For anyone who are looking for the TV which is more than just a TV showing freeTV. Looking for TV that is compatible with internet, social media, youtube or cast content from mobile phone. Maybe a little bit more to think about above just picture quality. A little research in hunting a TV UHD for budget around £900 or let's say TV UHD for 49-55 inch. What is the best offer out there?
I have done some research in many review websites. The requirements are the usage and the connectivity with other devices I have and the applications.
Desired
I would like to share my idea that maybe you would be interested. What I am looking for from the new TV is
- UHD there are many TV program now in HD, I believe I will be benefited from 4K in future at least now I can see many video in youtube uploaded as 4K. Also if you have mobile phone that you can record 4K video. Where are you going to play those video? Ok ok maybe you don't have 4K video recorder but you have more than 4K photos, right?
- Picture quality, weight, thickness these function would not be necessary for me....wait don't be surprised just yet. I mean most of the products in the market are all acceptable for me. Personally I like Sony's picture most which is just little different from others. Panosonic Viera is also unbeatable.
- Interface, this must be actually the most interesting for me. There are only LG and Sony (big names) that I was able to try in store. Samsung does not have demonstration corner to play their Smart Hub. And my opinion is
- Mouse pointer by LG's WebOS: It is really good. You can use remote as a wireless pointer to project on TV and click/browse on screen. I am tried of typing text on TV by using remote control, don't you think?
- Sony's Touch pad on Sony's remote control. Look good look sleek but it is not natural feel to use it by my thumb on the pad. I am used to using the pointing finger to control the mouse pad on notebook. Maybe need to practice. However to have this Remote you have to pay more for TV 50 inch above and more price to pay.
- No game functions required. I guess gamer would need best picture quality or PlayStation's Buddy. I skipped this. My family has LG web OS 42 inch. My family watch the TV series online from many websites outside youtube so the video support and web browsing is required. Imagine we move from watching TV series from tablet or mobile phone to HD big screen. We now do not mind to stay home. Wiki: Smart TV platform and software
- OS and TV App. I need the good support from manufacturers to keep updating their firmware and there are many developers willing to create TV app for it.
- Sony uses Andriod. This is a strong point for me. It means you will use Android App through TV (by the way it means you should have mouse and key board for your TV.
- Web OS from LG.
- Samsung Smart TV or Tizen. It has well known applications everything you need from TV ( however I still think it cannot compare to what will you get from Android. Especially games! I play simple mobile games)
- Panasonic with Firefox OS. Honestly I just hold on to the name of Firefox. Nothing else I know about Firefox OS.
- Screen mirroring, I need to cast my content from my mobile phone to TV.
- Chrome Cast, sigh...it is not solving my desire. There are too many clicks to mirror the screen, to cast photos and it has to be new Android phone after 2014 to be able use Chrome Cast. In that case my old 2010 TV can work perfectly fine to show youtube video from pairing with my phone. (use www.youtube.com/pair)
- Price will middle range around under £900.
The Short List from Curry and John Lewis
I compared only this two retails and check the quality picture before make decision. I bought TV before Christmas after Black Friday when they claimed that they gave the best price. I found John Lewis's price match seem work. None of their TV is more expensive than Curry and John Lewis gave 5 year guarantee while in Currys some do and some don't. So I simply went to John Lewis with recommended TV from Currys website :0
Here is the short list who I found they give what I am looking for.
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And the winner is Samsung UE55JU6800 LED 4K Ultra HD Nano Crystal Smart TV, 55" (I lost the photo of price tag).
Tips for TV Price War John Lewis Pricing is challenging. They sold Samsung TV UE55JU6800 only £799 while Currys sell for £899 (Dec 2015). Samsung this series was recommended by many experts and the price was much cheaper than Currys. Guess what happened? They were sold out in John Lewis!!! John Lewis sales told me it was dues to arrive in next few days. So I had to check John Lewis website everyday and ordered it after waiting for this product for 4-5 days to arrive John Lewis Warehouse. Next one week it was delivered to my address and the price was soared up to £899 and then £1099. Imagine if I bought this price!!! (><)
So price can changed in one day!! Better watch out the price and the special offer can be a chance. Jan 2016 John Lewis sells £999 and second time out of stock.
Check John Lewis Price
The WINNER : Samsung UE55JU6800 LED 4K Ultra HD Nano Crystal Smart TV, 55" with Freeview HD and Built-In Wi-Fi, Black
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There are many pages to go through as shown in the photo to setup network, term and condition etc. Finally I got it worked out. The pictures were great as expected. I enjoy watching HD channel and watching my TV series by controlling from my own mobile phone.Installation and problems
It is not difficult to install by yourself alone, easier with 2 people. I would not be bothered to pay for installation service from John Lewis. Just replacing all the connections was not difficult. Actually I enjoy my new toy (save £34.99 instead of paying John Lewis to insall).
Wall Bracket Mount
John Lewis charge the Install & Set Up £125 but bracket not included and their bracket is not cheap. Luckily I have DIY tools including the electronic drill so I order the wall bracket mount for 55 inch TV from Ebay, simple and easy just under £6. Arrange the alignment and the drill four holes. It actually taking time more than I thought according to alignment ( lol we want it align perfectly.....come on it is my new toy)
Problem that you may have: The knots from TV bracket was not fit to TV. I have to buy new knots, same size what manual told me. After you install the bracket, and left the heavy TV and place on the bracket. Now there are two long screws to be used to hold the bracket and TV together. I cannot do it. I need a very very long screw driver to access the little gap between wall and TV. How stupid !! It is supposed to be on the wall. How do you expect user to be able to work in this gap? I hope you have a better wall mount than mine. So I leave it....bluntly like that.
Screen mirroring
But there is a limitation. Screen mirroring is not working well for any video that was not support TV casting. For example you can cast your recorded video from your phone to TV but the video feed on Facebook can not be played very well on TV screen mirroring. Basically you need video function that support TV casting such as Youtube otherwise simple content works fine.
USB and Wireless devices - Don't repeat the same mistake with me.
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| USB Ports behind Samsung TV |
Such as the wireless mouse/keyboard, Google's Chrome Cast etc. they won't work. I was very annoyed and misunderstood that TV was not connecting or picking up signal but no. The signal from USB device was so weak behind the TV. This makes all wireless devices I have useless eventually (thinking to buy USB extension but I am off for now. TV is still hanging well on just that)
Please any TV designers! if the big TV is likely to be on the wall. Can you redesign the USB socket positions?
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