Smart TV advice

Submitted: Friday, Oct 15, 2021 at 18:47

ThreadID: 142719 Views:6545 Replies:7 FollowUps:7

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Pepper

Looking to purchase a "smart TV " for the caravan..to connect to internet to view you tube
Etc can I simply connect my mobile phone to TV (assuming I have phone range ) to use internet (I have a cel fi go to give boost to signal ) or do I need something more ,?

Any advice appreciated..

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Reply By: Member - lyndon NT - Friday, Oct 15, 2021 at 22:20

Friday, Oct 15, 2021 at 22:20

If you have a Cel Fi Go and are in range you will be able to Hot spot to your TV from your phone, giving it the internet it signal it needs. Buy a name brand Tv! Not a Dick Smith job!
You won't have to spend a fortune. Haven't looked at little TV's but for home with a little shopping around and some specials, 1-1.5K gets you a good TV.

Cheers

Lyndon

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Follow Up By: Member - lyndon NT - Friday, Oct 15, 2021 at 22:22

Friday, Oct 15, 2021 at 22:22

PS, being a "proper" TV, it will have an in built wireless card. If the one you are looking at doesn't, move on to another brand or model.

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Decide now what you will,
Place faith not in tomorrow
For the clock may then be still

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Follow Up By: Member - Bigfish - Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 14:53

Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 14:53

tvs

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Reply By: Frank P (NSW) - Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 08:39

Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 08:39

We have a Hisense (Chinese) smart TV in our home which we find suits our needs. Connects to internet via ethernet or WiFi and for its size was not expensive - about $800 when the equivalent in name brands was around $2000.

It lacks some apps that are applicable in the Australian market (Stan, Binge and a couple of others) and has some that are useless in Aus. Ours is a few years old, so the apps may have been updated by now. But it does have Netflicks and YouTube built in, so you can hotspot to your phone and get those two natively with no fuss. When we tried Stan and Binge we used Chromecast via the home network.

Picture quality is good and after sales service/help is excellent with an Australian help centre.

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Follow Up By: Michael H9 - Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 17:44

Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 17:44

Be aware that if you try using a Chromecast you'll probably need two phones in the caravan, one to provide the hotspot and the other to play the videos. We found that the phone providing the hotspot wouldn't play the videos via the Chromecast, we had to play them on the second phone. It's best to just make sure your TV has the apps you need so you don't need the Chromecast.

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Reply By: Member - Racey - Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 11:04

Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 11:04

Check out Kogan

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Follow Up By: Zippo - Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 12:13

Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 12:13

But check them out on independent forums as they moderate/censor feedback on their own site. Found that out after a fruitless battle with them over warranty on a 40+ inch set that was only a few months old. I'd never touch them again for their lack of warranty support.

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Follow Up By: Frank P (NSW) - Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 13:15

Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 13:15

If that is the case, be advised that Dick Smith Electronics (DSE) is owned by Kogan. Both are on-line sellers.

A number of on-line sellers are not recognised by some major brands as authorised retailers or re-sellers and that can affect warranty service. I know Samsung Australia, for example, is picky on that issue.

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Follow Up By: Member - Racey - Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 16:25

Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 16:25

I had the opposite experience with warranty which is why I recommended them.

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Reply By: Member - Michael P (QLD) - Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 13:17

Saturday, Oct 16, 2021 at 13:17

I use an app called "4k video downloader". It is a free program (I have the paid version) that I download You Tube clips to. Pre load clips of the genre that You follow that way internet is not needed, when in internet range You then can choose whatever. I use a USB stick on a Kogan 12v TV that has given excellent service.

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Reply By: Member - Boobook - Sunday, Oct 17, 2021 at 09:52

Sunday, Oct 17, 2021 at 09:52

For a caravan/travelling situation, I would limit my choice to Android TV's They will run most tablet apps apart from the TV ones.

While eating your breakfast you can use it for weather, wikicamps, map apps etc right on your TV.

This isn't an important consideration for a TV at home but it could be very handy in a van.

Tony

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Reply By: Pepper - Wednesday, Oct 20, 2021 at 09:19

Wednesday, Oct 20, 2021 at 09:19

thankyou to everyone for their good advice,much appreciated

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Reply By: Keith B2 - Thursday, Oct 21, 2021 at 23:48

Thursday, Oct 21, 2021 at 23:48

We have a cheap $150 Kogan 60cm 12 volt TV/DVD connected to a $50 Fire Stick.
We get all of the online stations, Netflix (subscription required), Youtube and so on. We get the daily ABC news an hour late on iView.
We use a hotspot on one of our phones. We also have a Telstra Cel fi Go which helps out in dodgy areas. We carry a cheap prepaid Optus phone for when Telstra is crook.
A few DVDs are handy when there is no reception.
When all else fails, I read an actual book.
Keith

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