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I need tech help, I'm buying a 4K smart tv in the morning....

2

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    WCDawgWCDawg Posts: 17,293 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
    edited August 2018

    @njdawg81 said:
    I've purchased two 50" 4K Smart Insignia from Best Buy on sale for ~ $280 and love them. Insignia TVs are made for BestBuy by Samsung so they are good quality and they have Ruku built in. The key to 4K content though is that you have to have at least 35-40MB constant throughput to support it. If your internet connection cannot handle that, they don't waste the money on a 4K TV.

    Ouch. I have 30 megs, I get it for 15 bucks because I live in a retirement zone. Moving up to 60 megs would cost an extra 50 dollars a month.
    PS. I just ran a speed test, It registered at 38 megs, so I'm good.

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    njdawg81njdawg81 Posts: 364 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    @WCDawg said:

    @njdawg81 said:
    I've purchased two 50" 4K Smart Insignia from Best Buy on sale for ~ $280 and love them. Insignia TVs are made for BestBuy by Samsung so they are good quality and they have Ruku built in. The key to 4K content though is that you have to have at least 35-40MB constant throughput to support it. If your internet connection cannot handle that, they don't waste the money on a 4K TV.

    Ouch. I have 30 megs, I get it for 15 bucks because I live in a retirement zone. Moving up to 60 megs would cost an extra 50 dollars a month.
    PS. I just ran a speed test, It registered at 38 megs, so I'm good.

    I'm lucky - I have Verizon Fios where I get over 900mb download speeds...

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    WCDawgWCDawg Posts: 17,293 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    @njdawg81 said:

    @WCDawg said:

    @njdawg81 said:
    I've purchased two 50" 4K Smart Insignia from Best Buy on sale for ~ $280 and love them. Insignia TVs are made for BestBuy by Samsung so they are good quality and they have Ruku built in. The key to 4K content though is that you have to have at least 35-40MB constant throughput to support it. If your internet connection cannot handle that, they don't waste the money on a 4K TV.

    Ouch. I have 30 megs, I get it for 15 bucks because I live in a retirement zone. Moving up to 60 megs would cost an extra 50 dollars a month.
    PS. I just ran a speed test, It registered at 38 megs, so I'm good.

    I'm lucky - I have Verizon Fios where I get over 900mb download speeds...

    I have access to 60 plus megs, but I'd have to pay 50 more a month for it and so far I haven't needed the bandwidth.

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    JimWallaceJimWallace Posts: 5,747 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    The technology for cable cutters sure is improving. All I care about is Netflix and college football, but my wife likes some cable shows. Otherwise I probably drop the cable.

    I like reading about what solutions you folks are following. Gotta keep up, you know

    Go, Dawgs!

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    ThelordjohnsonThelordjohnson Posts: 4,077 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    @BigGAdawg said:

    @Thelordjohnson said:
    For Fox, ABC, CBS, and NBC you can always keep your Sling (assuming you have the sports package) and buy a flat tv antenna. Lets you get local channels easily. I brought one that you cant even see.

    What sort of range do you have to have? How close to the broadcast tower does it require? I am looking to cut the cord on the cable co., but I live well outside the metro area. They just keep going up every year or two and the quality of their product gets worse year over year (Spectrum--I think that is the Latin for S_U_C_K_S).

    Im not in the GA area. From STL, Mo and live in Fort worth Tx now. Always lived on the outskirts but have really good signal.

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    ThelordjohnsonThelordjohnson Posts: 4,077 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    @JimWallace said:
    The technology for cable cutters sure is improving. All I care about is Netflix and college football, but my wife likes some cable shows. Otherwise I probably drop the cable.

    I like reading about what solutions you folks are following. Gotta keep up, you know

    Go, Dawgs!

    What channels does she watch and what channels do you watch? There may be a cheaper option.

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    ReeldawgReeldawg Posts: 971 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    Just an FYI on 4k -

    When running 4k via Netflix, my info screen shows I am using 15 Mbps.

    At 1080 it is about 7.5.

