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can a smart tv be treated like a firestick

dbluesun

dbluesun

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I'm gonna buy two tvs soon
a 55" or 50" for my living room
and a 40+ for my bedroom
currently i have a 32" in the bedroom,gonna move that to the kitchen
i have a firestick on the 32" now
i need advice on the two big tvs
should i get smart tvs or just the basic 4k
 
good question...tried connecting my hard drive and a thumb drive to my smart tv once just to try it...didn’t recognize it :dunno:
 
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My advice would be to get 4K smart TV's. I have a total of six 4K's in my home 4/6 are smart. We quit cable a few years ago and either stream w/APPLETVs or use OTA Antennas. When using OTA Ant the smart TV's come with additional channels not seen on standard sets. I have one TV (Samsung QLED) that also has the Directv app installed. The Netflix apps are on all of them as well. So I guess you will have to decide on what you can or can not live with in the end. Good luck and enjoy whatever you end up purchasing.
 
On my 65" Vizio 4k... it has amazon prime built in... it looks like the firestick display but does not work the same and does not allow you to download outside apps.
 
Bury1 said:
My advice would be to get 4K smart TV's. I have a total of six 4K's in my home 4/6 are smart. We quit cable a few years ago and either stream w/APPLETVs or use OTA Antennas. When using OTA Ant the smart TV's come with additional channels not seen on standard sets. I have one TV (Samsung QLED) that also has the Directv app installed. The Netflix apps are on all of them as well. So I guess you will have to decide on what you can or can not live with in the end. Good luck and enjoy whatever you end up purchasing.
Click to expand...

Philli said:
On my 65" Vizio 4k... it has amazon prime built in... it looks like the firestick display but does not work the same and does not allow you to download outside apps.
Click to expand...
thanks dawgs
currently i pay 160 a month for cable home phone and internet
i want to decrease that
i need local news and the intellectual channels
everything else i can stream
 
As a general rule, I usually buy items for their primary intended purpose. I don't buy a TV for its smart features or even a modem that's combined with a router.

The Sony TV I bought (for its picture quality) had Android TV built-in but it was pretty slow. It's now hooked up to an Nvidia Shield (w/ Android TV). Now I hear Sony has started restricting which apps can be installed on their TVs.


dbluesun said:
have you done that?
Click to expand...

What apps do you typically use on your Firestick? Do you still have cable/satellite?

For future flexibility, I'd get the TVs and buy media players separately (Firestick, Roku, Mi Box S, or even a Shield).

I have the 43" version of the Vizio you posted and just disabled the smart apps.
 
right now i just use terrarium and megabox on my firestick
i don't watch a lot of tv
just news and shows with my girl
 
Be careful. Make sure any smart t.v. you buy has an O.S. that can be upgraded. For example, I have a 55 smart LG T.V. I got tired of paying $200 per month on cable, internet, and phone, so I downgraded to just internet. My T.V.'s O.S. can run Hulu, Youtube, and Netflix, but it couldn't run Sling. It wasn't upgradeable. So I had to spend $50 on Roku. I'll probably have to buy a new t.v. when a new smart t.v. app comes out.
 
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dbluesun said:
have you done that?
Click to expand...
Yes. Our 43 inch in the living room is a roku smart tv. We had a 32 inch tv with a fire tv box added on. But I caught an after Christmas deal in 2017 for a 55 inch Amazon smart tv for 200. So I put the box onto the 43 inch so we had access to more apps in more rooms.
 
I have a Android Tv from SONY and I have KODI loaded onto the tv. Also has the Google Voice Assistant on it

 
dbluesun said:
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Click to expand...



I JUST bought that first one to replace the ROKU I got in my basement
 
Black A. Camus said:
Be careful. Make sure any smart t.v. you buy has an O.S. that can be upgraded. For example, I have a 55 smart LG T.V. I got tired of paying $200 per month on cable, internet, and phone, so I downgraded to just cable. My T.V.'s O.S. can run Hulu, Youtube, and Netflix, but it couldn't run Sling. It wasn't upgradeable. So I had to spend $50 on Roku. I'll probably have to buy a new t.v. when a new smart t.v. app comes out.
Click to expand...
I just bought my first smart TV this past year so no expert on what these companies do over time. But typically as with any electronics, I'd think they would want you to buy another and another and stop sending upgrades to the TV's after some time and say they are at the end of life. I saw on my Samsung TV there is this app called TVPlus which is their app so you can watch TV right there in the app with no external devices. I don't use it tho.

But for anyone, I typically suggest getting a FireTV device. I have a few. PlutoTV is an app on there, free, where you can watch TV and there's many others that are have free TV with a guide like interface too.

