Bull Rider
Washington, The State
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Joined: 09/20/2006
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Needing some help from the Tech Savvy folks.
We have an old plasma TV, Panasonic Vista. It's about 15-20 years old. We want to update the TV to a "Smart TV". We currently have an Amazon Firestick that's about three years old that we use on our old dumb TV, the Panasonic.
Will we need a Firestick with a new "Smart TV"? Do the new TV's come with the Firestick electronics built in? I know that I can just move our old Firestick to the new Smart TV if needed. But I would probably just upgrade to the new Fire Cube Gen 3.
I know from Youtube and from reading that the new TV's come with specific operating systems, like Android, Apple, or Roku.
Thanks in advance.
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LouLawrence
Traveling the US!
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You will not "need" a new FireStick but there are newer 4K versions if you think you would ever find the need for one. The TV very likely will have FireTV built in and, if so, you won't need any stick at all.
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jorbill2or
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A smart tv by the name “smart” includes firetv or roku or android or some other proprietary built in internet stream ability. The Vizio tv we bought was slow to react and I didn’t like the “smart cast “ interface . so we plugged in the fire stick to an hdmi port and just use it. When you purchase a new one be aware of the streaming system it uses if it matters to you. Roku is probably more prominent in TV’s I’ve seen … Truth is while they all use different looking menus they all do the same thing if you get used to them.
Bill
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Trackrig
Spent the summer in Conconuly, Wa, MH now in Vanco
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I don't need the firestick with any of my newer Samsung Smart TV.
Bill
Nodwell RN110 out moose hunting. 4-53 Detroit, Clark 5 spd, 40" wide tracks, 10:00x20 tires, 16,000# capacity, 22,000# weight. You know the mud is getting deep when it's coming in the doors.
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evanrem
WI
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LG TVs also have a nice smart tv interface that replaces the need for any other device.
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Bumpyroad
Virginia
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amazon has a fire stick with Alexa voice for $25
bumpy
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Bull Rider
Washington, The State
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Thank you to all that replied. Great info!
I'm continuing to read reviews on "Smart TV's", and I'm better prepared to know what questions to ask when shopping for a new TV.
I can remember the days when we had three black and white channels and rabbit ears.
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LJAZ
Arizona
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Just another thing to consider. How capable is the new tv at being able to add new streaming apps? I have an older Samsung smart tv that has apps for Netflix, Hulu, and a ton of others but not HBO Max. And there was no way to add it. So I bought a fire stick for $25 and was easily able to add the HBO Max app on it.
Then DW wanted to watch a women's college basketball game being broadcast on some obscure streaming network and was going to do it on her laptop. Instead a search on the Fire stick found the app & installed it so she could watch on the TV.
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folivier
Southeast Louisiana
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I've found in the past years that smart TV's don't always update the apps. I use Roku's for that reason.
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toedtoes
California
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I have the Toshiba Fire TVs and they work great without any external streaming device. In my opinion, the smart tvs have greatly improved in the last 10 years. My old "smart tv" could never connect to my streaming services well and so I always used a roku to access them.
Both my current tvs were bought in 2020 and I no longer need a roku device to access anything.
With the Fire TV, you can easily add pretty much any app out there via an Amazon subscription or through an outside subscription. I have prime and netflix plus free services like tubi, freebees, etc. And I pick and choose paid apps (hbo+, britbox, amc+, etc) on a temporary basis - pay for a couple months to binge watch shows, then cancel when I'm caught up. Note, I do not have cable or satellite, so all my subscriptions are a la carte.
1975 American Clipper RV with Dodge 360 (photo in profile)
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Both born in Morgan Hill, CA to Irv Perch (Daddy of the Aristocrat trailers)
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