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Post by tonofclay{QAW} on Jan 9, 2018 13:02:11 GMT -5
Anybody here have one of those newfangled Smart TVs?
I just ordered one a minute ago and figured I'd check and see if there's any nifty tips/tricks you can do with these things beyond the ordinary. I couldn't bring myself to paying more and more for another cable hookup / cable box fees / etc so I figured the Smart TV would allow me to get a good amount of content without being spanked even harder by Comcast.
I know there's apps and stuff you use or whatever, but thought I'd see if there's anything less-thought-of stuff one might do with these things?
Since there's an 85% chance this thread will get no replies, here is Nic Cage losing his shit to make your click worthwhile:
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Post by Porridge{QAW} on Jan 9, 2018 15:14:38 GMT -5
I have a smart TV.
Hope this helps.
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Post by SCOUT on Jan 9, 2018 15:38:38 GMT -5
I have a smart TV. Hope this helps. +1
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Post by sinistar on Jan 9, 2018 16:13:38 GMT -5
What do you want to know? I am in the A/V business and deal with TV's all the time.
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Post by tonofclay{QAW} on Jan 9, 2018 17:34:26 GMT -5
I dunno, as with all things I just assumed there must be some secret hacks the big businesses don't want you to know about to get the most out of your TV :-P.
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vmax
Server Admin
ET is old. But then, so am I.
Posts: 105
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Post by vmax on Jan 9, 2018 17:49:22 GMT -5
I recommend buying an MXQ Pro Android TV box (S905X chipset & 2Gb+16Gb) and install Showbox on it. Not sure it's powerful enough for ET, BUT you can watch any tv show and ALL the newest movies -V-
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Post by SCOUT on Jan 9, 2018 18:10:06 GMT -5
If you experience "the soap opera effect" look up how to adjust your picture settings. I've had my smart tv about a month so still kinda learning about it. To me it seems like I just have an extension of my computer in TV form now. Overall it's cool once I figured out how to adjust my picture for movies, vs live sporting events.
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Post by tonofclay{QAW} on Jan 9, 2018 19:16:04 GMT -5
I recommend buying an MXQ Pro Android TV box (S905X chipset & 2Gb+16Gb) and install Showbox on it. Not sure it's powerful enough for ET, BUT you can watch any tv show and ALL the newest movies -V- Not familiar with this box thing per se, but I did want to look into some sort of android device that I could hook up to the TV, in order to run the Comcast android app. Do you currently own one of these? Is it the best product of it's kind out there? It's definitely up the alley of what I want, though I would just want to make sure to buy whatever the most highly rated thing like it is! RE: soap opera effect, thanks for the reminder to do the color adjustments, I probably would have forgotten about that even though I think everybody pretty much says to ditch the factory settings and adjust per room.
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vmax
Server Admin
ET is old. But then, so am I.
Posts: 105
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Post by vmax on Jan 10, 2018 11:32:56 GMT -5
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BlaZeR
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Regrets lasts longer than pain...
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Post by BlaZeR on Jan 10, 2018 22:00:58 GMT -5
I dont think SmartTv's are worthy, you can simply buy a bigger screen/resolution TV and use a chromecast. probably the one that is worth is an Android One ... otherwise you are tied to the brand support for the apps, and they suck at it.
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Post by tonofclay{QAW} on Jan 10, 2018 22:16:42 GMT -5
I didn't actually buy this TV specifically because I wanted a smart TV ... I also figured I could save money or get a bigger screen by buying a non smart TV and hooking something up to it. Turns out that a lot of TVs simply ARE smart tvs nowadays, and older models I saw without the apps and stuff were often times more expensive than the newer models.
I will probably hook up some streaming device to it in the near future anyways, but at least for my purposes the smart TV route provided the best value.
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Post by Porridge{QAW} on Jan 11, 2018 12:31:27 GMT -5
This clay guy is mostly right. Smart TVs are somewhat standard now, that is, there is not much of a price difference between them and the standard TVs. That said, I still inserted zee chromecast into teh TV. Just so that I could periodically yell out "Hey google, start netflix" to my google home device. We're done as a society.
