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Smart Tv’s


shnsajax

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  On 10/17/2020 at 6:34 PM, CooterBrown said:
Any TV paired with an Apple TV or Roku.
All TV interfaces and wireless cards are terrible. Plus all the streaming apps made for TVs are generally worse than those built for ATV/Roku. Add a streaming device and you’ll be much happier.

We’ve had a Roku stick for a while and just feels slow at times with apps taking forever to load.
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Anyone have issues with pixelation on streaming, notably YouTubeTV ? I bought a Sony OLED last year and it was unwatchable on both native app and Roku. Have Google fiber and actual band width at the point is about 100Mbs. I had to return the tv it was so bad and go back to my old ass Sony 1080p tv.
Sorry for the hijack.

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If I was buying a new main TV today I'd get an LG or Sony OLED. They've come down enough in price to justify. Vizio would be tempting too.

For a bedroom TV I'd just pick up whatever was available for around $300. All of the add-on streaming devices make the UI kind of irrelevant. I just added the new Chromecast to my old ass Sony and it feels like a brand new TV.

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I have an OG Chromecast.  You can't hack it up and it has no native apps, but the ease of just smashing that Cast button on apps or websites makes it pretty cool.  Works faster and better (because you navigate apps/websites) than most app setups on TVs.  Having Apple devices is a bit of a limitation if you don't install Chrome.

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To me it sorta depends on priorities.  I have a Sony x900f in my BR.  Absolutely jaw dropping picture.  Literally everything else about it sucks.  It won’t play nice with surround equipment, it refuses to not take over control of other devices, its remote has 3,760 buttons on two sides and drinks batteries.  It has to be reset by unplugging it for 10 minutes at least every two weeks.  The “smart” interface is an uncustomizable ad-ridden mess off nonremovable shit and unavailable apps.  You can’t even run bias lighting on it because it powers the USB ports 24/7.  My wife constantly tells me to throw it out because roughly once a week it takes 10 minutes of forcing it to do what I want, and that’s basically just trying to get it to just display AppleTV.  But the picture is just breathtaking when it works. 
 

The TCL 6 in my living room is amazing in almost all the ways the Sony sucks.  Roku interface just works, it is controlled flawlessly with a tiny eight button remote, and never needs to be reset or really even thought about.  It’s even a nicer looking piece of equipment on my wall. But the picture is meh at best, especially at night.  

Edited by Liquor and Poker
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  On 10/18/2020 at 3:08 PM, Liquor and Poker said:
To me it sorta depends on priorities.  I have a Sony x900f in my BR.  Absolutely jaw dropping picture.  Literally everything else about it sucks.  It won’t play nice with surround equipment, it refuses to not take over control of other devices, its remote has 3,760 buttons on two sides and drinks batteries.  It has to be reset by unplugging it for 10 minutes at least every two weeks.  The “smart” interface is an uncustomizable ad-ridden mess off nonremovable shit and unavailable apps.  You can’t even run bias lighting on it because it powers the USB ports 24/7.  My wife constantly tells me to throw it out because roughly once a week it takes 10 minutes of forcing it to do what I want, and that’s basically just trying to get it to just display AppleTV.  But the picture is just breathtaking when it works. 
 
The TCL 6 in my living room is amazing in almost all the ways the Sony sucks.  Roku interface just works, it is controlled flawlessly with a tiny eight button remote, and never needs to be reset or really even thought about.  It’s even a nicer looking piece of equipment on my wall. But the picture is meh at best, especially at night.  

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theonion.com/sony-releases-new-stupid-piece-of-shit-that-doesnt-fuck-1819594774/amp
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  On 10/18/2020 at 1:54 PM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Bought a Hisense 4K tv recently. Love the picture but the android smart tv apps are lacking. I believe the only app I use is YouTube. For everything else I use a Apple TV 4K. More apps on the Apple TV support 4K content. 

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Sideload Aptoide and install whatever you want.

70" Insignia NS-70DF710NA21 4K UHD Fire TV Edition HDTV for $499.99.

https://slickdeals.net/f/14447822-insignia-70-class-led-4k-uhd-smart-fire-tv-edition-tv-499-99-bestbuy-com-pickup-or-shipped?v=1&src=frontpage

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Bought a Samsung 7000 for cheap yesterday and took it back today. Couple of apps didn’t work, support had me download latest firmware on usb and fixed nothing. Took it back today for slightly more expensive LG.most of our appliances and past TVs have been LG and always been great. So far this tv has been great. Figure I get a 90 trail with Costco.

