Warning: Samsung TV

Hoof_Hearted

We bought a 2015 Samsung SMART TV. The plan was to ditch Virgin TV and use the catch-up services on the Samsung (we watch very little live TV). The latest Samsung models only have 4OD. Other catch-up services are apparently "coming soon" but Samsung are unable to give a date.

If you are contemplating buying a SMART TV and want to use iPlayer, ITV Player, etc., it is worth checking whether these services are installed and work.

I am miffed because the picture of the TV on the advert clearly shows all these services at the bottom of the screen and nowhere does it idicate that they are not working.

Fosterdog

I'm pretty sure they do come with more than just 4OD, we looked at some a few weeks ago and compared the different smart features on the 2014 and 2015 models, there was very little difference so we went with the cheaper 2014 model as it isn't our main TV.

As far as I know none of the brands of TV work with every catchup service, different manufacturers seem to hold the license for different catch up services, I think they all come with iplayer but the other channels are brand dependant.

Although we have found our smaller Samsung TV to have more catch up features the user interface and other content is awful compared to our main LG TV, which has less catchup but more overall content and 100% more user friendly.

If it helps at all, when we got our latest one the shop did tell us that the TV has to download a large update to activate a lot of the smart features, they said the reason being on previous versions by the time the TV has left the factory and made it to the customers house most of the apps need updates anyway so with the new generations Samsung have more of a basic install file on them which then downloads the latest version of the apps so they are fully up to date from day one.

justjohn

I have a Samsung ue48h6400 and it has 4od and itvplayer.


i think all the new smart samsungs have itvplayer.


if you want reliable on demand viewing get and android based device, as support on the smart devices are temperamental

keyser666

Which model is it?

deanos

op is correct , the new 2015 ones have many smart apps missing, i presume as they have a new operating system, mentioned in the reviews...

http://www.johnlewis.com/samsung-ue32j5500-led-hd-1080p-smart-tv-32-with-freeview-hd-and-built-in-wi-fi/p1939972

Hoof_Hearted

It is indeed the 5500 series. It has the Tizen operating system. It definitely only has 4OD and it has been updated and set to automatically update.

From Samsung:

"Samsung can confirm that some applications for the new J series televisions are still pending certification. This means that they are not yet ready to be released on to the television and are currently under construction with the application providers themselves. We do not currently have a time frame for these applications to be released...."

It would have been nice to know this before purchasing it!

JJ_Egan

I guess its down to using the new OS Tizen .

pulliptears

It's the same for a lot of brands. I have an LG Smart that has no 4OD or ITV Player. I did question it when I bought it about 18 months ago and was told 'it's coming eventually with TV updates'. I'm not holding my breath.

The simplest solution I found was to buy a Now TV box for £7.99 (topcashback) and use that for catchup services. It has the added advantage of being a Roku box in disguise so you can make it run Plex and use it as a media server as well.

AJXX

Smart TV's are hit and miss generally aren't worth bothering with IMO.

It's much more straightforward to get an external box to do the "smart TV" stuff like a NOW TV, Apple TV, etc... I just use my PS4.

Too many times (on MSE) I've seen smart tv services withdrawn after a year or suddenly stop working etc... dosen't seem worth the hassle.

Mupette

£35 Firestick and crack it.

dodger1

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

We bought a 2015 Samsung SMART TV. The plan was to ditch Virgin TV and use the catch-up services on the Samsung (we watch very little live TV). The latest Samsung models only have 4OD. Other catch-up services are apparently "coming soon" but Samsung are unable to give a date.

If you are contemplating buying a SMART TV and want to use iPlayer, ITV Player, etc., it is worth checking whether these services are installed and work.

I am miffed because the picture of the TV on the advert clearly shows all these services at the bottom of the screen and nowhere does it idicate that they are not working.

Just get a PVR and record the programmes you want to watch if you don't like watching live.