Does anyone like smart TV operating systems or do you use a streaming device?

[Jerry1]

We have two Samsung TV’s and their interface is pretty good. However, the ROKU won over for day to day use. Just like the remote better and the way the menus are organized. We also have an Apple streaming box but I can’t stand it. It’s main benefit is that it allows me to mirror my phone to the TV that it’s connected to. It also allows me to use my AirPods while watching TV, but I don’t use that often.

 

[YB88]

For me the driving issue here now is figuring out the best system that includes streaming device and DVR. I went with a maximal Amazon experience (Fire TV cubes, Fire Recast DVR) hoping that this would synergize well and be improved upon. However, Amazon's DVR is clearly something they're not interested in --- a recent article says they see this as a niche device, and from my perspective it has so many glitches and annoyances that I want to replace it.

But.

If you want a DVR, I think that you have to look at the DVR and streaming device in combination. Tivo has a fantastic overall DVR, but their box doesn't incorporate decent streaming --- it's not clear to me that their newer streaming device works all that well with their DVR's (?). I too very much want/demand just one remote control.

I was leaning towards Tablo, but the conversion from ATSC 1.0 to 3.0 is a wild card --- in my area they're already broadcasting ATSC 3.0 (and 1.0 in parallel). FCC only requires them to keep 1.0 going, if I recall correctly, until 2023. Sounds very likely they'll keep broadcasting it beyond that point, but for how long? Spectrum is limited and if you look at the super expensive auctions out there, one presumes there will be a point when they'll stop broadcasting in ATSC 1.0. At which point virtually all DVRs out there won't work any more.

So I'm holding off, to include choice of streamer. Fire TV works well enough for that.

My hope is that over the next couple of years, someone will figure out how to offer a great DVR that works reliably with a great streaming device, where the DVR will be future-proofed. And offered by an experienced company that will reliably continue to offer programming for a long time in future.

I'm not ready to agree that the "DVR is dead" --- the cost differential between subscribing to, say, Hulu at $7 per month ($13 w/o ads) versus Hulu + Live TV at $65 per month tells me that the DVR will be something I'll want for a good while yet. In fact the differential is greater than that as I'm paying almost nothing (more) for multiple streaming services that I'm getting now for free from T-Mobile.

Sorry to add a lot of complexity to this discussion, but for me, thinking about just the streaming device in isolation isn't helpful --- it needs to be thought of as part of a whole system, factoring in all of the features that I want (and/or must have). The shift to the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard tells me that currently I need to just live with what I've got and wait.

 

[chicamuxen]

My LG OLED has decent apps installed and look great. But I prefer my Apple TV4K box. I like the user interface better. And I like the new remote also.

 

[mpeirce]

Sorry to add a lot of complexity to this discussion, but for me, thinking about just the streaming device in isolation isn't helpful --- it needs to be thought of as part of a whole system, factoring in all of the features that I want (and/or must have). The shift to the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard tells me that currently I need to just live with what I've got and wait.

I can see why broadcasters want ATSC 3.0 - it’s their only option for offering 4K (and other stuff, but mostly 4K+better audio).

But frankly, I think ATSC 3.0 is pretty much D.O.E. Streaming is the future and the present already. For me the ONLY compelling feature broadcasting still has is local content.

We need to figure out somehow to keep local content alive, mostly news, but that’s a different subject.

Again, IMHO Smart TVs are poorly done and some are borderline evil (basically they are spyware). The best TV is a simple monitor.

 

[YB88]

I can see why broadcasters want ATSC 3.0 - it’s their only option for offering 4K (and other stuff, but mostly 4K+better audio).

But frankly, I think ATSC 3.0 is pretty much D.O.E. Streaming is the future and the present already. For me the ONLY compelling feature broadcasting still has is local content.

We need to figure out somehow to keep local content alive, mostly news, but that’s a different subject.

Again, IMHO Smart TVs are poorly done and some are borderline evil (basically they are spyware). The best TV is a simple monitor.

Unable to decode your D.O.E. acronym, but I think I get what you're talking about. Different folks/habits/expectations, different perspectives.


My wife and I typically use the DVR to watch local or non-local news at dinner, or a science program we like, or periodically different things along that line. Sometimes a football game for me, or special broadcasts, sometimes old TV shows or movies. Once the DVR is paid for, it's all free, and fills for me the role that an all-streaming approach would require a substantial monthly charge for.


To be clear, there's nothing in ATSC 3.0 that I'm personally interested in --- for the stuff I watch, highest resolution or audio quality isn't an issue. The key point for me is that once ATSC 1.0 is no longer broadcast (perhaps a local decision that I just can't predict), any DVR I buy today won't work anymore, unless I buy a very specific SiliconDust unit that purports to offer tuners for both standards. I'm disinclined to do this, but rather to wait and see how this settles out.


