Smart tvs worth it?

[andgar923]

Gonna be buying a tv soon, and almost every offering has a

[andgar923]

Shit wrong forum, mods please move!!!

[LakersDaBEst]

most recent t.vs come with the smart option nowadays... however, I would recommend you shopping for one on Black Friday or Cyber monday will do too. I have one, but I don't really use netflix on it because I would just use netflix on my ps3 instead.

[andgar923]

most recent t.vs come with the smart option nowadays... however, I would recommend you shopping for one on Black Friday or Cyber monday will do too. I have one, but I don't really use netflix on it because I would just use netflix on my ps3 instead.

Yeah, most tvs have smart capabilities so it may be something I can

[flipogb]

if you don't have to, then avoid it. better using something like a Roku, whatever your tv has will just get outdated and then youl end up with an external device anyway down the road.

[DukeDelonte13]

nah. As long as you have a video game console or a laptop with an HDMI output smart TV's are really just unnecessary. They even have blue ray players that have apps built in. I don't think the premium you pay for a smart TV is worth it.

[Jailblazers7]

Not sure if there is really much of a premium on "smart tv" functionality because it is so common once you get up to the 50-60" range. I just got a 55" LED Vizio with smart tv functionality for a really good price at Best Buy in August.

[dannywpt]

Usually the better (and more expensive) panel you want, the better the smart-tv functionalities are.

I wish they made the high end TVs as panels only and sliced off like 25% of the price. No speakers, no smart-tv, nothing. One HDMI input and that's it.

[rezznor]

[QUOTE=andgar923]Gonna be buying a tv soon, and almost every offering has a

[highwhey]

That Panasonic is as close as your going to get for what you're looking for. It is essentially a "stripped" down tv but with great picture quality. If you wait for black Friday, I bet you might find the step up model "st60" for a similar price. I'm actually waiting for the st60 myself, probably the best tv at that price point, the same goes for all the s60.

[redhonda76]

Since you already have apple tv, you really don't need most of the features in the Smart tv. However most of the good tvs these days already have a Smart tv built-in.

[magic chiongson]

i've been having trouble looking for a 60" tv without the 'smart' functionality, i'm gonna be hooking it up via hdmi to a htpc anyway so i don't need all the other stuff. i figured the 'non-smart' would be cheaper but they usually come in smaller sizes (50" and below older models) and are about the same price as the cheaper smart ones

[highwhey]

Also, forgot to mention that if you go for the s60 keep in mind it has no screen filter for anti glare, the st60 has it. But, costco and sams warehouse have a special model only available in stores called the s64, it is an s60 with the screen filter of the st60 for the same price as the s60. So aim for the s64

[rufuspaul]

I have a 50 inch LG that is basically a HD LED monitor with cable, USB, HTMI and MIDI ports. My Blueray player has all the smart tv functions as well as 8 speaker surround sound and 3-D capability.

[Thorpesaurous]

I just got a 55" Samsung smart TV in March. I went top of the line, which included the web browser and the the camera.

I love it. But there is a ton of excess to it that I really don't need.

I was not subscribed to Netflix prior to buying it. I know I could've run it through my Playstation, but in a display of what I suppose is abject laziness, the notion of switching inputs, getting the controller, and everything else, it just never peaked my interest. Having it as an app, I check it almost daily. When I sit down in front of the TV for the end of the day, going through Netflix is almost like in my channell checking routine.

And more than that so is Youtube. I finally started using youtube to it's full extent, using subscriptions, likes, play later lists, and stuff like that. Checking youtube I do almost daily going through the channells.

Other than those two apps, I'm kind of at a loss for what else I'm getting out of it. I've used Samsung's media hub, which sort of serves as itunes, in that you can buy newer digital media off of it. Amazon is also available for the same functionality. But I rarely use them.

The internet browser was something that I paid more for, as they have cheaper models that are just app centric. I use it occasionally. I can track down podcasts on there that I may not be able to find otherwise. I do suppose I could cast them off of my phone if I wanted too.

The whole thing is something I'm sure I'm not getting maximum usage out of. But I'm ok with that. For me it was an alternative to going with AppleTV or Roku, mostly because I prefer the streamlined sense of having everything in a more singular, centralized, spot. It seems I'm in the minority in that regard.

As for the TV. The picture is superbly vibrant. If anything, perhaps too much so, as I actually scaled it back some. The darks are still excellent, as it has the localized LED dimming technology. But even with that, I'd say it's a bright, vibrant TV, which is usually not my taste. I was coming off of a Sony, which seems to run on the darker side, and handle atmospheric shadowy stuff better.

The other thing with the Samsung's is the almost non-existent outside bezzle looks great. You get about the closest you're going to get for a "floating picture" kind of a effect. I was a little cramped for space, so the zero bezzle was a seller for me, because it let me max out how much screen I could get on my wall.

[red1]

I recently bought a smart tv as well and still havent found a use for any of the features. Streaming from laptop? There are ways of doing it without a smart tv. Netflix? Been had that for a minute on xbox and ps3.

[andgar923]

I just got a 55" Samsung smart TV in March. I went top of the line, which included the web browser and the the camera.

I love it. But there is a ton of excess to it that I really don't need.

I was not subscribed to Netflix prior to buying it. I know I could've run it through my Playstation, but in a display of what I suppose is abject laziness, the notion of switching inputs, getting the controller, and everything else, it just never peaked my interest. Having it as an app, I check it almost daily. When I sit down in front of the TV for the end of the day, going through Netflix is almost like in my channell checking routine.