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  On 10/18/2020 at 6:01 PM, rage-a-holic said:

Sideload Aptoide and install whatever you want.

70" Insignia NS-70DF710NA21 4K UHD Fire TV Edition HDTV for $499.99.

https://slickdeals.net/f/14447822-insignia-70-class-led-4k-uhd-smart-fire-tv-edition-tv-499-99-bestbuy-com-pickup-or-shipped?v=1&src=frontpage

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I have this TV in a smaller size and just have an AppleTV hooked up to it.   Night and day difference from the shitty Fire TV interface. 

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I use Samsung for all my TV's and their 2.1 sound bar and sub for each of the normal tv's. We use Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu and as Gene posted above pretty much every tv will have those app's figured out nicely. One of my tv's has constant issues with the apps so I have that connected to a firebox but the others have all been fine. If I ever have an issue with network or the apps specifically I just do a hard reset and that seems to fix the problem.   The Ambient mode on the new Samsungs is pretty slick with the ability to use low lighting gallery images of artwork or images from your phone etc to display on the wall. 

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I lurk on some A/V forums and it seems to me that many or most new "smart" TVs require an inordinate amount of updates and fixes before they really work properly in all respects. I liked it better when consumer products were fully tested before release and didn't need constant updates and patches. I have a Panasonic plasma TV from 2005 that worked great out of the box (and still does, mostly) and I've never needed to update it or reboot it or reset it. TVs now are more like a whole damn multimedia computer.

 

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  On 10/19/2020 at 4:20 PM, Enchubben said:

I use Samsung for all my TV's and their 2.1 sound bar and sub for each of the normal tv's. We use Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu and as Gene posted above pretty much every tv will have those app's figured out nicely. One of my tv's has constant issues with the apps so I have that connected to a firebox but the others have all been fine. If I ever have an issue with network or the apps specifically I just do a hard reset and that seems to fix the problem.   The Ambient mode on the new Samsungs is pretty slick with the ability to use low lighting gallery images of artwork or images from your phone etc to display on the wall. 

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I like the simple remote on my Samsung and it easily handles my AppleTV box, which is great because the Apple remote is garbage. 

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65” TCL 4 series has been good for me, and the price was good too.  If you wait around until Black Friday you can probably get one for 399.

 

I’ve  not seen the 5 or 6 series, so I can’t speak to whether or not the extra 200/400 is worth it  

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/TCL-65-Class-4K-UHD-LED-Roku-Smart-TV-HDR-4-Series-65S421/271962270

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  On 10/17/2020 at 8:17 PM, shnsajax said:


We’ve had a Roku stick for a while and just feels slow at times with apps taking forever to load.

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buy one that is actually somewhat powered instead of what is (was) their bottom of the line product - it makes a HUGE difference.

They have changed how it works and now Wirecutter recommends the Streaming Stick+ (which is my go to rec now that it has been refreshed and has better remote + wifi options)

Seriously, the jump from an integrated system with generally a shitty remote and a bad interface is huge. Make the jump to an external box (Roku is what I have used for years and strongly recommend) which will last for a while and costs basically nothing for an hour/use standpoint.

Here is Wirecutter's full streaming device recs if you want to read more: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-media-streamers/#the-competition

tl;dr: freestanding is a better choice 100% of the time in my experience, from a speed, wifi connectivity (or wired) standpoint, UI/UX standpoint and update (new services/apps) standpoint. spend the $50 and call it a day

 

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  On 10/20/2020 at 1:38 AM, UT_OB1 said:

65” TCL 4 series has been good for me, and the price was good too.  If you wait around until Black Friday you can probably get one for 399.

 

I’ve  not seen the 5 or 6 series, so I can’t speak to whether or not the extra 200/400 is worth it  

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/TCL-65-Class-4K-UHD-LED-Roku-Smart-TV-HDR-4-Series-65S421/271962270

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Yep, same experience here.

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I have 3 newer Roku sticks. I am switching to Apple TV’s though because of two main reasons: no HBO Max and the remotes eat batteries. Sometimes batteries last a month, sometimes a week. I’ve had a set last 3 days. Many different lots of batteries too. From what I understand, the remote constantly pings your router since it works via wifi and that constant pinging uses up power.

Other that that, the Roku is great. I will say when it is being slow on start up, what is happening is an update for the stick or an app is being installed. There’s no message displayed when this happens so it just appears the device is unresponsive for 10-60 seconds.

