Confused by Cinema System and Internet WiFi Television Set up

buckman

Hello, I did post a while back about my DVD player and got some good answers and have been looking around, but as i'm not very clued up on this I thought there maybe something really obvious and simple which i might be overlooking with a set up.

We have just changed our house around (new rooms in extension) etc and need new TV's.

We would ideally like 2 (one each each of our bedrooms) preferably wifi one (or two) or maybe just one wifi and one standard 22" size.

We have a new Sony 37" TV downstairs (rubbish wifi from a dongle that is very intermittent!) connected to a DVD/Cinema system which plays the TV through it to two stereo speakers in the room which works great. However the DVD is dying on this unit, so am thinking of replacing it, preferably with a system similar to power our exisiting speakers?

What would be the best way of killing all these "birds with one stone" as I need a new DVD, (not essential more home Cinema I think) and one if not both TV's upstairs would like to be on our exisiting Wifi network?

Would Apple TV be an option? I know this can access internet (say on our main downstairs TV) but could it be sent upstairs?
Obviously the TV upstairs would need Wifi to get Apple TV which defeats the purpose if it has it already?

In basic terms and not to confuse the issue, I need a cinema system/dvd downstairs to power speakers or new speakers as part of the package (some i have seen with wifi) Plus the wife wants to watch BBC iPlayer in bed, meaning an Internet TV?

I hope this isn't too confusing?! Thank you for any suggestions...

Cycrow

Your current home cinema system, is this a dvd/cinema thing in a single unit ?
what kind of budget do you have for these ?

a seperate home cinema amp and dvd player would be a better option. And if one of them break in the future, you will only have to replace the one part rather than the whole thing.

althou generally, home cinema uses more than 2 speakers, is it only the 2 speakers you want to use for it ?

also, as you are replacing the dvd player, it might be an idea at looking at a blu-ray player instead.

as for the TV's, they only need wifi if they are smart tvs, so you can use iPlayer. You can get a seperate box to do this instead if needed, althou a TV with smart and wi-fi would most likly work out cheaper

almillar

Goto Richer sounds and buy an AV amp (£150). Connect the speakers to this (hopefully the ends of the speakers are just 2 bare cables. If it's 2 cables into a plug, cut off the plug and strip the cable end, twist, and screw into the appropriate outputs on the amp.
Buy a DVD player, Blu Ray Player, or PS3. PS3 plays BluRay and DVD, and does so much more, for £100 or less second hand, or I think £120 without the hard drive new.
Buy whatever TVs you like for the bedrooms, ignore smart capability, it'll be difficult to get at this size. Buy 2 NowTV boxes for £9.99 each (!) which have WiFi and will give you iPlayer (and Demand 5 and other stuff) on each TV.
Sorted?

buckman

Now TV looks a good idea?

Is it subscription based? or can i just use internet, iplayer, sky etc?

I have an old Sharp LC-20SH1e which has been a great TV but with no freeview, or wifi etc so thought we had to get rid. I wonder if i could carry on using this TV with a 9.99 Now TV box and it give internet and wifi/iplayer etc?

InsideInsurance

I think you are mistaken as to what AppleTV is. It is a small box that you attach to your TV via HDMI and it connects to your home network either with wifi or a wired connection.

Once connected you can either stream things to it from other idevices or iTunes, pull things from your iTunes library or use it for a limited number of web streaming services.

AppleTV doesnt itself support BBC iPlayer and so to use it for this you'd need an iPhone or iPad with the iPlayer app and then stream it using that. Unless you are well into the Apple ecosystem then it'd most likely be better to simply get a Smart TV so it has native iPlayer support rather than faffing with AppleTV + iPhone/iPad

Of cause you could get a smart TV or you can get a smart DVD player for the same bedroom and that would have native iPlayer support. Depending on budgets and why you're thinking about a TV for the bedroom these are the two options to look at.

As to the downstairs Home Theatre System, as per the previous thread, if you only want stereo then ditch what you have, buy a standard DVD player, a stereo amp and a pair of speakers and you'll have a massive improvement in sound quality.

almillar

AppleTV £99.99
NowTV £9.99
Yes, Sky WANT you to subscribe to them, or take out a daily pass to watch sports, or pay to watch a movie on this device, but you don't have to. You do need a Sky account, but no money changes hands apart from the tenner to buy the device. When you say internet - it doesn't include a browser in case that's what you're thinking.
You do need HDMI on your TV though...
Also, if a TV doesn't have Freeview, why not just plug a Freeview box into it? You may get good enough reception with an indoor aerial...

buckman

almillar wrote: »

When you say internet - it doesn't include a browser in case that's what you're thinking.
You do need HDMI on your TV though...
Also, if a TV doesn't have Freeview, why not just plug a Freeview box into it? You may get good enough reception with an indoor aerial...

Thanks, not bothered about a browser, just access to iPlayer really..

So it can pick up iPlayer from a wifi router etc?

My older tv doesnt have wifi or freeview or even HDMI socket. and it will be wall mounted. So a big freeview box is out, but a small tiny box hidden away that can access freeview/Web would be good, and heard that on older TV's you can use


"if you don’t have an HDMI connection on your TV, you’re also able to connect to your NOW TV box with a mini-jack to RCA cable."

almillar

So it can pick up iPlayer from a wifi router etc?

Yes, as long as you can get WiFi reception in your bedroom.
I thought you were buying a new TV (actually 2!) anyway - this will get you a much better picture through the HDMI cable (720p HD).

buckman

almillar wrote: »

Yes, as long as you can get WiFi reception in your bedroom.
I thought you were buying a new TV (actually 2!) anyway - this will get you a much better picture through the HDMI cable (720p HD).

Yes I am toying with idea of 2 TV's your right, however we have a not so old Sharp TV which is great, and if i can use this with freeview and wifi from just a 9.99 box then thats great!

Yes i can get wifi to the bedroom

buckman

I think with regards upstairs, I will try 2 x normal TV's and the Now TV box for internet, iplayer etc from our wireless system.

With regards downstairs Cinema System, I have now looked at 2:1 system (we are used to this as our old 5:1 system we just used 2 stereo speakers)

I didn't realise you could just buy 2.1 systems, but we are also looking at a DVD Cinema system with HMDI (ARC) which routes the audio back and forth plus possibly "wireless" speakers as we can't lift the carpet for cabling

So far i have seen :

Sony BDVEF220
Sony BDVE370
Sony BDVE3100

I am getting some of the model numbers confused, but thought i'd post here for any wireless 2.1 surround cinema systems?