Sony TV

[woodpig]

I've been thinking about buying one of the new Sony TV's but now I'm not so sure. It seems there will be lots of Firmware updates over the coming months and I seem to have hit a slight snag. If the TV won't update itself over the net Sony say to download the update on your computer and put it onto a USB stick and then put it into the TV. Just as a precaution I downloaded the latest update on our iMac. So far so good. The file name and size is correct until you unzip it. The result is a "package" slightly smaller than the original file rather than a completely differently named folder that Sony say should result.
I'm not at all inspired that this update will work. I should add at this point that I've had several Pentax cameras and updated them all very easily using files downloaded and unzipped on a Mac. What is it that a small camera company like Pentax can do that a behemoth like Sony can't?! It's looking at this point like I may have to buy another brand TV unless I can sort this out.

 

[RogerP]

I've been thinking about buying one of the new Sony TV's but now I'm not so sure. It seems there will be lots of Firmware updates over the coming months and I seem to have hit a slight snag. If the TV won't update itself over the net Sony say to download the update on your computer and put it onto a USB stick and then put it into the TV. Just as a precaution I downloaded the latest update on our iMac. So far so good. The file name and size is correct until you unzip it. The result is a "package" slightly smaller than the original file rather than a completely differently named folder that Sony say should result.
I'm not at all inspired that this update will work. I should add at this point that I've had several Pentax cameras and updated them all very easily using files downloaded and unzipped on a Mac. What is it that a small camera company like Pentax can do that a behemoth like Sony can't?! It's looking at this point like I may have to buy another brand TV unless I can sort this out.

I don't use a Mac I have a PC running Linux, however, I've had no problem updating my Sony TV either directly or with a usb stick. But it's so much easier if you connect the TV to the internet and leave it to do it automatically.

 

[Shultzy]

I would advise anybody not to buy a "smart TV". I've read in the computer press that after a period of time some of the apps and functions on these TV's fail because the makers don't/won't upgrade the software. Its suggested that a better option is a Firestick or Chromecast device, as these are fairly cheap to replace if they become outdated or fail.

 

[JakeS]

I would advise anybody not to buy a "smart TV". I've read in the computer press that after a period of time some of the apps and functions on these TV's fail because the makers don't/won't upgrade the software.

I've noticed this with our BluRay player, which apparently has some Internet functionality. I only actually discovered this two years after we got it, but hey - that's apparently how long the YouTube app lasted.

I don't think it's a reason to specifically avoid Smart TVs, though - just don't count the various apps and Internet functionality of the TV as a deciding point between that and another model. After all, lots of Smart TVs are pretty good televisions even without the network cable!

 

[Shultzy]

After all, lots of Smart TVs are pretty good televisions even without the network cable!

I agree but they are a lot more expensive than an "unsmart" TV's + a Firestick / Chromecast

 

[RogerP]

I would advise anybody not to buy a "smart TV". I've read in the computer press that after a period of time some of the apps and functions on these TV's fail because the makers don't/won't upgrade the software...............

Not my experience at all. Mine does it own upgrading quite often. No complaints.

 

[misterfish]

We have a Sony smart tv which receives regular updates toits firmware/apps. However, as ours is an older model the Youtube uility stoppped working earlier this year and is not being updated - apparently we need a new model with an updated app if we want Youtube back. Also the web browser is a waste of time - the text is so small that it's unreadable.

I'd certainly be doing a bit of research before I bought a replacement smart tv!

On of the useful things we can do with our current tv is 'play to' it from our computers so we can still use things like Youtube.

Misterfish

 

[bugbear]

I have a Sony Smart TV. It's a nice TV. Which is just as well, because the smart-ness
is both limited, buggy, and going out of date rapidly.

And it doesn't work with 4OD and ITVplayer for Sony contractual reasons.

Never again will I pay for "smart" features. Separate box from now on.

BugBear

 

[mseries]

My Samsung Smart TV is great. Works really well. Have it hard wired to my router, not wireless. My internet connection is good. Use it mostly for Netflix and Youtube. Got DLNA servers on other computers and can stream to the TV really easily. #mseriesrecommends

 

[paulm]

Interesting, hadn't heard of the firesticks and chromecast. We have one of the small wifi box things from sky that connects to the sky box and gives access to on demand and catch up stuff, but doesn't give all the other internet based functionality as far as I know anyway.

I'm thinking I ought to get one of the other two to be able to browse the internet and utube etc on the big hd tv screen (not a smart tv), any pro's and cons of the two ?

Cheers, Paul

 

[mseries]

Chromecast is used to display what's on your tablet/phone/mac/pc etc on your TV. It doesn't run the apps, the apps run on your tablet etc. , the same apps as you have on there now. Firestick runs the apps and makes your TV smart as far as I can tell.

