the biggest PITA with the Samsung Smart TVs I have now is that there doesn't seem to be a way to connect a wireless keypad and mouse. Using the remote to spell things sucks. I've used it for surfing Youtube and for net flicks and it works ok. < $400 for a 48 in. smart tv seems like a good deal to me and I like the quality of Samsung. It's not ultraHD or 4k and it's not curved but I can live with that.
TiVo - through the cable company
- Thread starter MA_PE
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Road Guy
Well-known member
in our field office we have a BATV (Big ass TV) that I can blue tooth (or some wireless magic) my laptop into and use as a projector? It puts everything on the pc on the screen? I was assuming I could just buy a smaller size TV that would do something similar?
Get the Smart TV. Might as well.
but just so you know, you can Netflix on the TiVo. I still use the smart TV app on our Samsung to watch Netflix, though, because it works really well. I'm sure that the TiVo app works too, but I just haven't tried it yet. I also use the Smart TV to access Amazon prime for video streaming.
but just so you know, you can Netflix on the TiVo. I still use the smart TV app on our Samsung to watch Netflix, though, because it works really well. I'm sure that the TiVo app works too, but I just haven't tried it yet. I also use the Smart TV to access Amazon prime for video streaming.
knight1fox3
Jedi MASTER & Friend of Capt. Solo
I agree on the difficulty in connecting peripheral devices to a Smart TV vs. using a remote control. Usability is definitely a concern. That's why a PC/PS3 or 4/XBox interface is a bit more versatile. Conversely, they are great for say Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.
Yep, you can go that route too. I use this interface at home but that is because I was concerned about maintaining HD content quality (Bluetooth can't handle UHD streaming).
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Oh and one other thing - the cable guy (haha) set up all of our Tivo remotes to control the TVs they were connected to for volume, power, etc. Push the power button on the TiVo remote, everything turns on. Nice and simple. While I have much nicer universal remotes to do all of that, my family likes the TiVo remotes for just general TV watching.
Road Guy
Well-known member
hopefully that includes the internet for that price (the $199)? Ours is around $160/$170 but that includes internet + HBO. I am not sure what cable package we have, just that is has ESPN, FX, and AMC.
I always look at cutting back but then I get like 20 cable channels + internet for $110?
What really sucks in our house is the bill for the 5 cell phones. It is the most expensive of any of my utility bills.
I always look at cutting back but then I get like 20 cable channels + internet for $110?
What really sucks in our house is the bill for the 5 cell phones. It is the most expensive of any of my utility bills.
MetsFan
Well-known member
On the smart tv topic, Samsung pretty much took away most of the smart features on my TV. When I bought it a year and a half ago, it had tons of apps including Skype, a 3D video app, trailer app, games, etc. They pretty much took all that away and now I'm left with a blank screen with 4 icons at the bottom: Vudu, Youtube, HBO, and Amazon Video. The camera on it is useless now.
I should've clarified...yes the $200 is for the bundled package TV, internet, and phone. Internet is the 50mbs modem (not their fastest but decent) and we added the Premium pack" cable channels which is needed for ESPN sports as well as SHO/TMC. I may look at some of these added charges. They charged me $10/mnth to add the TiVo box for the additional TV. bastards!
Youtube, Netflix and Amazon prime would be my most likely application. I wouldn't bother with the SmartTV but for no additonal money WTH. I've had good experiences with the picture quality of Samsung and my understanding is that they have a good reputation.
jeb6294
Well-known member
The TV in the family room is our TV/monitor. When I ditched cable I got rid of the DVR and the Blu Ray. Now the only thing in the entertainment center is my laptop with a Bluetooth dongle (hehehe...dongle) for a wireless keyboard. I changed the settings on the laptop so the external monitor is the main monitor and the laptop stays on if you close it so it stays on even if it's folded up. Stays tucked back in it's little cubby and is barely noticeable.
The laptop has a Blu Ray drive and an HDMI output to connect it to the TV. The keyboard is pretty compact without being too "crowded" and it has built in a touchpad. Makes it really easy to stream shows from all the different channels' websites
jeb6294
Well-known member
I could never understand why other manufacturers don't do what Vizio was doing with the remotes for their smart TV's. They're like an old sliding cell phone that looked like a regular remote, but then you could slide it and there'd be a full keyboard. Not as easy as a full size keyboard, but a lot easier than using the arrow buttons to pick letters one at a time on screen.
knight1fox3
Jedi MASTER & Friend of Capt. Solo
Samsung's remote just flips over to provide a full QWERTY keyboard. But the user-interface is still very poor IMO.
^My Samsung remote is nothing like that (2016 model). It's just a stick with a direction pad and maybe 6 buttons, and it functions like a Wii controller - you point it at the TV and it moves a cursor around that you can pick off menu items with. I'd rather have the keyboard model!
MetsFan
Well-known member
These are what my Samsung came with. The touch pad is nice, I guess, but not really that useful. It does have voice control though so I guess I could use that instead of the keyboard.
MetsFan
Well-known member
If your TV has bluetooth then it might work. Although at that point, you might as well just use a cheap bluetooth keyboard.
