Smart TV vs YouView (PVR)

adandem

Looks youview is the way to go for us, not sure I want the faff of usb's and know there might be films etc. I want to keep stored.
Also, if one thing breaks you haven't got such a big replacement cost, just a bit gutted about youtube but still:)

almillar

'Smart TV' isn't a proper specification, and any TV can describe itself as that without being very smart at all. Big problem. Generally, it describes a TV that you can connect to the internet. This doesn't necessarily mean it'll have a browser, but will generally have some sort of catch up service at least, iPlayer for example or Netflix etc to rent movies on. Don't expect it to be kept up to date either. You have been warned!

adandem

Well we won't go down the 'smart' route but will wait until youview or a decent hd recorder becomes available at a cheaper price. We can connect the lappy for catch up. Very few tv's have a browser facility so don't think we'll be missing much. Thanks all.

buglawton

No decent Youview boxes out there IHO, hence I went for a £115 TVOnics HD Freeview recorder box with iPlayer and WiFi, rather then a Humax £300 box that needs a set of Homeplugs.

My ancient laptop (with it's £30 wireless palmtop keyboard/trackpad) will stay under the TV connected to the TV's computer input, for occasional ITV Catchup/4OD and Youtube usage.

almillar

Buglawton - they're £250 now, I think you can buy a WiFi adaptor for them, and don't count on your iPlayer compatibility lasting forever. That said, can you provide a link?

buglawton

Here's the link to the £115 TVOnics box
http://www.pulse-eight.com/store/products/118-tvonics-dtr-z500hd.aspx

As the TVOnics brand is now under ownership of a media software dev specialist Pulse-Eightso no worries for me about forward going iPlayer compatibility.

Does the Humax Youview box now support a WiFi dongle? Not when I last looked.

almillar

Yep, you can, or will be able to, buy a USB WiFi adaptor to go in the back of them.

buglawton

Been finding Virgin Media (cable on a 20 mb connection) video streaming a bit hit and miss lately - some days OK, others buffering a lot unless you switch to rather unsatisfactory low-def stream. So it's better to make a practice for recording things in advance, till the future arrives, methinks.

I will have another look at Youview receivers in couple of years time. No doubt prices will have fallen by then. Meanwhile, the TVonics at £125 is a great gap filler for HD Freeview recording and can dip into iPlayer on good days.

Oh, and there are some nice online channels to look at once WiFi is running, I found 'The Space' quite good.

pledgeX

The vast majority of TV's come with 'smart TV' these days anyway. Do you have a particular set in mind? If the set is smart enabled and has whatever catch up services you need, there's no need for a youview/pvr box.

penrhyn

I'm not aware of any Smart TV, with catch up TV integrated into the EPG, or that offers Players from BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, and a 500Mb or 1Tb HDD.
However I'd be happy to be proved wrong.