It's been many years, so this is old data, but I purchased a half dozen or so Sceptre flat panel monitors for an office. Every one of them stopped working after about two years. I don't remember for sure, but they may have been LCDs with fluorescent backlights, so the fluorescents could have simply failed.

I've always had a poor opinion of Sceptre from this, but again, it could just be an out of date prejudice.

As a counter-anecdote, I purchased a Sceptre monitor in the 20"-30" range in 2010 and used it through 2015 when I gave it away. It's still in daily use and working fine for what it is.

I recently purchased one of the Sceptre TVs and overall am happy with it. The only drawback I found was the sound is not great: it is tinny and muddled (possibly because it's wall-mounted). I'm planning to buy some external speakers.

Yes, I have a 4K Sceptre purchased for a song, and the sound isn't great (and HDMI-CEC doesn't work as reliably as I'd like to bring up the soundbar on HDMI-ARC, etc.)...

...but it doesn't have any of the smart TV BS. Still takes too long to power on, IMO.

This is a very real annoyance for me too.

It takes wayyyyy too long to power/boot up.

That being said, I just hook up my own speakers.

I assume the tradeoff is probably panel quality, right? I doubt they have OLEDs on the level of an LG or Samsung TV.

I think the trade off is a subsidized price point, and associated specs, and an unsubsidized one.

I’d guess the panels are all pretty common.

No they are not. Even the bigger players like Samsung and Sony have dozens of quality levels of panels. The highest quality ones e.g. have a ton of local dimming zones and smart backlighting, and achieve much higher contrast ratios than cheaper models. They also will represent moving objects with high contrast better. Plus, there's usually different levels of color calibration applied.

That means usually in order to get the best imagine quality you also have to buy the model with the most smart features at a higher price point - even if you don't intend to use them.

Very helpful info. Thanks for this.

I often forget to consider stuff like consistent/quality back lighting, but it really does make a difference.

I could not find a product description. Stopped scrolling when I reached the related products and could not find a hyperlink in the sidebar. Is this just me stuck in old ways?

This will provide more significant detail: https://www.sceptre.com/TV/4K-UHD-TV-category1category73.htm...

(e.g. https://www.sceptre.com/TV/4K-UHD-TV/U557CV-UMRB-55-4K-UHD-T...)

It's below the related and recommended products.