I finally have a 'smart' TV

[Zeke]

I'm always late when it comes to technology. I've only had a 'smart' phone for 2 years. I use about 5% of its potential, but it's better than a straight pre pay model.

Now getting ready to enter the world of online TV. What do I need to get the most out of this? Xbox? Computer? FYI. I have FIOS so I'm hooked up not to the router, but the fiber box. Does it do any good to bring the Ethernet cable right to the TV?

Give me some options, please. I'm not really ready to pay NetFlix or Amazon just yet. I'd like to see what I can get off the Net for free. I don't do movies much. Just looking for a work around about losing Speed TV and finding a lot of shows have gone to the Net for the time being.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I'd recommend going out and picking up an Apple TV box for $120 or whatever they're running these days. You'll get some content for free and you'll have a world of possibilities available 100% on-demand (no commercials and no self-promotional B.S.) Most content is available pretty inexpensively.

Once you put yourself totally in control of what you want to watch and when rather than being beholden to the terrible lineups offered on conventional cable or dish networks you'll find it hugely liberating and if you're like me, you'll realize how terrible most television programs really are and how nice it is to reclaim your life without wasting as much of it in front of the idiot box.

I cut the cord from pay television a few years ago and don't miss it one bit. I think I might watch 2-3 movies and maybe a a half dozen programs a month (usually documentaries or something like that) for a fraction of the cost of what cable would cost. I don't miss it one bit. YMMV. Good luck.

[Zeke]

What and where would I be downloading from? I have unlimited data on my phone, but I only have 4G and the Sprint service here is spotty.

As I said, I'm a noob when it comes to TV.

[Steve Viegas]

Milt,
It really depends on what you want to do. If you have a smart tv, it likely does everything you want it to do. If there are missing pieces, I would recommend Roku for an easy to use, feature rich solution (you can get a roku II for about $60.00 roku III will set you back a little more). If you want to do anything, then you can connect a computer to your TV. It will allow you to do anything, but it will be much more complicated.

[Hugh R]

Second the vote on an Apple TV. Its a very small box about 4"x 4"x2" you have to have internet to it via your cable to your TV. I assume FIOS does that. Apple TV will also play music from your computer if you have it connected as well and have iTunes on your computer.

If you're a total noob, at least make sure you're getting true high definition TV meaning 1020P. You can adjust the input to the TV to get that.

[A930Rocket]

What kind of programs are we talking about with Apple and Roku? I'd love to ditch my $130 per month bill, but my wife likes a few HBO programs (movies, boardwalk empire and game of thrones). My MIL likes old 40-60's movies and 60-70's tv programs.

Either one fit the bill?

[porsche4life]

Wow.... All youz guys have missed the mark on this one...

Milt bought a smart tv, that means its got the capability of an Apple TV or rocky type device built in.

Milt, it should hook to your home wifi and then depending on what model, have apps for things like Netflix, pandora, amazon video, Hulu, etc. from those apps you can browse what content each offers.

[red-beard]

Amazon Prime is a pretty good deal. $79/year gives you no cost 2 day shipping on purchases and access to tons of older movies and TV shows at no additional cost.

If the distance isn't too great, you're better off running a hardwire to the unit. Wi-Fi usually works fine, but it is very router dependent.

With FIOS, you should have plenty of bandwidth. You may need to check with your provider to see if you have a monthly data cap. Mine is 250GB.

[Rick V]

We have a laptop hooked to our tv so we either stream stuff or just download it.

[Andy911sc]

I got netflix activated on mine and ditched my satellite after about 6 months. I found that I was watching netflix all the time. It saves me $120/month. I have cable internet with a wireless router and have been using Netflix for the past 2 years. Yeah, I have to wait a year for a recent season's to be available, but I don't surround my life with tv and have to be in the now with shows. I have my pandora radio on my tv which makes it nice with the sound system. I also hook my laptop up quiet often to do my AutoCad and Photoshop. It makes it nice to have that huge screen and be able to sit comfortably on my couch or lazy boy to do my work. I have it wirelessly hooked up to my desktop and phone to stream media. There are a lot of possibilities for these tv's.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Wow.... All youz guys have missed the mark on this one...

Milt bought a smart tv, that means its got the capability of an Apple TV or rocky type device built in.

Milt, it should hook to your home wifi and then depending on what model, have apps for things like Netflix, pandora, amazon video, Hulu, etc. from those apps you can browse what content each offers.

That's right. It's built in — Internet ready. It doesn't tell me how to connect to the Internet. I got as far as entering my WEP key, but it did nothing. No written instructions, they're all on screen. Sorta like a wizard.

[Steve Viegas]

Actually I am not sure we are so off the mark. The TV has an Ethernet port. It does not mean it has easy access to programming. I still put forth the tv has access to certain places (cnn, weather, netflix, vudu, perhaps amazon) but I think it is limited.

I believe there will be significantly less limitations on one of the suggestions above.

[Zeke]

OK, if the TV was in the same room as the router, I would use the cable. It's not. So maybe a question to ask is there something like a wireless adapter for the TV? It does have a USB or 2. How would I get the driver installed?

Correction: What I thought was a USB is "Audio Out."

[porsche4life]

What's the tv model? Most have wifi these days.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Zeke

That's right. It's built in — Internet ready. It doesn't tell me how to connect to the Internet. I got as far as entering my WEP key, but it did nothing. No written instructions, they're all on screen. Sorta like a wizard.

It's likely a multi step/service specific process.

Once you've entered and successfully connected to your router it really won't do anything else until you try to use an internet dependent/enabled service like Netflix or Hulu.

Basically entering your WEP just sets it up for other services to function.

Once you run Netflix the first time it will step you through the process of using that service.

Same with Hulu or any others.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

What's the tv model? Most have wifi these days.

He entered his WEP key.

It has WIFI.

[John Rogers]

Hey Milt, glad you are catching up! I have the following setup in the bedroom and a similar one in the living room with the big set. I used Vizio for the bedroom TV as Walmart had a big special last holiday season on their 48 inch "smart" set. The only thing it would not do is play videos (any format) from a thumb drive. The set was hardwired to my router with a cat6 cable for security and speed. A few months ago I bought a "set top" box called the Vizio Co-Star and plugged the cat 6 cable into it and run an HDMI cable to the set. The Co-Star does the following: allow me to play ANY movie format I put on any USB device such as thumb drive or external hard drive. Unlike most all Blu Ray players it does not have that new copy protection that can be hidden in the audio track so all things play. It has the normal apps such as Netflix, YouTube, etc, etc AND it also has Google Chrome as a browser so now I can check my email, Pelican Parts, Cast Boolits, etc while drinking my morning coffee! The remote has a double sided remote that uses blue tooth to allow keyboard use.

Since the YouTube has a better interface and seems faster I can watch how-to videos on using the new (to me) 3 in 1 Mill/Drill/Lathe I just bought as it has been 29 years since I did any machine work!