Smart TVs with catch up service apps pre loaded

I'm looking to replace our TV with a smart tv so we can get the BBC, ITV C4 and C5 iplayers without mucking about plugging peripherals or a computer into it.

However the more I read the more opaque the subject gets. Often a manufacturer will say their product supports BBC iplayer or even has it built in already, but then customer reviews say it isn't.

Has anyone got one of these they're happy to recommend? I'm looking for full HD, 32" to 40" (absolutely no bigger), with at the very least BBC iplayer preloaded (but preferably all of them).

[Chrysalis]

I would consider it a way to waste money, tv's tend to have a £100 premium to be a "smart" tv and can vary a lot.

My sister's samsung seems to have a lot of apps like netflix, iplayer, 4od, lovefilm etc. over 20 on the selection screen

Whilst my parent's panasonic is really basic has iplayer, itvplayer, but no 4od no 5od and no lovefilm, does have netflix tho. has 6 to choose from.

I cannot say a specific model, but just highlighting the lottery.

[Taf]

My son bought a cheap HD receiver from Tesco that does all those "smart" things for a fraction of the price.

http://www.tesco.com/direct/manhatta...skuId=320-7521

We have no terrestrial signal here and in any case it's the screen on our old tv that needs replaced.

[Taf]

HD Freesat? Tesco do a box for that too.

[BenMcr]

The Samsung TVs are usually a good bet as they normally cover them all. It would make sense to look at last year's models though as they'll be cheaper and it's more likely that the apps will be there.

I don't think all the apps are there yet for the 2016 models although they will arrive

None of Samsung's 2016 sets are listed on the BBC iPlayer support pages as being certified. There is a nice 2015 model with curved screen that is certified and well spoken of in reviews but getting hold of one is tough - almost everywhere is sold out, I suspect permanently.

I have been looking at an LG model this morning, but this is one of the ones that is ambiguous when it comes to iplayer support. I am reading suggestions that a firmware upgrade last month enabled iplayer. I think there's a reasonable chance that stock already held by retailers won't have that firmware already and will require an upgrade immediately on setting up.

[1andrew1]

If a TV has YouView (Sony) or Freeview Play (Vestel, Panasonic) then it will have all the PSB catch-up services on it. These services are relatively recent so it has been a bit of a lottery until their introduction, particularly when people got used to apps which then were removed or no were longer supported. The fact that Vestel are now starting to ship TVs with Freeview Play on them should put pressure on all other manufacturers to do the same or opt for YouView.

Yep ... the problem with that is that the first time you set up a Youview TV you need to connect it to a terrestrial aerial, even if you subsequently plan only to use it with a satellite decoder and an Internet connection. As we have no terrestrial service here I can't set up a Youview TV. Otherwise one of the new Sony Bravias would have been quite nice.

[Hom3r]

We have a 32" 3D & a 40" Samsung smart TVs, both support iPlayer without issue.

I even can stream to my TV via PC, phone & tablets.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Chris

Yep ... the problem with that is that the first time you set up a Youview TV you need to connect it to a terrestrial aerial, even if you subsequently plan only to use it with a satellite decoder and an Internet connection. As we have no terrestrial service here I can't set up a Youview TV. Otherwise one of the new Sony Bravias would have been quite nice.

Could you get the shop to do that ? They would get your custom.

[heero_yuy]

Originally Posted by Chris

Yep ... the problem with that is that the first time you set up a Youview TV you need to connect it to a terrestrial aerial, even if you subsequently plan only to use it with a satellite decoder and an Internet connection. As we have no terrestrial service here I can't set up a Youview TV. Otherwise one of the new Sony Bravias would have been quite nice.

We have a 42" LED Bravia and it's a fine set. Built in satellite receiver too. The current Bravia's use Android (Linux) so that apps store is available IIRC. Ours uses an earlier flavour of Linux so the apps are preset but most are there including Netflix and Youtube. (4od and 5 are missing)

With any flat screen TV the sound is reedy at the best so you'll probably want to add a subwoofer as a minimum or run it through a Hi Fi. We have a vibe 100 watt unit.

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Could you get the shop to do that ? They would get your custom.

I'm almost certainly going to buy it online. In any case, I can't saddle myself with something that would instantly become useless should it ever require a factory reset (until I can drive it to visit family and plug it into their aerial)

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

We have a 42" LED Bravia and it's a fine set. Built in satellite receiver too. The current Bravia's use Android (Linux) so that apps store is available IIRC. Ours uses an earlier flavour of Linux so the apps are preset but most are there including Netflix and Youtube. (4od and 5 are missing)

With any flat screen TV the sound is reedy at the best so you'll probably want to add a subwoofer as a minimum or run it through a Hi Fi. We have a vibe 100 watt unit.

We have audio issues on our existing TV so it has been sat on top of the hi fi for years. Any new one we buy will just plug straight in, so I'm not even bothering to check the audio quality of whatever we buy.

[Uncle Peter]

We have two Samsung series 6 TV's in the house (one's a 2015 model and the other one is a few weeks old) and they both run iPlayer, 4OD, ITV On demand without any problems whatsoever.

They also both support airplay from the current version of ios which is very handy providing you're beaming to the right TV

[BenMcr]

Have you got the model numbers?