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Thread: Smart TV for Dummies

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    Default Smart TV for Dummies

    Day dreaming about buying a smart TV. Day dreaming about sideloading apps.

    Research indicates that a file manager needs to be installed. I assume most/all smart TVs would not have one?

    If that is the case how does a dummie install one (EDIT: file manager) if the dummie has no desire to go anywhere near Google?
    Last edited by Guiseppe; 08-10-18 at 04:38 PM.
    If Australia is a democracy why, then, is voting compulsory?

    "What has changed between the arrival of the First Fleet and today?"
    "Wearing leg irons is now not required."



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    Presuming the TV is working along the lines of your phone and to load apps, you need to go to either the Google Playstore for Android and Apple's own site for theirs.
    Unfortunately if the App you want is Android, its GOOGLE or 'the Bush'.
    I stand unequivicably behind everything I say , I just dont ever remember saying it !!

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    Extra questions.

    1. Can the TV set use WiFi or does it have to be wired?
    2. Can the voice search/control/whatever feature be turned off?
    If Australia is a democracy why, then, is voting compulsory?

    "What has changed between the arrival of the First Fleet and today?"
    "Wearing leg irons is now not required."

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    Quote Originally Posted by Guiseppe View Post
    Day dreaming about buying a smart TV. Day dreaming about sideloading apps.

    Research indicates that a file manager needs to be installed. I assume most/all smart TVs would not have one?

    If that is the case how does a dummie install one (EDIT: file manager) if the dummie has no desire to go anywhere near Google?
    I think it is far question
    There are a few Android OS TV's out there now
    Personally i don't own, so cant really speak, but from what i have read, some are a restricted version of Android.

    Yes, people do sideload Apps on their Android Smart TVs
    I would like a Android Bedroom TV for this reason.

    Sometimes it is just easier to have a Android box and go your hardest on that, you cant really break anything.

    They connect via LAN or WIFI, shouldn't make much difference
    Last edited by ol' boy; 08-10-18 at 06:51 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Guiseppe View Post
    Day dreaming about buying a smart TV. Day dreaming about sideloading apps.
    Quote Originally Posted by Guiseppe View Post

    Research indicates that a file manager needs to be installed. I assume most/all smart TVs would not have one?

    If that is the case how does a dummie install one (EDIT: file manager) if the dummie has no desire to go anywhere near Google?
    Quote Originally Posted by Guiseppe View Post
    Extra questions.

    1. Can the TV set use WiFi or does it have to be wired?
    2. Can the voice search/control/whatever feature be turned off?

    AFAIK Smart TVs all have Wifi, some may or may not have an ethernet input.
    Not all smart TVs have a voice search and often it is actually in the remote which is easily 'disabled' with a small drill/needle or a squirt of super glue.

    You need to find out about the features of the smart TV you want to buy first, read reviews, etc and make sure it DOES have a file manager so you can side load apps like I have been doing on all Android devices for nearly the past decade without a Google account.

    BTW after going through generations of smart devices, starting with the Roku and 'dozens' of these m8 boxes, I am so fed up with the incompatibilty/crashing of the video players. Even VLC sucks on Android.

    I am back to using my old Mac Mini as a Media Player and I have never been happier. I built an SSD into though so it boots faster than any of these dodgy boxes and I can still chuck a DVD into it if I have too, which then just plays without a touch of a button.
    For some reason VLC plays on this 10 year old device any dodgy video codec I through at it but of course no 4K.

    So I use a Minix media player for 4K stuff, but downloaded videos you can forget in that. The Minix came with an airmouse remote that has a keyboard on it's back. You don't need a keyboard very often with Android but when you need it, you need it!
    So this is a very tidy and practical solution.
    Bluetooth (for a head phone) is another essential feature for me, especially for a bed room set up
    Last edited by Uncle Fester; 08-10-18 at 06:01 PM.
    Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
    Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
    Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...

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    Quote Originally Posted by nomeat View Post
    and 'dozens' of these m8 boxes, I am so fed up with the incompatibilty/crashing of the video players.
    The M8S with EBMC/KODI plays everything I need.
    If Australia is a democracy why, then, is voting compulsory?

    "What has changed between the arrival of the First Fleet and today?"
    "Wearing leg irons is now not required."

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    I have given up on Kodi.
    A Netflix + ibdns sub (both shared between two parties) doesn't break the bank.
    The rest I find elsewhere but the encoding can be sometimes 'challenging'
    Update: A deletion of features that work well and ain't broke but are deemed outdated in order to add things that are up to date and broken.
    Compatibility: A word soon to be deleted from our dictionaries as it is outdated.
    Humans: Entities that are not only outdated but broken... AI-self-learning-update-error...terminate...terminate...

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    i find this is as good as any

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