price match what you find online.

Kudzu9. Thanks for supporting Costco. I don't have a membership now. I remember their Concierge service and I took back a computer twice in one order. The guy at concierge was very professional and could hear the sound of the fan and said send it back. How do you feel about Crutchfield? I also learned that Samsung products on the series 6 I think televisions make you use ads to get to Netflicks. If you don’t except the ads then you can’t use Netflix. Very strange. I have been up all night and haven't found a winner from Samsung in the under $1,000 range. QVC always has a problem with their stuff. Just enough off that it's a no go. They often have things exclusive for their show and the product is consistently acting up for all.. Maybe onto Visio again. I just don't understand their lingo and features. I also went on eBay to see they are selling my dead television which is preferable to me. Maybe Square trade will want to fix it. And thank you for your input. You have helped me in the past.

I've heard about the ads on Samsung products, but it appears that they can be disabled by going into the multi-level menu and changing a coupe of settings. I have a Samsung that I bought about 3 years ago and have never had this issue. Sometimes it occurs when people do the initial set up on the tv and don't pay close attention to everything they are checking and agreeing to. I mainly limit my electronics buying to Costco, Amazon, and Apple; I don't have experience with Crutchfield. I'm not clear on why you are considering spending as much as $1000 for a 42" tv. That's what I paid for my 55" Samsung 4K, UHD set and you can now get better, bigger ones for that amount. If you only want something in a 42"-43" size, you can find many quality tvs in the $400-$500 range. Why not go to the library and check out whatever the most recent issue is of Consumer Reports covering tvs of that size and see what they recommend? Or look at the reviews on Amazon for highly rated tvs?

I was looking at 55 inch also trying to find good reviews and there aren't any for 40 in without a major catch. I stayed up all night. I have nothing to save. There are a lot of curved TVs. Not a good form. They must be getting rid of them on Amazon. I have not found quality yet. I look at the Samsung 7 that are not out and they art not getting good reviews. Vizio has features that take on a learning curve. I'm not there yet.

We have 3 newer smart Tv's. Mine is a Samsung, my husband's is Sony bravia and my kitchen one is LG, it was a bonus that came with my LG phone. Out of the 3 my favorite is Samsung. I can't stand the interface on the Sony. The LG is ok but I find the Samsung the easiest for me. All these came from best buy in store since it's 5min from me. My son has a Vizio he got at Wal-Mart and is very happy with it. I use screen mirroring from my phone a lot. The Sony and the LG I have to activate on the TV first before my phone will connect. The Samsung I just have to turn screen mirroring on the phone and it connects right up without having to activate anything on the TV first. Mary

While I don't have a suggestion for you, I can tell you I fixed my own Samsung by replacing 2 capacitors. You can even get a kit for them from Amazon. I am a little handy, but really with youtube it was very simple.

I have an LG, have had it for 7 years now and it has been very good although people who are into highest tech would consider it pretty basic. It is not a smart TV; I bought a Roku for $20 and with that I subscribe to Netflix (no ads), there are free channels including news channels and more. I also subscribe to PlayStation Vue instead of cable for a large selection of channels including BBC America.

My son has plucked several large screens out of dumpsters and fixed them. Most times it's something simple he can do. He then gave them to friends that don't have such nice Tv's. He built his own computer using YouTube videos. Mary

crafty, if you got a free TV with the purchase of a phone, doesn't that mean you may have paid too much for the phone?

maggie, don't overanalyze. Maybe it would be best for you to buy from a store where you can compare the screens in person, which would suggest Costco or Walmart or something similar. I'd stay away from eBay and especially Best Buy, they're often overpriced and their sales people can be over-enthusiastic and under-informed. You could use the displays in Best Buy to focus in on a model and then buy it elsewhere.

I think most or perhaps even all TVs sold today are so-called smart TVs, which simply means the apps are built in. Although not all have the same ones available, using a Roku is the same thing, no advantage one way as the other if the app you want is available on both. With our main TV, getting a "not-smart" TV saved me over $100 at the time and my Sony Blu-Ray player (which I would have had anyway) has all the apps on it I want to use. As I said, same thing either way

I wouldn't necessarily exclude worst buy if they have a better price on the TV you want. They're also likely one of the few places besides Coscto where you can actually walk in and see and touch the TV's (and view their menus). I would however agree with Elmer and take anything they say with a grain of salt.