I'm still paying for satellite, cause the wife and daughter watch/record the ratchet reality shows. So is what it is.
But movies, sheeit, FireTV is my sheeit. I no longer use Kodi for about a year now, just apps.
Can't speak on any of them other devices like Roku or whatever. I just go with what has a heavy community support system is why I love FireTV. Too many developers for it.
 
dbluesun said:
right now i just use terrarium and megabox on my firestick
i don't watch a lot of tv
just news and shows with my girl
Click to expand...

If you wanna keep using Terrarium and Megabox on the new TVs, those are Android apps and none of the TV models you listed run Android (technically only Sony does in the U.S.) You'd have to buy 2 more Firesticks (or Mi Box or Shield, not Roku)

Most smart TVs are limited to mostly mainstream apps that require a subscription (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Movies, etc)
 
What you can do is do what I did when I Smart TV turned out to be a dumb one. I took a stick and lit it on fire and put the fire to the TV in a fit of anger because I could not find the power button. When I tried to take the burnt up tv back to Walmart, the manager and staff laughed me out of walmart and called the police on when i demanded a refund. So I dropped the TV and ran out of walmart, lookin stupid as hell. :smh:

I am going to call the company who made the smart TV and see if I can get a refund. :yes:
 
Depends on the Operating System of the Smart TV. If it is Android and FireTV then yes, if it is WebOS, Roku or another one than not really.

FireTV is just Android with a new user interface, so it supports almost everything Android does, including side loading all sorts of apps.

WebOS is really only used by LG so not many people make a lot of custom apps for it. Roku can use 3rd party channels but if they contain pirated stuff then Roku will nuke them. SmartHub and Tizen, both Samsung, the same as WebOS.

Honestly I prefer to use streaming devices that are not built into the TV like Fire TV and Nvidia Shield. They usually have much better performance and you can swap them out when something better comes along.
 
pookie said:
I have a Android Tv from SONY and I have KODI loaded onto the tv. Also has the Google Voice Assistant on it

Click to expand...

I have a sony and Samsung smart tv the sony one has kodi built in because of Google store its pretty fast the Samsung has iptv both are great.
D24OHA said:
How do you like Kodi on the Sony?

I've read a bunch of reviews about it beimg slow / sluggish
Click to expand...
 
This thread speaks to something I was concerned about and that is the specs of a SmartTV getting older and newer apps not being able to run on it..

I have an old firestick, while still very functional, it is sluggish and probably should be upgraded with in the next year...

TV's are not things you buy frequently.. I still have functioning tube TVs that survived Hurricane Katrina that I've given away or use in the garage because they can withstand the heat of the summer.
 
Duece said:
This thread speaks to something I was concerned about and that is the specs of a SmartTV getting older and newer apps not being able to run on it..

I have an old firestick, while still very functional, it is sluggish and probably should be upgraded with in the next year...

TV's are not things you buy frequently.. I still have functioning tube TVs that survived Hurricane Katrina that I've given away or use in the garage because they can withstand the heat of the summer.
Click to expand...

Just found out last night or so, that the 4K firestick doesn't do MirrorCast / ScreenMirroring from my phone / tablet.... I feel fucking cheated. Out of the box Xmas night I streamed "a legally purchased film" and the shit worked like all my rokus right out of the box ...

Didn't use it for a while so that mfkr must've hit the right server / got an update and now the other night mirroring has disappeared. I had to find a damn 3rd party app for it..... Damn near all the "fires (stick /tv) " from the last 3 years will mirror, but latest and best firestick does not.... What sense does that make?! At some point i think they will update the feature, but I specifically got the 4K cuz i want to buy a 4K tv this year and not have to worry about what apps it had
 
Better TVs usually have smart features as part of the system by default...even with a smart TV, I still use separate media streamers...if buying a cheaper TV and choosing between a smart and cheaper non-smart version, I would purchase non-smart and get a separate media streamer...at the budget side of TVs, the media streamers should have more processing power
 
Mixd said:
I just bought my first smart TV this past year so no expert on what these companies do over time. But typically as with any electronics, I'd think they would want you to buy another and another and stop sending upgrades to the TV's after some time and say they are at the end of life. I saw on my Samsung TV there is this app called TVPlus which is their app so you can watch TV right there in the app with no external devices. I don't use it tho.

But for anyone, I typically suggest getting a FireTV device. I have a few. PlutoTV is an app on there, free, where you can watch TV and there's many others that are have free TV with a guide like interface too.

I'm still paying for satellite, cause the wife and daughter watch/record the ratchet reality shows. So is what it is.
But movies, sheeit, FireTV is my sheeit. I no longer use Kodi for about a year now, just apps.
Can't speak on any of them other devices like Roku or whatever. I just go with what has a heavy community support system is why I love FireTV. Too many developers for it.
Click to expand...

