Smart TV or Chromecast
- Thread starter heyguy85
- Start date
It depends on what you want. Generally smart TVs won't have the same apps available compared to the chromecast. I know my smart tv doesn't have the watchESPN app so I have to connect my laptop to the TV to view that. But if you only need Amazon Prime video and Netflix a smart TV would be fine.
This... Basically all TVs are now "smart". I just bought a TV a month or so ago that has all the bells and whistles, but I still use the chromecast for certain things.
This, any TV with a quality picture and feature set at that size will be a smart TV. That said, a Roku or Chromecast will do more than a smart TV. Given how cheap the add on devices are, just spring for both.
Dell has a pretty decent deal on a 55 inch Samsung for $600 and you get a $150 dell gift card.
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/..._Dell Home_0413_55847&ven3=873102969739153651
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/..._Dell Home_0413_55847&ven3=873102969739153651
I have 2 smart TV's and use my Xbox One and Roku for apps. The apps on the smart tv's seem clunky and don't seem to work great.
Maybe that has changed in the past couple years or maybe the apps are smoother on higher end smart TV's. That I don't know.
Maybe that has changed in the past couple years or maybe the apps are smoother on higher end smart TV's. That I don't know.
I'm a big believer in buying a dumb TV and then getting a peripheral like a chromecast/ruko/AppleTV. Because if you buy a Smart TV you're locking yourself in to that specific brand and counting on the manufacturer supporting it through the life of the TV. Which isn't going to happen. At some point they are going to stop supporting whatever OS and Apps are on the TV. And if you want to update or get support again you have to buy a whole new TV. But if you buy a dumb TV and a peripheral device then there is going to be a lot more legacy support and an upgrade is just the cost of a new peripheral, not a whole new TV.
we bought a chromecast for $25 and it's nice because you can switch it to another tv if you need/want to. the only bad part is if it's far away from wireless it doesn't always work well.
Chromecast is getting better but there is still a much wider selection of channels/apps for Roku.
The better question is probably "smart TV or streaming device"...I'm not impressed with Chromecast. Roku and Apple TV both have it beat. I've never used the Amazon offerings but would like to give it a try.
Are there any decent TVs available now that aren't Smart TVs? I don't remember the last time I saw a good TV that was essentially just a monitor.
Are there any decent TVs available now that aren't Smart TVs? I don't remember the last time I saw a good TV that was essentially just a monitor.
You could also buy a TV with chromecast built in: https://www.android.com/tv/
That page just lists Sony + Sharp, but I believe this years' Vizios also have it built in
That page just lists Sony + Sharp, but I believe this years' Vizios also have it built in
I have Amazon's streaming device and I really enjoyed it for the first few months but now it won't connect to WIFI. Probably something that I'm doing wrong but I have a smart tv so I didn't really need it anyways.
I like our amazon fire stick better than our chromecast. It just seems to work better and picks up a better wireless signal. Maybe I'm missing something great about the chromecast.