SMART TV - are they worth it?

Rashers72

Hi all,
Just looking for thoughts on potentially getting a SMART TV.
Background:
Replacing a 10 year old 26 inch Sony CRT TV that's in the sitting room.
Already have a HD Freesat combi box via Satellite dish. This box also presently has Saorview. Potentially will also connect a PS3 blueray player at times.
Have basic wireless wifi, but would need to buy a dongle to connect if I go with the SMART options.
Sitting room is small enough, normally TV is watched by 2 adults, max. 2 kids, but generally 1.
Would probably just use Facebook/Youtube/various RTE/BBC players etc. I do not want the TV to 'take' over the room if you know what I mean.

Here are my questions:
Would a 37 inch suffice? - I think so...I have a Samsung 32 LCD in another room, and even that seems more then enough.
Is it worth the extra for 1080 v's 720? It's about 10-20% extra in price.
I could probably afford a bigger screen if I dropped the SMART feature - is it worth the trade off?

Finally here are 2 TV models I am thinking of:
Panasonic Viera TXL42E5B Currys Ireland EUR569
or
Samsung UE40ES5500K Powercity EUR589
(in both cases they are actually cheaper then the 37 inch equiv. for some reason ).

Looking for feedback from anyone who recently did a similar 'upgrade', and who is not using UPC etc.
Finally willing to wait till the Xmas sales if anyone thinks such TV's will reduce much in the Sales.

All feedback welcome:)

coylemj

Don't get hung up on SmartTV, you can get the same features through a cheap Blu-Ray player and if you have a PS3 player you're probably there already anyway because you can get NetFlix through the PS3.

The marketing folk in Samsung have done a superb job in associating themselves with the whole concept of SmartTV but the reality is that you can get pretty much all of those goodies via a network-connected Blu-Ray player from the likes of Sony, their cheapest 2012 Blu-Ray player (BDP-S390) is on Amazon for less than £100.

And don't believe all those logos stuck on the TVs you're looking at in the showrooms, a lot of them (e.g. the BBC player) won't work in Ireland.

Rashers72

Thanks for those tips.

ghogie91

As michael jackson coyle above said^

You can get the same features out of a 100 euro bluray player or a PS3

but I think the smart TVs are definitely the future! I will be replacing a 46 inch lcd with at least a 50inch smart TV, but gonna wait until all the initial problems that come with new products are ironed out

p15574

I have a Smart tv but haven't found any use for the 'smart' features. I did use RTE player once in the last year. The one thing I might have used it for - NetFlix - isn't supported. I can't see any reason to use a tv for stuff like Facebook or weather when you'd find your phone much easier to use. I think it's more of a sales gimmick, like 3D.

Don't be afraid of getting a much larger screen, eg 46" - I think you'll be surprised at how quickly you get used to it and prefer it.

I'm not sure whether it's worth going 1080 though - I haven't looked into it in a good while, but as far as I remember, the majority of HD TV being broadcast is only 720 so there's no need for the extra expense.

coylemj

p15574 wrote: »

I have a Smart tv but haven't found any use for the 'smart' features. I did use RTE player once in the last year. The one thing I might have used it for - NetFlix - isn't supported. I can't see any reason to use a tv for stuff like Facebook or weather when you'd find your phone much easier to use. I think it's more of a sales gimmick, like 3D.

++1 I bought a Philips 42" 8000 series LCD in Sept 2009, the NetTV feature is total crap, it doesn't support Flash so most websites don't work and it freezes up so often I just don't bother any more. The so-called 'apps' catalogue is laughable, weather and foreign news and that's it! No RTE or TV3 player.

p15574 wrote: »

I'm not sure whether it's worth going 1080 though - I haven't looked into it in a good while, but as far as I remember, the majority of HD TV being broadcast is only 720 so there's no need for the extra expense.

Do you have a Blu-Ray player? Rent any of the Dark Knight movies on Blu-Ray, that will convert you to the wonders of 1080p!

lotar

it depends upon the need and the choice of individuals. If someone likes to enjoy browsing the smart apps on big screen TV then certainly he should go for smart v. As I have been using a LG smart TV for last couple of months, it has been really nice.

Please Kill Me

Recently bought a 42" Panasonic Viera (about €979 in DID) and I'm very happy with it. We have playlists on Youtube that we play on it (especially for the little one), signed up to Netflix and Acetrax for the movies etc. We only got it because the toddler knocked our old TV off the stand and broke it. Well worth it IMHO.

BostonB

coylemj wrote: »

Don't get hung up on SmartTV, you can get the same features through a cheap Blu-Ray player and if you have a PS3 player you're probably there already anyway because you can get NetFlix through the PS3.

The marketing folk in Samsung have done a superb job in associating themselves with the whole concept of SmartTV but the reality is that you can get pretty much all of those goodies via a network-connected Blu-Ray player from the likes of Sony, their cheapest 2012 Blu-Ray player (BDP-S390) is on Amazon for less than £100.

And don't believe all those logos stuck on the TVs you're looking at in the showrooms, a lot of them (e.g. the BBC player) won't work in Ireland.

I don't get the "use a bluray" player. Its the same thing, with the same advantages and disadvantages except its in a separate box. More wires and cables and remotes. Same limitations of firmware etc. Its just handier to have it all on the TV. When the company stops updating the firmware of the TV/Bluray, you have to get a new external media/streaming box. Until then its a neater one box solution.

I'd pay a bit extra for a smart TV but I wouldn't pay a lot extra. However the smart TV's are often a better screen and more connectivity like HDMI ports and such. So you're not just paying extra for the smart TV functionality.