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Post by tonofclay{QAW} on Jan 11, 2018 13:22:39 GMT -5
Yeah, there definitely are some available if you go back to older models / off brands , but I didn't want to save the $30 bucks or whatever minimal price difference I might have found to buy some weird / old TV. I also didn't really need to go big with this TV since I already have a yuge 50" plasma that assumes the burden of most of my TV watching.
I grabbed a recent Consumer Reports that had TV reviews and managed to find a pretty decent price on one of the Samsung's they had highly rated in there.
Still a bit iffy on these android machines from what I've looked at so far ... the $30 Roku seems like a better bargain since I'm really just trying to access the comcast app, which is on there for now "in beta" for "free" ... I feel like the second I order it though they will enact their plan to start charging for TVs using the Roku device.
For all other stuff, the Plex app is available on the TV so I don't really need an extra device to tap into my library of shows and movies.
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Post by sinistar on Jan 11, 2018 16:47:11 GMT -5
With all due respect to Vmax I don't recommend the Android boxes because some of them become "un-upgradable" when new OS's come out. If this has changed then I take back what I said. Personally, I do really well with FireTV and adding Kodi to them. Kodi is great and when properly configured it actually gets a thumbs up from Mrs. Sinistar who is technology challenged when it comes to this stuff. You can stream tons of content as well as live TV events. Its not 100% bug free but it works very well for the price. Coming in second I like Plex - I have a NAS on my home network where I store videos that I can play remotely on TV's. I do not recommend the FireStick due to the lower memory and very small design which comes with WiFi issues. If you decide to go FireTV this will give you step-by-step instructions on configuring it; www.techradar.com/how-to/how-to-install-kodi-on-a-fire-tv-or-fire-tv-stick
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Post by tonofclay{QAW} on Jan 14, 2018 12:59:08 GMT -5
TV came yesterday, it's pretty nice! After checking out what apps were native to the TV I decided to order the basic Roku stick ... figure I'll probably get more mileage out of it than just sticking to the apps available on the TV (even though there's nothing really wrong with the selection per se).
I did make sure to adjust all the picture settings so it's looking pretty good and fired up Plex to stream a show and everything worked as expected. Overall 5/5 would recommend to a friend.
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Post by SCOUT on Jan 14, 2018 13:54:31 GMT -5
rawk on \m/
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DaBastard
Server Admin
a covy let me in ;)
Posts: 393
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Post by DaBastard on Jan 17, 2018 18:59:14 GMT -5
8TBs of video on server in basement. If it were to be watched non-stop 24/7 with no repeats = over 7rs. .. Documentaries you won't get in 'trouble' with dling, TV = EZTV, run adblocker. kisscartoon.io for anything animated Pirate Bay for pretty much everything else. run spam and virus scan after visiting. Do all this on a 'junky' PC (one you don't care if you have to format over). Then transfer to TV with PC or USB stick, or network, or your media-server.. I got rid of 'TV' (cable) during OJ. I was sick of the 'OJ Channel' Never looked back..
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Post by tonofclay{QAW} on Jan 17, 2018 21:56:42 GMT -5
I already have several TB of movies/tv/music. I also enjoy watching TV so I have that too
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Post by tonofclay{QAW} on Jan 18, 2018 14:13:36 GMT -5
Woo! The package came today! It was missing the Roku -_______________________________-
While just having the remote and the cables was nice, I decided to ask Amazon to ship me out another one that actually contains the Roku stick.
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Post by Porridge{QAW} on Jan 19, 2018 12:54:36 GMT -5
Get a free amazon fire TV stick from them as well, for all the anguish they caused you (they hopefully make less mistakes shipping out their own devices)..
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Post by hoff{QAW} on Jan 19, 2018 16:56:16 GMT -5
I like TV's also.
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Post by mcbain{QAW} on Jan 20, 2018 16:33:34 GMT -5
Roku TV built-in the set has worked great so far. I was against it at first, but it really has worked well. I bought a 65" TCL 4k RokuTV and we use it for PS Vue, Netflix, HBONow, Youtube, and Xbox (with a chromecast connected to the Xbox input).
I don't see any of this as saving money, although you probably could if you wanted. I pay just about the same if not more for my TV now ($100 internet + $55 PS Vue + $14 Netflix + $15 HBOnow + $9 Youtube Red = $193) but everyone in the house is very happy and we have unlimited DVR, don't even know what commercials are any more really. The convenience has been sweet.
