Smart tv - anyone got one and are they really that smart?

[greasedmonkey]

Ok, the time has come to replace my ancient tv. Old LCD type with florescent backlight. Been looking at LED backlit tv's. I have no desire for 3D, but I am wondering if it's worth getting a smart tv.

Is it that smart? Or is it just something I will feck about with for a couple of days and never use again?

Any recommendations? I want something of a decent size so 46 and up, good picture and not too expensive. Most certainly do not need 4kTV. Not at those prices.

 

[Stivino]

I've got two and with the first one I got, I did what you mentioned in your second paragraph and I've not used any of the SMART functions on the second.
HTH?

 

[Lucid]

The answer depends partly on the TV and partly on you.

How "connected" are you? Do you use Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, BBC iPlayer and other catch-up TV channels? Do you have a Netflix or a LoveFilm account? How about YouTube, do you watch online videos? Do you have a NAS drive with all your movies music and photos ripped to it?

If you looked at the above list and thought "What???" then yes, you'll play with it a couple of days and get bored.

I don't bother online photo sharing. I use Facebook but from a laptop or phone. Trying to "type" messages with an onscreen keyboard is pain; it's worse than keypad texting. I have a LoveFilm account but the Smart box I'm using doesn't have that as an app.

What I do use though is BBC iPlayer. That really is very good and it works well. I also have all my films and music stores on a network computer drive. This means if there's nothing on TV then the family can play any film or music track at the drop of a hat. Tonight my lad wanted to watch a film called "21 and Over". I also used Youtube to catch up on the latest film trailers and watched these on the big screen rather than a laptop.

Is a Smart TV a substitute for a computer? No.

Even those Smart TVs with a full browser are still clunky to use. Browsing on a computer or tablet makes more sense. The typing experience on a TV is a real pain.

Does Smart TV enhance and extend my viewing options? Yes.

Playing films and TV series direct on to the TV from a network connection is something I really make use of a lot. Streamed music less so. I have a good Hi-Fi and prefer playing albums.

Is there anything I do more now with Smart TV than before with just a laptop? Yes.

iPlayer is a killer app as far as I'm concerned. 7 days of curated BBC content is brilliant, especially BBC3 and BBC4. I use this far more now on the main TV than I ever did from a computer.


If you are interested in picture quality then it's unlikely you'll by the bog standard base model TV. So there's a good chance that the TV you buy will come with some selection of Smart apps and features. If it does, then have a go and see how you get on.

 

[greasedmonkey]

Thanks folks.

Sounds like I wouldn't get much out of smart tv. We have laptops, tablets and smart phones already. I don't have much of a digital life, I don't do Facebook, Twitter, google plus or anything else like that. We don't use iplayer and the like as we have a recorder box that is set to auto record everything we watch, we rarely ever watch live tv as we like to skip the ads. We hardly ever watch films so we don't have netflix or anything like that either.

Think I will just concentrate on picture quality and not consider the rest.

 

[Mw Roofline]

We've never used the silly hand waving and voice recognition thing on our tv, we just use the remote.

The only features we use are the players. I player 4OD etc and Netflix. Nothing else.

 

[BigIan]

I have a smart TV, also a "smart" Bluray & Av reciever & a PS3 all of which I can connect to various programmes that are much easyer to do on other devices, such as my phone or via a computer (also hooked to the AV reciever) so No the smart features don`t really get used.

the best bit about my sony TV is the screen mirroring feature that means I can send what i`m watching on my phone to the TV (good for watching you tube videos) but other than that Meh its offering a service that can be done better and easyer else where.

 

[rjm2k]

Just got a now TV box for a tenner which gives me catch up for BBC c4 and five plus netflex if I want it. Good way of achieving some of the useful feature of a smart TV for next to nothing.

 

[jtonline]

...I am wondering if it's worth getting a smart tv...

You'll probably find it difficult to find a good quality LED 46"+ TV that isn't smart

...Any recommendations? I want something of a decent size so 46 and up, good picture...

Panasonic TX-L47ET61B with 5yr guarantee from John Lewis (same as the ET60 from other retailers I believe) - I love the picture on mine. I have it connected to a Sony 5.1 surround sound system too.