Crazy Smart TV Sets made in Thailand, or Smart TV's worth to buy?

[wump]

@Bantex: Well firstly, this is a silly restriction, and secondly, this can't be the whole truth since there would have been only be 2 different prices (premium vs. generic), not 3.

Edited May 19, 2016 by wump

[wump]

@lostinisaan: A whopping 9,000 Baht for a tiny 32 inch no name device that doesn't even support FullHD from a manufacturer that might not even be around in 2 years? Are you serious???

This is the last thing I would buy for this kind of money (If I was strapped for cash I might buy the dumb version for 4,990 though). I suggest you have a look on Lazada to get a feeling for the "real" prices (though Thailand is always a bit expensive for electronics anyway). Lots of offers at the moment.

[lostinisaan]

@lostinisaan: A whopping 9,000 Baht for a tiny 32 inch no name device that doesn't even support FullHD from a manufacturer that might not even be around in 2 years? Are you serious???

This is the last thing I would buy for this kind of money (If I was strapped for cash I might buy the dumb version for 4,990 though). I suggest you have a look on Lazada to get a feeling for the "real" prices (though Thailand is always a bit expensive for electronics anyway). Lots of offers at the moment.

Thanks, wump. Better to wait and check what's really good. The other unit they've got, also a 32, now down to 7.4 K doesn't even support the mouse anymore.

But the only existing USB reads my 16 GB memory stick? Time to rethink.

Just found this: http://www.skyworth.co.th/ It's not Thai, it's Chinese. Isn't that the Thai school tablet company that finally got the contract?

Skyworth was established in 1988, with the head office located within Shenzhen High Tech Industrial Park which is honored as ”China’s silicon valley”, and has more than 20,000 employees. Skyworth is a large-scale high-tech corporation mainly engaged in the development and manufacturing of consumer electronics, display devices, digital set top boxes, security monitors, network communication, semi-conductors, refrigerators, washing machines, cell phones and LED lighting etc. In 2000 Skyworth was listed on the main board of HK Stock Exchange (HK0751). After a development of more than 20 years, Skyworth has grown to be one of the Top Ten Color TV brands in the world and a top brand in Chinese display industry market, and was ranked 14th among the top 100 electronic enterprises in China. In 2012, the brand value of Skyworth has reached 5.7 billion USD.

Established 1988.

Edited May 19, 2016 by lostinisaan

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

One of the things about the Chinese brand tech manufacturers like the one you mention above -- whether their product be TVs or smart phones -- is that while they may be installing Android as the OS on their systems, they often don't use/incorporate the Google Play system -- which potentially limits their usefulness.

If the device does come with Google Play, or doesn't come with Google Play but you can still sideload it, then no problem. But as I found out with the TCL set I bought, it has an unknown version of Android, didn't come with Google Play installed, there's virtually no online tech guidance on the issue in English, and all my efforts thus far to sideload Google Play have been unsuccessful.

Just having a label on the TV that says "Android" doesn't necessarily tell the whole story.

Edited May 20, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[sumrit]

Not true. With major manufacturers you simply charge a premium price because of their name while the product is the same as the 'unbranded' TV's etc sold in supermarkets, etc.

As an example, I was an engineer working for Granada TV in the UK. When they went into the retail market they had three identical TV's on display. One was labeled as an Hitachi, priced at £299.00, the second was labeled as a GEC and priced at £249.00 while the third was Granada's 'own brand' and sold for just £199.00. All three sets were not just identical, they were manufactured in the same factory and on the same production line.

One reason for manufacturers using several brand names on the same product was due to import restrictions in some countries like the UK.

For example each model of an Hitachi television had an annual restriction of 50,000 units allowed into the country but by the use of another brand name they could import an additional 50,000 units. The lesser known branded names were normally sold cheaper. A lot of companies used three brand names.

Bantex, there are a few things wrong with your comments. I wasn't talking about a manufacturer, such as Hitachi, using several brand names, each brand name I quoted I deliberately chose because they were not part of another companies product name. For example, Hitachi only sell TV's with an Hitachi name on it. Same applies with Panasonic. GEC (General Electric Company) was one of the UK's largest independant companies who merged with Marconi in the 1990's and as part of that merger the GEC domestic product name was sold. Several companies have acquired that name since but none are major rival suppliers. It's just a brand name that can be used, usually by retailers such as DSGI (Currys). Currys, for example have the own brand name, Mastui, but also own other names, such as Grundig. If you look in Currys stores, Grundig items are more expensive than Matsui items even though they're identical items, again made by third party manufacturers on the same production line at the same time.