My Phone was on sale for $200 and the 32 inch TV was worth a little over that. Granted you have to put the phone on Verizon's payment plan to get the sale price but after 2 months I paid it off on my Verizon bill. I wanted that particular phone so the incentive wouldn't have mattered. The LG phone I got before that was $200 or less and came with $100 best buy gift card. Did the same thing, paid it off after 2 months.

I got my Samsung TV at BJ's whole sale which is like Sam's club and Costco. I really didn't pay any less than getting it at best buy but I was there shopping and wanted to finally ditch the old style TV I was using. Did some research in the store on my phone and bought it on the spot. Here is a crazy story. My son does not like smart phone screens and prefers a physical keyboard. When his basic talk and text phone was going I didn't know what he was going to find. Ended up with a Samsung stratosphere 2 I think it is. Semi smart phone with physical keyboard. The best buy we were at had 1 left on clearance for 99 cents to renew him on our plan and it came with a $100 best buy gift card. Asked the guy several times if that was right and he said it was. That was several years ago when we could pay the 99 cents in the store and not do payments. Well there was tax on that I believe. He is still using that phone and loves it. Mary

Thank you all for filling me in on your choices. I have over analyzed this as Elmer said and took in to consideration Walmart which is not quite competition in this category their inventory right now is shabby

Square Trade my extended warranty concluded my television is dead. I paid $454 when I bought my Samsung. They are giving me credit for the whole amount. My warranty Icost $54 as I remember. They will give me a list of televisions very close or better than mine. I asked about the brands and she said they have Samsung like that. When I find one, I tell them and they use their vendors to fulfill my order. I am hoping to finish with thenm with a good response. I think so far they have been fair. I’ll use all your info to make a good decision. Thank you

.

In all honesty I have bought a 40" and a 55" Insignia (smart tv's with Roku) TV from Best Buy as well as an Acer Laptop. I have had no issues with any of them. 40" 2 1/2 years ago, laptop 1 1/2 years ago and the 55" almost a year ago. Good prices and no issues with any of them. I ahve also purchased a Surface Pro 4 factory refurb thru Amazon with no issues at all.

Millworkman, my experience was at a BB so steeped in cheating the customers in the town I’m in closed it down. I was one of the ones they cheated. I was very sick when I brought a new computer back to geek squad had loaded and lost all my information. Then they gave me a ‘broken’ one or refurbished and made me pay for the software. An honest man who worked with Geek Squad said it was wrong what they did to me and challenged the managers. A crowd assembled and told their stories and it made the papers. Between B.B. and Comcast who hired incompetent desk help It was quite an era. Both companies are standing strong but their foundation was built on lies and hanging up on customers. BB used to have a 15 day warranty. I just can’t take going in there. I would say that your Best Buy is run differently . Like Comcast though throughout the country they have had terrible reputations but were making money. Like the turn of the century Industrial Age when workers were paid low wages and worked long hours it made the Carnegies, and Vanderbilts filthy rich but there was no regard for human life. They should be glad they had a job. And we should be glad to have a big store that has everything except knowledgeable sales people and a Geek squad where a kid told me he took a two month computer class on line. Blessings to you and your computers. I have a feeling you are not dependent on their skills to make them run or to make choices based on terminology new to you.

I have never used the geek squad there. Much prefer to use the local computer fix it shop that has been in business 30yrs. I buy camera equipment and all kinds of electronics from ours plus phones and microwaves. If it wasn't for them I would be paying double from the Verizon store for phones. If we didn't have them there is no other place to look at electronics and camera equipment in person. Wal-Mart has Tv's and some computers but BB has so much more. Plus with best buy rewards I am always racking up points for money to spend in the store. We used to have that other chain that went under and I can't remember the name. Circuit city maybe it was. Shopped there and liked it but then after they went under we got a BB. We also had a comp USA back in the day 30min away that was great but they too went under. Mary

I bought our current TV from Best Buy. They were offering it on sale for a limited time at as low a price as I could find on-line and with free delivery. Prior to that I bought directly from Sony, best price I could find. Years ago I bought a Plasma TV from WalMart and it was delivered with a cracked screen. They made it right though. You’ll enjoy the features of a smart TV.