I have a question for you..

I can drop kodi on my firetv and just download the apps like exodus redux and other movie app??
 
roots69 said:
I have a question for you..

I can drop kodi on my firetv and just download the apps like exodus redux and other movie app??
Click to expand...
Yes you can.
Kodi is just a base software, comes with nothing to watch movies. It just provides the platform that all these developers use to build apps. Most people install a "build" that you will have a ton of apps pre-installed all pre-configured. But with all that takes up more space.
 
Mixd said:
Yes you can.
Kodi is just a base software, comes with nothing to watch movies. It just provides the platform that all these developers use to build apps. Most people install a "build" that you will have a ton of apps pre-installed all pre-configured. But with all that takes up more space.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that bit of information.. All this time I thought you needed kodi..
 
roots69 said:
Thanks for that bit of information.. All this time I thought you needed kodi..
Click to expand...
Don't get confused. Kodi is needed to run Exodus and Redux type of apps.

There are other apps that do not use Kodi at all that we talk about in another app. Those are like Megabox, TeaTV, CinemaHD, Cyberflix, TVZion just to name a few.

These apps run right on the home screen of FireTV. Most are using these today because they are light and just work without a ton of installation or boot time
 
My Samsung reads any drive I connect to it. I also have my Dell tower and Xbox one on the HDMI ports so with the built in smart apps
my shit is bananas and quite overkill right now. A fire stick is useless to me right now.
 
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Mixd said:
Don't get confused. Kodi is needed to run Exodus and Redux type of apps.

There are other apps that do not use Kodi at all that we talk about in another app. Those are like Megabox, TeaTV, CinemaHD, Cyberflix, TVZion just to name a few.

These apps run right on the home screen of FireTV. Most are using these today because they are light and just work without a ton of installation or boot time
Click to expand...

Right on!! Im running a 3yr old firetv and Im going to upgrade it next month.. Your information is going to get put to work..
 
dasmybikepunk said:
My Samsung reads any drive I connect to it. I also have my Dell tower and Xbox one on the HDMI ports so with the built in smart apps
my shit is bananas and quite overkill right now. A fire stick is useless to me right now.
Click to expand...
Not sure I understand. So you'll download flicks to your pc and watch thru the TV?

I used to download stuff. No longer do that. Buffering is pretty much nonexistent with many apps today.
 
Mixd said:
Not sure I understand. So you'll download flicks to your pc and watch thru the TV?

I used to download stuff. No longer do that. Buffering is pretty much nonexistent with many apps today.
Click to expand...
Pretty much, idm and streaming sites still work well but, I have streaming premiums ie: hbogo, showtime, encore ect. thru my isp and uberupload is a great source for new shit as well, I literally have too much TV to watch in one lifetime, and flicks are not that hard to find...I dropped Amazon prime a while ago, it litterally could not keep up with my needs, my main set up is Samsung 4k smart tv, with Google Chromecast in hdmi 1 and voice control with Google home mini, and 4 multi hub USB with 2 64 gig sticks and illuminated Logitech living room keyboard leaving one USB open, and Xbox one in the hdmi 2 with Dell PC in Xbox one hdmi in port, like I said everything is covered, i just keep the keyboard and Xbox one controller close, hit the source button and keep it movin.

Only thing I have to manually do is move the USB multihub to the Dell so I can use the keyboard. Still working on a solution for that so I can be ultra lazy when I wan to.
 
dasmybikepunk said:
Pretty much, idm and streaming sites still work well but, I have streaming premiums ie: hbogo, showtime, encore ect. thru my isp and uberupload is a great source for new shit as well, I literally have too much TV to watch in one lifetime, and flicks are not that hard to find...I dropped Amazon prime a while ago, it litterally could not keep up with my needs, my main set up is Samsung 4k smart tv, with Google Chromecast in hdmi 1 and voice control with Google home mini, and 4 multi hub USB with 2 64 gig sticks and illuminated Logitech living room keyboard leaving one USB open, and Xbox one in the hdmi 2 with Dell PC in Xbox one hdmi in port, like I said everything is covered, i just keep the keyboard and Xbox one controller close, hit the source button and keep it movin.

Only thing I have to manually do is move the USB multihub to the Dell so I can use the keyboard. Still working on a solution for that so I can be ultra lazy when I wan to.
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Think you doing 'tew much', I haven't downloaded anything in a long time.
I just usually watch whatever lately drops on BGOL Cinemas, thru the apps. Unless you going for the highest quality then I understand.

But mainly in my house cause people only watches a movie once. Never again, so months later I'm always cleaning up files I got how long ago. Just seemed like a lot of extra wasted time.
 

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