What smart TV?

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kartracer

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I'd like to replace my eight year old Samsung 42" TV with a more up-to-date model to get connectivity to my NAS for video/photo playback.

Also have a LAN/Internet connected VU+ satellite tuner (which runs Linux) which is the main feed into the TV set.

Looking for a similar size TV (could be 42", 43", 46").

I will keep the old Samsung so another Samsung would be one less remote to learn (but not essential)

Any suggestions or recommendations please?
 
I would stick to Samsung, brilliant picture!
 
Totally agree, I've had a Panasonic plasma for years but last xmas I treated myself to a 4K Samsung LED Tv. Absolutely stunning. Didn't even realise it could see my NAS drives until I tried to watch something on HDMI and noticed my 2 NAS drives and my shared directory on my PC.
 
Just bought a Samsung 4k smart TV, looked to have the best picture of those displayed in the shop
 
Another vote for Samsung here, excellent picture and sound (Dolby Digital 20W)
 
its down to personal choice I have a sony and its a great picture for me. also the sound is good from the onboard speakers when i got it. i now use a bose sound bar which really adds some depth
 
I'm sure my Sony 40" TV can do a huge amount of clever things but it's hard to find out what without a proper manual. So I'd say make sure whatever you buy has more than an on-line manual.
 
Another vote for Samsung here. We've had our Smart TV for over 6 years (maybe 8 years, it's hard to remember) and it has been no trouble at all. Picture quality is great and it has only recently started to have trouble connecting to WiFi so we've plugged it directly into the router and it's fine.
 
Couldn't you just add a Amazon fire stick or better still the box and have more functionality than most smart TVs and save your money to waste on camera gear! Lol
 
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kartracer said:
Also have a LAN/Internet connected VU+ satellite tuner (which runs Linux) which is the main feed into the TV set.
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Slightly off-track question.. but does the VU+ remote have a volume control? there are no images of the remote on any sellers site I've found. I use the TV as a monitor with a basic sound bar/speaker hooked directly into my current single tuner satellite box and I'm looking to replace it with a twin or tri tuner box (I have a dish pointing at Astra 28.2 and another at Astra 19.2). If the VU+ can feed and control sound volume to the speaker it might fit the bill.
 
My old vu+ duo has volume on the remote, but I use a Logitech Harmony remote to control the everything connected to the TV.

Which vu are you looking at?
 
sep9001 said:
Which vu are you looking at?
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I'll have to look up the model details again, but I've no real interest in 4k (current tv is 720p with single HDMI input) so it was one of the older models. It's really for the tuners to enable me to watch one channel whilst recording another (with four possible combinations of LNB and polarity). I've already got a double cable run to the dish farm, so for twin tuners I'd only have to move the current diseqc switch to the other end of one of the cables and add a second switch for the other cable.
 
What ever you decide to buy make sure you get it from a reputable dealer, too many clones out there.
 
Alastair said:
Slightly off-track question.. but does the VU+ remote have a volume control? there are no images of the remote on any sellers site I've found. I use the TV as a monitor with a basic sound bar/speaker hooked directly into my current single tuner satellite box and I'm looking to replace it with a twin or tri tuner box (I have a dish pointing at Astra 28.2 and another at Astra 19.2). If the VU+ can feed and control sound volume to the speaker it might fit the bill.
Click to expand...

I have the VU+ Solo2 and yes it has a volume control on the remote.
 
kartracer said:
Clone TV's or satellite tuners? If it's the latter, yrs, be sure to buy from a reputable dealer.
Click to expand...
The Vu's or other sat boxes.
 
I got the Sony 49" XD7005 with HDR and 4K. The price is good and it has an excellent picture lots of in built apps. But I mostly use the external Amazon Fire TV device. Which is nicer to use than the built in Fire TV app.
I also added a Sony Sound system (HT-RT3: Sub-woofer + Sound bar + Surround rear speakers). Be sure it is connected over HDMI, so that volume and power are controlled by the TV remote. Then play the "THX intro" clip with middle volume and blow the neighbours away!
 
Our two year old Samsung Smart TV is periodically crashing.
Just after we bought it, Samsung discontinued support for the prior model.
Add to that a dodgy privacy policy, it's the usual IoT s***e.

Use a Raspberry Pi with Kodi instead for streaming from your NAS.
 
afasoas said:
Our two year old Samsung Smart TV is periodically crashing.
Just after we bought it, Samsung discontinued support for the prior model.
Add to that a dodgy privacy policy, it's the usual IoT s***e.

Use a Raspberry Pi with Kodi instead for streaming from your NAS.
Click to expand...

How would I interface the Raspberry Pi to the TV? Does Kodi have an easy setup to access the NAS or is config required?
 
kartracer said:
How would I interface the Raspberry Pi to the TV? Does Kodi have an easy setup to access the NAS or is config required?
Click to expand...

The Pi has a HDMI out which you can just plug into the TV.
Kodi will work with the NASes SMB (Windows) shares. You can download OpenElec and using a utility like Rufus (on a Windows PC) provision the micro SD card. You can use your phone as a remote control with an app like Kore, although a keyboard and mouse makes initial setup a little less painful.

You can use the ethernet connection on the Pi or buy it with an appropriate WiFi dongle. Although I think the latest and greatest Pis have WiFi connectivity built in.
 
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