i know a couple who only use the smart features of the TV, no point in adding anything else if the smart functions does the job.

I still cant fathom why any of you are still even in the slightest bit concerned with reliability when choosing a new tv ,, Chinese , vestel , sony or otherwise ?

Why is it even an issue ?

With 5 yr (six with richers) guarantees handed about commonplace ,,,,, who honestly cares if it fails afterwards

Youve had ya moneys worth by then ,,,,,,, and like others have said , new features are coming out all the time so you'll probably be thinking of upgrading by then anyhow

Modern tv's with rich feature sets are cheaper than ever now ,,,,,,,,,

4k hdr 40 inch hisense in richers for 350 quid with a six yr guarantee ,,,,,,,, whats that ? About 60 quid a year ,,,,,,,,,,,, why would any of you care if it fails after this time ? And if it fails beforehand its their problem not yours

It's your problem when you don't have a TV for an extended period, and RS aren't well known for the quality or speed of their service (for that matter neither are JL, the other people offering free/cheap extended warranties).

Few years back I bought a Panasonic with free 5 year warranty from whoever ran the TV department in Bentalls. When it developed a picture fault (but still watchable) they were brilliant. A local service company phoned me within an hour, diagnosed the fault from my description but asked me to email a photo of the screen to confirm. They then ordered a new board from Panasonic, phoned when it arrived and fitted it at home to avoid the hassle of carting it to their workshop and requiring two visits.

I too had a good service from John Lewis (a local company was contacted). They even provided a loan TV, although it was quite a lot smaller and I actually could have survived without it. They had my TV a few days, and life doesn't come to an end if you don't have a TV!

(By that I mean you'll probably have one in another room or can watch TV or catch up content on your phone or tablet!)

Not my experience with RS. I bought an open box amp for a second room a while back, after setting it up I noticed a fault on one of the rear speakers, after doing a few tests it was in fact faulty, I rang them up and they arranged for one of their sales staff to pick up the faulty amp and drop off a loaner the next day, they even dropped off the repaired amp and picked up the loaner. Excellent service.

The problem is, you often hear of bad experiences, very rarely do you hear praise, so for some reading forums and customer service websites it doesn't really give a true indication of how these companies truely perform.

It is hassle to send them back or take them back if something goes wrong.
As for features, a smart box of some sort is a better option as most Tvs are so slow anyway.

Have to say I'm tempted by the 55 inch M7000. Just not sure it will be bright enough?

Most worthwhile TVs these days are smart anyway and I have never seen any reason or evidence for smart boxes in general being smarter than smart TVs in general. And the smart box is as much use as a brick if your TV goes off for repair.

You won't get software updates for the 7 years or so that people keep a TV.

I have a Sony, LG and Samsung smart TV. All the 3D and kids content went from my LG. Skype and other stuff went from Samsung. YouTube from the Sony.

What a sham!

My old Philips TV isn't smart but has a Freesat box, Now TV and Fire TV box hooked up. Easily replaceable for little money.

With respect to Hisense reliability.

I bought two Cello-branded TVs, a 30" and a 42", in 2008. This was at a time when Cello were buying in CKDs of Hisense models and building them in the UK (their sets are not currently using Hisense components).

Eight years later and both are still going strong. They used (and I believe, still use) Megmeet power supplies -- these are orders of magnitude more reliable than the Vestel-built PSUs in the majority of 'branded' sets available from the supermarkets.

Generally speaking, panels and main/logic boards are reliable. It's the power supplies that fail (blown capacitors, overworked diodes failing, FETS blowing up due to poor design). And if these sets are anything to go by I'd have no problem buying Hisense again.

You mean RS will tell you to take(or send) a 65" set back to them for repair?

As RS don't have their own service facilities (with a very minor exception) service is outsourced to third parties - whom I would expect would come out to a 65 inch set and collect it.