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    moosmoos Posts: 1,910 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    @Thelordjohnson said:

    @BigGAdawg said:

    @Thelordjohnson said:
    For Fox, ABC, CBS, and NBC you can always keep your Sling (assuming you have the sports package) and buy a flat tv antenna. Lets you get local channels easily. I brought one that you cant even see.

    What sort of range do you have to have? How close to the broadcast tower does it require? I am looking to cut the cord on the cable co., but I live well outside the metro area. They just keep going up every year or two and the quality of their product gets worse year over year (Spectrum--I think that is the Latin for S_U_C_K_S).

    Im not in the GA area. From STL, Mo and live in Fort worth Tx now. Always lived on the outskirts but have really good signal.

    The antennaweb site I linked works Nationwide.

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    andrews1253andrews1253 Posts: 427 ✭✭✭ Junior

    @WCDawg said:

    @umooner said:
    I imagine your TV will have the capability to run YouTube TV built in. I know for my 4K tv that as long as your internet can handle the streaming, YouTube app on the smart tv will stream 4K. If you use a chrome cast, there’s a particular one you can get that can do 4K.

    I’m not sure if that answered your question or not though to be honest.

    I'll ask the right questions before pick the tv, but you know some sales people will make it up if they don't know the answers.

    Ha! Home Depot employees are notorious for making up answers.

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    ghostofuga1ghostofuga1 Posts: 9,042 mod

    @FirePlugDawg said:
    I suggest you at least consider Vizio. Fairly inexpensive and ~ feature rich. Has Smartcast (Chromecast new name?) + built in I think.

    https://vizio.com/tv-overview

    I have a small older Vizio now. Not smart, but it's been a good tv. Before that I had a LG that was good, but started going out after about 6 years. When I buy again, which will soon, I'll probably go with either a Vizio or Samsung.

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    WCDawgWCDawg Posts: 17,293 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    Well I bought a Vizio. The thing won't connect to my Belkin router. In fact it shuts my router signal down, even to my laptop. The Indian named Mike at Vizio tech support kept telling me it's the router, no, the router works fine till I try to connect it to the pos tv.
    I just don't have the patience to pay for something only to spend my weekend trying to get it to work.

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    KaseyKasey Posts: 28,881 mod

    @WCDawg said:
    Well I bought a Vizio. The thing won't connect to my Belkin router. In fact it shuts my router signal down, even to my laptop. The Indian named Mike at Vizio tech support kept telling me it's the router, no, the router works fine till I try to connect it to the pos tv.
    I just don't have the patience to pay for something only to spend my weekend trying to get it to work.

    Your experience is making me think I’m better off rocking the setup I currently have. 6 year old dynex, Apple TV, roommates Xbox for the digital antenna.

    Best of luck to you on this one

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    WCDawgWCDawg Posts: 17,293 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    @Reeldawg said:
    Just an FYI on 4k -

    When running 4k via Netflix, my info screen shows I am using 15 Mbps.

    At 1080 it is about 7.5.

    I registered 38 megs at speed test earlier today. I use Sling, Amazon Prime, etc without issues at 1081i. I've never tried at 4K and I'm probably returning this POS Vizio tomorrow.

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    WCDawgWCDawg Posts: 17,293 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    @Kasey said:

    @WCDawg said:
    Well I bought a Vizio. The thing won't connect to my Belkin router. In fact it shuts my router signal down, even to my laptop. The Indian named Mike at Vizio tech support kept telling me it's the router, no, the router works fine till I try to connect it to the pos tv.
    I just don't have the patience to pay for something only to spend my weekend trying to get it to work.

    Your experience is making me think I’m better off rocking the setup I currently have. 6 year old dynex, Apple TV, roommates Xbox for the digital antenna.

    Best of luck to you on this one

    Thanks, I just don't have the patience to deal with such problems when the point is relaxation and entertainment. I sure haven't been entertained trying to get this thing working the past 3 hours.

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    umoonerumooner Posts: 1,707 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    @WCDawg said:

    @Kasey said:

    @WCDawg said:
    Well I bought a Vizio. The thing won't connect to my Belkin router. In fact it shuts my router signal down, even to my laptop. The Indian named Mike at Vizio tech support kept telling me it's the router, no, the router works fine till I try to connect it to the pos tv.
    I just don't have the patience to pay for something only to spend my weekend trying to get it to work.

