I totally agree with you, that's why I made my point. The hardware samsung produces is top notch. All of it for the most part. Their issue is software. Even their range tops have software issues. If Samsung made software as good as their hardware, they'd be almost unstoppable (for the most part). They are getting close to being the top chip manufacturer on the planet, if they aren't already.
I only bring up their phones to make the same point, beyond fantastic hardware screwed up by software. If you can disable the stuff on their TVs, then they're like my Panasonic, and that's great. You don't have to see that stuff unless you want to. When I first got the TV, nobody had found the banner disable setting and people were freaking out. Luckily it was found and I've had an excellent set for the last 8 years. Samsung is similar to that. Great products that are reliable, unless software issues cause problems. I've seen it happen on TVs, phones, even refrigerators. If it wasn't a common theme from them I wouldn't have brought it up.
For people that actually use the smart TV features is a big frustration, for us, no big deal since we don't use that stuff anyway. My Vizio is the same, crappy software on a good TV. From what I've read LG is one of the only ones that DON'T have software issues (yet, give them time). BTW, LG makes excellent appliances too.
My parents are still annoyed Samsung won't update their Plex app. Nothing a little FireTV stick couldn't fix, but stil. This is why we've all just told people to buy the TV for the picture quality and how reliable it is, not for smart features. I for one can't wait till Samsung finally moves away from LCD and does something new. LG will finally have some competition for the very top spot, and that's good for everyone.
Plus, I'll have you know that I actually DO have a JVC product that is fantastic and ISN'T one of their projectors, the deck in my truck is a JVC/Kenwood and it's fantastic. So, if I were to judge JVC on that, then I'd say JVC makes pretty good stuff.