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I bought a 43” insignia that was dirt cheap $220, that has built-in Fire TV. It’s really nice with a decent UI. Wouldn’t recommend it for the main tv but for secondary it’s good. Of course we are an Amazon Alexa house, not Apple TV or google.

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  On 10/20/2020 at 11:18 AM, 3adays said:

 

Front Zoom. Samsung - 55" Class The Frame Series LED 4K UHD Smart Tizen TV.

 

 

Samsung - 55" Class The Frame Series LED 4K UHD Smart Tizen TV

 

The wife has been asking (because it looks like a fucking picture)for this thing. Anyone have any experience with one? 

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No thanks. Seems like it would get annoying. Edge to edge if you want a TV. Buy art if you want to look at framed and matted pictures.

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when I wrote above that I had problems with some Android apps on my HiSense TV, I meant that the Android app version didn't always support 4K content but the Apple TV app did. I also understand that the reverse can be true for some apps, or that some apps are not offered on every platform. It sucks that you might need to have multiple devices in order to get the exact app/quality that you want.  We need more HDMI inputs!

 

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  On 10/19/2020 at 11:35 PM, Deej said:

I like the simple remote on my Samsung and it easily handles my AppleTV box, which is great because the Apple remote is garbage. 

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I love the Samsung remote, but I am changing batteries on that thing once a month.  Is that a thing with yours, or did I just get a bad batch? 

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  On 10/21/2020 at 3:46 PM, Gene Parmesan said:

I love the Samsung remote, but I am changing batteries on that thing once a month.  Is that a thing with yours, or did I just get a bad batch? 

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i can't recommend the jump to rechargeable batteries enough for things like this - just get the AmazonBasics brand as its is really solid these days.

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  On 10/21/2020 at 3:46 PM, Gene Parmesan said:

I love the Samsung remote, but I am changing batteries on that thing once a month.  Is that a thing with yours, or did I just get a bad batch? 

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I havent had that issue with any of my samsung remotes. Probably a bad egg.  The newer models are pretty slick and have the voice activation and alexa built in. 

 

BN59-01312A_225x800.jpg

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  On 10/22/2020 at 1:23 PM, rage-a-holic said:

They used to be, when they were rebranding Japanese cells, nowadays they're using cheap chinese garbage.

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I wouldn't buy any Amazon Basic item that needs to be plugged in or charged. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-products-catching-fire-basics-microwave-report-2020-9

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  On 10/19/2020 at 11:02 PM, Paper_jam said:

I lurk on some A/V forums and it seems to me that many or most new "smart" TVs require an inordinate amount of updates and fixes before they really work properly in all respects. I liked it better when consumer products were fully tested before release and didn't need constant updates and patches. I have a Panasonic plasma TV from 2005 that worked great out of the box (and still does, mostly) and I've never needed to update it or reboot it or reset it. TVs now are more like a whole damn multimedia computer.

 

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Same I have a Plasma from about 2007/8 that works perfectly with a great picture.  I use external devices through my AV  receiver to stream.

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Another recommendation for Roku.

Roku is great.  I don't do Apple+, but I've had most of the other streaming services at one time or another and haven't had any trouble with the apps.  The Roku phone app also works really well in that it acts as a remote and allows you to redirect the TV audio to the phone (or headphones attached to the phone) without any sync/delay issues.  This Christmas I'm going to jettison the TV hanging on the wall in my home office and replace it with the same size roku tv.

 

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  On 10/29/2020 at 6:04 PM, UTexasFight said:

What about outdoor tvs. Any recs?

finishing out a new backyard patio area and plan to mount a tv on the side of the house and building a tv cabinet around it 

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I would not recommend buying an outdoor specific tv. The quality of most of them are shit and it’s way more expensive. You are better off just buying a big brand mid-level smart tv and replacing in 3-5 years assuming your cabinet is decent and it won’t be exposed to crazy elements.

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  • 1 year later...

Old thread bump, but did a lot of research and recently picked up a 50" Hisense QLED at Best Buy for $380 (same one is at Amazon for same price).  I've been a Roku user for over a decade, but it's the Android version (50u6g)- supposedly the Roku version (50u6gR?) does not upscale 480p/720p content as well.   The 55-inch was around $50 more.

Wondered how I would transition to Android/Google TV, but no problems at all.

Can definitely recommend Hisense QLEDs.  Would have liked to have gotten it at Costco with their 3-year warranty, but they didn't have them in the size I needed.

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