What is smart about a smart DVD player?

[micky]

What is smart about a smart DVD player?

What is wifi about a DVD player with Wifi?

My friend bought a smart tv, and she says the remote has a keyboard in
it, and it's like a computer. She can iiuc navigate to any webpage
and play any video she finds there.

The descriptions of smart dvd players don't sound like anything that
good.

The smart DVD with Wif sounded like just what I needed*** until I read
descriptions, reviews, and thought about it some more. Now I have big
doubts.

I can't find pictures of the remotes, and at the store they're
probably hidden? Do they have alphanumeric keyboards?

If they only play Netflix and a couple other sources like that, it's
of no use to me. It seems to me my brother's big almost new tv had
one screen that mentioned only Netflix. and he could use it for
Netflix, using only the remote. But there was no keyboard, and I
assume, no web browser in it.


If I can't go straight from the DVD to the net to get what I want,
could I use the DVD's WiFi to receive what is playing on my computer.
amd watch that on the TV? I normally don't care about picture
quality but would it be less? I normally don't care about audio
quality, but the tinnitus in my ear doubled recently, (and when I
watch Leave it to Beaver, recorded at the lowest quality, he speaks so
fast sometimes I can't understand him. Going to the highest quality,
I couldnt tell if that helped.)


***I can't use a smart TV, because afaict, none have outputs except
for external speakers. I have a network of TVs throughout my house
(that I've told you about in the past. I use Powermid to control the
DVD.) and they all must show the same thing, so if I move to another
room, I can turn off one tv and turn on the other. They get their
output from the DVDR with digital tuner through an RF modulator. Or
from the VCR that is installed parallel to the DVDR. I would plug
the DVD with Wifi in parallel to those two, and be able to watch
everything it will receive in any room that has a tv.


Thanks a lot.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per micky:

The smart DVD with Wif sounded like just what I needed*** until I read
descriptions, reviews, and thought about it some more. Now I have big
doubts.

You're on the right track with the big doubts.

I bought a high-end LG for somebody a few months back.

Sounds impressive at first: WiFi, web browser, reads every format you
can think of...and so-on.

Then one gets to the remote.... sheesh!... it's just begging for a
keyboard what with the web browser... but it doesn't even have a
dedicated skip button... and it's operation is totally unlike any other
DVD player's remote. Gotta wonder what the people who sent something
like that to market were thinking of.

 

[micky]

(and when I
watch Leave it to Beaver, recorded at the lowest quality, he speaks so
fast sometimes I can't understand him. Going to the highest quality,
I couldnt tell if that helped.)

It's not just the Beaver. Tonight I watching one my highest quality
recordings, and I couldn't understand one sentence his mother said.
(So I'm going back to low quality because high fills up my harddrive
too fast.)

 

[micky]

Per micky:

You're on the right track with the big doubts.

I bought a high-end LG for somebody a few months back.

Sounds impressive at first: WiFi, web browser, reads every format you
can think of...and so-on.

Then one gets to the remote.... sheesh!... it's just begging for a
keyboard what with the web browser... but it doesn't even have a
dedicated skip button... and it's operation is totally unlike any other
DVD player's remote. Gotta wonder what the people who sent something
like that to market were thinking of.

I couldn't learn to much from the web, so I went to Best Buys. I
hate to waste their time, because it will, I know, be months before I
buy anything, and I might buy from the web anyhow. I wasn't going to
use any time of the clerks but I couldn't even find the smart dvds.
That took her 10 seconds to point me, and a total of 3 or 4 minutes
from 2 other guys.

The first guy said even a smart DVD won't do what i want (go to any
place on the web) and he uttered the word Roku, but when we got to
that aisle he didn't actually look at the Roku. It seemed to be a
choice between the Sony Internet Player with Google TV and the Vizio
Costar.

One used the term full screen browser. What I want is a full browser,
I don't much care if it's full screen. But it seems,- although I
don't guuarantee it -- that one can go to any webpage, if you can get
the remote to work for you. Places like NBC.com won't work but that
is because of NBC's rule, not the device's limitation.

