[Closed] Smart TV`s , worth the extra £ ?

I'd go for a featureless TV and buy a compact computer of some sort to attach to it. That way your TV will stay smart for a lot longer and be a lot more flexible than if you relied on any inbuilt functionality.

Depending on how much you wanted to spend I was in a sevenoaks store last weekend and they were running a 4k resolution panasonic TV which even though it was upscaling a normal 1080p source was an extraordinarily good picture.

You want a "smart" something but it doesn't have to be a Smart TV.

We watch almost no normal TV these days.

What we do watch is iplayer, Youtube, Netflix.

All of these are sent to the TV using a phone and Chromecast (£20-£30 from PCWorld etc). You could do this on a basic TV - as long as it has an HDMI input, which it will have.

You want a "smart" something but it doesn't have to be a Smart TV.

This +1

Never really used any of the smart features on our tv. Sky box has most catch up stuff now. Xbox has all the instant video apps. Chromecast for YouTube videos of diggers for deadly junior. Both the boxes are far slicker than the TV ever was.

Another vote for buying the best spec tv you can and adding the smart via an external device such as an Apple TV (£79 and works best with other Apple kit). The smart technology is evolving rapidly and a typical TV is kept 10 years.

Got a TV which has a few internet capabilities but our connection is obviously not good enough, iTunes just sits and buffers and stutters it's way through anything as does iplayer

Love our samsung one, almost never use the apple tv now. It works really well despite our rural broadband being crap

@dicky - what about Vimeo, RedBull TV and playing printed movies - cough 😐

Dumb TV plus Chromecast=win!! (unless you are tied into Apple)

Use Smart features all the time so yes from me.
Just not a Samsung one.

Will never buy that brand again after they said it's not unreasonable for a TV to require a repair costing 80% of the purchase price after 14 months.

The suggestions above sound sensible. We have a Sony Bravia smart TV, and it's all good. We don't watch any normal TV any more, and I mean [i]any[/i] (we stopped paying the TV licence). However, it's limited to what they are licensed to. So you want to watch 4od. You can't, it's not there. Want to watch something on Blinkbox. Can't do that either... Basically if you want to watch stuff from a wide range of source, you're probably going to have to do it through the methods outlined by everyone else anyway.

Takisawa - see my previous post about my Samsung that packed in after 16 months. You should be covered by the sale of goods act by the retailer http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/samsung-tv-broken

No point in 4k just yet unless you get a good enough bargain, SMART TVs are worth getting and pretty much a standard feature anyway now so don't cost anymore.

That way your TV will stay smart for a lot longer and be a lot more flexible than if you relied on any inbuilt functionality.

My Samsung is updated fairly regularly so it's no an issue.

I bought a new TV last year. I wasn't planning to get a smart one, but once you get to a certain price point everything seems to be smart anyway. The only smart bit I use is the Netflix app, which is duplicated on 2 or 3 other things connected to the telly so I could happily live without it.

My Samsung is updated fairly regularly so it's no an issue.

until Samsung decide to stop supporting it, and then it will be an issue...

Isn't there some cheap smart Sony blueray player that people used to recommend?

Or use an old Sony playstation 3.

A standard TV, separate box and sound bar is a better set up and cheaper. No brainer.

However, it's limited to what they are licensed to. So you want to watch 4od. You can't, it's not there

trouble is a lot of the ondemand services are only standard definition I think. I would find the drop in picture quality too much.

I would find the drop in picture quality too much.

Really? I mean [i]really[/i]? Is it that much of an issue?

Chromecast for iplayer, youtube, netflix, NowTv, etc.

We use ours mostly for watching movies streamed via Plex server on a Macbook Pro and controlled by an iPad.

It is honestly the best living room gadget we have. The PS3 and smart tv functions don't get used unless we want to watch a Bluray.

Just reading that back sounds like a boast post, but all of the gear above is no where near current (and I didn't pay full retail for any of it).

@TurnerGuy. I may be wrong, but I thought Netflix streamed up to 4K now, and NowTV quality is definitely above SD.

Really? I mean really? Is it that much of an issue?

yes, the drop in quality is a lot - what's the point of having an HD tv and watching in standard definition?

I had a Sharp 'Made for PAL' TV which had 540 lines and was excellent at showing standard definition pictures, and it would have been OK on that, but upscaling technologies have their limitations, particularly if you have a Samsung.

