Home audio &amp; video forum: Which is the best smart TV?

Total posts: 12 (Showing page 1 of 1)

Thread display preference:
Collapsed
Expanded

Back to Home audio & video

Tracked Track this thread

Clarification request: On taking out the bells and whistles...

by Rob10 - 11/15/11 9:36 AM

In Reply to: Which is the best smart TV? by CecilSanders3

I'm in the market for a HDTV too, and PQ is my first priority as well. I don't want to pay extra for 3D either, because the demo at the store made it looked like it's not ready for Prime Time yet. However, two points...

1. It's nice to be able to click a button and have my Netflix Watch Instantly queue available instead of having to turn on my internet-capable DVD player and switch sources on the TV.
2. From what I've read, it sounds like the TV manufacturers are putting the better screens and video processors into the higher-end sets that have all the extra crap. It's not like you can take a $1500 TV that has a great picture and simply take out the internet capabilities and 3D, drop the price by $400 and call it a day. I would love to hear I'm wrong.

Was this reply helpful? (0) (0)

Staff pick

Answers

Answer Best answer as chosen by user CecilSanders3

Re: smart TV

by Kees_B - 10/21/11 3:05 AM

In Reply to: Which is the best smart TV? by CecilSanders3

It's much more limited than a smart phone.
There are hardly apps, there's no touch screen, and you can only browse selected sites.

Why not visit a shop and ask the sales person to give you a demo?

Kees

Was this reply helpful? (0) (0)

Staff pick

Answer Best answer as chosen by user CecilSanders3

Best Smart TV..

by MathewMontgomery - 10/24/11 2:54 AM

In Reply to: Which is the best smart TV? by CecilSanders3

Samsung "Smart TV" is just a brand name of Samsung TV, like Sony "Bravia", LG "Cinema" Vizio "Theater"...etc. Samsung promotes their products as "Samsung Smart TV" not because their TV is the best smart TV but because it is their brand name. Samsung was the first to use the term "smart TV" but it is not their own thing anymore. It now has become a terminology for TVs that are capable of using internet. Many other companies including LG, Sony, Intel now have the smart feature in their TVs so you have to go to retail stores, play demo and decide what you like the best.

Was this reply helpful? (2) (1)

Staff pick

Answer Best answer as chosen by user CecilSanders3

After a year of smart TVs my answer is "don't bother."

by R. Proffitt - 10/24/11 10:02 AM

In Reply to: Which is the best smart TV? by CecilSanders3

Actually it's been a few years yet folk are still complaining about how lacking these smart TVs are in basic areas such as the "browser."

Expectations seem to be that the browser would be on par with your current PC.
Reality is they are getting better but still falls short.

For now my advice is to not pay more for this and compare with non-Smart TVs.
Bob

Was this reply helpful? (0) (1)

Staff pick

Agree with Bob, not worth the premium

by Zouch - 10/29/11 5:42 AM

In Reply to: After a year of smart TVs my answer is "don't bother." by R. Proffitt

I'm researching a new TV at present and having looked at all the smart TVs, I just don't think they are worth the premium. I'll be spending any extra on picture and sound quality, such things as full HD, LED backlighting and refresh frequency. But most of all subjective picture quality. If I want to surf the web, I'll use my computer and get an infinitely better result. My TV is for watching programmes and movies!

But then my mobile phone is for making calls, not all the other fancy stuff on offer. One smartphone review I saw really creased me up - it said the phone in question was outstanding. Their only criticism was that call quality wasn't so good! As fans of Faulty Towers would say, Que?

Was this reply helpful? (1) (1)

Staff pick

Yes, but

by Rob10 - 4/10/12 9:32 AM

In Reply to: Agree with Bob, not worth the premium by Zouch

Most of the sets with the better screen technology are the ones they stuff "smart" features into. It's not often a matter of taking a mid to high-end TV and removing just the Internet "chip" and leaving the rest of the PQ alone. It's called the Big Upsell .

Was this reply helpful? (0) (0)

Staff pick

Answer Best answer as chosen by user CecilSanders3

smart tvs

by hereisjenna - 10/25/11 12:21 AM

In Reply to: Which is the best smart TV? by CecilSanders3

Smart TVs are televisions with Internet capability. As MathewMontgomery said, Samsung has marketed their tvs with internet capability as "Smart TVs" but this doesn't necessarily mean that they make the best smart tvs. Other brands like LG, Panasonic and Sony also make smart tvs. I don't have experience with Panasonic and Sony smart tvs but LG smart tv is pretty good. I mostly use it for Facebook and watching Videos via apps like Hulu and Netflix. It's fast and not that hard to use. I've also tried Samsung smart tv before. It's good but doesn't give you exclusive contents on Netflix like LG smart tv does.

Was this reply helpful? (0) (1)

Staff pick

Answer Best answer as chosen by user CecilSanders3

put the smarts where they belong

by porsche10x - 11/1/11 8:44 AM

In Reply to: Which is the best smart TV? by CecilSanders3

First, I should say that I haven't researched the current capabilities of any smart TVs but here's something to consider. Advances in computer technology come BLAZINGLY fast. I don't know about you, but when I buy a TV I expect it to last years, a lot of years. I can't imagne that a smart TV is in the least bit "upgradeable", except for maybe a firmware upgrade. I'd guess that for the price difference, you could just buy a cheap PC and hook it up to your "dumb" TV. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I'll bet that one of those cheap, old refurbs you see on buy.com, etc., for around $100 will outperform the smart TV by 200% to 1000%. Depending on your desires, you might also consider getting some kind of networked media player from Seagate, Western DIgital, etc. A year from now, you won't be kicking yourself over what the "new" smart TVs can do. You can always upgrade or replace your media center PC every so often as needed.

Was this reply helpful? (0) (0)

Staff pick

I couldn't agree more

by Pepe7 - 11/1/11 9:18 AM

In Reply to: put the smarts where they belong by porsche10x

That's the beauty of utilizing the current established technology. With a little bit of planning and prep-work, you can get a relatively inexpensive device with functionality that supercedes any of the $$ smart HDTVs by a longshot. I always encourage friends, family and clients to focus on the picture quality of any HDTV ahead of the widgets & apps that are so heavily marketed now. <sigh>

Was this reply helpful? (0) (0)

Staff pick

Answer Best answer as chosen by user CecilSanders3

smart TV

by pinkzroxor - 5/2/12 5:42 PM

In Reply to: Which is the best smart TV? by CecilSanders3

Samsung Smart TV is just a name of a specific model. They are great but wouldn't say the greatest. In fact, you can't really say which brand has the best because they're all competitors and each has its own unique features. But I personally prefer LG's smart TV for a couple of reasons. Their smart interface has a magic remote which is the same one they use in Nintendo Wii. Also, a lot of their premium apps are very useful. Other smart features were pretty much the same with the other brands, I just really liked the quality on LG TVs.

Was this reply helpful? (0) (0)

Staff pick

Answer Best answer as chosen by user CecilSanders3

best smart TV

by Keithperfez - 6/10/12 10:36 PM

In Reply to: Which is the best smart TV? by CecilSanders3

I've been using a LG 3D TV for over one year and have had no problems with function or app use.

Was this reply helpful? (0) (0)

Staff pick