Shopping for a new TV and Roku??

[runsandjumps]

Hit me with ideas people!

I want to buy a new bigger tv for the downstairs for no more than 1300. I was thinking about a smart tv with Apps. However I was considering a Roku set. I have Netflix but not cable. There are so many options and I am confusing myself.

Please overload with me research, advice, comments, experiences...

Thanks is advance

Ana

 

[ssawka]

My best advice would be to wait a month for black Friday.

After rereading your post, I would go with either a Roku or a "smart" blu-ray player if the "smart" TVs are more expensive, but I don't think they are. There are several reasons that I say to go with a separate box.

1. If their is a technology change, it is much cheaper to replace a $100 Set Top Box (STB) then to replace a $1000 TV.
2. TV manufacturers tend to not upgrade their apps as frequently.
3. For many of the TVs, you are limited to their built-in audio for apps, which tends to be not all that good.

Two of the best places I have found to buy TVs is either Costco or Amazon. At Costco you have 90 days to return the TV and they usually throw in an extra year of warranty. Amazon tends to have good deals, especially at this time of year and their extended warranties are usually pretty reasonable. Also, Amazon will deliver it to your house and set it up for you at no additional cost.

 

[DawnM]

We have a few devices that will stream Netflix, Amazon, etc....

Tivo box
BluRay player
Wii
Roku

I can tell you hands down I prefer the Roku. The interface is FAR easier to use and user friendly. Even on the TVs that have a Tivo I have hooked up my Roku IN ADDITION to the Tivo because I hate the Tivo interface. It doesn't save my last watched shows, so I have to figure out where I left off, I have to click a whole bunch of different things to get to the Netflix area of the screen, etc.....

I would go with a Roku and a separate TV.

Dawn

 

[ready123go]

I agree with pp to wait. Sales are forthcoming, so good to do your homework now.

We gave our ancient technology the heave-ho last year and stocked up on new electronics. I used Sam's Club for our purchases. They usually run a "zero interest for 18 (12, 24, etc.) months" on their credit card around the holidays, so we took advantage. They also have 90-day returns on electronics (like Costco).

As for what to buy - we have smart TVs (Vizio). They have WIFI internet apps built in. That's pretty much what was on the market when we bought. I like them. Use them for Netflix and Amazon Prime. We had a couple of 'old school' flat screens. For those, I bought WIFI Blu-Rays (FWIW -Sony). Just takes a couple more steps to get to Netflix. No biggie.

When I initially set them up, a couple of the units ran firmware updates prompts. So, apparently they are capable of some amount of updating.

Also have a ROKU. ROKU is good if you want to have portability. i.e. - travel, move from TV to TV, etc.

I will say all these products can have the programs load improperly from time to time, like a computer program. Simple fix, just shut either the app down or power the unit down.

I anticipate they will have problems one day. At that point, I figure will purchase WIFI Blu-Rays or have to altogether update our technology again.

 

[runsandjumps]

Ok I will definitely wait. I now realize not only do I want a new tv but a new stand and home theatre system.

I think I have decided on the Roku 3. I also looked at the Sony 3d Bluray player with wireless speakers. Now I will Just have to decide on which tv. I saw the Vizio 70 inch smart led tv and loved it not to mention its right around my price range. DH wants either Sony or Samsung but I don't really care either way based solely on brand.

Costco or Amazon does seem the way to go.

Thanks I will definitely wait and hope for a great deal soon. Black friday? Yikes!

Still a lot to consider. No plasma, glossy screen, geez.

Ana

 

[Ali]

I'm looking for a new TV too but have a much smaller budget - $500. So we are looking everywhere and researching.

Last year we got a smasung 3d plasma 56 inch and the sony 3d blue ray dvd player and like them, although it is cumbersome to use the search functions with the old style typing thing they use. need a wireless keyboard, maybe to make it easier.

 

[clori]

can I ask a question about the roku? Can you only use it on select apps or can you do say go to www.abc.com and find and watch a full episode of Once Upon a Time?

 

[ready123go]

Ok I will definitely wait. I now realize not only do I want a new tv but a new stand and home theatre system.

I think I have decided on the Roku 3. I also looked at the Sony 3d Bluray player with wireless speakers. Now I will Just have to decide on which tv. I saw the Vizio 70 inch smart led tv and loved it not to mention its right around my price range. DH wants either Sony or Samsung but I don't really care either way based solely on brand.

Costco or Amazon does seem the way to go.

Thanks I will definitely wait and hope for a great deal soon. Black friday? Yikes!

Still a lot to consider. No plasma, glossy screen, geez.

Ana

Honestly we haven't done BF in a few years. I did it maybe five years ago and found everything on my list for exactly the same price or within a couple of bucks. I just waited until I saw something for a price I liked.

We also got an Onkyo receiver with Bose surround sound. SC had it during the holidays and Costco finally had it in spring. Costco might still have it or something like it this year. Really nice, love the sound and the reception is great. Are you tempted yet? lol

Look at the reviews on Costco & Amazon website and Consumer Reports. It might be easier to find which brand suites your needs that way.

FWIW we have had Sony in the past, but are happy with Vizio.

 

[ssawka]

Ok I will definitely wait. I now realize not only do I want a new tv but a new stand and home theatre system.