I believe you can cast the entire tablet screen to the tv screen which I will find useful. I have neither of these devices by the way

EDIT:I got some of the info from here http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio- ... 126/review

 

[RogerP]

Although we have a "Sony Smart TV" the only reason is because at the time we needed a new TV it was on a very good offer price. It's a small screen by modern standards (which is what we wanted) and I think the dealer was a bit stuck with it as most folk want large screens. Anyway suits us fine and is reasonably unobtrusive. Only really want it for Gardener's World etc and Eurosport cycle racing.

 

[woodpig]

I'm after a 50" and most if not all the TV's that I have been looking at have been smart TV's. The Sony "Android" range at the moment seem very buggy despite regular updates and lack many of the promised features. Some features like recording on a HDD aren't expected until September. This is bad enough but what worries me is the lack of Mac support. If the TV won't update itself via a net connection then you should be able to download the firmware onto a USB stick except this doesn't seem to work properly if you use a Mac.
As I use their cameras and have had no problems I checked the Pentax website to double check how they provide firmware updates and they have both Mac and PC files for download. I'm now left wondering why Sony don't provide the same service. I'm now looking at Panasonic and Samsung TV's.

 

[mseries]

@woodpig, do you think the TVs won't update themselves ? why ? I suspect Sony don't provide much support for manual updating because the TVs are expected to be permanently connected to the net (unlike cameras) so the auto-update works well. In my three years of owning my Samsung I have never manually updated it, the apps we use continue to work

NB I don't use windows at home, I could if I had to though

 

[woodpig]

You might be surprised to learn that Sony provide lots of information about updating the Firmware Manually. In fact they make it sound like the default method on the download page. I guess the reason for this is that all TV's will require firmware updates at some time or another but not all users will have their TV's connected to the net. If I can't resolve this I guess I'd have to find an Internet cafe running windows to download future updates. :lol: learning Unix to modify files is not an option! :roll:

 

[bugbear]

You might be surprised to learn that Sony provide lots of information about updating the Firmware Manually. In fact they make it sound like the default method on the download page. I guess the reason for this is that all TV's will require firmware updates at some time or another but not all users will have their TV's connected to the net. If I can't resolve this I guess I'd have to find an Internet cafe running windows to download future updates. :lol: learning Unix to modify files is not an option! :roll:

There's little point having a Smart TV that isn't connected to the internet. Defeats the object.

EDIT; I've checked your first post; you didn't mention buying a Smart TV.

BugBear

 

[mseries]

I was a little surprised to see all the detailed information in the Sony eSupport page, yes. It really does take a novice computer user through it. It's just unzipping an archive and copying a file to a USB stick though, this surely is possible on a Mac ? (Certainly is on Linux).

I just downloaded an update to see what they do, it all seems very straightforward. The part about the folder name is due to the way Windows unpacks the zip archive, it uses the archive (zip) name as the name of the folder that it creates in order to contain all files from the archive. This archive contains one file, called upgrade.pkg, that you copy to a USB stick. As the TV starts up it'll see if there is an attached USB stick that contains a file called upgrade.pkg in the root and if found, start applying the update contained therein.

No need to modify any files nor learn UNIX. I am pretty sure Macs can do all this.

 

[mseries]

You might be surprised to learn that Sony provide lots of information about updating the Firmware Manually. In fact they make it sound like the default method on the download page. I guess the reason for this is that all TV's will require firmware updates at some time or another but not all users will have their TV's connected to the net. If I can't resolve this I guess I'd have to find an Internet cafe running windows to download future updates. :lol: learning Unix to modify files is not an option! :roll:

There's little point having a Smart TV that isn't connected to the internet. Defeats the object.

EDIT; I've checked your first post; you didn't mention buying a Smart TV.

BugBear

You're right, the OPs point about firmware updates becomes more valid and I misunderstood originally. That said I still wouldn't worry too much about it, Sony did say they'll post a USB stick to you. For the record I have never installed a firmware update on any of my digital TVs or PVRs, they continue to work. I wouldn't place non windows compatibilty on my list of requirements.

 

[woodpig]

You can download the file on a Mac which I've done and the file name and size is correct. When you unzip it though you end up with a file called: sony_dtv0FA50A09A0A9_00014100_08EF000A.pkg. This file is slightly smaller in size than the unzipped download! I gather from the Sony site that what you should get is a folder called: sony_tvupdate_2015_2287_eub_auth with some other file/s inside it.

 

[mseries]

You can download the file on a Mac which I've done and the file name and size is correct. When you unzip it though you end up with a file called: sony_dtv0FA50A09A0A9_00014100_08EF000A.pkg. This file is slightly smaller in size than the unzipped download! I gather from the Sony site that what you should get is a folder called: sony_tvupdate_2015_2287_eub_auth with some other file/s inside it.

Right, you are using a different page to me. I suspect you've done everything right and that the words on the Sony page refer to a different file to that that's in the archive. Let me put this another way, I suspect we'd get the same file as you did if we did this on windows.