Android TVs

Discussion in 'Yellow Pages' started by PhilippineOrn, Oct 17, 2017.

  1. PhilippineOrn

    PhilippineOrn First Team

    Anybody own one? Gimmicky or useful?
     
  2. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    I've recently gone down the new TV route.

    Android TVs tend to be Sony and the interface has had a bit of a bad rep for being a bit clunky. I also will never buy Sony again as their build quality these days is shocking and recent dealings with their customer service has soured my relationship with them. Previously I used to be a vary loyal Sony supporter.

    I ended up going Samsung (depsite me being truend down for two jobs with them) and very happy. Their interactive stuff is pretty good and if you have Samsung phones & tablets they all ink up nicely. They're also in my opinon the pest picture currently without spending silly money.

    I turned an older LG TV into a smart one by bunging an Amazon fire stick on it (Android of sorts, wait till black friday they'll knock a tenner off it). Once you sort out side loading from an android tablet (which is just an ap) it's as good if not better than any of the android TV boxes out there which all start at £30 or so.

    So this long post is basically me saying get the best TV you can afford. Consider 4K & HDR if you want to keep it for some time and don't worry about the interactive bits. The add on boxes are cheap and easily upgraded as standards change.

    What's your budget / size requirements? Researching consumer electronics is a hobby.
     
  3. Godfather

    Godfather bricklayer extraordinaire

    I could spend a lot of time explaining the difference between Woled and Moled .... but quite frankly I can't be arsed. Do your own research
     
  4. PhilippineOrn

    PhilippineOrn First Team

    To be honest I wasn't even aware Android tvs existed until last weekend when my daughter got caught short in a department store and the loos just happened to be immediately behind the tv section.

    My old tv gave up the ghost a few weeks ago after 5 years so I've been mooching around a bit at what's available particularly at smart tvs and one particular tv caught the corner of my eye when I had to usher Kiwi to the toilets. After she finished her business I went and took a closer look at it. It was a no brand, probably Chinese made 50 or 55" for PHP25,000 (about £350 pre brexit but closer to £400 now). Bear in mind there are import tariffs here so that's going to be an artificially inflated price and not comparible to UK prices. That said, it seemed good value here for a smart TV and the salesman was quick to point out it was Android also.

    I had a Sanyo washing machine here that packed up exactly a year and a week after I bought it with no concern at all from customer service since it was no longer under warranty, so I'm not bothered if it's a brand or not.
     
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  5. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    I wouldn't go much by brand. There's only a few manufacturing plants for LCDs anyway.

    LG, Sharp, Samsung and a few chinese names no-one has heard of. Get one that suits your needs regardless of interface because that;s easy to upgrade with a box. All brands/manufacturers have an Achilles heel. There doesn't appear to be a flawless set out there. Mine for example has a habit of the casing which is glued on, separating from the unit. Picture is A1 though which is important to be as I'm a bit anal about my hifi equipment, nothing a bit of black electrical tape can't fix.

    http://www.samsung.com/uk/tv/KS7000/?modelCode=UE60KS7000UXXU
     
  6. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    Something to do with claws?

    [​IMG]
    Mole


    [​IMG]
    Wool
     
  7. Hornpete

    Hornpete Squad Player

    I've a sony android and it's good. Kodi and other apps work ok, seems to link with network very well (so much so I accidentally turn the tv on sometimes when using phone) its a lower end set and sometimes takes a bit to load up but I can live with.

    Echo the getting any tv and adding an Android device but it is nice to have it all inclusive. I think sony are one of few to have BBC, itv, ch4, 5 all in the same place.

    Philips budget set I had I returned as the picture was patchy and uneven. The ambilight feature however was great imo, so if your budget is higher I'd consider a Philips high end set with ambilight and Android.
     
  8. kVA

    kVA Reservist

    Went into John Lewis last weekend to find a replacement for a plasma TV. All that I thought I knew about TVs was instantly wiped from my mind as I stood staring gobsmacked at the size of the selection they had. All slightly different but still similar with vastly different prices. All fed with the best quality sources (not a freeview broadcast to be seen). All high colour, high contrast and loud. Other customers buzzing around and excited kids being excited kids. I suddenly felt completely out of my depth not knowing the lingo so I asked the Samsung rep for help. He almost sold us a Qled model but his colleagues cocked up the sale so we walked out empty handed. After a bit of reading up I’m about to take the plung on an LG Oled TV. I’ll let you know how it goes when it’s delivered.
     