I've found MIcroCenter to be a good store for my electronics needs. They don't have a vast selection of TV brands (they are really more focused on computers and accessories) , but their customer service is great and their proprietary brand of computer I have found to be very reliable, with free after sale support. Their locations are limited though.

Elmer, you are right. One can tell me all the great experiences people have at B.B. and I can drag on about being in a wheel chair or on canes in terrible pain and those SOBs used me like a punching bag to wear me out. I also had access to places like this forum and friends everywhere in this country and they will agree with me about that oily place and Comcast.. obviously not here.

All horrific stories that can make one weak. My blood pressure went through the roof. B.B. said they had onsite people from Comcast who gave out advice about about compatible components for Comcast I told them I needed a modem and they were not prepared and started laughing for the guy to pick it out. I reported them to B.B.

Raee I know MicroCenter too and it is a funny store and had a good reputation. The policy since I am getting full credit for my television is they will select televisions that have the same features mine have now including Smart TV and I make a decision on one from the list and they use their vendors to get it. Never did this before so will hope for the best. Thanks for your post.

Well, we agree maybe only so far (hmmm, sorry) because I've had Comcast for internet only for 6+ years and I've been very happy with them. In my area, it's really the only true high speed option (fiber optic not available). They've been great. The cost isn't an issue for me and maybe for those who need to be careful, it would be different.

Good luck to you, though. I hope you get what you want and deserve to have and are happy with it.

Only place I can get good micro cables and the USB C cables my phone needs are best buy or online. Wal-Mart clearanced out all the good cables and now only carries junk that is too short for my needs. I happen to see this while traveling last week so I stocked up on a lot of cables when I saw them marked down. Got home and went to ours abd they hardly had anything left at regular price and it was all lower end stuff. Mary

You win Mary. You sure know what you are talking about.

Now Wal-Mart seems to only carry Omni brand and they are cheap junk, didn't last me long before they died so learned a lesson. Plus I like more than 3 feet if I can get it. I find the cables I get at best buy the quality is good. Our newer smart phones take the new USB C and our tablets take the micro so a pain dealing with 2 different cables. We each like to have a set in the house then we each like a set we keep in our luggage when traveling and that includes the fast chargers for our phones to plug the cables into. Need to order a few extra batteries for my new camera. Took a lot of photos this last trip and could hsve used a spare. Mary

6' USB C cord on Amazon, rated 75% 5 stars - $5.50

6.6 ' same thing at Best Buy - $35.

Cables.com $10

It's true, not all cables work with all devices, but to think Best Buy has a superior product (for the superior price) is wrong. They sell outrageously overpriced Monster Cable products too, the biggest ripoff on the market. With features like gold plated plugs (not necessary), single directional wire (no such thing), oxygenated wire (Huh?)

Be happy but you'd save money if you were more open to better and more honest sources.

Thank you Elmer. The most frustration I had with Comcast was when they had a help desk and would not, could not help me....didn’t know anything about port numbers and shared nothing with Microsoft and visa versa. Hung up in the middle of working with me. They had no skills to help me. They were so bad with computer stuff that I wrote to the New York Times and they ran the letter for 3 days so everyone could vent. A person high up intervened and called me and said I would never have to take the abuse again. He assigned me to the Regional Manager who sent someone out right away.

Before that, I was given recording boxes three or four a week that broke down within an hour and had the previous users recordings still on it. That was how our local Comcast manager operated. Honestly a homeless person delivered the box off the back of a truck and swapped out one he had just picked up from another home. I would have to take off work etc. The article in the NYT got me help. Comcast, back before you started with them, saved lots of money and outsourcing to different countries helped. Some of those folks in India were far better educated than in America and stuck with the problem..

Now I can say that this television that lasted 4 1/2 years never had one blip no matter what kind of hurricane we had here and perhaps that has some thing to do with Comcast. There are people who live other places 7 min away in a different county not too far away who hate Comcast and have a chance to get another service and will because their service is out all the time. In my building we have a 2nd generator if that means anything.

Life goes on - it was very good to talk to everyone. There is so much to keep in mind I learned a lot Thank you