Questions on smart TVs from a not so smart TVer

[Yesfan70]

I was looking around on Crutchfield today and saw where some Samsung TVs could be "mirrored" to or from another device like a smartphone or tablet. What about another TV that's mirror capable? If I had two identical TVs, one upstairs and one downstairs, could they mirror content to each other or is mirroring something totally different than what I'm thinking?

Is a Roku device still recommended? I see where some SmartTVs will let you stream Netflix. I'm sure Roku is not needed if that's the case, but I've seen where some of you Roku owners favoring streaming through that vs a Bluray player with that same feature. My LG player is a bit clunky getting to Netflix, but it does the job farily well. Hopefully SmartTVs aren't the same.


It will be a while, but I'm thinking of adding a TV downstairs so I have something over my bar and (mostly) keep the mileage down on my projector. I saw a Samsung (the UN50F6400) that looked nice for the price. It would be closer to football season before I pulled the trigger, but thought I would ask.

 

[Haywood]

Roku has a simpler interface and a lot more apps than a lot of SmartTV sets and you can mirror content to the Roku from iOS or Android with an app from Twonky Media. The other advantage of the Roku is that they boxes are cheap and thus you can afford to replace them as the technology improves. That's also the theory behind the new Roku sticks that are supported by some newer HDTV sets.

Roku has good apps for Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, Vudu, PBS, PBS Kids and hundreds of other providers. The only glaring omission is YouTube and there are several work-arounds for that, including the aforementioned Twonky app.

 

[Rope]

When I've heard the term "mirroring" it normally involves a device such as a smartphone, or tablet and is done through teathering, although some devices offer WiFi.

My own experience (teathered) using a tablet connected to my KURO via HDMI supplies a decent replica of everything that appears on my tablet. I've played Angry Birds using the KURO as a mirror.

Rope

 

[Haywood]

Plex is working on a feature called Now Playing that allows you to see what's playing in other rooms, click on it and join the program in progress. I believe it is still in beta.

 

[Yesfan70]

Plex is working on a feature called Now Playing that allows you to see what's playing in other rooms, click on it and join the program in progress. I believe it is still in beta.

That sounds like it can give you the same feature as Dish's Hopper and Direc's Genie. That's kinda what I was wondering with a smartTV. If I have two identical smartTVs, could I just mirror content from one display to the other? I'm thinking no for some reason.


It seems smartTVs are the equivalent to the old TV/VCR all in one sets. Maybe it's just easier, and probably cheaper, to get a vanilla HDTV and something like the Roku for all the media streaming. Am I right in that thinking?

 

[Haywood]

I'd get a vanilla TV mainly to avoid being limited to whatever tech was available at the time you bought the set. A Roku box is a hundred bucks. That's not an amount you'll cry over if you replace it in a few years.

 

[MatthewB]

It is far wiser to buy a regular (non smart TV) and purchase a Roku or smart Bluray player ( both can be bought for under 100.00 most smart TV's charge hundreds more than the non smart model in most cases its like 500.00 more for the smart model.