2012

Summary: You may have heard of the new trend towards Smart TVs, which are also known as Internet connected televisions. But why would you want a SmartTV? Should you ditch your old television set and run out and buy a Smart TV? Will you be missing out if you don't have an Internet connected TV? Here's what you need to know about Smart TVs, and the alternatives, such as a Smart DVD player or a set top streaming Internet media player.

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You may have heard of the new trend towards Smart TVs, which are also known as Internet connected televisions. But why would you want a SmartTV? Should you ditch your old television set and run out and buy a Smart TV? Will you be missing out if you don’t have an Internet connected TV? Here’s what you need to know about Smart TVs, and the alternatives, such as a Smart DVD player or a set top streaming Internet media player.

A Smart TV is basically an Internet connected - or Internet-enabled - television. This allows you to stream Internet-based media providers, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, to the television set. A truly Smart TV can also receive traditional broadcast channels, be hooked up to your cable provider, etc.. This is what distinguishes it from both a traditional television set (which can’t receive Internet media), and a computer monitor (which can’t receive broadcast channels).

That said, there is no reason to run out and buy a Smart TV if you already have a perfectly good regular television. This is because you can instead purchase either a Smart DVD player, or a streaming Internet media player such as a Roku, either of which you can connect to your regular television (unless your television set is quite old, in which case it may not have the inputs necessary to hook up one of these devices).

However you set it up, we have to admit that it is pretty cool to have direct access on your television to Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and the host of other (often free) Internet “channels” that having a Smart TV or TV+Smart device offers. In fact, most of the people we know who have a Smart streaming device don’t even bother with broadcast television any more, and they definitely don’t bother paying for cable.

When you look at it as a way to cut the cable cord and ditch the monthly cable bill, paying $70 for a Roku or $170 for Smart DVD player makes a lot of sense!

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