Please help me choose the right TV and/or accessories for my needs
February 26, 2019 6:02 PM Subscribe
I want to replace my TV and my wall mount, and my limitations and the reasons I want to replace them are detailed and will have an effect on what I should buy next. I promise that this is a question about TVs and wall mounts, even though it starts out looking like a question about Apple TV and AirPlay. Stick with me.
Details for what I need/want/prefer are in the "more inside."
Hi, and thanks for following the "more inside."
We have been AirPlaying to our AppleTV for months from my housemate's 2015 MacBook Pro. For some reason, when we try to play from my 2016 MacBook Pro, it won't play, or it stutters, or it drops. We've given up trying to figure out why hers works and mine doesn't.
The other day, the same thing started happening when we were AirPlaying from her laptop as always happens when we try to play from my laptop. We got frustrated, and decided to try a Chromecast she had hanging around.
I pulled the AppleTV's HDMI cable out of my television so that I could plug the Chromecast in. Somehow, when I pulled the HDMI cable out, the entire port disappeared. Like, the thing that you plug the HDMI cable into was gone. There's just a hole in the TV where it used to be. I don't see it anywhere on the floor, so it must have fallen inside the TV.
I had to release the latches on the TV wall mount to take the TV down and examine the port, and when I did, one of the latches broke.
*sigh*
I was thinking about getting a new TV anyway, and a better mount.
I would like to keep my budget for the TV to ~$500.
I would like the TV to be ~50". I think 55" is max for our seating arrangements anyway. I'm pretty sure everything on the market is just fine for what I require re: visual quality. I would like one with a digital audio out, since I have a bar speaker with a bluetooth(?) box subwoofer.
I would also like to be able to play stuff from my computer, or my housemate's computer, and maybe cut out the middleman, if that's possible. Are there "Smart" TVs where you can broadcast or mirror your laptop directly to it? Or, another possibility, are there any TVs with USB ports where I could just plug in a USB stick that has my media on it and play it from there? It's usually MKV, MP4, or AVI files.
The AppleTV is old - should I upgrade to the new model? Will that change anything?
We have Hulu, Netflix, and HBO GO accounts as well as iTunes. Are there TVs that handle all of these on their own, or will I still need the AppleTV / Chromecast / Roku / whatever?
I definitely want a TV with more than two HDMI inputs. That limit quickly became a major hassle.
I don't know if we can hide the wires inside the wall (I have no idea if it's drywall with room behind it or drywall with brick behind it--our building was gut reno-ed in 1999), but for ease of swapping, it would be nice to have some of the inputs positioned so that I don't have to take the TV down every time I want to plug something new in.
The wall mount I linked above is the one I currently have. It says it "includes a tilt bracket," but honestly all that meant was that the television was permanently tilted toward the floor. It never once stayed parallel to the wall. So I'd like a mount that keeps the TV flush to the wall. I'd also like one where I can get to the ports and wiring behind the television without having to literally take it down from the wall. I don't know all that much about TV wall mounts - are there some that let you pull the TV straight forward from the wall like a cherry picker?
Any and all suggestions are appreciated. I will try not to thread-sit, so if enough questions requiring further clarification pile up, I'll respond here in bulk. Thanks.
Hi, and thanks for following the "more inside."
We have been AirPlaying to our AppleTV for months from my housemate's 2015 MacBook Pro. For some reason, when we try to play from my 2016 MacBook Pro, it won't play, or it stutters, or it drops. We've given up trying to figure out why hers works and mine doesn't.
The other day, the same thing started happening when we were AirPlaying from her laptop as always happens when we try to play from my laptop. We got frustrated, and decided to try a Chromecast she had hanging around.
I pulled the AppleTV's HDMI cable out of my television so that I could plug the Chromecast in. Somehow, when I pulled the HDMI cable out, the entire port disappeared. Like, the thing that you plug the HDMI cable into was gone. There's just a hole in the TV where it used to be. I don't see it anywhere on the floor, so it must have fallen inside the TV.
I had to release the latches on the TV wall mount to take the TV down and examine the port, and when I did, one of the latches broke.
*sigh*
I was thinking about getting a new TV anyway, and a better mount.
I would like to keep my budget for the TV to ~$500.
I would like the TV to be ~50". I think 55" is max for our seating arrangements anyway. I'm pretty sure everything on the market is just fine for what I require re: visual quality. I would like one with a digital audio out, since I have a bar speaker with a bluetooth(?) box subwoofer.
I would also like to be able to play stuff from my computer, or my housemate's computer, and maybe cut out the middleman, if that's possible. Are there "Smart" TVs where you can broadcast or mirror your laptop directly to it? Or, another possibility, are there any TVs with USB ports where I could just plug in a USB stick that has my media on it and play it from there? It's usually MKV, MP4, or AVI files.
The AppleTV is old - should I upgrade to the new model? Will that change anything?
We have Hulu, Netflix, and HBO GO accounts as well as iTunes. Are there TVs that handle all of these on their own, or will I still need the AppleTV / Chromecast / Roku / whatever?
