Smart TVs- worth it?

Gordy6040

Very simply, has anyone bothered getting one? Not in the market for a tv at present but if I was I'm not sure if the features justify the slight price premium. Surely a fanless pc is the connected via hdmi is the best bet if you want to go with multi media tv ? Maybe I'm missing the point though. What are your thoughts..

Skatedude

They are getting better, but not worth getting a new tv just because it's a smart tv if the one you have is already a 1080p tv. Better off with a media player such as a roku or western digital. much cheaper and adds all the same and more features.
The media players are about 100 quid, but make sure it supports netflix (all the later models do)

r3nu4l

If you're in England (like me) then a Smart TV is worth it imo. Not very good (i.e useless) for surfing the net but I can watch BBC iplayer, ITV player, 4od, Demand 5 and Lovefilm or Netflix as well as Youtube on the TV without having to connect my PC or stream. That said, I can stream from my computer if I want to but to be honest I find that having all the OnDemand players available is brilliant.

horse7

Is it possible to get a smart tv with a built in camera for skype?

r3nu4l

horse7 wrote: »

Is it possible to get a smart tv with a built in camera for skype?

As far as I know, none of the Samsungs come with a camera but there is a special Samsung camera to buy (of course...) for Skype. Not sure about other Smart TVs

tmull

Panasonic smart tvs have the option of an additional Skype camera.Cost of same is approx 100 Euro. TMULL

horse7

found this but can not find the tv model, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2117493/Samsungs-latest-TV-sets-built-cameras-spark-concerns.html

Gordy6040

do you want it integrated for neatness? otherwise clip should do the trick , may even be better quality.

horse7

Yes ,neatness mostly,i know logtec sell an add on.

Lombardo86

I am thinking of upgrading the TV and initially when refining the criteria one of the things i was saying i could do without was probably the smart aspect. Now i am rethinking..

Where is the best place to go?

Also, am i being reasonable to expect a 50 inch, smart, LED, 1080p for 1000?

Can anybody also help in terms of refresh rate.. how significant would the difference be between 200hz and 400hz? This jump seems to affect the price!

Gordy6040

horse7 wrote: »

Yes ,neatness mostly,i know logtec sell an add on.

Makes sense, the fewer cables the better. normally i would see a camera as one more thing that could go wrong, or one more thing the kids could smash but i guess the failure rate of electronics is pretty low so its a safe enough addition and the pros outweigh the cons.

dilallio

horse7 wrote: »

Is it possible to get a smart tv with a built in camera for skype?

r3nu4l wrote: »

As far as I know, none of the Samsungs come with a camera but there is a special Samsung camera to buy (of course...) for Skype. Not sure about other Smart TVs

LG also have a camera you can buy for Skype. Last time I looked they were around €100.

I remember reading in enGadget a while ago (no link) that one of the TV manufacturers had applied for a patent to streamline ads to their smart tv based on imaging information taken from the Smart TVs camera. The software would be able to deduce stuff like the size of the room, how many people were in the room and whether they were male/female, young/old, and use this to send ads geared towards the particular group.

Just yesterday, a story broke in the UK about LG sending information from your TV to LG servers, containing not only your channel choices, but also the names of all files & folders stored on hard drives / USB sticks connected to the TV. Even if the person selected a privacy option, it still sent the information.

Source:
The first is an article from the BBC website : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25018225

The 2nd link provides more detailed information but is quite long: http://doctorbeet.blogspot.ie/2013/11/lg-smart-tvs-logging-usb-filenames-and.html

Seamus1964

I think its better to have cheapest possible - good quality branded tv like Panasonic or Samsung with loads of HDMI connectors
and then you add all you need via terrestrial-satellite set top boxes (most of them have now LAN/wifi conections anyway) to access youtube or whatever.
If you want your tv to be very very "smart" get a android tv box or mini pc.
Upgrade will be much more simpler plus a lot cheaper IMHO

Friend of mine bought supertuper smart samsung tv with sat tuner built in and facebook and netflix and skype and whatnot - I could hardly operate it via remote control just too f...king complicated..never mind private browsing if you live with family - or friends.

r3nu4l

dilallio wrote: »

Just yesterday, a story broke in the UK about LG sending information from your TV to LG servers, containing not only your channel choices, but also the names of all files & folders stored on hard drives / USB sticks connected to the TV. Even if the person selected a privacy option, it still sent the information.

Yeah, I read that today myself

Seamus1964 wrote: »

I think its better to have cheapest possible - good quality branded tv like Panasonic or Samsung with loads of HDMI connectors
and then you add all you need via terrestrial-satellite set top boxes (most of them have now LAN/wifi conections anyway) to access youtube or whatever.
If you want your tv to be very very "smart" get a android tv box or mini pc.
Upgrade will be much more simpler plus a lot cheaper IMHO

Friend of mine bought supertuper smart samsung tv with sat tuner built in and facebook and netflix and skype and whatnot - I could hardly operate it via remote control just too f...king complicated..never mind private browsing if you live with family - or friends.

It's very simple to operate the Samsung Smart TV using a remote. What did you find complicated about it? You can also hook up a wireless mouse and keyboard to it using a bluetooth connector, very simply.

As for private browsing with family and friends, I honestly think that you're better off using your own password protected computer with privacy extensions and cleaning software for private browsing, not a TV or Smart box.

Gordy6040

I agree, a fanless mini pc is more versatile , the only thing is its not the neatest solution.
Now thoughs turn to a tv cabinet where that could be hidden but still accessible...

Seamus1964

Or....or...good looking pc can be visible. ..


http://www.quietpc.com/images/products/hfx-m2-bb.jpg