Smart TV Vs. Apple TV

cojobt

Hi,

I'm currently in the market for a relatively budget TV, but I'm trying to get bang for buck, naturally.

I'm looking into the idea of buying a Smart TV, preferably with Integrated Wifi. I know different manufacturers include channels for things like YouTube, Facebook etc, and some in the UK have an iPlayer channel.

Does anyone know if we have any TVs which have RTE's player as a channel?
Can we use a proxy to bypass the BBC iPlayer geographical restrictions on these TVs?

Is there a great advantage in having a Smart TV at the minute over a jailbroken Apple TV (not that I have one, but I would consider getting one)?

I haven't seen any comprehensive discussions of these matters on here, which is why I'm posting this, although I know a few people have asked similar questions in the past.

Finally, where do you prefer to buy your TVs? My nearest chain stores are Currys and Argos, no DIDs or Harvey Normans near here. There is always Pixmania but there range is not exhaustive. Am I missing a key dealer?


cojobt

cojobt

Well, I guess nobody else really cares...either that or I asked a stupid question...

Thunderbird2

I would go for the new Samsung smart tv .. It has it all built into it plus it's 3D . Apple are designing a new "apple tv " so I would wait until that was released or else go for the Samsung tv which I would think would be better .:)

Sgt Pepper 64

cojobt wrote: »

Hi,

I'm currently in the market for a relatively budget TV, but I'm trying to get bang for buck, naturally.

I'm looking into the idea of buying a Smart TV, preferably with Integrated Wifi. I know different manufacturers include channels for things like YouTube, Facebook etc, and some in the UK have an iPlayer channel.

Does anyone know if we have any TVs which have RTE's player as a channel?
Can we use a proxy to bypass the BBC iPlayer geographical restrictions on these TVs?

Is there a great advantage in having a Smart TV at the minute over a jailbroken Apple TV (not that I have one, but I would consider getting one)?

I haven't seen any comprehensive discussions of these matters on here, which is why I'm posting this, although I know a few people have asked similar questions in the past.

Finally, where do you prefer to buy your TVs? My nearest chain stores are Currys and Argos, no DIDs or Harvey Normans near here. There is always Pixmania but there range is not exhaustive. Am I missing a key dealer?


cojobt

I would also go for the Samsung. It has just had the rte player released and theres loads of other apps for it, plus you can hook them up to a streaming media player or plug in a USB key. I havent bothered looking into getting the bbc iplayer but i reckon thats easily done from your router.
I went for the new "entry level" 5 series from Curreys and it had everything apart from 3D

cojobt

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

I would also go for the Samsung. It has just had the rte player released and theres loads of other apps for it, plus you can hook them up to a streaming media player or plug in a USB key. I havent bothered looking into getting the bbc iplayer but i reckon thats easily done from your router.
I went for the new "entry level" 5 series from Curreys and it had everything apart from 3D

Hmmm...RTE Player is attractive. The TV isn't actually for me, it's for my father, and ease of use is essential. At the minute I don't think he has any real interest in Internet TV. If I add another device, like the Apple TV, it won't be used as that will involve another remote control. It's taken years to get him to feel confident using the Sky Remote (strange thing: he's always bought newly released technology, like we had a VCR around 1985 and an Apple Series II or whatever it was called when they came out, which was fancy around here, but he's never been able to use anything himself!).

I think if he has a Smart TV, with integrated Wifi, and no 3rd party devices and 3rd party remotes, he might get some use out of it, especially with RTE Player now available.

When you say it's been added, do you mean that the latest firmware includes the RTE Player firmware? Is this easily found if the TV doesn't have it on already?

superleedsdub

Personally, I would avoid retailers in ireland, especially argos, curry`s and harvey Norman. I was in my local d.i.d., powercity, curry`s/PC world and harvey norman this week and once again I was shocked to see how much they charge. I recently bought an excellent 32" Samsung (without smart hub) for €330 from Richer sounds (do a search on boards for their forum - highly recommended.) This TV was saorview compatible, plays mkv`s from usb and is DLNA capable- I stream from my NAS with no issues and to top it off it outputs in full HD (LE- 32d550)
I saw a 22" samsung in D.i.d. with none of these capabilities for €270!!!

That`s just one example - i`ve seen tons of others down the years

I personally would do a search on amazon and richer sounds (.co.uk not .ie) for a TV in your budget range then see what Richer Sounds can do for you (failing that try a place called Seamus Watters near Newry). Additionally make sure you read as many reviews online as you can (techradar, what hi-fi, Cnet and homecinemachoice are usually reliable for me)

superleedsdub

cojobt wrote: »

When you say it's been added, do you mean that the latest firmware includes the RTE Player firmware? Is this easily found if the TV doesn't have it on already?

It means that RTE Player has been added to the samsung apps section of the Samsung smart Hub - it`s an excellent app :-)

At the moment, as far as I know, you cannot buy an apple tv2 in any store (if any knows where to nuy one please let me know) and the apple tv3 has not been jailbroken....... I`ve used the facebook and twitter apps on 2 smart TV`s I own (samsung and panasonic) and you (or your dad) would be better off with a smartphone/pad/PC/laptop as I find them very slow to navigate through (I know some manufactures are this year added touchpad capabilities etc, to their remotes, but these would be on their high-end models)

cojobt

Just got the Samsung EH5300 32 Inch LED Smart TV Full HD in Argos (in Derry - I live near the border). I have to say I'm very happy with it so far. It came with a free Samsung dongle. That's what drew me in
It had no trouble installing all the Saorview channels. I quite like the Samsung EPG as well.

The image is very bright, strong, clear - I'm happy with it. Most viewing will be Saorview (SD), Sky (SD) and some streamed avi.s.

The Smart Hub is great. On installation, the TV identified the need to update the software. This took about 20 minutes on my rather slow internet connection, and about another 10 to install new apps - RTE, Netflix, YouTube are all present and correct. The Smart Hub is easy to navigate. Of course, typing using the remote control is not ideal, but if you're used to doing that using a PS3 controller for example, it's not much of a problem.

The TV also connects to the Home Network for media streaming - no more running around with a USB from TV to computer to TV...the PS3 has this media server function as well, I know, but I found it somewhat problematic. I often resorted to the USB despite having the PS3 on the network.

So far so good! I might look into a wifi keyboard or some such device. Twitter and Skype are two apps I didn't expect to see, but they are also available. I haven't had a chance to test them out yet.

Regarding cost, it was £383.99stg, or roughly €475. For that money, it's a fantastic TV.

On the issue of Apple TV, the extra remote was going to be the main problem. I had intended to get an Apple TV 1 or 2 on eBay, but as neither of them are available to buy from a store, and as the Apple TV 3 cannot yet be jailbroken, their prices have gone up quite a bit since the last absinthe jailbreak. This would have meant buying a TV for about €400, then buying the Apple TV. It will be interesting to see if/when Smart TVs get jailbroken. If this is the future of TV, it's bound to happen fairly soon.

Amazon won't ship TVs to Ireland. It's useful for researching prices, but not for buying TVs. I don't think they even ship TVs to Northern Ireland anymore.

superleedsdub

That same model is €580 in the republic - I still don`t understand why the big Chains charge so much in the ROI in comparison to the UK.....

cojobt

superleedsdub wrote: »

That same model is €580 in the republic - I still don`t understand why the big Chains charge so much in the ROI in comparison to the UK.....

Yes, that is a significant difference. I suppose VAT, shipping charges, import duty and various other factors dictate the bottom line.