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Are smart tvs any good

Rodrat said:
My Samsung has a drop out issue when watching Netflix or similar online streaming services. It will work fine for an hour and then I have to switch it off and back on again. Very irritating.
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richgilb said:
My Panasonic does that about once a fortnight.
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My Sony loses its WiFi connection occasionally, maybe once a fortnight or so, but it only takes a couple of minutes to reinstate it. My Humax/BT box, connected via ethernet, in the other room freezes up far more often, and it takes forever to reboot.
 
I've used an Apple TV plus a jail broken Apple TV running XBMC/Kodi, but I have to say that my current Samsung TV using the built-in Synology apps to the NAS offer a slicker and better solution. All controlled by a single remote. Great if you have a Synology NAS.
 
My Samsung works fine its a bit slower than a pc but that's to be expected once going it works fine no dropouts and it stays connected.

Pete
 
There are very small and cheap computers that you can add to any TV to make it "smart".

I think that HTPC has many advantages too. I use an old PC which makes my TV smarter than Android TVs.

Arye
 
our LG is great, no lag or speed problems. The only downside is that LG don't appear to have an app for All4
 
peter bj said:
I was at a friends house yesterday and they have a samsung smart tv .
When they demonstrated it , it was abit slow in working and on i player etc there was a time delay on dialogue so not that brilliant apart from the fact it is built in . I think my ps3 and 2nd hand bt box do a better job .
Any thoughts on this ?
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I previously owned the excellent Samsung UEH6700 55" , made a very bad mistake in selling it to buy the latest 4K Sony XD9305 55" that for me has unlistenable sound, so I had to buy a Soundbar which IMO is a deliberate marketing strategy by TV manufacturers. The Sony needs frequent re booting does not have Freesat despite being told by sales persons that it does because there are two satellite inputs. Would have returned it but can not find satisfactory alternative that has a central stand like the Sony or previous Samsung. The Sony does have a very good picture despite many complaints on AV Forum.
 
My two or three year old Sony 55" (can't remember the model) seems pretty good compared to some decribed here. I've never had any issue watching Amazon Prime, Netflix, Youtube or whatever via WiFi. It is however slow to bootup and when new the operating system was pretty buggy, after a few software updates that is fixed. One nice thing is even after a couple of years the software updates keep coming, it updated itself a month or so ago. The app selection, whilst vast misses some key stuff e.g. C4's catchup player. No issue for me as I have a YouView PVR which has them all, but can't do Amazon Prime, so I end up switching between the two!
 
I have a 50" Panasonic with FireFox OS. It's very easy to use and it seems to work fine but it could do with a little refinement e.g. exiting an app dumps you right out of the apps home screen. It has BBC, ITV & C4 players and Amazon and Netlfix. Speed is fine and the picture quality can be amazing on 4k content. I find I watch very little broadcast TV and hardly use my Apple TV or FireTV anymore.

The only major issue is that on most Dolby encoded content I can't run the audio into my Naim DAC.
 
Stunsworth said:
That's because Amazon haven't released one. They see Apple as competition, which is why they don't sell Apple TVs.
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I think it's more because Apple haven't made it possible for anyone to access their service by a 3rd party device. I am sure the TV manufactures would be more than happy to have an iTunes app alongside all the others that support.

Given Apple led the market in on-line video content for quite a while and many people, me included, have a substantial library of iTunes movies this is very poor in my view.
 
Stunsworth said:
The 10 year old Panasonic plasma I have is as slow as a slow thing working slowly when I try to access Netflix etc. The LG one I bought a couple of months ago is at least as fast as an Apple TV4, i.e. It's far better.
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Got a 2 year old Panasonic and it's quick.
 
Have an almost 3 year old Panasonic Viera E6 39" thing. It's not bad, but the apps are clunky and it frequently crashes when trying to access the net. iPlayer has gone very iffy recently often taking numerous attempts to get it to run any programme. (It will load and go to the prog but then reverts to 'normal TV' without so much as a 'By your leave'.) Cant get any ITV/C4 etc, catch up to work at all.

Mull
 
I find that a modern Smart TV does the streaming bit just as well as a dedicated box, but the interface is a bit more clunky. I have a Sony, looks awesome with Netflix etc., zero dropouts or stuttering.

Thing is, for £40-odd you can get an Android TV box, with serious horsepower & will be a more slick & varied experience than any Smart TV.
 
I've got a 55" Sony and it's generally good. Amazon Prime and Netflix often take a minute or two to access though and do crash on rare occasions. Picture quality is superb, I don't use the built in speakers as I use the optical output into a Dac and then through the Hi-Fi.

Lip sync issues that someone mentioned earlier are all fixable by playing around with the delay options in the set up menu. They're also configurable for each HDMI input individually.

So apart from the odd minor irritation it's a brilliant telly.

I bought it 10 months old from someone on eBay for £800, he paid 2.5K from John Lewis.

Rich
 
Mullardman said:
Have an almost 3 year old Panasonic Viera E6 39" thing. It's not bad, but the apps are clunky and it frequently crashes when trying to access the net. iPlayer has gone very iffy recently often taking numerous attempts to get it to run any programme. (It will load and go to the prog but then reverts to 'normal TV' without so much as a 'By your leave'.) Cant get any ITV/C4 etc, catch up to work at all.

Mull
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1. Sometimes, my Panasonic loses network connection. From the remote, I switch the TV off and on - this is quick and anything else is a waste of time.
2. Rarely, in the "on demand" screen, the on demand channel graphics don't show in the squares - but still I find the menu is working, the catch-up channel name is still displayed and selecting a channel works.

Otherwise, it's quick with no issues. We use on demand, Netflix, YouTube, Wuaki, iPlayer, usb stick, we've also used Amazon.
 
gintonic said:
our LG is great, no lag or speed problems. The only downside is that LG don't appear to have an app for All4
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My LG set has one. It's installed, but I don't think I've ever used it.

Maybe it's limited to more recent TVs - mine's a 2016 model.
 
Does seem to be a variable view on this and possibly more model than make sensitive .
Main reason for asking is that there a few bargains available on older non smart tv as most newer tvs are smart , something I think you could easily live without by the sound of it
 
Our 65" Sony has great software. Our 32" Philips has gruesome software so we haveca Fire stick for it.

I think therefore it's hard to generalise.
 
I have a 50" Panasonic I'm going to link up to a PC to see how it works via the VGA screen output

Like the idea of keeping separate boxes as I tend to break technology just be being in the same room
 
mikemusic said:
I have a 50" Panasonic I'm going to link up to a PC to see how it works via the VGA screen output
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I'm currently using my old 42" Panasonic as a monitor for the Mac Mini I use for music replay. The connection via HDMI works well, but there's noticeable flicker on the screen due to the maximum refresh rate being 50 or 60 Hz. Not a deal breaker as I'm really only using it to see what Audirvana's playing.
 
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