Poll: Still interested in a connected HDTV?
By Richard Lawler 
posted May 24th 2009 12:00PM
posted May 24th 2009 12:00PM
posted May 24th 2009 12:00PM
The amount of electronics thrown away rather than recycled in 2007.
The EPA reports that 82% of electronics disposal in 2007 ended up in the garbage (mostly landfills) rather than a recycling center. (source: EPA, July 2008)
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If my "Connected-TV" can't connect to HULU/netflix/etc, my videos served through my network, and my videos hosted on my usb hard-drive ... well ... I daresay my TV shouldn't be considered "connected" at all...
This marginally incremental advancement (and I'm being very generous here...) in TV technology is just a way for the fat-cats over at Big-TV to create the illusion that they're stirring the (still very) stagnant waters of everyman's dreams, "the interactive TV". It's 2009 and I've conceded on the issue of the flying car, but I WILL NOT let any manufacturer tell me that I actually want "yahoo" and "youtube" on my computer as a supplement for "the internet" and "videos"...
I couldn't agree more. Until these so-called "connected" TVs behave more like network streaming devices, it's kind of a non-starter for me. What's the point of having "widgets" that let me check the weather or see the latest news headlines, but don't let me actually watch TV or movies over my network or the Internet?
Don;t get me wrong, I'd love to see a tv that can do it all. I would even be willing to pay a premium for one that truly did everything I want it to do. But none of the products currently on offer come close to what I'm able to do with a
Weird my comment got all jacked up. The last sentence was supposed to read:
"But none of the products currently on offer come close to what I'm able to do with a sub-$1000 tv, a PS3/Xbox, and an HTPC"
Agreed. My PCH is more connected than any TV. I got 130+ HD movies sitting on my network, let me know when I can stream them right to my TV.
I know that lady. That is a reported for the Tampa Bay Area NBC station. I think she is in the USF Sundome
I might be interested if it were conformant to industry standards. I'm not at all interested in some lobotomized, proprietary after thought which is most internet enabled TVs seem to be at the moment.
You are missing a few things. The Samsung 8000 LED series is widget compatible but also has a DLNA compliant option built in. It easily streams from any DLNA compliant server. I streamed AVCHD files from a Windows Home Server within minutes of turning it on. I will probably stick with my PS3 or XBox for this task but at the moment it is ahead of the Xbox by streaming AVCHD.
I would have liked to seen Netflix on it but DLNA is a plus. IMO, widgets will be around as long as Yahoo is paying for them but connectivity with Netflix, Hulu, Media Center, etc is where each and every TV manufacturer should be, and quickly
The "widgets" will be obsolete and no longer supported long before the tv dies.
Actually, new widgets can be added whenever you want. Unless the internet dies before the TV does.
I'm not too willing to pay for extras that likely won't work in a couple years. Even if every info provider never goes under, you still have to hope they never change the service, breaking the service on older TVs. I know it should be possible to upgrade the firmware of the TVs, but it's not like companies make it easy to find new firmware, or caused the hardware to become a brick after the upgrade.
I prefer having devices that are more transportable. I don't want a networked HDTV because any content kept on the TV "stays" there... it's basically building into the tv STB functionality and I'd rather have a STB I can bring to other people's houses, or to other tvs/rooms without moving a 50" set around.
Bought a Samsung LN52A650 HDTV in December and a BD-P3600 Blu-ray this month. The Yahoo widgets on the TV are mostly an annoying novelty that wore of very quickly. I did not spring over $100 extra to get the A750 model with DLNA. The Netflix and Pandora on the BR player are excellent. Wish Samsung would provide more firmware upgrades to add services to both the TV and the disc player. I also think that $80 MSRP for a wireless USB dongle is absurd and that 802.11N wireless should be built-in to every device and that all TV's and disc players should support DLNA. Mfg should adopt a model that allows for upgrades via firmware, even if the upgrades have a reasonable cost.
These types of technologies are usually great stepping-stones to actually "useful" technologies.
As they are now, I have no interest. But I can see one day wanting to drop info onto the screen as long as it's more than annoying news tickers or ads.
DLNA, Netflix etc, and support for MKV and DivX in all forms and no bugs and maybe. Oh, and firmware updates, of course.
I think most people miss the point of this technology. I don't see connected TV's as part of a IP streaming network, but as desktop and browser widgets.
Who doesn't want to read RSS feeds (Engadget, Slickdeals, CNN, etc) during commercial breaks? If you're watching TV, why not hit the weather button to quickly pull up current weather conditions as well as a quick forecast?
I have a laptop. Can sit with that while I watch TV and get much more than widgets can offer.
Found this demo Samsung made to show how the Internet@TV feature works: http://cli.gs/XezvBW Seems a little limited though.
I think hdtv can get much more than widgets
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