Poll: Will you buy an internet-connected HDTV?
By Darren Murph 
posted Jan 24th 2009 12:00PM
posted Jan 24th 2009 12:00PM
posted Jan 24th 2009 12:00PM
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Yes...if the price is worth it in my eyes.
No way. I'm willing to bet 90% of these widgets will just be advertisements. I'm perfectly fine with my current non-connected TV, thank you.
Had I not been laid off, I'd certainly get one this year.
Damn, I got the Samsung LN46A650 in August which has a bit of internet connectivity, but this years' models are amazing.
But no, maybe in 7 years or when my TV breaks, whichever is first.
Where's the option for 'I would buy one, but I don't live in the US, so I can't enjoy Netflix/Hulu/Other'
Absolutely not! The internet streaming and internet widgets will become obsolete far sooner than the television. I'd much prefer those features in a separate set top box, that I don't mind replacing every few years.
Internet connected TVs seem to be just crappy, low feature widgets. I'll take a set top box device or a computer over that any day.
What's the business model for these widgets? What's going to pay for the bandwidth, the servers, the staff who are updating the content, etc.? I can see a few years down the road when you turn your widgets on, you just get "404 Not Found".
I don't know the in's and out's of how these widgets work on HDTV sets but you would hope they are sort of platform independant (Java perhaps?) and not directly created/served by the TV set manufacturers.
So for example you could install a Bloomberg stock ticker widget and a weather.com widget on your set but if for arguments sake Samsung went bust your Samsung TV with widget support would still continue to work because the services were provided by Bloomberg and weather.com respectively.
Or am I just way off base here?
I picked the "someday" option. Not because it's a choice that am particularly in favour of but because, someday you won't have a choice.
What a great way to DOUBLE or even TRIPLE the number of ads you see. I'll pass
I would love a TV with a built in, upgradable browser. Call it a widget, if you like. Streaming HD from Netflix, and an HD Slingbox of everything I have on my HD DVR, without needing to buy and situate a computer, or other player, would be ideal for my kitchen, bedroom, workout room, or any other space where I want HDTV but don't want to run more cabling nor have space for something other than the TV itself.
It's BRILLIANT.
I was looking for the option "If it's a TV I want anyway", for example if a Kuro had it, then I'd buy a TV with widgets.
Ditto. Regardless it will be years before I buy a new TV.
What's the point?! Just connect your pc to your tv through hdmi and you have a lot more options than widgets.
I will, i want a Netflix enabled one. Looking for a new living room tv anyways.
Because the widgets look like they are hard-coded into the TV is why I wouldn't buy one of these TVs. What use are the TVs when the services are no longer available? Don't respond that you can still watch TV on them, because I know that. I'm saying why did I pay extra for features that I can no longer use.
Bah, the internet is for a computer, not a tv. The way this economy is going, I might not buy another TV at all when mine breaks for good. I can watch my DVD's on my desktop, the only thing I watch on TV is Fox News and CNN. Like they say, in tough times, the first thing to go is cable.
My TV has been connected to the internet for the last 4 years thru my HTPC.
If I am spending big money on a display, which I did, I would rather have all of the gadgets (netflix, widgets, hulu) on another, easily replaceable machine. Its like spending the money on a good monitor but being able to buy the fancy new computer every couple of years.
Where is the option for already have a TV connected to the Internet? My Samsung LN52A650 can, though I only use it for time and not the gadgets. In fact, everything in my AV rack except for my receiver is connected to my local network.
No way I already have my computer pluged into my 50 plasma so when it goes south on me i will hopefully replace it with a OLED if the prices have come down to a reasoable amount.