So I'm trying to decide which I would prefer. There are 500+ reviews
on Amazon for each of them , and I might just read them all. Different
people want different things,

The second guy said, Oh no. There are DVD recorders with web brosers,
but the only one he pointed to was.... get this, and expensive LG, 200
marked down to 110 called clearance. That's probably the one you
bought, or close to it. The remote isn't there, but there is a
picture of it on the plastic imitation device, and it has hardly any
buttons, far fewer than the Costar. Plus I already have a DVD
writer connected to the tv now, so it's back to the Internet Players.

I'm going to try to find the manuals online and read them. For me
that is always the best way short of buying one to know if something I
want.

One review seemed to say that Hulu wont' work with Costar. Even
reading the owne4rs manyal won't give me a list of every site that
won't work. Right now hulu is not high on my list. Actually I'm
overwhelmed with tv to watch now, mostly from MeTV. And I haven't
even tried to find out if I can take the output of these new things
and put them through my own dvd recorder with hard drive. Do you
know? That's pretty important because I keep getting sleepy and
would like to record what I haven't yet watched.

Anyhow, Just wanted to report a what little I learned. Despite the
one mistake the one clerk seems to have made, maybe it wasn't a
mistake. Maybe even though LG claims to do internet browsing, he
knows it doesn't do it well, becaues of the remote? Even if not,
there's a lot for those guys to learn and they seemed to know quite a
bit. I think 2005 was the last time I'll understand everything I
need to know.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per micky:

Maybe even though LG claims to do internet browsing, he
knows it doesn't do it well, becaues of the remote?

The one that I bought was an "LG-BP 730" and I would say that the remote
is the problem. Try entering a URL sometime using a point-and-click
on-screen keyboard... it's maddening, especially when you have a low-end
Vizio TV whose remote includes a slide-out Blackberry-style keyboard...
so you *know* it can be done.

OTOH, looking back, I just read that the manual seems to imply that the
BP 730 accepts a USB keyboard/mouse. Having read that, now I need to
go down to where this thing lives and see if it will work with a USB
wireless like one of my Microsoft Multimedia keyboard/mouse combos.

Other than the goofy remote, this thing *is* nice - especially the
breadth of formats that it can handle.

 

[micky]

Google doesn't let you browse?

I don't understand. I think some of these devices have google chrome
(but I havennt' checked on the LG DVD recorder, because I think it's
the one (Pete didn't like) but if the remote has as few buttons as
this one, the LG, did, it seems like it will be require picking out
one letter at a time, and with no mouse or mouse substitute. That
would let me goi to a webpage but "browse" the way I use it means to
wander though the web, reading articles and watching video when I see
something I like. Come to think of it, maybe none of these things
smaller than a TV do that.

I had WebTV 14 years ago, it had a keyboard, but was still not the same
experience as surfin' with your face in the monitor.

Sure. I can see that.


BTW, the Vizio remote had many more buttons than the LG and iirc the
Sony, including a touchpad, and what they called a keyboard. It had
all 10 numbers but no letters. It might work like texting, which i
don't like, but it's been my experience the more buttons the better.

I'm wondering, if I wait another year or two, there will be fancier
remotes included with the Sony internet Player or the Vizio. One of
the Amazon raters of Vizio said it was pretty bad out of the box, but
after several upgrades, that I think it did automatically over time,
it was worth 5 starts. Now all those upgrades might happen as soon as
one turns it on.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per micky:

One of
the Amazon raters of Vizio said it was pretty bad out of the box, but
after several upgrades, that I think it did automatically over time,
it was worth 5 starts. Now all those upgrades might happen as soon as
one turns it on.

My problem with Vizio has been parts availability.

The mobo on my XVT323SV failed in such a way that I can still get OTA,
but none of the HDMI ports are available. Looked and looked for a
replacement - even ordered one - but it turns out that everybody is out
of stock and I'm guessing no more are being made.

Somewhere I read that part of Vizio's methodology for their low prices
is using components that fail to meet the specs of other brands.

