To get a smart TV or to get a android TV box?

Marktwon

New Member
In theory, having a smart TV would be great. The TV would have a network connection and be able to connect to the Internet to play videos from sources like Netflix and YouTube without needing a separate box. You get a web browser and everything else you’d want to use. It’s all integrated into the TV, saving you money and eliminating the clutter of additional boxes and cables. In practice, smart TVs just aren’t that great. Smart TVs have software made by TV manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, LG. Their software is generally not very good. Smart TVs usually have confusing, often baffling interfaces. Controlling the smart TV’s features will generally involve using a remote, probably using on-screen buttons on the the TV. The menu interfaces usually feel old. Smart TVs will become dumber over time as they don’t receive updates. New video services won’t work on old TVs, and their operating systems may never receive updates from the manufacturer. Android TVboxes have a variety of advantages: They’re made by companies who actually care about the software user experience, they’ll receive updates, and they’re cheap at $99 or less.Such as Roku, Tronfy and Apple TV box. If you’re not happy with your smart TV software in two years, you can buy inexpensive box and swap it out instead of replacing your entire smart TV. So which to choose seems obviously, isn't it?
 
I have a fairly new Sony smart TV .Its OK for watching Netflix and Hulu but otherwise I'd rather just use my Apple TV and Chromecast. Web browsing on a smart TV is painfully slow , apps have to be refreshed almost everyday , some apps just don't work .
 
In theory, having a smart TV would be great. The TV would have a network connection and be able to connect to the Internet to play videos from sources like Netflix and YouTube without needing a separate box. You get a web browser and everything else you’d want to use. It’s all integrated into the TV, saving you money and eliminating the clutter of additional boxes and cables. In practice, smart TVs just aren’t that great. Smart TVs have software made by TV manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, LG. Their software is generally not very good. Smart TVs usually have confusing, often baffling interfaces. Controlling the smart TV’s features will generally involve using a remote, probably using on-screen buttons on the the TV. The menu interfaces usually feel old. Smart TVs will become dumber over time as they don’t receive updates. New video services won’t work on old TVs, and their operating systems may never receive updates from the manufacturer. Android TVboxes have a variety of advantages: They’re made by companies who actually care about the software user experience, they’ll receive updates, and they’re cheap at $99 or less.Such as Roku, Tronfy and Apple TV box. If you’re not happy with your smart TV software in two years, you can buy inexpensive box and swap it out instead of replacing your entire smart TV. So which to choose seems obviously, isn't it?

You have some points, but -

1. Using the smart features on my TV isn't particularly challenging. I'd say not any more than using my Roku. It might be even easier, actually.

2. As far as typing, yeah, it's a pain with any remote but many/most modern smart TVs can use a BT keyboard. Mine even has voice command.

3. My smart TV has and continues to occasionally get updates.

4. If your smart TV features become outdated and unsupported, you don't have to replace the entire TV. You can simply add an external device at that time.

Fact is, unless you're buying an entry level TV, these days you're probably going to get smart TV features like it or not.
 
Nowadays, most TV's are "smart" as are most Blu-Ray players, and to a lesser extent, so are cable boxes. That being said I don't use the smart features on any of those devices, but rather, I prefer my Apple TV.
 
The Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick are pretty decent...lots of neat "free" stuff if you are already hooked on Amazon Prime.
 
Nowadays, most TV's are "smart" as are most Blu-Ray players, and to a lesser extent, so are cable boxes. That being said I don't use the smart features on any of those devices, but rather, I prefer my Apple TV.

Thanks for the reply, I think most of us want to use those smart features, otherwise why would we spend money on that? The turth is this "smart" is far from the real smart, which is the way we are heading to.

The Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick are pretty decent...lots of neat "free" stuff if you are already hooked on Amazon Prime.

Thanks for your reply! Have not tried Amazon Fire TV yet, but what are these free stuff?
 
You have some points, but -

1. Using the smart features on my TV isn't particularly challenging. I'd say not any more than using my Roku. It might be even easier, actually.

2. As far as typing, yeah, it's a pain with any remote but many/most modern smart TVs can use a BT keyboard. Mine even has voice command.

3. My smart TV has and continues to occasionally get updates.

4. If your smart TV features become outdated and unsupported, you don't have to replace the entire TV. You can simply add an external device at that time.

Fact is, unless you're buying an entry level TV, these days you're probably going to get smart TV features like it or not.

Thanks for the reply, you might get a good smart TV, but you can not deny that most of functions you mentioned are available in many TV boxes. Remote control, app install, firmware update, E-share, free channel and so on. As far as i am concerned, the most valuable combination is normal HD TV + smart TV box.
 
I really do like external devices. My favorite, of course, is the HTPC I built last winter, followed closely by my XBOX 360. These certainly are more expensive options and that is the major drawback. In all other areas, they both excel.

I, too, really like the Chromecast, especially at it's price point. The Fire Stick may be handy for our Amazon Prime account, but I have all I need between the HTPC and the Chromecast.
 
As far as i am concerned, the most valuable combination is normal HD TV + smart TV box.

Don't necessarily disagree. But...bought my last TV based on picture quality. Had no choice in the included smart features; that's just the way it was with a TOTL TV. Panasonic TC-P60ZT60, in case you're curious.
 
