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What "Smart" box do you use? |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Woking, Surrey.
Posts: 3,588
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What "Smart" box do you use?
These days there seems to be a proliferation of "Smart" devices, TVs, PVRs, blu-ray players all seem to include "Smart" features for so called added value. The trouble is, you only need one. Why do we need "Smart" TVs at all? I suspect that nearly everyone who has a HD TV will have some sort of box beneath their TV whether it's a Blu-ray player or a PVR. IMO that's where the "Smart" features should be. All I want from my TV is a damn good screen but it seems that you can't get the top screens these days without all the extra fluff that comes with it which IMO is a waste as it's a redundant feature that's duplicated elsewhere.
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,794
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Quote:
These days there seems to be a proliferation of "Smart" devices, TVs, PVRs, blu-ray players all seem to include "Smart" features for so called added value. The trouble is, you only need one. Why do we need "Smart" TVs at all? I suspect that nearly everyone who has a HD TV will have some sort of box beneath their TV whether it's a Blu-ray player or a PVR. IMO that's where the "Smart" features should be. All I want from my TV is a damn good screen but it seems that you can't get the top screens these days without all the extra fluff that comes with it which IMO is a waste as it's a redundant feature that's duplicated elsewhere.
As it's only a matter of software in the TV it's not really much trouble, or expense, to add it - but more importantly, if one manufacturer didn't provide it, people would buy other makes instead. It also gives you the choice of watching something on catch-up whilst your PVR is recording something. So plenty of reasons to add it, and none really not to. |
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 802
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I generally use my PS3. I've always found Smart TVs a bit naff.
In an ideal world I'd just have a panel, I don't want any other bells and whistles in my TV. |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: UK
Posts: 2,270
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I don't have a 'smart' TV. Instead I have a fairly ordinary one that just happens to deliver superb pictures. Underneath it is a TalkTalk YouView box (which provides all the 'smart' features I am ever likely to want) and a Pioneer Bluray player (which doesn't have any smart features at all - but does play BDs, DVDs and CDs rather well).
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 6,762
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Quote:
I don't have a 'smart' TV. Instead I have a fairly ordinary one that just happens to deliver superb pictures.
More to the point, what size is it? I'm thinking about upgrading but really don't want/need all the rubbish they build into TV's these days. I don't even want speakers really. I run everything though an AV amp and have an HTPC and my V+ HD box. I don't need all the guff on the TV. So a simple panel that does nothing but display the video feed would be perfect and they it can focus on image quality rather than all the extra stuff. 3D? Not fussed really. 4K? Maybe. But not at the moment. Problem is, I want a 60"/65" panel. For a max of £1500. With excellent image quality. I've yet to find one ..... |
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,794
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Quote:
What is it?
More to the point, what size is it? I'm thinking about upgrading but really don't want/need all the rubbish they build into TV's these days. I don't even want speakers really. I run everything though an AV amp and have an HTPC and my V+ HD box. I don't need all the guff on the TV. So a simple panel that does nothing but display the video feed would be perfect and they it can focus on image quality rather than all the extra stuff. 3D? Not fussed really. 4K? Maybe. But not at the moment. Problem is, I want a 60"/65" panel. For a max of £1500. With excellent image quality. I've yet to find one ..... Just buy a TV and ignore the features you don't want - the speakers aren't likely to be worth listening to anyway. |
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 447
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Quote:
Problem is, I want a 60"/65" panel. For a max of £1500. With excellent image quality.
I've yet to find one ..... http://www.ebuyer.com/455476-60in-pl...FTMgtAod8RgAeA is exactly what you want except it is more than twice your budget. Buy a good TV for a price you can afford and, as Nigel said, ignore the extras. Their added cost to the manufacturer is small. It would cost them more to ship a special stripped down model to sell to a handful of buyers like yourself - at a higher price that would make no sense to anyone else. |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: UK
Posts: 2,270
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Quote:
What is it?
More to the point, what size is it? I'm thinking about upgrading but really don't want/need all the rubbish they build into TV's these days. I don't even want speakers really. I run everything though an AV amp and have an HTPC and my V+ HD box. I don't need all the guff on the TV. So a simple panel that does nothing but display the video feed would be perfect and they it can focus on image quality rather than all the extra stuff. 3D? Not fussed really. 4K? Maybe. But not at the moment. Problem is, I want a 60"/65" panel. For a max of £1500. With excellent image quality. I've yet to find one ..... The set is a Philips 39PFL3807T, which was £379 from Richer Sounds when I bought it. It can now be picked up for just under £300, which suggests that they have been discontinued and they are selling them off. It doesn't have 3D (which is something in its favour in my view). It can access YouTube, but - oddly enough - I never have. It has 100Hz and its screen is 39". The EPG is very basic - just a list of channels really - but I have YouView anyway, which has a fully-featured EPG, so that is not a problem for me. It took me a great deal of trial and error before I got the thing to deliver its best picture, but the effort was worth it. It is partnered with (i) TalkTalk YouView box, (ii) Pioneer BD150 bluray player and (iii) Yamaha YAS-101 soundbar. I recommend all of them wholeheartedly. |
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 6,762
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I could spend more, but I don't want to as I suspect 4K/8K/UHD/whatever will start to drop in price within a year or two and I'll be looking to upgrade again. Plus, my current TV is not bad at all. (Panny 50 plasma)
I just fancy going from a big to a monster TV. Have looked at a couple but nothing has impressed me enough to buy it yet. I know I'll have to get lucky with a special offer to get something decent at those prices. But I'm in no hurry....
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