[Mark Holtz]

Some recent articles came out about people not using the Internet features that are included in some of the higher-end televisions:

• TechNewsDaily (Original article)
• Gizmodo
• Consumerist

Now, the way I look at this is that there are multiple issues. I don't know about you, but I do not have a LAN jack next to two of my televisions. My home was built in 1977, long before computers were considered commonplace. And since I don't want to run a cable, I have to go with a WiFi connection. Many of the TVs are "WiFi Ready", meaning that you either have to purchase a proprietary WiFi Adapter that hooks up to the television or get a LAN to WiFi Adapter. Then, comes the fun of putting in the WiFi password. My network used to be WPA2 with a 63 character password with mixed case. That was fine when I could copy and paste the password in on my laptop. That isn't available for my Kindle or television, so I have to enter in the password by hand using a on-screen keyboard and hope that after five minutes of entering it in, I got it right.

Then, comes the applications. The most useful for a television would be the online streaming services like Netflix, Vudu, or Amazon Prime. Less useful would be the audio-only services such as Pandora. Why should I keep my television on to listen to audio? Least useful would be applications such as Facebook and Twitter.

My recent television purchase, a LG 32LK450, does not have Internet capability. But, it does have a USB port so that I can play back video files from a USB stick. And, I am happy.

Thoughts on this?

 

[sigma1914]

I use it a lot more recently because HBOGO was added to some Samsung TVs.

 

[dpeters11]

I have a router right beside my tv but not sure I'd actually hook it up. There just is nothing I'd be interested in. I already have a Roku.

 

[Cholly]

An alternative to having a Smart TV is a Blu-ray player withWi-Fi and internet apps. I have 3 such players in addition to having a TV with Wi-Fi and internet apps, so I'm pretty well covered. :grin:

 

[Nick]

How many people who have HD tvs still have only SD programming? So many are technically ignorant.

 

[SayWhat?]

Once Dish starts tagging me with a DVR fee, I'll be gone and moving to something else. It may be a new connectible set or just an add-on box.

As of now, my ISP has no BW caps or limits, but I won't be surprised to see that change someday. I'm currently getting 3MBs service, but I understand I might be able to get 6Mbs for a little more cash/mo.

 

[phrelin]

I too am in the situation where my TV does not have internet capabilities, but our Blu-ray does (and has an Amazon App which is fine since we are Prime customers) and our Wii does and I have computer attached which can stream just about anything.

Only we almost never stream anything.