    Your experience is making me think I’m better off rocking the setup I currently have. 6 year old dynex, Apple TV, roommates Xbox for the digital antenna.

    Best of luck to you on this one

    Thanks, I just don't have the patience to deal with such problems when the point is relaxation and entertainment. I sure haven't been entertained trying to get this thing working the past 3 hours.

    That really sucks. Sorry about that.

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    scooterdawgscooterdawg Posts: 3,066 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    @ghostofuga1 said:

    @FirePlugDawg said:
    I suggest you at least consider Vizio. Fairly inexpensive and ~ feature rich. Has Smartcast (Chromecast new name?) + built in I think.

    https://vizio.com/tv-overview

    I have a small older Vizio now. Not smart, but it's been a good tv. Before that I had a LG that was good, but started going out after about 6 years. When I buy again, which will soon, I'll probably go with either a Vizio or Samsung.

    Samsung has a clean interface which I like. The only vizio I’ve dealt with is at my Mom’s house and it’s probably 6 or 7 years old. They may have improved their firmware these days.

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    moosmoos Posts: 1,910 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    @scooterdawg said:

    @ghostofuga1 said:

    @FirePlugDawg said:
    I suggest you at least consider Vizio. Fairly inexpensive and ~ feature rich. Has Smartcast (Chromecast new name?) + built in I think.

    https://vizio.com/tv-overview

    I have a small older Vizio now. Not smart, but it's been a good tv. Before that I had a LG that was good, but started going out after about 6 years. When I buy again, which will soon, I'll probably go with either a Vizio or Samsung.

    Samsung has a clean interface which I like. The only vizio I’ve dealt with is at my Mom’s house and it’s probably 6 or 7 years old. They may have improved their firmware these days.

    I find that the Sling/Roku/Chromecast/AppleTV/etc interfaces have a wider range of apps and get updated more often than the ones from the TV manufacturers.

    On the flip side, the software vendor types like to get in spats with each other and Amazon and not carry each other's stuff. They want you on their proprietary stuff so they can make that sweet money.

    From a consumer perspective, it's a matter of where want it. In the head or in the gut?

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    Lefty13Lefty13 Posts: 536 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

    Some very impressive answers to this post. Here's my question, did y'all install all of this stuff yourselves or is there someone who comes into your home,set it up and show you how to use it? Another question are you able to record programming, I still go back and watch certain games from last season?

    Most of your answers are greek to me so I'm going to need help when I upgrade my television.

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    moosmoos Posts: 1,910 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    @Lefty13 said:
    Some very impressive answers to this post. Here's my question, did y'all install all of this stuff yourselves or is there someone who comes into your home,set it up and show you how to use it? Another question are you able to record programming, I still go back and watch certain games from last season?

    Most of your answers are greek to me so I'm going to need help when I upgrade my television.

    YouTube TV and PSVue have cloud DVRs, but they limit how long things are available. I think it's 30 days for PSVue, not sure about YouTube.

    The Tablo that I have is an OTA tuner. You can hook a hard drive to it and keep recordings "forever." But you can't get ESPN or SEC network on it.

    I set up all my stuff myself, but I've always been a DIY tech nerd. I've run my Cat5/6 myself in my own house before, and when I do hire it out, I give the guy a drawing of what I want.

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    FirePlugDawgFirePlugDawg Posts: 5,480 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    @WCDawg said:
    Well I bought a Vizio. The thing won't connect to my Belkin router. In fact it shuts my router signal down, even to my laptop. The Indian named Mike at Vizio tech support kept telling me it's the router, no, the router works fine till I try to connect it to the pos tv.
    I just don't have the patience to pay for something only to spend my weekend trying to get it to work.

    My money is on the router as being the issue. Suggest you unplug the router and press whatever start button there is a fe times in order to discharge any residual power traces/static electricity. Then try to connect the TV. I had to enter my stuff manually on the newer one until I got the newest FiOS router.

    If your router is older than perhaps 5-6 years, you'll likely have a problem. Plus distance/obstructions to line of sight can be a problem. When they work its wonderbar. Getting there is another matter.

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