Smart TV

SpellowHouse

SpellowHouse

SpellowHouse

Soldato
Joined
31 Jan 2022
Posts
2,969
Location
UK
I have always used a TV as a monitor, even when it's an entertainment system. It's a good use for my old PC's!! But I have always been interested in ditching the PC altogether and just using a smart TV instead.
So I would want to browse, use a keyboard, stream from a local NAS and the USA ( so need a mini VPN on the TV ).
Can anyone tell me of the pitfalls of trying to do this? I don't want to spend a ton of money and end up back where I started with a dumb TV and a PC!
 
Let's break it down to your actual uses.

Web browsing? Not usually a great experience. Some brands let you plug a mouse in, LG have the magic remote with motion control pointer. But honestly might not be great.

Streaming from a NAS? Lots of TVs have a Plex/Kodi implementation.

Streaming from USA - how, also Plex/Kodi? See above, should perform the same.

VPN: unlikely to happen natively so look at doing it with your other networking gear.

IMO you might not be satisfied with a smart TV but a mini PC (or even a little streaming box) should tick all your boxes nicely. Can get low power ones that will fit behind the TV easily.

I have my main gaming PC next to the TV, and it's a roughly even split of gaming and browsing on the PC, but content consumption goes through the TV apps as I prefer to hold a remote in my hand.
 
The built in apps aren't too bad.

Media player on LG works well enough, streaming from nas, playing video files from HDD

YouTube is ok but it's got adverts.

I'd still recommend external boxes. My Kodi box is better than the media player in the TV.

My dedicated audio streamer is better than the TV audio player.

For YouTube I'd probably want to use a small lightweight PC, internet browsing, pop up blocker, keyboard and mouse etc. Maybe a raspberry pi?
 
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