Which is best option...

HoolyNI

For making my tv internet friendly?

Bought a tv about 4 years ago which i am quite happy with however its not internet ready and was wondering how best to fix that?

Have read about these set top boxes that do the job, are they any good and which one would be best?

The other option i'm considering is buying a laptop and hooking it up via an extra long hdmi cable, would that give me full internet access via the tv, rather than relying on the in-built apps in a box or smart tv? :think:

VisionMan

The problem with a laptop is you can't record or series link anything.

Have you considered YouView? Its a terrestrial HD box that gives free access to catch up TV content from the BBC, ITV, CH4 and CH5. Plus others too.

HoolyNI

Have sky in at minute but want to get likes of youtube and lovefilm streamed to tv in living room without having to buy a smart tv, just yet anyway....

flashg67

I use a small Dell PC linked with a dvi to HDMI cable and seperate 3.5mm audio cable which gives me full internet access on my TV. Not as slick as a smart TV or Youview, but cheaper and I'm not restricted to the smart tv apps. Mines very much like this - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Optiplex-745-Intel-Pentium-E2160-1-8GHz-1GB-RAM-DVD-ROM-USFF-PC-XP-Pro-/131035432304?pt=UK_Computing_DesktopPCs&hash=item1e82520570
Add a cheap RF wireless mouse and/or keyboard and you're up & running!

tunnel

Are you looking for something like this?

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=570

brewerdave

I'm using an old laptop hooked up to TV with VGA lead and audio cable. I've bought a mini wireless keyboard to use with it for the bedroom.The set up is primarily used for Sky Go access to Sky Sports -when her indoors won't let me watch in the lounge!!

almillar

You want YouTube and Lovefilm, and you've got a Sky box. Is it an HD box?
I don't know why you say Lovefilm specifically, but if what you want to do is watch films on demand, your Sky box is all the smartness you need. Connect it to your router and you can watch any iPlayer, ITV Player etc stuff, including any Sky stuff you're subscribed to - that includes Movies.
That leaves YouTube - you can certainly do it for cheaper than a new TV, let's start with an AppleTV for £100 or less.

HoolyNI

Dont have sky movies and wouldn't pay for their box office films but I do have the hd box connected to the router via a network adapter. Just fishing around to see what my options are, thanks all for the input....

Bigphil1474

Buy a smart blu ray or DVD player, connect it up to your tv, and away you go. If your Tv is 3d, get a 3d smart player. The smart functions vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but LG has Lovefilm, youtbe etc., panasonic defintiely has netflix, Samsung will have others. As long as your tV has a HD in socket, you can't go wrong. I went a bit mad and spent £100 on my player (needed 3d and wi-fi built in) but you can pick them up for £50-£70 at places like Currys or on Amazon.

almillar

What Bigphil has described above is pretty much a PS3, which really is an excellent media device for the living room these days.

HoolyNI

Plumped for the panasonic streamer from currys at £30 which despite poor reviews does pretty much what wanted, netflix and youtube.

Haven't tried it yet but should have the cables required to set 2 monitors up and run netflix to tv in spare room, thus doing away with multiroom sky subs, but am puzzled how the audio will work...if I use an hdmi cable from pc to tv will that be enough to "separate" the audio output or will I end up with 2 sets of audio coming from the pc speakers?