topic Re: SMART TV in Electronics

SMART TV

goldensrbest — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 18:22:03 GMT

Yes, again still looking ,and wanting, what i need answered is this,for a person,MYSELF,that is tech. challenged,i only have a flip phone, so no smart phone, ,do pretty good with that, are smart tvs for people like me?

Re: SMART TV

Nightowlz — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 18:30:44 GMT

LOL!!! Probably not. We have had one for a while now & I have never checked out any of the features. I don't really see the need for the extra features & cost for it. A regular set will work for me. DH likes it & uses it.

Re: SMART TV

ChynnaBlue — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 18:54:46 GMT

A smart TV is great if you want to watch online content, like Netflix, Hulu, etc. If you don't use any of that content now, you don't really need a smart TV.

If you buy a regular TV now and decide you DO want a smart TV later, you won't need to buy a new TV, you can buy a Chromecast, Amazon Fire Stick, Roku, or Apple TV box and make any HDTV a smart TV. That can cost anywhere from $35 to $200, depending on the device. With the ability to turn any HDTV into a smart TV for $35 ($25 on sale right now), I wouldn't spend more on a smart TV.

Re: SMART TV

qbetzforreal — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 18:57:38 GMT

@goldensrbest wrote:
Yes, again still looking ,and wanting, what i need answered is this,for a person,MYSELF,that is tech. challenged,i only have a flip phone, so no smart phone, ,do pretty good with that, are smart tvs for people like me?

If you can navigate a computer, you can navigate a Smart TV. It works off of your home wi-fi.

Re: SMART TV

goldensrbest — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 19:04:23 GMT

I want to have either roku,or be able to get netflix, my cable pgk. is limited in the one i have, i want to watch movies,my son thinks a smart tv ,is too complicated.

Re: SMART TV

Nuttmeg — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 19:05:40 GMT

@goldensrbest wrote:
Yes, again still looking ,and wanting, what i need answered is this,for a person,MYSELF,that is tech. challenged,i only have a flip phone, so no smart phone, ,do pretty good with that, are smart tvs for people like me?

https://www.cnet.com/topics/tvs/buying-guide/

Re: SMART TV

geezerette — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 19:06:03 GMT

A smart tv has to be connected to the internet in order to be "smart". If it's not, it's no smarter than a regular television.

We didn't want a smart tv when we needed new ones. But we found that in order to get the features we wanted in the television itself (size, picture quality, etc.) we had to buy a smart tv. We just don't use the smart features. The satellite guy hooked up our dish and receiver and we just use it like we used our non-smart tvs of the past.

Re: SMART TV

qbetzforreal — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 19:10:29 GMT

@geezerette wrote:
A smart tv has to be connected to the internet in order to be "smart". If it's not, it's no smarter than a regular television.

We didn't want a smart tv when we needed new ones. But we found that in order to get the features we wanted in the television itself (size, picture quality, etc.) we had to buy a smart tv. We just don't use the smart features. The satellite guy hooked up our dish and receiver and we just use it like we used our non-smart tvs of the past.

Smart TVs have built in wi-fi and are wireless. They now pick up your home wi-fi signal.

Re: SMART TV

qbetzforreal — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 19:13:25 GMT

@goldensrbest wrote:
I want to have either roku,or be able to get netflix, my cable pgk. is limited in the one i have, i want to watch movies,my son thinks a smart tv ,is too complicated.

@goldensrbest-you pick up netflix with a smart tv. there's an icon for on the tv, all you need is a netflix account.

Check out the link posted by nutmeg

Re: SMART TV

ChynnaBlue — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 19:17:23 GMT

@goldensrbest wrote:
I want to have either roku,or be able to get netflix, my cable pgk. is limited in the one i have, i want to watch movies,my son thinks a smart tv ,is too complicated.

The smart TV and Roku are both abut the same in terms of complexity. But you can always turn the Roku off and have regular TV that isn't complex. If you have a smart TV, it's always present and that can add complexity.

Technology is like anything else. You need to put effort into learning and then practice until it becomes easier. My dad got a Roku years ago and left it in the box until I visited and hooked it up. He didn't put any effort into learning how to use it. My mom took a lot of notes about how it works, but as soon as I left and went back home, they stopped using it. It only gets used when I come to visit. It's not that they aren't capable of using it, it's that they did not want to put the time and effort into really using it. They had other things they would rather do.

So be honest with yourself. Are you willing to put the time and effort into learning how to use the smart TV or Roku? If you are willing to put the work in, then I'm sure you can do it. If you don't want to work for it, then I would not bother.

I know people who think they're too tech challenged for this stuff in their 30s and people who use it easily at 70. Being tech challenged isn't really a thing. Not caring about technology enough to prioritize it and put the effort in is a thing. It's not a good thing or a bad thing, it's just a thing people need to recognize and be honest about. I really want to play the guitar, but I am not willing to put in the time or effort to learn because it's just not that important to me. I'm not guitar challenged, I just have other priorities.

Re: SMART TV

geezerette — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 19:49:17 GMT

@qbetzforreal wrote:
@geezerette wrote:
A smart tv has to be connected to the internet in order to be "smart". If it's not, it's no smarter than a regular television.

We didn't want a smart tv when we needed new ones. But we found that in order to get the features we wanted in the television itself (size, picture quality, etc.) we had to buy a smart tv. We just don't use the smart features. The satellite guy hooked up our dish and receiver and we just use it like we used our non-smart tvs of the past.
Smart TVs have built in wi-fi and are wireless. They now pick up your home wi-fi signal.

Yep, that's right. Which means they are connected to the internet, albeit wirelessly.