I definitely want a TV with more than two HDMI inputs. That limit quickly became a major hassle.
I don't know if we can hide the wires inside the wall (I have no idea if it's drywall with room behind it or drywall with brick behind it--our building was gut reno-ed in 1999), but for ease of swapping, it would be nice to have some of the inputs positioned so that I don't have to take the TV down every time I want to plug something new in.
The wall mount I linked above is the one I currently have. It says it "includes a tilt bracket," but honestly all that meant was that the television was permanently tilted toward the floor. It never once stayed parallel to the wall. So I'd like a mount that keeps the TV flush to the wall. I'd also like one where I can get to the ports and wiring behind the television without having to literally take it down from the wall. I don't know all that much about TV wall mounts - are there some that let you pull the TV straight forward from the wall like a cherry picker?
Any and all suggestions are appreciated. I will try not to thread-sit, so if enough questions requiring further clarification pile up, I'll respond here in bulk. Thanks.
Best answer: I've been eyeing this one after a friend bought it. 55", Roku built in and works well, and the Roku Media Player app works with media put on a thumb drive into the port, and it also acts as a Chromecast casting point for some apps (not all), but you can also plug the Chromecast in.
posted by deezil at 6:31 PM on February 26, 2019
posted by deezil at 6:31 PM on February 26, 2019
Best answer: I came here to recommend the same TCL 5-series TVs that deezil recommended, which is also recommended by Wirecutter. Roku as a built-in OS seems to work well. There's also a 49" version which is a little cheaper.
But as someone with both a Roku and an AppleTV, I'll say I prefer the Roku for Netflix & Amazon Prime, but prefer the AppleTV for streaming files from my laptop or mirroring my laptop screen, but this probably because I also have Apple laptops and an iPad. If you have an Apple household there are apps that make it easy to play video files without worrying about video codecs (if they're not the right format the laptop app which convert it on the fly.)
posted by bluecore at 6:44 PM on February 26, 2019
But as someone with both a Roku and an AppleTV, I'll say I prefer the Roku for Netflix & Amazon Prime, but prefer the AppleTV for streaming files from my laptop or mirroring my laptop screen, but this probably because I also have Apple laptops and an iPad. If you have an Apple household there are apps that make it easy to play video files without worrying about video codecs (if they're not the right format the laptop app which convert it on the fly.)
posted by bluecore at 6:44 PM on February 26, 2019
I love the TV brackets that Vogel's makes. Not exactly cheap, but they are rock solid.
posted by ZipRibbons at 2:13 AM on February 27, 2019
posted by ZipRibbons at 2:13 AM on February 27, 2019
Most TVs now play most streaming services, so in theory that's all you need. However, generally the TV apps are slower, harder to use, and get updated less frequently than the streaming boxes. We've settled on Roku, but I can't figure out how to stream Mac -> Roku, so you'll likely want an Apple TV for iTunes and general airstreaming.
posted by troyer at 9:03 AM on February 27, 2019
posted by troyer at 9:03 AM on February 27, 2019
Response by poster: so you'll likely want an Apple TV for iTunes and general airstreaming.
Yes, except as stated above, AppleTV's AirPlay is fucking up no matter whose MacBook Pro we use, and we can't figure out why. Which is why I'm asking if there are "smart" TVs that have "AirPLay-like" capabilities where we can play something on a laptop and have it show up on the TV, among other questions.
posted by tzikeh at 2:24 PM on February 27, 2019
Yes, except as stated above, AppleTV's AirPlay is fucking up no matter whose MacBook Pro we use, and we can't figure out why. Which is why I'm asking if there are "smart" TVs that have "AirPLay-like" capabilities where we can play something on a laptop and have it show up on the TV, among other questions.
posted by tzikeh at 2:24 PM on February 27, 2019
Any TV that runs Android TV (Sony, Philips, etc.) and any recent Vizio will act as a Chromecast when connected to your network.
Your Airplay problems are more likely to do with your WiFi situation, though. A neighbor probably added or replaced something that's causing enough disruption to your network to interrupt the stream. Some things will be more tolerant of delayed or dropped packets than others and different WiFi devices are more or less tolerant of interfering networks.
posted by wierdo at 2:46 PM on February 27, 2019
Your Airplay problems are more likely to do with your WiFi situation, though. A neighbor probably added or replaced something that's causing enough disruption to your network to interrupt the stream. Some things will be more tolerant of delayed or dropped packets than others and different WiFi devices are more or less tolerant of interfering networks.
posted by wierdo at 2:46 PM on February 27, 2019
Response by poster: Got the TCL. Love all the built-in streaming services. Don't love that the wireless problem has not been solved. DO love that I can circumnavigate it by throwing all of my media on a USB stick and plugging it right into the TV.
Thanks all... I guess the wifi is the real problem.
posted by tzikeh at 7:27 PM on March 31, 2019
Thanks all... I guess the wifi is the real problem.
posted by tzikeh at 7:27 PM on March 31, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by tzikeh at 6:25 PM on February 26, 2019