Which smart TV's are the most popular?

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ptinson

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#123444 8-Jul-2013 10:36

I was looking at smart tv options over the weekend and left wondering which is most used, has access to the most content etc.

The Samsung looked nice but looking through these forums there are things raised like Brand X has exclusive rights to TVNZ OnDemand etc...

What are people here using and recommending?

Paul

meat popsicle

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#850700 8-Jul-2013 10:41

samsung if you want tvnzondemand.

IMHO 'Smart' features should not sell you a TV. Get a TV with a great picture and the inputs you want, 'Smart' stuff is a bonus.

ptinson

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#850702 8-Jul-2013 10:44

Oh its not a deciding factor, it just got me interested.
tvnz ondemand isnt really that interesting to me.... Just an example of one i heard was exclusive to one brand of TV.

I am also wondering if people just ignore the smart bit and use plex/xmbc or somthing else...

I cant see my self using many of the smart features, but i may not be typical:)

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Handle9

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#850706 8-Jul-2013 10:48

The smart feature we use a lot on our Samsung is the Plex app. The rest of it - not so much...

sidefx

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#850709 8-Jul-2013 10:50

ptinson:
I am also wondering if people just ignore the smart bit and use plex/xmbc or somthing else...

This. I haven't yet seen any smart TVs that would\could replace my HTPC (xbmc)

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ptinson

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#850715 8-Jul-2013 10:53

Handle9: The smart feature we use a lot on our Samsung is the Plex app. The rest of it - not so much...

Oh there's a plex app, wasnt aware of that.

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Klipspringer

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#850720 8-Jul-2013 11:00

We have a Sony Bravia.
It has a web browser, facebook, twitter, Netflix, Hulu and a couple of other bells and whistles.

But the only smart feature we ever use is Skype (For everything else there is the PS3 which does a better job). The rest, well they just seem to slow the TV down when switching it on. (Gone are the days of instant on) Now its switch on, wait 10seconds. Watch.

reven

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#850721 8-Jul-2013 11:00

my samsung tv (that I just bought yesterday) has completely replaced my HTPC (well ouya which replaced my raspberrypi which replaced my mac mini which replaced my htpc).

im using Plex, which is great on samsung, it has netflix, hulu plus and vudu.

im going to get a fast enough USB thumb drive for timeshifting on the tv, and use my windows server for tv recordings and just add those recordings to plex media server so i can view them on my plex devices.

i was waiting for google tv, but thats taking far to long to get here.

also just have to try and get ARC working (audio return channel, so sound from tv is pumped into receiver using the same HDMI cable the receiver pushes the xbox etc to)...

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reven

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#850723 8-Jul-2013 11:03

really cool feature of plex is, theres a plex bookmarklet or chrome plugin which lets you add internet videos to your queue. so if you're at work and someone sends you a youtube link, but you want to watch it at home on a big tv, just click a button, its added to your queue then turn on plex on your tv and its right there waiting to be watched.

love that, using it a lot to watch QI directly from youtube.

lxsw20

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#850726 8-Jul-2013 11:06

I've got a 2013 LG and I pretty much just use the smarts for the DLNA streaming from my NAS box. BTW the record feature on the LG's is currently useless as it doesn't have access to the EPG!!! They told me via facebook they are working on it, so heres hoping.

ptinson

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#850736 8-Jul-2013 11:09

Right so for you the plex app basically replaces all the bit you were doing on a separate machine but you still have a tv tuner machine for recording.
All playback is through plex though.

Does anyone offer a net based PVR solution?

meat popsicle

NonprayingMantis

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#850744 8-Jul-2013 11:33

Samsung just bought boxee, which does network DVR Whether they bring that functionality integrated into future smart TVs remains to be seen, but seems likely.

reven

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#850748 8-Jul-2013 11:36

yeah there is no way to schedule recordings (well i could open the browser on my samsung tv and do it via that) on the tv.

but i have numerous tablets around the house (wall mounted), smart phone always in my pocket or near by, laptops etc. so scheduling recordings via nextpvr web interface or using android app is very easy. and personally i dont watch a heck of a lot of nz tv.

trying to get a nz plex channel to watch on demand stuff. someone mentioned they had worked on one, if thats dead ill try and get the source code and just update it to work.

personally i stream pretty much everything i watch.

nickb800

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#850751 8-Jul-2013 11:45

My 2cents:

I have a recent model Samsung Smart TV, I changed its country to USA, and enjoy Plex/Hulu/Spotify/Netflix as well as watching movies/tv shows on an external hard drive plugged into the TV.

It's not instant on, but you can turn it on and have something playing within a minute or 2, including selecting the media. I'm really impressed with it, IMHO its better than RaspBMC (Raspberry Pi XBMC) for playing local content, and better than the Apple TV for Netflix/Hulu.

My flatmates aren't technical people (although they are young) and they figured it all out on their own, and we now watch very little broadcast TV (just their rubbish NZ reality TV shows)

ptinson

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#850754 8-Jul-2013 11:49

NonprayingMantis: Samsung just bought boxee, which does network DVR Whether they bring that functionality integrated into future smart TVs remains to be seen, but seems likely.

When you say it does network DVR do you mean you can control it from elsewhere and its recored locally, or is it recorded on a server in the cumulonimbus and streamed to you from there?

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steve98

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#850777 8-Jul-2013 12:32

I have a 2012 LG Smart TV. Was not expecting to use the smart features as have Apple TV and PS3 connected, but I have found myself using the Smart TV more than either of those for most media-related activities. The built-in DLNA client is fantastic with an easy, zero-lag UI - seems to play almost anything without needing transcoding, and it too has a PLEX client built-in if that's the route you want to go. It also has the usual apps like Skype and YouTube built-in (have not tested Skype as don't have the camera for it), and also has Al-Jazeera which streams their news channel full-screen in broadcast quality which helps compensate for the lack of a news channel on Freeview (also has english-language version of France24). If you're into 3D then it also has a pretty large library of 3D movies you can stream over the net for free.

You're doing the right thing by researching this - if you pick the right one you might end up using it a whole lot more than you think.

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