Yes, it never ends with just a TV.

One site that I highly recommend for looking for deals on electronics is techbargains.com/ They post deals all day, every day.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I have a Roku and we love it. We have Amazon Prime and Netflix and we use the Roku to watch those.

One suggestion is to make sure if you buy a SONY (which we have) Don't buy the BRAVIA. This TV has been nothing but one PITA after another. It has been crappy and glitchy ever since we got it. Sony sent out a portable USB device to hook up to the back of the TV that was suppose to update the software on it but it never really fixed everything.

I thought it had to be great. It's a SONY. Not quite.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

My best advice would be to wait a month for black Friday.

After rereading your post, I would go with either a Roku or a "smart" blu-ray player if the "smart" TVs are more expensive, but I don't think they are. There are several reasons that I say to go with a separate box.

1. If their is a technology change, it is much cheaper to replace a $100 Set Top Box (STB) then to replace a $1000 TV.
2. TV manufacturers tend to not upgrade their apps as frequently.
3. For many of the TVs, you are limited to their built-in audio for apps, which tends to be not all that good.

Two of the best places I have found to buy TVs is either Costco or Amazon. At Costco you have 90 days to return the TV and they usually throw in an extra year of warranty. Amazon tends to have good deals, especially at this time of year and their extended warranties are usually pretty reasonable. Also, Amazon will deliver it to your house and set it up for you at no additional cost.

Unless something has changed with Amazon that nobody knows about, Amazon doesn't come to your house and set up your TV for you. We have bought 3 TV's from Amazon and had it shipped 2 day shipping with Prime. But never at any point did a person, other than the UPS driver, show up to our house with the TV.

 

[mrsp1030]

We just bought an awesome Vizio at Costco that by far is our best TV for picture quality, etc. even better than our samsung! Now, my son let a Wii remote fly loose and cracked a beautiful Plasma on the wall too so we decided to get a quality TV for a lesser price tag just in case. Plus costco adds an extra year warranty!

 

[donaldandpirates]

can I ask a question about the roku? Can you only use it on select apps or can you do say go to www.abc.com and find and watch a full episode of Once Upon a Time?

We use HuluPlus through our Roku for Once Upon A Time. It usually is available the day after it airs on TV.

 

[amylevan]

We just bought a new tv, and I will mention that the majority are now smart tvs. That's what we ended up buying, so we didn't look too hard for a non-smart tv, but I didn't see any in the stores we checked out. So, if you are getting a non-smart tv, you might need to do some searching.

And if you get a smart tv, there is no need for a Roku - it does everything a Roku does (and more).

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Unless something has changed with Amazon that nobody knows about, Amazon doesn't come to your house and set up your TV for you. We have bought 3 TV's from Amazon and had it shipped 2 day shipping with Prime. But never at any point did a person, other than the UPS driver, show up to our house with the TV.

Yes, they do, in certain instances.

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=5422541011

We recently bought a Samsung plasma tv from Costco on sale at a great price. I added a Samsung sound bar with Bluetooth subwoofer (on sale at Costco for $200.00), and we have a Roku 3 with Netflix, Hulu+ and Amazon Prime.

I thought about getting a Smart TV, but it's less expensive to just add a Roku, plus you can move this around for other tvs. There are many non-smart tvs available; they are not hard to find.

 

[ssawka]

Unless something has changed with Amazon that nobody knows about, Amazon doesn't come to your house and set up your TV for you. We have bought 3 TV's from Amazon and had it shipped 2 day shipping with Prime. But never at any point did a person, other than the UPS driver, show up to our house with the TV.

Maybe not for all TVs, I don't know, but they sent two guys out when they delivered my 47" TV two years ago.

 

[nugov2]

We had the Roku 3 and returned it and got the vizio co star media player. I like it better. We still have Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, but it offers a lot of great apps to stream shows that aren't available on those. Roku doesn't(or at least didn't at the time) have you tube. You can get a lot of shows on you tube in full episodes. For instance for my kids I can get almost all Disney shows, Baby Einstein. We were able to watch a ton of Halloween specials streaming from you tube on my ty. We also like AMC and HGtv shows and are able to get them through the Vizio system.

 

[elgerber]

I have a Roku and we love it. We have Amazon Prime and Netflix and we use the Roku to watch those. One suggestion is to make sure if you buy a SONY (which we have) Don't buy the BRAVIA. This TV has been nothing but one PITA after another. It has been crappy and glitchy ever since we got it. Sony sent out a portable USB device to hook up to the back of the TV that was suppose to update the software on it but it never really fixed everything. I thought it had to be great. It's a SONY. Not quite.

I agree with this. We had 3 Samsungs but found what we thought was a great Sony. Yeah, NOT. Took it back and got another Samsung!!

 

[ssawka]

I agree with this. We had 3 Samsungs but found what we thought was a great Sony. Yeah, NOT. Took it back and got another Samsung!!

Sony is a mixed bag these days
They still sell high quality equipment, but they also sell a lot of low end stuff as well.

 

[Southerndisney]

Our smart TV loads Netflix much slower than our Roku. Our internet ready Blueray player would not work properly with the smart TV for Netflix. The Blueray player is now with a regular flat screen TV and works fine with Netflix.