FWIW, there is a potential downside to ATSC 3.0 --- I read that you'll have to have a web connection in parallel to the broadcast aspect, which allows advertisers to broadcast targeted ads. Lovely. But if I understand correctly, not too far in the future we might not have a choice, and meanwhile the water looks a bit muddy to me.

 

[mpeirce]

Unable to decode your D.O.E. acronym, but I think I get what you're talking about.

Sorry, typo - dead on arrival DOA

My wife and I typically use the DVR to watch local or non-local news at dinner, or a science program we like, or periodically different things along that line. Sometimes a football game for me, or special broadcasts, sometimes old TV shows or movies. Once the DVR is paid for, it's all free, and fills for me the role that an all-streaming approach would require a substantial monthly charge for.

Oh I get it. We do the same thing. I use the Tablo to watch time shifted local news, Jeopardy, and a few random other shows.

It’s useful, but it’s definitely legacy at this point. None of our kids own TVs, all their "TV watching" is on the internet. Broadcast TV is doomed...

 

[RE2Boys]

About a year ago we purchased a 65 inch LG TV. It was picked as it seemed to us to have the best picture quality of the TVs we looked at our desired price point. Being "Smart" was not a consideration at all in our selection. As our previous TV had a state of the art Roku device externally attached (upgraded every few years) we don't want to be dependent on the TV manufacturer for software updates as the streaming technology changes. When we got our new LG home, we just moved our Roku stick over and were fully operational. While I like many of the additional features of the "smart" TV, like additional streaming channels through LG) we largely ignore the "smarts" and use the Roku device.

 

[Rustic23]

We have a Roku tv, Roku stick, Roku Ultra, Firestick , AppleTv, Chromecast 2, and 3 Chromecast 3s. I have also had several android boxes, and Walmarts Onn streamer. We settled on Chromecast for its onscreen menu and controller. Walmarts would have been my choice, close to the same interface, maybe a little better controller. It has not been around long enough to have reliability history.

 

[pdxgal]

My 2013 Samsung TV hasn’t been supported for several years so we use a streaming device. If I had it to do over, I’d look at buying a dumb TV or monitor. Electronics go obsolete so quickly and it’s easier to upgrade the streaming device.

+1

Like OP I bought an LG smart tv but hated the UI, so returned it and bought a TV with Roku. My main TV tho is an older Visio. With that I use a Roku box and it’s more fully featured than the Roku-enabled tv.

 

[Sunset]

We have a sony blue-ray player to access our netflix streaming. However it doesn't up date at all over the years.. so it's missing many apps.

So I use our xbox machine, to stream other services as needed.

We are pretty good about just having 1 streaming service at a time, mostly Netflix, but I'll cancel it (which really just suspends it) when we switch over to some other service like Disney+ on a deal and to watch their new stuff.

After we have watched each service I cancel and eventually we go back to Netflix and pickup right where we left off.

We pay about $12.99 /month for streaming, and $35/mo for our too fast internet.

 

[Momcpa]

When I researched using/installing "Hulu", I put in my zip code to make sure that I would be able to get my local ABC, CBS, NBC stations.....not just the national stuff. Wanted to make sure I could get local news on those stations. My research on-line said yes. When I subscribed, I was getting the local news broadcasts from about 80 miles away. I called/contacted HULU and explained the situation. I said I didn't want it if I couldn't get the ones I wanted. I told them about checking it out before I signed up. They were pretty helpful. They said that for some reason, my internet connection/signals, whatever, appeared to be located or broadcasting from that distant location. He put me on hold and ended up fixing it for me. So I ended up getting channels I wanted. Very helpful!!

 

[Z3Dreamer]

So, my Smart TV has a tuner that I don't use (use Tablo for live OTA TV), sound that I don't use (I use my receiver) and OS that I don't use (use a Roku). But I like the picture. The picture quality on live sports (and other shows) is great on my 5 year old UHD LG.

 

[Katsmeow]

I sort of use both. When TVs are new the built in stuff works fine and I use this most of the time although I have a streaming device on the TV as well. The exception is that we have one Roku TV and it doesn't have a separate streaming device.

We have several TVs with different devices. One is an Apple TV and is good for using Apple Premium on it. We also have a Roku device for our "good" large TV. We have several Fire TV sticks that are OK but more prone to problems.

 

[Kwirk]

TLDR: Apple TV 4K streaming device rather than TV internal apps.

WebOS on our LG TV doesn't get any use for watching TV. DW and I have an AV receiver that allows us to select between a computer (Windows 8.1 with Media Center), Apple TV 4K, or various game systems. Much of the control is done with a Logitech Harmony remote except we do use the ATV 4K remote and, occasionally, a keyboard.

We have a Verizon cable subscription that we use with cable cards (HDHomeRun) and computer for live TV and for recording but the cable subscription also allows us to sign into related apps on the ATV 4K (HBO, etc). We do have additional subscriptions (Netflix, Prime, BritBox,...) that we access through the ATV 4K. BTD, but the cost is shared in our multigeneration home. We enjoy looking at random photos via the computer during coffee time.

