Time to buy a new TV with a budget of between 30 - 40,000 THB. We like the LG brand and our existing TV is a flat panel of theirs. I'm a non-techie sort of person but clearly it is time to get a SMART TV. I wonder if anyone has any advice to offer as to my mind the ones on display in Powerbuy all look much of a muchness. I notice many now have internet software - seems a useful thing to have - does it work well? Any other features I should be looking for?

Would also welcome any recommendations on where to buy. We're west of Bangkok in Ratchaburi province so that takes in quite an arc - Bangkok, N Pathom, Phetch and Hua Hin. Any good deals out there?

Many thanks

Forget the Smart TV nonsense. Get a dumb one with better specs and buy an Amazon Fire TV stick for $40.

Presumably a lot of content, like Netflix , that is available with something like Amazon Fire TV, is not available in Thailand? What is available with this particular stick or can you get round it with a VPN?

Edited July 27, 201510 yr by gerryBScot

The only semi-useful app on smart TV's in Thailand is Youtube. All the good stuff simply isn't available in Thailand.

Buy the one with the biggest screen, or the one with the best picture quality - or somewhere in-between - and put exactly zero emphasis on the 'smart' side of it.

Edited July 27, 201510 yr by IMHO

LG does seem to have some of the best value deals. I'm kind of a compulsive price shopper when buying a major appliance. I've found to my surprise that I consistently find the lowest prices at POWER MALL in Siam Paragon and the similar retailer in the Emporium; sorry, I forget if Power Buy or Power Mall.

Unfortunately all of the high end TVs seem to be smart these days. Of course, you don't have to use it.

PowerBuy (in the Emporium) has some 'promotions' going on at the moment. I saw a large (don't remember what size) LG OLED TV at what seemed like a good price. They also have a 65" Series 8 Samsung SUHD (4K) TV for just under 100,000 baht.

The budget on 30-40k baht is okay for a 50-55" TV, why spend 100k baht on a TV unless you need a really big screen? well okay if you are rich not a problem but for "normal" people, a lot of money.

I don't know how long time a modern TV last? My 2.5 year old Samsung 51" plasma non smart HD already have vertical stripes on the left side, so I think it's "dying".

One thing that I learned from that: Next TV will not be a Samsung and plasma is out too. Thankfully I only paid 25k baht for it so I will get over it (eventually).

I will be looking for a TV in the end of the year (if the current one last that long) and also in the 55" range and in the 30+k baht price range too.

Doubt 4K TV's are worth it yet, what can you watch here with that? nil.

I haven't looked at new TV's in detail lately but my 42" LG LCD is about 6 years old now and still works perfectly.

Presumably a lot of content, like Netflix , that is available with something like Amazon Fire TV, is not available in Thailand? What is available with this particular stick or can you get round it with a VPN?

One word: Kodi.

Echo the lack of need for a Smart TV - most in demand apps are never there and those that are present are rarely updated after release. You'll also in most cases be locked to Thai app stores.

Get a high quality non Smart TV (or a high quality one with very limited Smart TV functionality) and a decent quad core Android box running Android Kit Kat with an Air Mouse.

For the TV ideally get at least 4 HDMI inputs (ARC return if you want to run 5.1 audio), optical out, couple of USB ports. Focus should be on everything except the internet connectivity - most important thing imo is (non internet) connectivity, picture quality and latency. Unless you will be connecting a home cinema audio system, speakers are also important, many of them are not very good these days.

Edited July 27, 201510 yr by rwdrwdrwd

Many thanks for these helpful comments which underline how ignorant I am. I thought virtually everything these days was smart!

Many thanks for these helpful comments which underline how ignorant I am. I thought virtually everything these days was smart!

you can get a full hdtv 50" for under 20k, add an android box for another 5k

then watch all the streaming you want with mctv from tvaddons

Edited July 27, 201510 yr by MaeJoMTB

Many thanks for these helpful comments which underline how ignorant I am. I thought virtually everything these days was smart!

you can get a full hdtv 50" for under 20k, add an android box for another 5k

then watch all the streaming you want with mctv from tvaddons

* Just to clarify.....

TVMC from tvaddons.ag

One word: Kodi.

Many thanks for these helpful comments which underline how ignorant I am. I thought virtually everything these days was smart!

you can get a full hdtv 50" for under 20k, add an android box for another 5k

then watch all the streaming you want with mctv from tvaddons

* Just to clarify.....

TVMC from tvaddons.ag

He says in his original post that he is non-technical.

I use Kodi and sometimes find it very frustrating,,,and I am "technical". So I think that is not an option for him.

Yes but TVMC does all the config for you. Try it.

Personally I use community builds from Totalxbmc.

Walkthrough videos for a simple installation and then you can install builds a novice can use (and I've been sorting out a lot of novices here).

I was at HOME-PRO Sukhumvit yesterday and they had some very low prices for LG TV's: 49" LED sets starting at B20,000, 42" less than B15,000.

The cheapest models had only one or two HDMI ports.