Smart TV

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kiwipearls

424 posts

Ultimate Geek

#143974 3-May-2014 17:32

Thinking of upgrading our lounge tv to a bigger screen and move our 40 inch lcd to our rumpus.

We currently enjoy having our PC connected to this tv as it has VGA-VGA.

Smart TV's - how do they access our computer - we see some they have built in wi-fi etc. Which Smart TV's have restrictions etc.

Does it access our computer so we can play our files there on the TV's built in player? What file types ie avi, etc

Also browsers, we watch a lot of OnDemand via our computer to tv and a lot of YouTube...so I just move my browser on my desktop over to the TV and have a wireless keyboard.

With a smart TV are we still able to watch ondemand programs on all networks, stream tv from other websites etc.

I've not really looked into this too much, as you can see. So thought I would ask the geeky questions here - so I knew what to ask when going into the shop.

We don't want too expensive - but anywhere from 46-50+ inches.

Just wanting Geekpert opinions and recommendations.

Look forward to hearing from you all.

"In the real world as in dreams, nothing is quite what it seems" - The Book of Counted Sorrows

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insane

2415 posts

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#1036085 3-May-2014 17:40

I've got a Samsung 51" Smart TV in one of the bedrooms, I don't use it much for the smart features other than watching huluplus and youtube which have their own apps.

Using the remote and the built in web browser is hard work though. Have never even tried to stream anything from a network share, I always do that from a WD TV live box attached to my dumb TV in the lounge.

Jase2985

9599 posts

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#1036117 3-May-2014 18:37

my tv connects to the home network via an Ethernet cable, using the TV's media player and a Media server program running on the computer im able to share what i want with the TV. from there i can search/browse the files and watch it on the TV. It hasnt been able to play about .01% of the files i have (MKV, MP4, MP3, AVI, WMV, FLV) and i think that was to do with a poorly encoded file

My tv came out just before internet capable tvs came onto the scene so i have no experience with using the internet on the TV

scuwp

3280 posts

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#1036141 3-May-2014 18:48

I have a Samsung Smart TV. For content we just plug in a portable HDD. The TV accesses all the content directly from that, and have yet to come across any video format that it won't play.

As for the on demand apps they work pretty well IMO. Interface is clunky and slow but once you get past that it works just fine. Ours has WiFi built in. Kids use it a lot for You Tube Etc.

We do have a Bluetooth keyboard which makes things a bit easier to navigate.

Always be yourself, unless you can be Batman, then always be the Batman

Kyanar

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#1036306 4-May-2014 09:51

I have a Samsung Series 6. In terms of playing content from my computer on it I don't do that as it won't play anything through the amplifier if I do that, but to do so it's just a matter of running whatever player and telling it to "Play To" the TV (DLNA device).

trig42

Banana?
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#1036327 4-May-2014 10:28

I have the F-Series Samsung Smart TV (SmartHub 2.0 I think is what it is running).
It has the OnDemand Apps (TVNZ and TV3 - I Guess Sky won't be far off as they have just done a deal with Samsung for Android). They work fine - not great pic quality, but good if I have forgotten to record something.
I have the Plex App also, and run the Plex Media server on my PC. It works perfectly well for anything stored on the PC, and it has a nice interface.
For everything else I have an AppleTV with UnblockUS as it's DNS and a subscription to Netflix (Tried Hulu+ too, but did not like it).

Note, any new TV you buy will not have a VGA port - they have gone the way of the Dodo I think. Has your PC got HDMI out?

kiwipearls

424 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1036566 4-May-2014 19:16

Thanks so much guys.

I have heard great things about Samsung Smart Tv's and I think that is the way to go for what we want to do.

Just need to save up the money now.

My PC does not have HDMI out but I am going to be upgrading my mobo and graphics card - and will make sure I get those bits so they are compatible with the tv.

Only problem is, how long to they make HDMI cables, as I have a vga cable going to the vga on our current tv - and I got a big long one up to 10 metres long.

"In the real world as in dreams, nothing is quite what it seems" - The Book of Counted Sorrows

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FPR

144 posts

Master Geek

#1036652 4-May-2014 22:08

kiwipearls: Thanks so much guys.

Only problem is, how long to they make HDMI cables, as I have a vga cable going to the vga on our current tv - and I got a big long one up to 10 metres long.

You can get a 10m hdmi cable for about $13 on trademe

SepticSceptic

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#1045309 15-May-2014 08:44

kiwipearls: My PC does not have HDMI out but I am going to be upgrading my mobo and graphics card - and will make sure I get those bits so they are compatible with the tv.

You can get USB to HDMI adapters - haven't tried one myself as yet, so not sure how effective they are for playing movies.

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robjg63

3059 posts

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#1045362 15-May-2014 10:13

kiwipearls:

My PC does not have HDMI out but I am going to be upgrading my mobo and graphics card - and will make sure I get those bits so they are compatible with the tv.

Only problem is, how long to they make HDMI cables, as I have a vga cable going to the vga on our current tv - and I got a big long one up to 10 metres long.

Assuming you have home network, you should be able to set it up so that a wifi smart TV can access a folder (or folders) on your PC.

So assuming your wifi is good enough you shouldnt need an HDMI cable from your PC to the TV - unless you really want to do it that way.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

MikeAqua

5669 posts

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#1045423 15-May-2014 11:42

Those on demand apps you have to be careful with - they can be make and model specific.

We have a Samsung Blue Ray player with smart hub. It works with TVNZ's OD app (sometimes), but I can't get TV3's OD app on our model at all. These days I just hook my surface tablet up to the TV and don't bother with Smart Hub.

But if you have a PC connected you can always resort to that.

Mike