Much of our technology is end of life (Windows Media Center, HDHomeRun, Logitech remote). As these things fail we are likely to transition more to the Apple TV streaming device. I don't see us moving toward more use of the TV's internal apps and I'll avoid cable boxes if I can. As ATSC 3.0 becomes available, we may be able to move to over-the-air TV for local channels with recording via Plex or such.

DW is resistant to technology change but she has been moving incrementally from Media Center recording to greater use of the Apple TV streaming when commercials can be avoided.

 

[jasg]

My experience & opinion weighs against Smart TV apps.
- they tend to be slower since TVs use the cheapest CPU they can
- update cycles are slow and few
- the apps tend to be pretty crappy compared to streaming device apps

I don't even connect my TVs to the internet - don't need them spying on my viewing habits. (Vizio made more profit last year from selling viewer data than selling TVs).

 

[I am He]

My Roku TV is probably 5-6 years old. If I could do it again, I'd rather keep it dumb and add an external box.
1. It's booting up slow and sometimes takes a few cycles to fire up.
2. When trying to screen mirror, it won't so I have to use a newer external device which allows it to mirror.


Other than those, they've been good. I know some DVD players incorporate a streaming device which could work. Since those don't last forever, it's kind of like forcing you to keep things current when it dies. I just hope that my whole TV doesn't die because of the smart factor.

 

[djsander]

We were told when we bought our TV that a dedicated streaming device will work better than using the smart TV app. Don’t know the validity of that, but use a 4K fire stick and haven’t had any issues.

 

[FIREarly]

Years ago I started streaming using the smart features on our Samsung TV, mostly just YouTube. But once we dropped cable/satellite for streaming (PSV then Hulu+Live) we bought Rokus for our 3 TVs, and we've never looked back. There are so many more channels available thru Roku, there's no comparison with the Samsung Smart UI, we never use it anymore.

There are way more channels with the Roku, Chrome cast, Firestick, etc...

The smart TVs work for some popular channels (Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc...) but some actually loose channels too. My LG TV lost MLB.TV so watch it via Roku. Either way, the picture/game looks the same.

The best part is you get to choose.

 

[2177V]

I have high praise for my 2020 82 inch Samsung Q80 TV on the user interface and the remote control. I have a HD TV antenna for my local channels, Netflix for my movies, and Sling orange with season tickets to the golden state warriors for all my sports. I can easily switch channels on my antenna signal, switch to Netflix and select the movie and switch to Sling to my sporting event. The interface is intuitive and fast. I am amazed how good the system is and how much improvement they made since my older 2004 42 inch Samsung TV. For example: my old Samsung, I have to press the source button to switch the tv input. On newer Samsung, you see numerous icons on that describes what to want to watch and simply scroll to that icon and press ok. I can’t think of how they can improve this user friendly interface.

 

[kgtest]

My outdoor 85" Sony Bravia has Netflix button right on the remote which is super handy. I use the built in OS on it and our 75" LG bedroom tv and 55" Living room tv but the older and smaller LG doesn't have as many streaming channels (if any) then the newer 85". For the 114" Theater projector I have a media PC hooked up running my Plex server where I have access to our 1200 digital movies that sit on 2 40Terrabyte external hdd's. I have a roku stick I use when we travel to our VRBO/AirBNB and a lot of times I notice the prior travelers have stayed logged into the Disney and Hulu apps which I don't subscribe to so that's a bonus. We do share Netflix with my dad because he is...well pretty darn frugal.

 

[Dash man]

We tried using the apps on our LG OLED tv, but the Amazon app always froze up for us. We don’t have and problems with our Apple TV for streaming, so we just use it. It makes it easier to connect with our iPhone or MacBook Pro laptops if we want to send it to the tv.

 

[FireProoof]

Get Android TV

Smart TVs are nice but they are limited to whatever the manufacturer wants to do. Not every streaming service is available, etc

If you get an Android TV you can stream anything. I have a Sony Bravia system and it's better than Roku because it is one remote and switches easily between streaming and live TV. Also, as things change, android will update and again Smart TVs (non-android I mean) will be updated when the manufacturer gets enough complaints.

I still have my rokus but they are just gathering dust now.

 

[gooddog]

Have TCL Roku TV's in both our homes now. Wouldn't get another regular 'smart' TV again. Once you go Roku, you never go back.

 

[FIREarly]

Have TCL Roku TV's in both our homes now. Wouldn't get another regular 'smart' TV again. Once you go Roku, you never go back.

Have 2 Roku, Premier+ and One.
Premier+ is great!
Roku 1 is old and "works"

Just ordered the Google Chromecast. Enjoy Roku and want to experience/try Google's version. Any experience with it?

 

[Dash man]

Once you go Roku, you never go back.

I have a few Roku devices sitting in a drawer. Spending the extra money for Apple TV devices was worth it to me.