Buying a new TV

[Lucid]

I'd hardly call something 4" square by in inch or so thick a "space consuming" box, but if you're going minimalist then either a Chromecast or an Amazon Firestick.

Chromecast uses the apps on your phone as the driver for their box. So if you have Netflix then you can play it through the device. Firestick can be loaded with apps such as Kodi, and that opens up a world of add-on Kodi apps. You'll need to do some Googling to see if that's the right sort of direction for you.

 

[hard-work]

The 4x4x1 inch is the NAS drive? The NAS drive can plug into one if the router rj45 sockets?

 

[Lucid]

No, this is the Apple TV or Android media streaming boxes.

If you had a NAS drive it wouldn't need to live near the TV. Anywhere with a wired network connection would be fine. Mine's upstairs in my office. It is connected to my router. I can watch either via wired or a wireless connection. I have an Android box connected to my TV.

 

[ericmark]

I wanted a cheap TV when mother was taken temporary into a home, I bought a Polaroid from Asda and latter realised it is not a true Freeview model as it does not use the normal channel numbers, not sure if this is good or bad, as it does allow you to change the order of channels so I now have them in a more logical order ITV 1, 2, 3, 3+1 etc. The 32 inch TV will also record to a hard drive or stick.

Latter black Friday got a larger TV from Tesco same price £150 but 43" not 32" found the internet connection with this one was WiFi when Polaroid was wired but in spite of having the buttons on the remote this Blaupunkt TV would not record, although it would play back programs already recorded on a hard drive.

Remember this is rock bottom end of the market, both will show U-tube films, both will show web pages, both have satellite boxes sitting below them as Freeview seems to miss the +1 options but that's not TV's fault. In the case of the Blaupunkt the IceCript satellite box below it will record to a hard drive so not really worried.

As you go up in price I expect picture quality improves, but as to if the extras are really worth the extra money not sure, in the days of CRT TV's we thought 28" was big, now 32" seems smallest on offer except for specials, and what we have noticed SCART and analogue signals with the larger screens show up the limitations of the old system. So watch Sky TV using the coax lead was OK on a 14" screen in the bedroom, but on a 32" screen it is simply not good enough.

So now with 3 x 32" and one 43" the old coax distribution is not up to scratch. But to watch TV using Freeview the old LG 32" TV's with built in hard drive do the same job as the new TV, they most have cost my dad a fortune, I bought a satellite box which is HD with the whole idea of improving the old TV's but it was far better to get new TV even if all we watch is old black and white films for my mother to watch on U-tube.

 

[hard-work]

I went to PCWorld, saw the TV and prices and asked questions giving my requirements of:

1. No external boxes.
2. 43 inch.
3. Aeriel cable socket available.
4. Internet sockets available.

The well informed kid there said all the TVs they sell are smart TV and all have an internet socket. Some may also have wi-fi. He said Samsung has a lot of their screens supplied by Sharp. He said JVC are the poorest quality screens of the main makes. I noticed that JVC have an integrated DVD drive in the TVs meaning no external box. I was told if the DVD breaks down the whole TV does not work as it is on the same motherboard and only JVC do them. I was told that taking the signal from an aeriel for Freeview will not give the top of the range HD screen quality (4K HD), so an external box needed for that, but on the Samsung and Sony the picture is still excellent anyhow.

Looking about I noticed some 43 inch Sony TVs looking the same but one was about £90 more. I asked why. I was told that the expensive TV had android so you can download apps while the other is stuck only with the provided apps. So having android is more futureproofing as matters change you can update. Samsung have their propriety OS with apps only downloadable via them. Sony using android is open to download anyone's apps.

The USB sockets can take a memory stick that may have a film on it. Some are sold like this I believe - so instead of a DVD storage box have tiny memory sticks to store your films or photos.

The 43 inch Sony looks good quality, well specced and well priced. Still looking and open to advice.

 

[Diyisfun]

My Samsung smart TV is brilliant, things like YouTube/Spotify music video etc great, 3 years on none of these are supported. SHAME

 

[Tigercubrider]

"future proof" dates.

 

[Lucid]

All smart TVs are limited, whether on a proprietary software platform or using a version of Android., so be careful about putting all your eggs in one basket, so-to-speak. There are some work-arounds with Android TV if the particular apps you're looking for aren't in the Sony version of the Google Play store.

Truly open Android platforms such as the Android TV boxes (4"x4"x1" dimensions) operate in the same way as any Android phone. They're a safer bet if you run in to a brick wall with a TV's built-in app service.

JVC is no-longer a main brand for TV. Most of what we see as JVC TVs are made by one of the faceless manufacturing companies that churn out the cheap supermarket-brand tellies. So whether it's Polaroid, Technika, Goodmans, Wharfedale, Hitachi, Toshiba, JVC, or basically almost any brand except Pana, Sony, LG or Samsung then chances are it came off a production line somewhere in China, Turkey or Eastern Europe.

I would never buy a main TV with a built-in DVD player. It's okay for a little bedroom TV for young kids who want to watch Pepper Pig on repeat for 3 hours while they're playing with other stuff, but not for anything larger than say a 24" screen size. Since the house is networked, buy a NAS drive and use MakeMKV to rip your DVDs. Install Kodi on Android and stream the DVDs from the NAS to the TV. If you have a BD drive in a PC then you can do the same with those. Use Handbrake to reduce the file size. TBH though, if you have kids they'll watch TV off their phone or tablet, so a Google Chromecast might be a smart move. Watch out for the internet data allowance though.

Worrying about 4K via the aerial is a bit of a red herring. There's no UHD (4K) broadcasts on Freeview or Freesat yet. Even if you pay for Sky you'll only get UHD if you subscribe to the premium football channels or download the movies. Virgin doesn't have its own 4K service yet. It is porting BT Sport content. BT Vision is the same; it's basically Freeview plus streamed content including UHD sport but not much else in UHD.

If you want a decent selection of 4K then your options are either a dedicated UHD Blu-ray player, or subscribe to premium streaming services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime.


Playing movies off a USB stick is a bit naff TBH. You've got the ability to stream from your own media library if you choose. Do that instead. You'll also find relying on the TV's own software player fraught with compatibility issues. Life's too short for that kind of hassle.

 

[Sam Gangee]

if you want to play memory sticks, you need to be able to access the back.

Just plug in a USB extension lead. Fix its socket end anywhere convenient.

Having said that, there should be a significant gap between the TV and wall to allow adequate airflow - otherwise you risk reducing the life of the TV.

 

[foxhole]

While the TV is a big lump in the lounge you can upgrade usability [is that a word] with a recent blu ray player, they support many of the things mentioned above and connect to web by wire or wireless.