How "Smart" are"Smart TV's"?

Windjammer

Well-Known Member
Nov 10, 2007
724
Acworth, GA
Boat Info
340 Sundancer 2006
Engines
8.1 Mercruiser V-Drives
Thinking about upgrading the bulkhead tv and have heard talk about using a "Smart TV" that also has a built in digital tuner for OTA channels and has some built in apps that would allow for "streaming" movies, sports, etc. Still have the old analog LG tv and reception wasn't very good back in the analog days. When OTA went digital, added a converter box and still not much reception. Back around 2012, started service with Dish Network (they installed an dish antenna on the dock and provided their own "cable box"). This has worked ok, but over time their selection of basic packages has gone down and the price has jumped. So, I'm about ready to dump the dish as it's not worth the money for something that may get used a few hours a month. Just watch some news, and college football in the fall.
The marina does now have wifi, ad they are supposed to be performing a speed check in the next couple of days. Mfg (Vizio) suggests a minimum of 10 mbp/s - sound about right?
Currently looking at the Vizio D32F-F1 as a replacement but this may be a struggle as it is about 4" wider than the current surround on the existing TV.
Any words of wisdom, advice, etc from anyone who has "been there - done that" would be welcomed - no need to reinvent the wheel!
 
We replaced our 3 TV's and DVD players with smart TV's and HD DVD players as we have tons of movies on disk. We primarily watch from the original Antenna. In our area we can pickup 30+ HD channels. We also use an Amazon Fire Stick to stream from Marina WIFI from various sources.
 
Couple of problems with marina wifi...
1. further away from the source, crappier the reception and speed
2. on weekends, bandwith may be gobbled up with lots of other marina folk all trying to stream, slowing things down to the point of futility.

Your marina may be different, but just about every one I've been to suffers from this problem. if you're looking to replace the old tv anyway, go for it. But if not, might be more cost effective to buy an Amazon fire-stick, which makes any tv with a HDMI input into a smart tv. Cost is about $50, less than a smart TV.
 
Couple of problems with marina wifi...
1. further away from the source, crappier the reception and speed
2. on weekends, bandwith may be gobbled up with lots of other marina folk all trying to stream, slowing things down to the point of futility.

Your marina may be different, but just about every one I've been to suffers from this problem. if you're looking to replace the old tv anyway, go for it. But if not, might be more cost effective to buy an Amazon fire-stick, which makes any tv with a HDMI input into a smart tv. Cost is about $50, less than a smart TV.

Good points and we'll see what the speed test shows. Our dock is at the end of a "repeater" and there are 2 docks upstream from this. Good news is the other docks are mostly runabouts and pontoons with a cruiser or two at the ends, so we may get lucky. I still have the original LG analog tv and the Glomax antenna that came with the boat. Assuming that the Glomax doesn't care whether the signal is analog or digital, and the new tv will have a digital tuner already installed, I'm hoping that I can at least get the local OTA channels.
 
Agree about the poor/spotty wifi at most marina's. Fortunately, there's decent 4G service at most of the places we've been frequenting, so I stream using my phone as a hotspot and a Firestick on the TV. It seems to work fine for things like Netflix. I keep thinking I'll get a dedicated hotspot for the boat, but with the way things keep changing, and the 5G rollout in progress, I suspect whatever hotspot I bought would have a short shelf life before I'd want to upgrade to 5G. Obviously you need to spring for the unlimited data plan if you're streaming a lot.
 
I have 2 TV's on the boat...not smart, but have HDMI. I bought a $12 USB-3 to HDMI adapter, which was supposed to make my phone screen visible on the tv. Tried it on both but didn't work. So I sent it back.

I do have an unlimited plan but we really only watch TV at the dock, in the AM during breakfast- and at night before bed, at the dock...where we're hooked up to cable.
 
A Smart TV is only as smart as the apps that were installed by the manufacturer. That collection may or may not meet your needs. You are better off with something like an AppleTV box on which you can install and delete apps at your whim.
 
Marina just finished a speed test on the dock. 20mbp/s, so they say I should be good to go for streaming. ..We shall see. The Vizio still looks pretty good for a replacement.
 
Agreed with most of the statements above. If you want to save some headache and the tv is still in good shape you should pick up something like a firestick, chromcast or roku to stream content to your existing TV. I'm not a huge fan of apple tv as they are pretty restrictive on some of the apps they allow on their app store. If you are going to go with a smart tv then i would pay attention to the apps you would like to use or stream to. As they all don't have access to the same. For example we now use youtube tv and apple or amazon doesn't have this on their app store for non phone devices.
 