Truth or Fiction?... either way, the next TV I get will not be Vizio.
Maybe Best Buy's house brand...

 

[micky]

Per micky:

The one that I bought was an "LG-BP 730" and I would say that the remote

I'm trying to see if that's the one I saw. I learned 4 years ago
that if you dont' choose a store, their webpage shows what's in the
warehouse and gives no indication of what is supposed to be in a
store, but if you do chooose a store, I think it gives no indication
what else is in the warehouse. I hope there is a way to renounce your
chosen store without picking a new one.

Well I screwed that up. I searched for smart dvd , and the first hit
of 190 was the movie Get Smart on DVD.

Let's try smart dvd recorder internet. It couldn't find
anything, and it didn't remind me what I had searched on. That's a
violation of rookie programming standards to not replay search terms,
whether the item is found or not. And they've had years to get this
right. They do replay the search terms when they find something.

LG smart DVD player 7 hits, 4 under 70 dollars, one 80, one 130, one
179, but sold and delivered by someone else.


But this is not the store I was in. I see check store, but they call
it an experimental search. Funny, this was available 4 years ago.
and now it's experimental?

Changing to LG smart DVD recorder gives nothing, although it
doesn't say if it's still looking in the zip code where the store was,
or not. I think it might be easier to go back there. What a
crummy webpage.

And I couldn't log into Amazon for 28 hours over the weekend. Others
report the same problem

I think it's competing with Obamacare.

And try HD or Lowes. HD is still bad after 15 years of being bad.
I haven't tried Lowes.

Radio Shack and Harbor Freight are good, but be careful how you spell
freight or you'll find an imposter. Same with BestBuyS.com

is the problem. Try entering a URL sometime using a point-and-click
on-screen keyboard... it's maddening, especially when you have a low-end
Vizio TV whose remote includes a slide-out Blackberry-style keyboard...
so you *know* it can be done.

Come to think of it, my brother's TV, maybe an LG?, had point and
click and it was impossible to use. I pointed, I clicked, but I
always missed the target.

OTOH, looking back, I just read that the manual seems to imply that the
BP 730 accepts a USB keyboard/mouse. Having read that, now I need to
go down to where this thing lives and see if it will work with a USB
wireless like one of my Microsoft Multimedia keyboard/mouse combos.

Good luck. Please let me know.

Other than the goofy remote, this thing *is* nice - especially the
breadth of formats that it can handle.

I only play DVDs when someone gives them to me, or from Redbox, and I
presume the latter is standard format, whatever that is. Plus I have
another DVD player in the DVDR I got to to tune into and record
digital over the air. So your "especially" isn't an incentive for
me.

 

[micky]

Per micky:

My problem with Vizio has been parts availability.

The mobo on my XVT323SV failed in such a way that I can still get OTA,
but none of the HDMI ports are available. Looked and looked for a
replacement - even ordered one - but it turns out that everybody is out
of stock and I'm guessing no more are being made.

Somewhere I read that part of Vizio's methodology for their low prices
is using components that fail to meet the specs of other brands.

Hey, just yesterday on Amazon, I needed a 2016 battery, a coin
battery, and one of them, whose picture was of two in a bublbe pack,
the raters said they came with no packaging, and were apparently used.

Some gave it 1 star, but it also got 5 stars including iirc from those
who said they didn't last long but were only a dollar apiece.

http://www.amazon.com/Energizer-Lit...VTC/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?showViewpoints=1

Truth or Fiction?... either way, the next TV I get will not be Vizio.

Thanks. I'll definitely bear this in mind.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

"(PeteCresswell)" wrote in message

Somewhere I read that part of Vizio's methodology for their
low prices is using components that fail to meet the specs
of other brands.

I could sit here and explain why buying components that don't meet spec is A
Very Bad Idea, no matter how much money you think you're saving. I would refer
you instead to a biography of a famous industrial engineer whose name I can't
remember. Would someone fill me in?

I've owned a 32" Vizio for five or six years, and it's perking away fine. It
even has a 178-degree viewing angle.