And more than that so is Youtube. I finally started using youtube to it's full extent, using subscriptions, likes, play later lists, and stuff like that. Checking youtube I do almost daily going through the channells.

Other than those two apps, I'm kind of at a loss for what else I'm getting out of it. I've used Samsung's media hub, which sort of serves as itunes, in that you can buy newer digital media off of it. Amazon is also available for the same functionality. But I rarely use them.

The internet browser was something that I paid more for, as they have cheaper models that are just app centric. I use it occasionally. I can track down podcasts on there that I may not be able to find otherwise. I do suppose I could cast them off of my phone if I wanted too.

The whole thing is something I'm sure I'm not getting maximum usage out of. But I'm ok with that. For me it was an alternative to going with AppleTV or Roku, mostly because I prefer the streamlined sense of having everything in a more singular, centralized, spot. It seems I'm in the minority in that regard.

As for the TV. The picture is superbly vibrant. If anything, perhaps too much so, as I actually scaled it back some. The darks are still excellent, as it has the localized LED dimming technology. But even with that, I'd say it's a bright, vibrant TV, which is usually not my taste. I was coming off of a Sony, which seems to run on the darker side, and handle atmospheric shadowy stuff better.

The other thing with the Samsung's is the almost non-existent outside bezzle looks great. You get about the closest you're going to get for a "floating picture" kind of a effect. I was a little cramped for space, so the zero bezzle was a seller for me, because it let me max out how much screen I could get on my wall.

That

[KevinNYC]

Buy the best panel you can afford, if it comes with extras take them. There's no smart TV killer app you can't get another way

[Godzuki]

I have a 47" Vizio with Netflix/Amazon/something else and its 3d. I never use the 3D but have used the Netfflix and Hulu a lot. There was a period where my Netflix/Amazon were having some issues where i had to wait for my 'smart' TV to download the updates which made me realize how much i missed being able to watch it on my main TV instead of my laptop.

Honestly the only thing i really would care about if i bought another TV is being able to get Netflix/Hulu/AmazonPrime on it. I realize the picture, size, and a lot of other bells and whistles are overrated in the respect that i get used to whatever it is i'm watching and the only time i'm really impressed are the first month~ of having it.

[9erempiree]

I have Apple TV and it sucks.

I would look into Google's smart TV, get it on the Logictech and it's one big @ss computer on your television.

[andgar923]

I have Apple TV and it sucks.

I would look into Google's smart TV, get it on the Logictech and it's one big @ss computer on your television.

Why does it suck for you?

[9erempiree]

Why does it suck for you?

It's good for what it is and for people that never had experience with smart TV.

Coming form Google Smart TV, it is a lot better than Apple's version. The advantage to Apple's TV is that you can turn your an entire house to a cloud system.

Google TV makes watching youtube videos much better. I think it has the best YT experience of all time. Better than a computer.

It also has a web browser that basically turns your TV into one big @ss computer. It almost eliminates the use of a computer. Very good experience.

Going to Apple, I expected some of these features but was disappointed. For the price it's good.

[andgar923]

It's good for what it is and for people that never had experience with smart TV.

Coming form Google Smart TV, it is a lot better than Apple's version. The advantage to Apple's TV is that you can turn your an entire house to a cloud system.

Google TV makes watching youtube videos much better. I think it has the best YT experience of all time. Better than a computer.

It also has a web browser that basically turns your TV into one big @ss computer. It almost eliminates the use of a computer. Very good experience.

Going to Apple, I expected some of these features but was disappointed. For the price it's good.

I agree, the ATV lacks some of the features that other media players have. But that

[9erempiree]

As for whether it's worth it? Yes, because it's not expensive either.

Here's some of the things I like about YT with Google Smart TV. When you open up YT, you get this screen shown below. I basically get to watch all the popular videos and the new videos that are out. So I get to watch new music videos too and most videos on YT don't have ads on the television.
http://cdn0.mos.techradar.futurecdn.net//art/media_streaming_devices/Sony%20NSZ-GS7%20Google%20TV/Sony%20Google_YouTube-580-90.jpg

Another thing I find great is while you are watching a video, you can hit the down arrow on the keyboard and "related" and "more videos from" comes on the bottom and you can effortlessly choose the next video while a current one is playing.
http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/google_tv_youtube_update_3.png


Just a fantastic experience. I wish they would give more support to YT because on the trending videos and most popular videos, it does not refresh or update.

Popular videos such as Gundham style or viral videos, I have seen weeks before they reach to masses because of smart TV. It's very nice.

Browsing isn't bad either. In fact is very normal like a computer. Filling out forms or drag-down menu sucks with websites that have them.

http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/vXcl5bVUAwY/maxresdefault.jpg

[andgar923]

You can do the same on an ATV, just different interface.

I never really care for

[9erempiree]

[QUOTE=andgar923]You can do the same on an ATV, just different interface.

I never really care for

[andgar923]

Like it's very own phones, it doesn't multi-task well. :oldlol:

I have Apple TV, those things I mentioned can't be done with Apple. You have to hit that stupid MENU button to go back. You cannot search for videos while a video is playing like Google.

I can search through videos while watching a video. IF I like it I can just click and it goes to another video. On Apple, you have to go back every damn time and it doesn't save your search spot.

Google TV saves through your search spots so you don't have to go back through it again.

I see, that

[9erempiree]

[QUOTE=andgar923]I see, that

[magic chiongson]

don't trust andgar when it comes to anything apple :D

[bluechox2]

not worth it, i dont even use mine, its pretty useless, i have an android box hooked up which works better than what a smart tv menu can