@TurnerGuy. I may be wrong, but I thought Netflix streamed up to 4K now, and NowTV quality is definitely above SD.

I said 'a lot' - I think 4OD and ITV player are SD, but may be wrong.

Missed that. 😳 Still need my eyes to open fully this morning, and the brain to engage fully (need a sleepy smiley). 🙂

Don't use the functionality on our smart TV, we just use the PS3 or Tivo box to do all the smart bits.

I've used the ChromeCast, AppleTV, XBMC, PS3/4, NowTV and the Samsung Smart TV.

In order of best to worst
1. Samsung Smart TV - Intuitive, quick n easy access
2. AppleTV - I have iOS, you can airplay video/music
3. PS3/4 - If you have one why not use it
4. ChromeCast - Good, except it doesn't have Amazon Instant Prime
5. NowTV - Quality was pretty poor in comparison (may have changed since)
6. XBMC - Has all the features, not easy to use in comparison

Are the Smart TV features worth it: Yes, if it doesn't cost much extra and you go for a decent brand like Samsung, I haven't used any other Smart TV's so can't comment on other brands.

Similarly I'm looking for a new tv for the lounge. I was going to get a smart tv so I could get Motors tv and the Eurosport player as I'm to tight to pay for sky! I've been told I need either a Samsung, Panasonic or lg to get Eurosport.
Could any one recommended one or know if I can get Eurosport on any other tv.

Cheers

Dumb TV plus Chromecast=win!! (unless you are tied into Apple)

Can someone explain this to me? Do apple things not play ball with Chromecast?

You want a "smart" something but it doesn't have to be a Smart TV.

+1

Many different ways to get the on demand services. Most Blu Ray players and home cinema systems also have the smart features built in too. Check which is the more cost effective option.

My 3.5 year old Samsung TV is getting a bit slow and doesn't support the latest 4OD app but the normal operation is still fine. So I intend to "up grade" the smart features by buying a new blu ray player.

Do they even do non-smart decent TVs any more?

yes, the drop in quality is a lot - what's the point of having an HD tv and watching in standard definition?

Well firstly, it depends on how far away you are and how big your TV is. Also another big thing not often mentioned is the bitrate. HD simply refers to the resolution, but if the bitrate is too low then you're just going to see the effects of high compression in HD, which is worthless.

We watch blu-rays and from our sofa you can tell the difference, although it's not dramatic (it is from closer). However I was quite surprised recently to learn that due to our broadband we'd been watching Netflix in SD all this time. It's vastly better than SD freeview telly.

trouble is a lot of the ondemand services are only standard definition I think. I would find the drop in picture quality too much.

What's the alternative? Sure you could remember to program the PVR but that's not quite equivalent to on-demand - it's a different viewing model.

What's the alternative? Sure you could remember to program the PVR but that's not quite equivalent to on-demand - it's a different viewing model.

I'll take that viewing model...

i think only the samsung have all the iplayers if that important to you
tend to use the apple tv mainly for streaming films, you tube app is handy if you have a smart phone or ipad just tap on an icon on your tablet and it will start playing on the tv annoyingly on my samsung,you tube wont play hd , suppose it depends on the price difference between smart and non smart, i would also buy from jl or costco 5 yr warranty,

Without the smart bit can you watch stuff like the BBC catch up?
Never ever watch ( in some case even heard of )iplayer, youtube, netflix, NowTv, . Haven't watched a film for months, what a waste of time, and can't see the point of other peoples stuff. *n*o sky telly, bugger all on now Axe men has finished.
Would some kind soul explain in simple language what chrome is? That was new to me until I opened this thread and a quick search tells me how great it is but doesn't tell me what it does.

To watch iplayer and the rest you need some kind of device beyond a standard telly that supports streaming these services off the internet. There are dedicated devices like Roku, and there's other devices that also support streaming like some blu-ray players, games consoles etc. A Smart TV simply has these same services built into the telly - you connect the telly to the internet.

A Chromecast will stream services from the telly but you need to control it (although this works wirelessly) with a computer, a chromebook or a phone.

I think what you get depends on the tv. BBC I player works on our Panasonic for example but no love film, it has net flix instead.

As most of what we watch is either you tube (supported) or I player (also supported on our tv) a smart tv is fine for us and I can always send anything else over from the tablet via the hdmi socket.

Then again we don't watch much telly and don't follow many long running mega series so it's all about casual content for us. Maybe that's why a smart tv is enough for 99% of what we do.