There is a huge difference in the picture alone. A new 1080p or 4k tv will look amazing compared to the 2007 stuff. Your existing antenna should provide free local channels crystal clear. Apps on a smart tv or firesticks/roku/apple tv devices will give you a ton of ways to watch and 20mb/s is plenty. You can buy smart 1080p tv's for less than $150 that will fit in your existing locations, or close. For $300-$400 this is an easy one.
 
Install a Ubiquity bullet and antenna then installed a WiFi router. I get full speed stream no matter what day of the week it is.
 
I replaced the 3 TV’s on my boat with 24” Vizio Smart TV’s.
There is no WiFi at my dock and available WiFi at transient Marinas I’ve been to is not great.
My Vizio’s have apps for both Netflix and Prime which are the two main places I stream from.
Since I have no WiFi I use my iPad with unlimited data plan as a hotspot and it works well.
There are other apps available on my Vizio’s but I’ve never tried any of them.
They also have HDMI inputs so I stream content from my home DVR (Verizon Fios) to the iPad and connect it to the Vizio TV’s with an Apple AV adapter. That also works well.
I've also got DirectTV on the boat.
 
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Install a Ubiquity bullet and antenna then installed a WiFi router. I get full speed stream no matter what day of the week it is.

But wouldn’t you still need a WiFi provider and account to connect to?
 
There's a reason Roku stock has tripled since March. Get a Roku TV. Tons of 1080P models on clearance, and even the 4K models are a bargin. One remote, and your antenna, and other inputs are just apps on the Roku menu. You won't have to teach anyone how to use it or switch inputs. I've been fighting that challenge for 44 years. She is estatic with the Roku interface, and I can still get to all my apps for streaming. Of course you will need internet connection for the apps. Mine is wired ethernet to a wireless bridge. I switch from my home internet when at the dock to a wireless hotspot when out on the water.
 
I'm considering removing my TV all together. Most places we boat are so remote, I don't have cell signal. We did buy a home style HD antenna to see if we could pick up any local OTA channels. That didn't work even though the coverage map showed we should. We don't usually look for a slip. So, until they figure out a way to get better wireless, my tv is worthless.
 
I have Dish at my home, and on the boat, at the marina, use the WiFi and the Dish Anywhere App to stream all my channels. I use my iPad with a lightning to HDMI connector to get the video. On the hook, we use our KVH.

Windjammer - call Dish and tell them you want to cancel service - they'll cut your rates to get you to stay.
 
We have DIRECT on the boat, house & motorhome... But all of the TV's except the RV are Smart TV's. I have an unlimited data plan with Verizon and find myself watching a little DIRECT and a lot of streaming of Amazon Prime, Netflix & VUDU. I'm streaming off of my phone even in some really crappy cell reception areas, in the worst area, we had to go from an HD movie to an SD version of it to eliminate buffering... big deal.
 
The options now are actually overwhelming considering what we had to do just 5 years ago. I threw away a crate of ATSC Set Top Boxes a few years ago because they were simply OBE. And, 5G sounds like it will change EVERYTHING again. Right now on my 21 year old boat, the engines are talking to the chartplotter, which is also streaming engine room cameras, or video from my Roku to the helm, which is running my TV, which is displaying my ship's desktop computer, which is also displaying my engine manuals from my dropbox account that has all of my systems manuals and photos. Oh yeah, there's an XM radio streaming themed channels at my beckoning. That's not even half of what's going on behind the scenes on board. When I look back to my 2008-2012 posts, it's almost laughable what equipment was required, and how convoluted it was just to get a football game while on the hook. Now it's hard to decide which way to do it, because you have 7 ways to get the game.
 
Free WiFi is pretty much everywhere in ports. There is another level of connectivity. Check this out
https://www.panbo.com/marine-internet-a-connected-year-on-the-water/
The rogue wave or ubiquity can pick up free WiFi signals from a mile or two away. I also can use my Verizon hotspot up to a few miles offshore

I gotta move to West Michigan. Not much free WiFi around here. Most of what is free is in retail spots like Starbucks, etc.. There is a lot of outdoor WiFi available to subscribers of a local cable company (I’m not one) but it’s not all that reliable on the water in the places I typically boat.
 

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