While there are/have been certain restrictions on importing complete TV's etc It's not that simple. The restrictions only apply to complete, boxed items,companies can import various (and most) parts of a TV and the import restrictions don't apply. While working for Tatung in the UK we imported the complete chassis (all the electronics except the mains switch, which was imported in a separate package because it was the lack of a mains switch that freed the chassis of any import restrictions) from Tatung's factory in Thailand plus imported the screen from Tatung's sister company in Malaysia. Once everything was in the UK we molded the plastic cabinet, soldered the mains switch in and assembled the TV then chose the badge and sticky label to suit the Company we were manufacturing for.

Those companies, who have their own UK based company (HitachiI, panasonic, Toshiba, Sharp, etc) were then entitled (under EU law) to say their products were 'Manufactured in the UK'.

Very few companies now manufacture their own products in their own factories. It is far more cost effective to order from a third party manufacturer. In Europe, since about 2006, most of those companies haven't even designed their own sets, preferring to use a basic chassis designed and manufactured by a Turkish company called Vestel. They then just have their own bits of software to suit.

As I said previously, Sony are one of the few companies that have their products manufactured exclusively for them, although they do use third party manufacturers. You will never see a Sony product under another name. The Dutch giant Philips is another company who won't allow their own designed product to be sold to another company or with an independent brand name, although Philips did use their own second brand name in PYE.

[lostinisaan]

One of the things about the Chinese brand tech manufacturers like the one you mention above -- whether their product be TVs or smart phones -- is that while they may be installing Android as the OS on their systems, they often don't use/incorporate the Google Play system -- which potentially limits their usefulness.

If the device does come with Google Play, or doesn't come with Google Play but you can still sideload it, then no problem. But as I found out with the TCL set I bought, it has an unknown version of Android, didn't come with Google Play installed, there's virtually no online tech guidance on the issue in English, and all my efforts thus far to sideload Google Play have been unsuccessful.

Just having a label on the TV that says "Android" doesn't necessarily tell the whole story.

After sleeping a night over it all I can say is that I trust a Chinese TV manufacturing company as much as i trust a Chinese high speed train doing 300 km/h.

Baidu comes to mind. One of the very strange viruses that reproduce as fast as a lightning strikes.

And a big headache. Nope, I'd like to thank you very much for your thoughts. No need for a thingy that will ( not can!!) create problems only.

I see the thingy know as a in a swimming pool spitting Chinese tourist. Happened to us before at a hotel in Chonburi.

It seems to be better to go to a Burger King's where some people are spitting on your onion rings. Thanks,

[amykat]

Correct wump. People who prefer a dumb tv with a chromecast or Apple TV have never experienced owning a smart tv. I have a high end LG and it works great. It won't take long before all Tvs (except those cheap Chinese ones) are smart. I believe that LG includes Web 2.0 on their cheapest Tvs.

People who think poking away at a tv interface using a remote is great have never experienced how well Chromecast integrates with your other devices. Scrolling through Netflix or YouTube on a laptop or phone and having your chosen video cast to your tv is a much more pleasant user experience in my opinion. Smart TVs are an intermediate step in the technology, but integrated devices are the future.

I bought Apple TV and non-smart TVs because I have a few iPads and they make life very easy ...in other words, I "think" I am having the same good experience as you describe??

[lostinisaan]

I think i know why they had all excuses of this world not to connect it via LAN, or wireless. A big company like Big -C shouldn't have a problem to do so.

I don't think that you can install an Anti virus program like Kasperdsky on it, because it doesn't have an HD.

There's no way to update the thingy and it seems that the prices for electronic in general are decreasing like hell. I just saw a 320 GB memory card for cell/mobile phones for about 9 K/.

This one might be available for 5 K in only two, or three months.

I've got all the time of this world to find the right TV, ( with a HD) where i can put an Antivirus program on, do updates and not buying a huge Chinese headache.

The reason for my decision is that I do not trust anything that comes from China, except some eye candies who teach Chinese at schools and looking for companionship.

Do they build good cars, or motorcycles? Nope. All the cheap Chinese crap doesn't last long and it's much better to pay a little more and have something that's reliable.

I'm glad that I din't buy the thingy, it's clear that viruses will attack such a TV in a few days and what will prevent it to happen?

Thanks a lot for some great posts. You never know until you know. I would never say no to this Chinese car seller.

Edited May 22, 2016 by lostinisaan

[Happy Grumpy]

Okay, i could connect an external HD,

Really?

Don't think so.

Unless technology has changed, TV's only play USB drives, not Ext. HD's

Ext. HD's have a spinning disk that requires power that a TV doesn't give them. A USB doesn't.

That was the case in 2010, any way.

Times have changed?

[SoiBiker]

External hard drives often come with their own power supply, too.

