--- title: What's the Best TV Under $300? description: Money tech guru Doug Aamoth picks the best TVs available for under $300. authors: - name: Doug Aamoth url: https://money.com/author/doug-aamoth/ former_staff: true published: '2015-12-17T11:30:33.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T09:25:33.000Z' section: Shopping tags: - Tech - Television word_count: 653 canonical: https://money.com/whats-the-best-tv-under-300/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Ask the Expert – Everyday Money illustration pulling cash out of wallet](https://img.money.com/2014/11/140605_askexpert_evmoney_illo.jpg?crop=0px%2C334px%2C2100px%2C1182px&quality=85) **Q:** **I’m looking for a new TV to go in my small living room. What’s a good one? My price limit is $300. Go!** **A:** I’m ready! You can definitely get a nice TV for $300. Let’s try to set some baseline specs that we’re looking for, along with also setting some expectations about what we’re *not* going to get. ## The Basics For $300, we’re looking in the 40-inch size range, which should work well for a small living room. I live in the city with a living room that’s about 10 feet by 10 feet, and I’m living with a 42-inch TV right now that suits me just fine. I could probably go up to the 50-inch range someday, but I pesky things like food, mortgages, and fossil fuels used for heating keep getting in the way. As far as resolution goes, we’re *not* looking at any of the new-ish 4K TV sets, but we want to stay away from 720p sets as well. In this price range, we’ll be able to get a 1080p (that’s full-HD resolution) set for sure. And we can go either way on “smart” TVs. If we find a set that’s got smart-TV features, great. If not, you can turn your TV into a smart TV of sorts anytime you like [for less than $50](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=lp_13447451_nr_p_36_1?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A172282%2Cn%3A%21493964%2Cn%3A1266092011%2Cn%3A13447451%2Cp_36%3A1253504011&bbn=13447451&ie=UTF8&qid=1449956812&tag=441937901-20&rnid=386442011). So our baseline specs: 40-inchers or larger, 1080p resolution, smart-TV features a plus but not a deal-breaker. ## Option 1: 43-inch LG ($280) If you’re looking for something name-brand-ish, [this LG is a nice option](http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-43LF5400-43-Inch-1080p/dp/B00ZVCZYTO/ref=sr_1_1?s=tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1449749417&sr=1-1&refinements=p_36%3A25000-30000&tag=lg-holiday-20). It’s got a 43-inch screen, 1080p resolution, and two HDMI inputs (you’ll use one HDMI input for your cable box, and a second if you want to hook up a Blu-ray player or streaming box of some type). There are no smart-TV features here: you’re paying a tiny bit for the LG name, as we’ll see with the following options. ## Option 2: 43-inch Insignia ($280) Best Buy’s house-brand Insignia TVs are almost perpetually on sale, [so watch for this one](http://www.bestbuy.com/site/insignia-43-class-42-5-diag--led-1080p-hdtv-black/1213176.p?id=1219479932882&skuId=1213176) to dip lower over the coming months. It’s often found at $280; don’t pay the $330 sticker price. This one is almost identical, spec-wise, to the above LG aside from an extra HDMI port. So if you’ll want to hook up a cable box, a Blu-ray player, and a streaming media box or stick, this is a good option. Remember to keep an eye on the price, as it could conceivably drop even lower than $280. I know that in the past, Best Buy has sourced the panels (as in “flat-panel” TV) from big name players such Samsung, LG, and others. I’m not 100% sure what they’re doing nowadays, but these sets are generally pretty well-rated by current owners, so don’t be too gun-shy about this one not being from a household name. ## Option 3: 40-inch TCL with Roku ($300) With [this TV set from TCL](http://www.bestbuy.com/site/tcl-40-class-39-5-diag--led-1080p-smart-hdtv-roku-tv-black/4235004.p?id=1219711486701&skuId=4235004), you’re paying a little more and you’re getting a smaller screen, but you’re also getting built-in Roku streaming, which covers just about every popular service – Netflix, Spotify, YouTube, Hulu Plus, and plenty of others. It’s got a 1080p resolution, three HDMI ports, and double the refresh rate of the two options above, which can result in a smoother picture depending upon what you’re watching. This one’s at the top end of your budget, but feature-wise, it’s got a lot going for it if you don’t mind losing a few inches when it comes to screen size. Of the three options, I’d go with this one myself because a) I like Roku and b) I watch a lot of sports: the doubled-up refresh rate is good for stuff with a lot of motion. *Doug Aamoth lives in Boston and has spent more than two decades in the technology industry, working for consumer electronics retailers, support centers, startups, cybersecurity providers, and media companies.* **Read Next: How to Make Your Laptop Last Longer** ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/whats-the-best-tv-under-300/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Shopping", "item": "https://money.com/shopping/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tech", "item": "https://money.com/tech/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What's the Best TV Under $300?" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/whats-the-best-tv-under-300/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/whats-the-best-tv-under-300/", "name": "What's the Best TV Under $300?", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2015-12-17T11:30:33.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/whats-the-best-tv-under-300/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/whats-the-best-tv-under-300/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-16T09:25:33.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "What's the Best TV Under $300?", "articleSection": "Shopping", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2014/11/140605_askexpert_evmoney_illo.jpg?crop=0px%2C334px%2C2100px%2C1182px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "140605_AskExpert_EvMoney_illo" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Doug Aamoth", "url": "https://money.com/author/doug-aamoth/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/doug-aamoth/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2012/01/ugc10114521.jpg?quality=85&w=640&h=640&crop=1" } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2015-12-17T11:30:33.000Z", "description": "Money tech guru Doug Aamoth picks the best TVs available for under $300.", "abstract": "Money tech guru Doug Aamoth picks the best TVs available for under $300.", "@id": "https://money.com/whats-the-best-tv-under-300/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-16T09:25:33.000Z", "wordCount": 653, "keywords": [ "Tech", "Television" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Shopping", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Tech", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tech" ] } ] } ] } ```