smart tv or chromebox?
 

I am thinking of getting a smart tv then i heard about the asus chromebox. seems like it might work better than a smart tv? from what i've read a lot of smart tvs (i was looking mostly at samsung) the apps are slow, browsing is slow, etc. i was just wondering if anyone here has a chromebox or has an opinion as to advantages or disadvantages using a smart tv vs chromebox (or something similar).

HTPC

something like qbox

The Future Of Televison « MikeSouth.Com

i have 2 smart TVs and never use that interface - it's horrible

i use full Win PCs but with passive cooling, one of them has the size of 2 cigarette boxes

I have a Samsung smart 3D tv and it's a amazing tv but I can honestly say I have yet to use a single app on the tv.. I don't want to post to FB on my 55" tv and why would I surf the web when I have a tablet and smartphone if I don't use my laptop. I do like to stream Amazon movies from time to time but I can either use my PS3, WiU, or what I normally do.. Hook my HDMI laptop into a front HDMI port of my receiver to stream amazon. I like using my laptop cause I have a ethernet cable running into my laptop for faster internet compared to wifi.

The Chromebox looks cool, never heard of it until today.

I bought a Chromecast a while back, liked it so much I bought a second for one of the other TV's. Only thing is you can't stream Amazon video content. If you watch anything on Amazon I'd check to see if Chromebox allows it. :thumbsup

it would mostly be used for netflix, youtube and stuff like that. i could just use my laptop. the only downside is that i wouldn't be able to use the laptop for other things while its connected to the tv. i thought it would be nice to have a dedicated machine for the tvs but maybe its not worth it.

I just watched this on the chrome box cause I've never looked at it and you might find the info helpful.



One quote from the comments stuck out as well (the comment was from a year ago so it might not be true today)

I have smart TVs, Chromecast and Roku boxes.

Doing it all over again I would only buy Roku boxes.

Chromecast works well, but functionality through phone or tablet only is clunky. Search is better with a keyboard.

Smart TV aps for facebook suck (I have 3 different smart TVs)

Roku is lightning fast compared to the others and there are many great other aps and services I never knew about.

I use 2 outputs in my Roku. One direct to the TV and the other I broadcast throughout the house.

Thanks for that. the chomebox doesn't sound that great anymore. the guy likes the roku3 but that is limited to just apps, i can't browse and say, watch a show off comedy channel website or something similar. unless they have an app i guess. not sure if tv channels all have apps on that thing or what. maybe laptop is just the easiest solution. with that roku thing i have no idea how you would type anything into youtube to search when there is no keyboard.

I think the roku3 is the best option. You get your HD netflix, youtube, and with things like Hulu Plus you get pretty much every network out there. It's less than $100 compared to $200 for the chromebox.

With chromecast you can browse web sites on a compatible browser and stream to the TV. They have many chromecast aps that do this too.

Roku has tons of aps as well for many channels. I would look to see what they have if you are not sure. If I was to get 1 streaming device, it would be my Roku hands down.

I have had bad luck with Hulu and slower network speeds.

Search in your phone for the Netflix title you want, place in Que and use Ruko to play the video. Can play that game on Youtube too.

i hear the selection for roku is pretty poor in canada but the main question i'd have about it is how do you type anything with it? if i use the youtube app and want to search for something, how does that work?

I was just checking it out on amazon and the 2015 version has Voice search included as well as a smartphone app.. So you could prolly type out the search on your smartphone.

Amazon.com: Roku 3 Streaming Media Player (4230R) With Voice Search (2015 model): Electronics

Canada...ohhhh. I have no idea there.

I hate searching with the remote (though it works better than the smart TV remote)

I like to add things into my Netflix and Yahoo by searching on my phone or tablet (can use the voice search too) and adding them into my list. On Netflix there is no problem being logged into both at the same time.

Clunky but works better for me than any smart TV interface (other than Chromecast)

Voice search is an awesome add on but to remove composite out is dopey.

Can't tell you when traveling how nice it has to have that for older TV's.

There are a few aps (in android at least) which work with all of the Rokus.

the app sounds like it would solve that problem. guess i'll have to try one of these out. thanks!

I use that G-Box Q Android TV Box » Matricom it a Android box and compatible with all the Android app.

I just thought my TV and/or cabe was shit glad to see Im not the only one LOL

Get an amazon fireTV then install Kodi on it.

yeah i also came across something called mx3 that runs android. sounds interesting especially since it doesn't restrict content in canada like roku does but it sounds possibly more complicated.

I have a 55" Samsung Smart TV, but I bought it for the price and picture quality, adjustable frame rate, etc. It's a great TV because its also super light, super flat, etc etc.

It has lots of apps but the only one I use is Netflix and Youtube. It has Skype but requires a camera and I didn't buy one yet.

I prefer a smart TV to regular TV's + an external box like Chromecast and Apple TV because it is better integrated with the rest of the TV and the remote.

Speaking of remotes, the Samsung Remote is a freaking wonder. Placing your thumb on the touch-sensitive pad in the center and the TV "knows" what part of the screen you are pointing it at. It's so cool! I don't know how it works but for now I don't want to know. I'm just enjoying the coolness.

after checking around i think this may be the best option. a lot of 'mx3' boxes are made by questionable companies but it seems matricom has a good rep. have you ran into any issues with it? where did you buy it?

I have a few smart TV's and out of them all I like the LG... yet basically never use it as a smart TV..
I have tried/tested/owned just about every 3 foot solution from Apple TV 1-3, jailbroken apple TV with XBMC, Sony Android TV, to Full on Micro PC Zbox Nano's

Currently each TV is setup with a micro PC, Zbox and also a chromecast.. I added a chrome cast so I can just cast things from room to room if I need. As well as a custom NAS for media and other crap.

I'm thinking of trying Intel Compute Stick next to replace the Zbox's...

If you are just looking for a simple solution just get a Pi and drop a small OS with a browser on it, and get a IR or wireless means to control it.

Android TV box rules. There is a ton of various models to choose from.

I've been using a smart BD player with wifi for a few years ...gets everything I want to see... I go online to amazon or nextflix to pick the shows I want or mess around in the account and just use the BD Player to view shows

Just picked up a Samsung 60" 4k UHD TV last night from my buddy who owns an electronics store. Boy what a mark on these things. Was able to get me my TV for almost $700 off what BestBuy was selling the exact model for!

Needless to say I love the remote so simple and easy but I definitely will not be using the smartTV aspect of it. I hooked up my FireTV to it last night and worked so much better than the in-tv apps. Much faster to say the least and you can run XMBC/Kodi on it. Long gone are the days of paying $200/Mo for cable!

yeah i like the kodi/xmbc. its the main reason for leaning towards an android box rather than roku but isn't it basically piracy?