Based on my personal experience with multiple (low tech) users, the low cost smart boxes (no name android tv boxes or other) are not very user friendly. I have a few FireTV sticks, but we rarely use those. If anyone says they can get free TV (more than OTA anyway) and free movies, that is illegal. Not judging, just being straight. I looked into it, and got pretty sketchy fast. Too much to lose to have feds show up at my door.
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aloha
Server Admin
Posts: 68
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Post by aloha on Jan 23, 2018 22:56:41 GMT -5
Hello,
Like a few of you I have over 12tb of TV/Movies. I highly recommend checking into an APP for ROKU called PLEX. You can create a server on her main computer that will link to any ROKU, Fire Stick or iPhone/Android anywhere there is wifi. I love it. Move shows into your own selected folders and it finds and names each show or movie. Easy to use and free.
aloha
p.s. let me know if you need any help setting it up!
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DaBastard
Server Admin
a covy let me in ;)
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Post by DaBastard on Jan 26, 2018 10:10:45 GMT -5
"server in basement" or, what to do with an old PC.
I used an old PC to set up a NAS on my network. All my 'computers' are 'hand me downs', stuff I get left over/to scrap. So I decided to make one useful as a NAS and save me $$. I share what I did.
The CPU is an Intel Pentium Dual CPU E2200 @ 2.20GHz 4GB of RAM Intel DG31GL chipset. Running NAS4FREE from a 1GB USB stick. (Allows using ALL hard drive connections for storage) Connected to LAN, set to no internet connection. (can be enabled for remote access)
Current uptime - 136 days. Last down because of power outage from storm
It has 4 hard drives plugged into 4 SATA onboard connections, plus 2 more hard drives connected through USB ports.
NAS4FREE is a Linux based O/S. It can be run on a very small footprint. Run it from USB I would recommend, can be installed on HDD if choose. I can connect to it with Windows PCs and Samsung Android. Using Kodi as the UI.
By 'retiring' a PC (my ET gaming PC btw) that was holding those 6 HDDs and had a 400W P/S, I switched to a laptop (65W) which feeds to monitor/TV and a NAS server with a 300W P/S, max power saving enabled, I end up saving about $60+ per year in electricity usage. I do notice the difference in KWs used per month on power bill*.
*I'm currently on a 'good run'. Last 4 months I've used <500KW/h per month. I want to 'get off the grid' and it's always cheaper to save a watt than generate one. Reason I've got a close eye on the KWs used.
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Post by Porridge{QAW} on Jan 26, 2018 13:15:52 GMT -5
SQ (Serious Question). With zee plethora of new shows on teh TV these days, who do so many peeps create complex home NAS set ups with plex/kodi etc. just so that they can watch what they already own over and over (and over) again? I can understand the music angle. Are peeps really watching Terminator 2 that many times? (I say this with a disclaimer that I do indeed watch Seinfeld and Family Guy reruns).
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Post by tonofclay{QAW} on Jan 26, 2018 14:21:32 GMT -5
I think it becomes a sort of hoarding scenario after awhile in that you don't want to get rid of that movie / show thinking that you may want to watch it again some time, even if its been years since you watched it At one point I did actually just put stuff like Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, Futurama on shuffle and let it play throughout the day/night , so definitely seen those hundreds of times over the years. That was fine in college when you're drunk/stoned all day , but doesn't appeal to me as much anymore.
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Post by mcbain{QAW} on Jan 26, 2018 18:18:09 GMT -5
Porri - started my Plex library long ago, but don't watch any of it anymore with all of the fairly low cost streaming options. Ton is right though, when DVD ripping was a thing it was a contest to see who could fill up hard drives faster and hoard as much content as possible.
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Post by hoff{QAW} on Jan 26, 2018 22:17:48 GMT -5
I like DVD's too
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Post by SCOUT on Jan 27, 2018 0:42:06 GMT -5
The Brady Bunch Hawaiian Vacation is slightly better in UHD, apparently.
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Post by tonofclay{QAW} on Jan 27, 2018 9:25:51 GMT -5
You can see all the individual hairs on that tarantula crawling up Peter
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