Our telly is on its last legs. Can you help me streamline please? It seems that things have moved on a bit since I last looked, so I'm a bit confused as to what does what. I'd like there to be less 'stuff'. I hardly watch the thing, but I've others in the house to keep happy...
At present we've got a PVR, a DVD player, xbox and a chromecast plugged in - somehow I've always get the wrong remote control. Before I just get another bog standard telly from Tesco, is there a better way?
Is there any advantage to combining some of these functions - PVR with built in DVD (or TV with built in PVR, etc). Or should I just look for a TV with lots of HDMI sockets?
I think smart TVs give me a netflix/whatever app on the telly (rather than via the chromecast)? Can I plug in a usb drive to do the PVRs job? Is recording from freeview still a thing, or is it all streamed these days?
Is a soundbar an useful addition, or just for the cinema buffs?
I'm rambling - sorry - pointers and recommendations appreciated.
Get the largest high quality screen you can, 1080HD ok 4k not needed. Look elsewhere other than Tescos. Yes lots of hdmi, I can't imagine a new tv coming with less than 3 anyway. You'll probably find all tv's now are "smart" but don't focus on that as Chromecast etc is much more powerful and will move on massively in the 10+ years the tv will last. Flatscreen tv sound is rubbish some some kind of external sepakers are a good idea. Soundbars are disproportionally expensive though, they do fit neatly under / around the tv.
What jamby said re the TV and sound. If I were in the market I'd start somewhere like What HiFi's awards issue (it'll be online) and see if I could get something fancied from last year on the cheap. Some sort of PVR if you must but do you really need a DVD player, and if you do, won't the xbox play DVDs?
I wouldn't go for a TV with a built in DVD player as it's a moving part that is likely to fail long before the TV does. If you set yourself up a NAS then you can burn the DVDs to that so you don't need the player. With a TV that has ethernet capabilities you can stream the "DVD" from the NAS to the TV.
I've hooked TVs up to a standard stereo, even a cheap one, and got immeasurably better sound out. Main problem with it was the wires.
Thanks - that's some useful pointers to be going on with.
What's the best way to get a DVD onto the NAS - that sounds a bit like having a personal netflix service in the house.
Jamba is correct (I suppose it had to happen at some point 🙂 )
At present we've got a PVR, a DVD player, xbox and a chromecast plugged in - somehow I've always get the wrong remote control.
If they're all connected via HDMI, all the remotes should be fairly interchangeable for common features like volume.
I think smart TVs give me a netflix/whatever app on the telly (rather than via the chromecast)?
You already have access to Netflix / whatever apps if you have an Xbox.