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I have a Hisense smart UHD TV that runs on Android. Has the best of both worlds. Youtube, Chrome,Netflix already preloaded. Sony and Sharp also come with Android 5.0 Jellybean.

Only hassle is boot up time (it's like the old valve TV's..... needs time to warm up) and selecting different inputs can be a little slow. Typing is hit and miss with the remote however you can plug in a keyboard no probs.
 
Thanks for your reply! Have not tried Amazon Fire TV yet, but what are these free stuff?

Amazon Prime membership ($100/year?) includes free Prime movie/TV streaming, Prime music (perhaps of most interest to me), and free 2-day shipping on lots of Amazon stuff. So the music and movies are "free" if you justify the $100/year to get the 2-day shipping. Also apps and games I pay no attention to. Obviously Amazon's plan is to sell you a bunch of other stuff...
 
The LG Smart TVs have WebOS - which is open source and was developed by HP when they were trying to get into the tablet market.

http://www.hpwebos.com/us/

http://www.lg.com/us/press-release/webos-release

I also bought based on picture quality - but figured it was just as good not to have an external box.

I have been very pleased with my 42 inch LG...like the WebOS and the Magic Remote - (kinda like a wireless mouse) Just turns on - nothing like "boot time"

I use HULU, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube apps so far and the web browser seems just fine.

Played some music off a USB stick...playback wasn't gapless using the stock play app.

I run my audio out via TOSLink to my Behringer Ultramatch 2496.

Note - there are NO BUTTONS on the TV itself - so keep track of your remote! (Actually - I think there is a power button)

LG is even developing a cloud storage system...limited to 5GB I think - pretty simple interface so far - not a lot of bells and whistles - just storage.

https://us.lgecloud.com/

For me - I wanted to consolidate my setup - so fewer boxes was a plus - I use OTA/antenna for TV - so this is an all-in-one solution.
 
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I want the TV to be nothing more than a large, high quality monitor. I've got a 70 inch Aquos with very fine color and images.
I use an Oppo BluRay that plays discs and has other features, plus I've got a a great tuner in the TIVOHD box -
which has Amazon, Netflix, Youtube and a bunch of Smart-TV features. I did buy the optional TIVO remote
with the slideout keyboard - speeds up access with YouTube, searches and such.
I also have an app loaded on my computer called "streambaby" that lets me stream TV & Movie content from my Mac
to my TIVOHD via Wifi and it works quite well. I've got this all tied to a 7.1 multimedia system that does audio very well.

So far haven't seen a need to add a Chromecast, Firestick, Roku or other stuff to the stack -
but they look like a neat way to go if I didn't have the TIVO and Oppo already. Lots of overlap.

I'd rather keep it all modular so I can replace a basic box when software needs to get upgraded than replace the whole TV for that!
 
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Android TVboxes have a variety of advantages: They’re made by companies who actually care about the software user experience, they’ll receive updates, and they’re cheap at $99 or less.Such as Roku, Tronfy and Apple TV box. If you’re not happy with your smart TV software in two years, you can buy inexpensive box and swap it out instead of replacing your entire smart TV. So which to choose seems obviously, isn't it?

Now that seems a little silly...I wouldn't have to replace my whole TV to add a external box!

I can add one anytime if I were to become dissatisfied with my built in software.

I seem to be receiving regular OS updates as well as updates to my apps from the LG store.

LG Store here

http://us.lgappstv.com/appspc/store/product/retrieveProductList.lge?dummy=all
 
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Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime membership ($100/year?) includes free Prime movie/TV streaming, Prime music (perhaps of most interest to me), and free 2-day shipping on lots of Amazon stuff. So the music and movies are "free" if you justify the $100/year to get the 2-day shipping. Also apps and games I pay no attention to. Obviously Amazon's plan is to sell you a bunch of other stuff...

I got roped into Amazon Prime when I bought a BluRay player from them. I'm not happy with the service at all. :pity: Most everything I have an interest in watching has an additional cost associated with it and many of the "no additional charge" items are 7 year old TV shows that I wasn't interested in, 7 years ago.

I suppose the Prime Music is an interesting feature but I haven't figured out how to get their Prime "Music" from my smart devices (Samsung TV & Samsung BD player) input through my AVR. :confused:

I know this is a Smart TV thread so...
My Smart TV experience has been disappointing. The only reason I have it is because it's imbedded in 'upper tier' devices. The apps are slow and cumbersome while the browser is near impossible to use.

The "Smart Devices" and associated services have made me feel dumb :yikes: :headscrat
 
I just use a smart Blu-Ray player to do all my other stuff with.

Plus it plays blu-rays, dvds.... Uploads regular dvd's and they look great.
 
There is some consideration too as to how the system, at least for HT/surround, is all connected together.
 
The one argument for some smart TVs is that they can handle 4k signals from Netflix and I am not aware of a popular stand alone box that can do that at this point. Personally, I don't think it is a one or the other issue. Right now, I use boxes like Appletv and if I got a new Smart TV, I would still hook it up for features like Airplay.
 
Wow - How many shows are available in 4K from Netflix?
 
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