Smart tv and disc player?

Old Onkyo

Old Onkyo

Audioholic General
I just purchased a Samsung 65” uhd 800 tv. It streams Netflix etc. I want to buy a UHD disc player, but it seems redundant to buy one that streams also.
What are the benefits to having two smart devices? Will the DVD player perform better than the tv?
 
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Drunkpenguin

Audioholic Chief
I'm not a fan of smart tvs or dvd player apps. They all generally suck. The better way IMO is to use a device built for streaming like roku, firetv, etc. They get updated more often and tend to work better. Faster without lag. I bought an Oppo player which was a few hundred dollars and the netflix app on it sucks compared to a $50 firetv.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I have a "smart" tv but don't use the apps for a long time now, since getting bluray players with the apps. I still use the bluray player apps in my workshop setup, but when I changed to an Oppo 203 (no apps) I added an Amazon Fire Stick and the app choices are far better and do prefer that now, even bought a second one for the bedroom.
 
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snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
I’m not liking the remote much on my Apple 4K TV. I might try Fire or Roku out. My Sony x800 player has a beautiful picture like the Apple for Netflix and Amazon but it’s remote is not great (better than the Apple though). My worst remote is my Samsung remote for the tv. This is even worse than the Apple. My best remote is the TiVo remote (worst picture though). It’s going to be tough to get rid of TiVo. I love the skipping commercials. I’ll probably get rid of direct tv now and keep TiVo unless Fire or Roku are better than Apple TV.
 
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Drunkpenguin

Audioholic Chief
I use a harmony remote for everything. It's the best remote I've ever had. Perfect size and just enough buttons without being overly complex. The only negative, is I cant use it for voice commands to I'm missing out on that experience I guess.

Amazon just announced a new dvr coming out soon. It looks pretty awesome. Once hooked up any fire tv or device in your house can access it, including your phone on the go. I plan on buying one.

Harmony Remote
https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-Control-Smartphone-Simple/dp/B00BQ5RYI4?hvadid=233485225887&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1022582&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=17985158972209437123&hvtargid=kwd-65107559493&keywords=harmony+hub+remote&qid=1537810378&sr=8-7&tag=googhydr-20&ref=sr_1_7

Amazon DVR
https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Recast-Over-air-hours/dp/B01J6A6H74?keywords=record+tv+amazon&qid=1537810544&sr=8-1&ref=sr_1_1
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I use a harmony remote for everything. It's the best remote I've ever had. Perfect size and just enough buttons without being overly complex. The only negative, is I cant use it for voice commands to I'm missing out on that experience I guess.

Amazon just announced a new dvr coming out soon. It looks pretty awesome. Once hooked up any fire tv or device in your house can access it, including your phone on the go. I plan on buying one.

Harmony Remote
https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-Control-Smartphone-Simple/dp/B00BQ5RYI4?hvadid=233485225887&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1022582&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=17985158972209437123&hvtargid=kwd-65107559493&keywords=harmony+hub+remote&qid=1537810378&sr=8-7&tag=googhydr-20&ref=sr_1_7

Amazon DVR
https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Recast-Over-air-hours/dp/B01J6A6H74?keywords=record+tv+amazon&qid=1537810544&sr=8-1&ref=sr_1_1
Good to know about the Amazon dvr! I also use Harmony remotes (650 and 600 models), but they're not compatible with the Amazon Fire Stick....as far as I know at least. I find the talking to the Fire Stick remote thing disagreeable, and sometimes it gets it very wrong the little I tried.
 
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Drunkpenguin

Audioholic Chief
I havent tried that hard to get voice control working, I think its kinda gimmicky. I have alexa setup to work with the living room tv but I only use it for turning the system on and off. I figure you still need a remote for volume anyways.
 
WineOfTheVeins

WineOfTheVeins

Audioholic
I'm not a fan of smart tvs or dvd player apps. They all generally suck.
Isn't that the truth? You can't even shutdown and reboot apps on the SmartTV's. When my Netflix poops the matress, I have to unplug the TV for 10 seconds. Only way to fix it from a glitch, frozen on loading, etc.
 
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snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
Ok I need to eat my words on the Apple 4K TV. The remote it comes with I hate but I love the Apple remote app on my iPhone! I’m really happy with it now. My frustrations are with just the directv now app but I’m hoping this also gets better with updates. :)
 
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Hobbit

Senior Audioholic
I just purchased a Samsung 65” uhd 800 tv. It streams Netflix etc. I want to buy a UHD disc player, but it seems redundant to buy one that streams also.
What are the benefits to having two smart devices? Will the DVD player perform better than the tv?
First off, I don't think you really pay a premium for a smart dvd/blu-ray player anymore. So I would choose one you like. For that reason all my TV's and Blu ray players are "smart." While smart, they don't compare to dedicated media streamers.

Myself, I'm a Roku fan. I have an Ultra. It's super fast, easy to use, accepts an ethernet cable, is 4k compatible. The search engine is second to none. Want to watch a movie or show? Just type it in and you'll get all the options to watch it, both free and pay.

I also have a FireTV. While faster than the smart devices it has it's faults. IMO, the Roku is a much better experience in every way. Even the amazon apps work better on it, it also doesn't spam you (amazon spam) like the FT. The search engine sells you more amazon crap only.

In fact, there were apps that made FT more like a Roku experience. However, this hid amazon's advertising. So, they (amazon) came in and erased them and banned them from their boxes. That really upset me. First of all, one of the reasons I bought it was because it was android based and there were apps ( some like this) available. Second, I view that as an invasion of my privacy. In hind site, with the amount of amazon advertising on it, it should have cost half the price.

I agree with @Drunkpenguin the new generation of Harmony remotes are amazing and super simple to use and program through a computer or app. I'm not a big fan of phone apps for remotes - grab the phone, unlock/open the screen, start the app, etc. I'd rather just be able to grab the remote off the coffee table...
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
Let Blu-ray players be Blu-ray players. Let TVs be TVs. None of these manufacturers give a damn about how 'smart' your TV actually is. They do care about delivering a high quality TV image, or quality Blu-ray Disc playback.

On the other hand, Roku cares about your streaming experience. Apple (may) does as well. Apple tends to live on a 'buy from us' policy of selling software (movies/audio) directly to you, but they put it on the back of decent hardware. So, their streaming stuff is pretty solid. IMO, Roku is better because they put streaming completely first and above everything else. I have both an AppleTV and a Roku and I pretty strictly use the Roku.

I think you are getting the idea that most of us just get a streaming device built to be a streaming device.
 
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snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
All of the devices are smart. Some devices do streaming better than others. For example you can get Atmos sound (Uses DD+ with metadata) on a growing number of titles on Netflix and Amazon Prime if you have the Apple 4K TV streamer.
 
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