Smart T.V.'s

[flabum1017]

It's about time for me to replace my T.V. Looking to get a Smart T.V., probably a Samsung. Right now, I have a LCD and use a Firestick loaded with KODI. Can I load KODI or similar onto a Smart T.V. or do I still need a Firestick or similar?

[Markus]

I would get the plainest TV possible and an Apple TV or one of its competitors for the smart part.

[flabum1017]

I would get the plainest TV possible and an Apple TV or one of its competitors for the smart part.

Would like to reduce the amount of equipment, if I can load Kodi onto a smart TV, I'd go that route. Right now, I have a T.V.a firestick with KODI, a Blue Ray player to watch Netflix and my computer which I load all my movies on and watch on the TV. So, it would be nice to get rid of the firestick and BlueRay player............... Just have the T.V. and computer. I loaded KODI onto the computer, but it's too slow.

[RobF]

the stick will just plug into a USB port on the back of the tv, I dont believe you can load kodi onto a factory television

the interfaces on the samsung are far beyond kodi you will enjoy the samsung remote along with voice commands. you wont regret it one bit. netflix, HBO go, crackle, private channels, you tube, its all so easy and almost fun going through the samsung interface

on another note the thing that makes kodi slow on the stick is the lack of memory so im not sure why your computer loaded with kodi is so slow??

[LongShot]

I have been looking at Samsungs also. I need a 50-55". I watch Wally World for their specials and found that the TV's that look great there on display and are priced at $600-$700 don't have all the features I want. They advertise 1080p 4k Smart TV's and the picture looks decent. But when you look at the specs they are 1080p and 60hz. If you watch sports and action videos 2160p and 120 hz minimum makes a huge difference when scenes change very quickly. My litmus test is watching the flight of a golf ball. If you can see just the ball and not a comet tail behind it the TV is much nicer to watch. To get those features the price seems to always land about double the ones on sale. I also have a wireless sub and the TV's I have looked at recently don't have an audio out port. Can't use the sub which really makes the audio rich. If the TV has decent speakers I can do without surround sound.

[RobF]

you are not going to get any sounds out of a tv that is barely an inch or 2 thick
soundbars are a must now

yes the advertisements and big orange and yellow stickers showing a 55" tv for $499 sounds great but its not going to be a great picture
the tvs go by series, higher the series the "better" the tv.

when I got mine I shopped only for a 8500 series

its also common for box stores and wallmart to get special tvs just for them, meaning they have less features, cheaper processors, etc so they can sell it at a cheap price and offer a price match guarantee- they can guarantee the price because no one else is going to have that EXACT model number in stock

I tracked tv sale prices for a full year and the best time to buy is after black friday and right before super bowl other than that its price control even if you know a guy who knows a guy they can rarely take $20 off the sticker. You can find an "outdated" model those are usually better buys

[fichrman2]

you are not going to get any sounds out of a tv that is barely an inch or 2 thick
soundbars are a must now

I tracked tv sale prices for a full year and the best time to buy is after black friday and right before super bowl other than that its price control even if you know a guy who knows a guy they can rarely take $20 off the sticker. You can find an "outdated" model those are usually better buys

If you can find out when they are putting the new models out , the display models are generally sold at a very good price. Found that out while strolling thru Sams a few years back.

[STV_Keith]

you are not going to get any sounds out of a tv that is barely an inch or 2 thick
soundbars are a must now

I have to disagree with you here. I bought a streaming box (Renegade RG6 Pro) early this year and had to upgrade from an older 1080p rear projection (pre DLP) TV to a newer TV due to no HDMI input. I ended up with a 8000 series Samsung 65". I was and am very surprised by the sound this this generates. In most instances, I don't even both to turn on the full surround sound system I have connected to the TV, the TV output is that good.

As a side note on these "smart TV's", I also denied the TV's MAC address from accessing my wireless router, so its "smart" features are disabled. I only use the Renegade box or a Blu-Ray player for input to it. I read enough about how those mischievous ones out there could get access to the camera and microphone in the TV to eavesdrop/watch you, to decide that there was nothing the TV could do that I couldn't already get through the Blu-Ray player or Renegade box, both of which have network access, but no audio/video capability.

[RobF]

I have to disagree with you here. I bought a streaming box (Renegade RG6 Pro) early this year and had to upgrade from an older 1080p rear projection (pre DLP) TV to a newer TV due to no HDMI input. I ended up with a 8000 series Samsung 65". I was and am very surprised by the sound this this generates. In most instances, I don't even both to turn on the full surround sound system I have connected to the TV, the TV output is that good.

i also have an 8500 series, and the sound is barely acceptable

[STV_Keith]

i also have an 8500 series, and the sound is barely acceptable

Isn't the 8500 the curved one? Perhaps that model has different speakers or different placement? Mine is mounted to the wall and is about 3-4" from the wall. Maybe placement is part of it too?

[flabum1017]

If you can find out when they are putting the new models out , the display models are generally sold at a very good price. Found that out while strolling thru Sams a few years back.

I prefer NIB, not fond of a TV that has been on 24/7 for months and months..........................

[RobF]

Isn't the 8500 the curved one? Perhaps that model has different speakers or different placement? Mine is mounted to the wall and is about 3-4" from the wall. Maybe placement is part of it too?

Its not curved, maybe it's an 8150 or something, coming up on 3 years old this fall maybe newer ones are better

[STV_Keith]

Its not curved, maybe it's an 8150 or something, coming up on 3 years old this fall maybe newer ones are better

The one I got is the KS8000 (flat). KS8500 is the curved one. Here's a review of the two. Maybe you have a different model? Mine is about 7 months old and has 2.1, 40W down firing speakers.

http://tvcomparison.net/samsung-un65...-need-to-know/

[mjw930]

The best value out there right now is the Vizio product line. The newest M series are really impressive. Not sure what price range you're looking but this is a killer 55" TV. https://www.vizio.com/tvs/m55e0.html