The ones that don't draw their power from the USB port.

Edited May 22, 2016 by SoiBiker

[ghworker2010]

Are you talking about a TV that has WiFi capabilities, allowing you to watch, say, Youtube movies without first putting them on a USB? Isn't that what "smart" means in smart TVs?

Yes. Also, via the 'smart hub' option in the tv you can log into Netflix and become a subscriber. Highly recommended as there is loads of good content to watch. Im not just saying this because Im a Netflix shareholder on Nasdaq.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

External hard drives often come with their own power supply, too.

The ones that don't draw their power from the USB port.

Right, there are two varieties of external spinning USB hard disks -- USB bus powered, and external cord/AC powered.

As long as a TV has a proper USB jack, any externally powered hard drive should work fine.

If the hard drive is USB bus powered, you just need to make sure from the TV's specs that its USB ports provide a sufficient amount of power for the device/drive you want to use.

On the TCL Smart TV I purchased recently, its two USB ports are labeled as providing 5 volts, 0.5 amps of power, which is the standard power spec for a USB 2 port. That's also the same amperage as a direct powered PC USB 2 port, so I'm assuming it would be sufficient for most USB 2 powered hard drives.

In cases where the USB power is not sufficient and the device (TV or PC) has two available USB ports, people sometimes can use a so-called Y cable that connects to the hard drive on one end and then has two USB jacks on the other end to plug into two USB ports, thus upping the available power to the device.

[sniffdog]

I have a WD 4TB external drive through USB attached to my TV. The external drive had it's own power supply.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Okay, i could connect an external HD,

Really?

Don't think so.

Unless technology has changed, TV's only play USB drives, not Ext. HD's

Ext. HD's have a spinning disk that requires power that a TV doesn't give them. A USB doesn't.

That was the case in 2010, any way.

Times have changed?

I believe they have. You may be thinking of back to an earlier time during the era of USB 1.1 ports, which had a much lower power rating than the later USB 2.0 ports.

[bendejo]

I see the thingy know as a in a swimming pool spitting Chinese tourist. Happened to us before at a hotel in Chonburi.

On a trip to Macau I saw a Chinese man spit on the carpet in a nicely decorated indoor restaurant. I must have dropped my jaw, as soon afterward the old guy noticed I was looking at him and then made an attempt to rub the spew into the carpet with his shoe. I saw this carpet spitting again on then same trip, in a mall.

I've seen my share of bad hygiene (I lived in India & Nepal for a few years) but for some reason this is A-1 on my gross-out list. Now, whenever I buy something made in China first thing when I get it home is give it a good wipedown, wash the snot off of it.

As for their products sometimes the lack of quality can be due to being just a few pennies cheap on things like the quality of the of the solder, resistors etc.

[wump]

Okay, i could connect an external HD,

Really?

Don't think so.

Unless technology has changed, TV's only play USB drives, not Ext. HD's

Ext. HD's have a spinning disk that requires power that a TV doesn't give them. A USB doesn't.

That was the case in 2010, any way.

Times have changed?

Times must've changed. We have a normal 2TB HDD plugged into the USB of our Samsung since 2012, no extra power or Y cable required.

[JaseTheBass]

I think i know why they had all excuses of this world not to connect it via LAN, or wireless. A big company like Big -C shouldn't have a problem to do so.

I don't think that you can install an Anti virus program like Kasperdsky on it, because it doesn't have an HD.

There's no way to update the thingy and it seems that the prices for electronic in general are decreasing like hell. I just saw a 320 GB memory card for cell/mobile phones for about 9 K/.

This one might be available for 5 K in only two, or three months.

I've got all the time of this world to find the right TV, ( with a HD) where i can put an Antivirus program on, do updates and not buying a huge Chinese headache.

The reason for my decision is that I do not trust anything that comes from China, except some eye candies who teach Chinese at schools and looking for companionship.

Do they build good cars, or motorcycles? Nope. All the cheap Chinese crap doesn't last long and it's much better to pay a little more and have something that's reliable.

I'm glad that I din't buy the thingy, it's clear that viruses will attack such a TV in a few days and what will prevent it to happen?

Thanks a lot for some great posts. You never know until you know. I would never say no to this Chinese car seller.

I bet it does have an 'HD' but probably not useable in the way that you expect it to be used.

[Aussie69]

On a trip to Macau I saw a Chinese man spit on the carpet in a nicely decorated indoor restaurant. I must have dropped my jaw, as soon afterward the old guy noticed I was looking at him and then made an attempt to rub the spew into the carpet with his shoe.

I sat in a plane once with a bunch of Chinese men loudly clearing their throats and gargling flem for 5 hours