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  9. Bahrain Hornet

    Bahrain Hornet Academy Graduate

    The sound on a no brand tv will be ***** so if you don’t have added surround sound via separate speakers or a sound bar you will be very disappointed!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  10. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    Nice one. I;m convinced OLED is the way to go but were a bit step for me at 60" at the time I was purchasing. I made sure I got HDR premier certified though.

    Absolutely and don't get one of those pants sound bar things. Get a proper AV amplifier and minimum 5 speakers if you have any room at all you'll be glad you did.
     
  11. R4E

    R4E Reservist

    I also have a Sony Android TV. Been really pleased with it for the past 2 years (I didn't bother with 4k). Great for streaming through Kodi without any extra kit, Netflix, YouView and Google Play built in. Happy days!
     
  12. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    I've no idea what Woled and Moled mean and have no intention of researching either, but which is better, God? Just in case I need to know.

    BTW, presumably Samsung turned Meister down because of his spellnig.
     
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  13. Godfather

    Godfather bricklayer extraordinaire

    Amoleds are better than LCD in that red, green and blue pixels are lit individually [LED] rather than being just backlit and shaded in. LG's Woled goes one better as it also adds white LED's to the array. However Samsung now have technology which basically mixes LCD technology with per individual LED pixel's to give different tones of R, G & B, not just different shades.

    Any of the OLeds are better than TFT (LCD) for black blacks and high contrast but LG's probably offer better value than Samsung's expensive QLED.

    Note that any other 55 plus incher OLed will still have a screen made by one of these two firms as no one else can make them that big. I believe 110 inches high is the absolute maximum single screen size (with no width restrictions).
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2017
    hornmeister likes this.
  14. Godfather

    Godfather bricklayer extraordinaire

    I messed up the sizes ... I think twice the height of a 55" 16:9 is the maximum but it could be thrice, it's at least a year since I read up on them so even then I might be wrong (heaven forbid :))
     
  15. kVA

    kVA Reservist

    What sound bar do you recommend? I am not going to go to the trouble of wiring a pair of rear speakers this time but may be interested in a sound bar with a couple of wireless surrounds.
     
  16. Bahrain Hornet

    Bahrain Hornet Academy Graduate

    Personally I have separates with a custom sub in my lounge but I do have a Samsung HW F-350 in the bedroom which is good for the price but I believe its now discontinued!
     
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  17. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    Separates all the way.
    If space and budget dictate however, then I'd recommend going for a soundbar form the telly manufacturer of a reputable AV manufacturer. Personally I'm a Yamaha fan but have a look at avforums.com where you can get unbiased reviews and comment from owners of the kit.
     
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  18. Bahrain Hornet

    Bahrain Hornet Academy Graduate

    Agree with you there Meister I have a Yamaha amp!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
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  19. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    I'm on my 3rd. Got an rxv781 just replaced a 671 to give 4k support.
    The 671 is looking for a good home.
     
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  20. Bahrain Hornet

    Bahrain Hornet Academy Graduate

    Got an old rx-v667 myself but I’m looking to upgrade to 4K at the moment for everything, amp, tv and blue ray!
    I’m sure someone would take the 671 off you though, great bit of kit still!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  21. kVA

    kVA Reservist

    I think that the 667 is the amp I have running through some Cambridge Audio Minx speakers and sub. Sound is OK but not mind blowing.

    I also had a Yamaha 1070 which has just gone boom, blowing the plug fuse. I’ve not yet taken it apart to look for obvious signs of blown components. This was running the same Minx speakers but the sound wasn’t good at all. It was a discounted item when I bought it so it probably had a fault. I’ve replaced it with an Arcam Solo Movie through the same Minx speakers and the sound stage is much better.

    Like I say, I’m not going to lift flooring and decorate for wiring rear surrounds for the other room so perhaps a sonos system (or a cheaper option) might be the way to go. The Samsung one was as dear as the Sonos/Bose which put me off the Samsung as I think that the other two produce better sound products.
     
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  22. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    I run cheap bell wire to my rears. Can be hidden by pushing down the gap between skirting board and carpet and under door bars. 5.0 is good enough for me. I have Rogers LS33s biamped at the front with their matching twin passive subs. Matching cs33 centre and LS1a rears. So using all 7 channels of the amp. For me atmos or extra surround channels is overkill.

    It's a good enough system to show up mp3 flaws and benefit from sacd.
     
  23. kVA

    kVA Reservist

    You mean you don’t use oxygen free, multi-strand proprietary speaker cable with gold plated connectors? You heathen!