I suppose I should have more correctly said that you need to have internet service in order for the smart features of the television to function.

Re: SMART TV

geezerette — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 19:57:40 GMT

@ChynnaBlue wrote:
@goldensrbest wrote:
I want to have either roku,or be able to get netflix, my cable pgk. is limited in the one i have, i want to watch movies,my son thinks a smart tv ,is too complicated.
The smart TV and Roku are both abut the same in terms of complexity. But you can always turn the Roku off and have regular TV that isn't complex. If you have a smart TV, it's always present and that can add complexity.

Technology is like anything else. You need to put effort into learning and then practice until it becomes easier. My dad got a Roku years ago and left it in the box until I visited and hooked it up. He didn't put any effort into learning how to use it. My mom took a lot of notes about how it works, but as soon as I left and went back home, they stopped using it. It only gets used when I come to visit. It's not that they aren't capable of using it, it's that they did not want to put the time and effort into really using it. They had other things they would rather do.

So be honest with yourself. Are you willing to put the time and effort into learning how to use the smart TV or Roku? If you are willing to put the work in, then I'm sure you can do it. If you don't want to work for it, then I would not bother.

I know people who think they're too tech challenged for this stuff in their 30s and people who use it easily at 70. Being tech challenged isn't really a thing. Not caring about technology enough to prioritize it and put the effort in is a thing. It's not a good thing or a bad thing, it's just a thing people need to recognize and be honest about. I really want to play the guitar, but I am not willing to put in the time or effort to learn because it's just not that important to me. I'm not guitar challenged, I just have other priorities.

Very true. And just like a computer, you can use the features on it you want and not use the ones you don't want.

On our tv, you just push a button on the remote and it brings up a screen with apps, just like an iPad. Netflix happens to be one of the apps on ours, I imagine each tv has different built in apps and you can download more if desired. Choose the Netflix app and ignore the others if you want. It isn't any more difficult than a tablet really.

Re: SMART TV

chickenbutt — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 20:24:10 GMT

Just get the Roku and be sure to get AT LEAST a Roku3. There were some things and channels added at that time that made it much better.

Re: SMART TV

SilleeMee — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 21:10:04 GMT

I have owned my smart tv for about a year and to tell you the truth, I have not used any of the "smart" features on it. Oh maybe once or twice I went to look at some yt vids but that's about it. I don't subscribe to any of those streaming services and I never use the internet on my tv either. I really don't have the need for these kinds of things. Why did I buy a smart tv?...because it was actually hard to find a 4K tv without it being a smart one.

Re: SMART TV

glb613 — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 22:03:18 GMT

@goldensrbest wrote:
Yes, again still looking ,and wanting, what i need answered is this,for a person,MYSELF,that is tech. challenged,i only have a flip phone, so no smart phone, ,do pretty good with that, are smart tvs for people like me?

Try buying a new TV that isn't. I'm in the market for a new TV and every model and brand I've looked at is a "smart TV". If you don't want to connect it the internet and use the streaming feature, don't. It's not mandatory. Unless you choose to stream, it behaves just like a non internet ready TV.

Re: SMART TV

SilleeMee — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 22:21:48 GMT

Another minor thing about my smart tv...since I set it up wirelessly to my wi-fi connection, the tv has some kind of auto-update feature built in it to update the tv software...whatever. I've seen this only once where a banner shows up on the bottom of the screen asking if you want to update now. At first I did not know what that was and I ignored it and the banner went away but came back each time I turned on my tv...annoying! So I just accepted it to update and everything was fine. NBD.

Re: SMART TV

evelyner — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 23:40:52 GMT

If you don't have Netflix or AMAZON prime, a smart tv is a waste.

Re: SMART TV

goldensrbest — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 01:02:24 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
I have owned my smart tv for about a year and to tell you the truth, I have not used any of the "smart" features on it. Oh maybe once or twice I went to look at some yt vids but that's about it. I don't subscribe to any of those streaming services and I never use the internet on my tv either. I really don't have the need for these kinds of things. Why did I buy a smart tv?...because it was actually hard to find a 4K tv without it being a smart one.

Yes, that is true.

Re: SMART TV

hckynut — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 02:45:15 GMT

@goldensrbest wrote:
Yes, again still looking ,and wanting, what i need answered is this,for a person,MYSELF,that is tech. challenged,i only have a flip phone, so no smart phone, ,do pretty good with that, are smart tvs for people like me?

@goldensrbest

Not much I can add to what I have already said about this. Just like new cars come with lots of new features, even the cheaper ones. But! That does not mean you have to use all of them.

Same with any "Smart Electronic" of today. Use them or don't use them, is the simplest answer I can give you. A tv with Smart features are built with components you may want/need in the future as technology moves on.

I think you/and your son are making this much more complicated than it need be. Find a set you like and buy it. No need to talk about how to explain things about a tv that might not even have those features.

I offered to help you recently, and that offer still stands, but! Buy a tv and then ask for help. You know from what everyone has said. If you want Roku or Netfix, you need access to the internet, the faster speed broadband the better. Not sure what to you is a Smart TV, but needing an internet connection to be able to watch your movies, to me that is a Smart TV. Some just have more features.

My best to you,

hckynut(john)

Re: SMART TV

glb613 — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 11:35:15 GMT

@evelyner wrote:
If you don't have Netflix or AMAZON prime, a smart tv is a waste.

Try finding one that isn't. I've been shopping for a new TV and I found there is no price between a smart TV and one that isn't. Almost every TV for sale has the ability to connect to the internet. As posted over and over, if you don't have to connect it to the internet. Also posted, the "smart tvs" will update their software so connecting it has other uses beside streaming.