internet connectible television

15 years ago

We're about to buy new LED-LCD television, and are trying to decide whether to go with one that's internet connectible. The price difference is $300, which is 30% of the price of the television.

We don't watch a ton of movies, and when we do watch, it's usually something from Comcast's On-Demand, or I will rent a movie from iTunes or Amazon (don't like monthly fees) and connect my laptop to the television with an HDMI cable. Not terribly elegant, I know, but it works fine.

I've been looking at the content that's available with internet-connectible televisions, and there's nothing I care much about right now. However, this is fairly new technology, and I'm sure that there will be lots of other content before long. On the OTHER other hand, I could buy a Blu-Ray player with wifi connectivity for half (or less than half) of the cost difference.

What do you think?

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Comments (5)

netlos
15 years ago
The only reason i would get a T.V with an internet connection is to watch Netflix(without the use of a PS3 for example), but most of them cannot even do that yet.Personally i would probably not get one with internet connection for $300.00 more.
sushipup1
15 years ago
We went the BluRay route. I am amazed at how much better the older non-Bluray DVDs look on the hi-def screen.
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yosemitebill
15 years ago
Wow $300 difference - something's not right here! I'm not saying not to go with the Blu-ray or media player route, which work work just fine, but there must be some other difference between the two television models. The cost of incorporating the internet capability, along with the added retail premium, is no where near that.

There has also been a substantial push from Walmart/Sams Club for product, both television and Blu-ray, to include internet capability since Walmart acquired Vudu a year or so ago. Companies such as Vizio and Funai (licensee of the Philips and Magnavox brands in the US) have definitely been increasing internet capability in their products. This also has been bringing down the added cost.

If you'd like to post the brand and model numbers, maybe we could shed some more light on the difference.
albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
15 years ago
I have a PC connected to the TV and the internet. I am not getting $300 per month value - yet. I study this as an end user almost daily and it is changing so fast I cannot keep up. WERE IT ME I would procrastinate as long as I could and when forced to buy by whatever needs then definitely get the internet connectible TV.

[I think one may be being a little bit knee jerk about the monthly fees. One can connect to Netflix, get a month of movies for $7.99 or so and then disconnect immediately. Netflix is easy to join and easy to quit.]
joann23456
Original Author
15 years ago
We bought the Samsung 6300 series television for $999. The C6500 series television was $1,299, and the only differences when I compared them side-by-side were that the C6500 was internet connectible and had a 5 mil:1 contrast ratio, compared to 4 mil:1 for the C6300.

My laptop has an HDMI-out jack, so I'll just hook it up to the television when I want to watch a movie. You might be right about Netflix, though, Albert. I'll think about joining and quitting when I'm in the mood for some movies.

Albert, I thought about connecting an old PC to the television, but I wasn't sure exactly what I'd do with it. How do you use it? The old PC we have is a Windows XP Media Center PC, about five years old.