    I have a tiled floor, tv will be wall mounted without a cabinet beneath it, there are doorways between the front and back of the room on both sides. I suppose that I could use ceiling speakers if I can be bothered to lift the chipboard flooring above.
     
  24. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    I can put up with a slight reduction in effects quality as long as the front 3 ard not compromised. Ofc for the fronts. 1000 odd strand iirc. I have used solid core but felt I lost a little high end detail for the tighter bass it delivered, but then we're talking skin theory and minimal returns here. Conventional wisdom would suggest anything other than carpetted floor is a no no but the equalisation technology (nine measurement points in my system) is pretty decent these days. I have carpet though.

    Best sound I had was from a THX rated air studio tuned Pioneer amp. I still have it but it's pre hdmi. Might use it as a power amp at some point. Tested it with ex bbc Rogers LS6as which were by far the most transparent speakers I've ever tested.
     
  25. kVA

    kVA Reservist

    I was joking about the speaker cable! I am quite an audio/hifi/tv geek but never liked to spend too much, so I’ve never gone really high-end. The Arcam has proved though, that paying more can give substantial improvements in quality.

    As you know, the quality differences between cables and kit are subjective and I think that that there is a lot of snake oil involved in the sale of domestic systems, of which I am not immune. It sounds like you’ve had the chance to try many different bupits if kit.

    I haven’t got super sensitive hearing but I do find that many systems set up in shops are full of overpowering bass and over amped tweeters and I think this is common with the lower end systems.

    In the past (at home) I’ve used two core stranded flex and I’ve thought it fine! I now use standard speaker cable from an electrical wholesaler but I would consider using better quality cable for a high end system.

    The tiled floor is, well, what it is. We have big rug in the centre but unless I dampen the walls , they will create reflections anyway. Speaker size is restricted by the other half’s aesthetic requirements.

    Maybe I’ll put in the work and go for a wired system, I know it’ll be better, cheaper and I’m well pleased with the Arcam
     
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  26. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

  27. kVA

    kVA Reservist

    I see your mini tanking but I’m going to go for:
    CFB2A12A-6637-4BE4-82D4-30B6072EB310.jpeg

    A scutch chisel, a bit of time, a small bag of Easy Fill and a Tim of paint!

    Which speakers though?
     
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  28. Hornpete

    Hornpete Squad Player

    I've got an onkyo txsr444 which throws in 7.1 or atmos. I've got it wired in with mordaunt short mezzo 2 as fronts, but in an effort to reduce money and space used some Panasonic sattelites for centre, rear and two bouncing off the ceiling for atmos, which I see as a bonus not an essential.

    Cheap cabling for rears and I have a picture rail which it runs through, held in by blu tack and pins in the corners.

    Old subwoofer does the bass and makes a huge difference to gunshots or rumble from dinosaurs or planes. I'm not quite sure how you live without a sub. It also lets me set the larger fronts to small and adjust the crossover so they more evenly match the surrounds and centre.

    The beauty of this and most 5.1 systems is the adjusting you can do, coupled with the Wi-Fi/bluetooth casting options for music. I used to run an old non HDMI receiver and a stereo amp, with no option of surround from normal tv.

    In short I'm not saying my system is the best ever, but ive never listened to a soundbar and thought it matched my setup, which was done on a budget. Admittedly on a budget of more than an average soundbar.
     
  29. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    Why not get some more minx if you're happy with them.
     
  30. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    I do have twin subs. But passive ones. Basically my fronts are shelf speakers which sit on passive subs which turn them into floor standing full range speakers. not my setup.

    The bases have fist size side firing bass ports. Bonus is they're biamped and due to the separate boxes, insulated and drivers on separate baffles.
     
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  31. kVA

    kVA Reservist

    That sounds good even through my tablet! Nice tune.

    Well I’ve had the LG Oled for a couple of weeks and although I don’t watch loads of TV, what I have seen is excellent. So much brighter than the plasma it replaced. Definition is good on Freeview and excellent on HD. Been watching Blue Planet II on freeview HD. On the iPlayer app there is a trial of Blue Planet II UHD and that is awesome, even the misses agrees! Other than that we’ve been streaming from Netflix. It’s surprising though, how little you actually watch TV rather than having your head in a tablet. I would say that having Netflix, Amazon, and the freeview apps on one controller is very useful.

    It’s a tough call for best purchase between the LGTV and the Arcam Solo Movie, it sounds fantastic. I think with some pukka hifi speakers it would be magnificent but my interior designer is unlikely to approve such things!
     
  32. PhilippineOrn

    PhilippineOrn First Team

    I might be wrong, but isn't English the only permitted language on these forums?
     
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