Need advice connecting my twenty year old TV to the Internet

[jztemple2]

We have an older Sony TV, very nice but not in any way Internet ready. We have cable. When in the past we needed to watch something I would hook up an old laptop to it, but I no longer have that laptop.

My wife recently had me get her a subscription to Disney+ so she could watch the Beach Boys documentary. So I'd like to do something so she could watch it on the big screen, but I don't want to buy a laptop just for this. Is there a cheaper alternative? I do have wifi in the room.

[Isgrimnur]

Best Streaming Device for 2024: Roku, Chromecast and More

..., Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, etc.

[disarm]

Roku stick. They're awesome, inexpensive and do exactly what you want.

[hepcat]

Yup. Roku all the way. I use a Shield TV from Nvidia, but only because I like to tinker and I've got a plex server running on it.

[Rumpy]

Yep, I would go with a Roku. We have a similarly old Sony TV, a Bravia from the 2010's and I've come to appreciate standalone devices. If they stop working you can just replace them. We bought a Roku Streambar several years ago. It combines a Roku device with a soundbar.

[jztemple2]

Thanks for the help! I ordered the Roku, it will be here Sunday

[jztemple2]

Hooked up the Roku Express which took a couple of minutes and then maybe twenty more minutes creating accounts. Works really well! The wife is currently enjoying her Disney+ Beach Boys documentary.

Thanks to everyone for the help!

[Isgrimnur]

[jztemple2]

Wife was happy to be able to watch the Beach Boys documentary. It is somewhat personal for her as sixty years ago she went to see them in concert and due to winning a radio contest she was brought backstage to meet them in person.

We have cable and had never considered streaming but now (thanks to you folks ) with the Roku Express it was easy to get to watch the documentary on our big screen TV. And then I happened to mention to her that with Disney+ we have access to all these old Disney movies, like Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Well, she hadn't see that since it was released in 1971, so we had to stream that this evening. She was thrilled. I went through the Vintage Classics category afterwards and she has already picked out a number of them to watch. I think we might be keeping the Disney+ subscription for the summer!

Since I'm rambling on I ought to mention that my wife is a big Disney fan. Not so much growing up, but in 1971 she was living in Orlando and working for the newspaper there. So when Walt Disney World opened its gates that very first day she was there. And again and again, hundreds of times over the next few years as besides getting a pass from the newspaper she also had friends who worked out there and would get her in behind the scenes. When we got married we continued to keep going there for the next couple of decades. She estimates she's been to WDW at least a thousand times. So a reason why she's such a big Disney fan.

[Victoria Raverna]

Why not just get a new TV? The price of "smart" 4k/Ultra HD tv are not that expensive now.

[gilraen]

Why not just get a new TV? The price of "smart" 4k/Ultra HD tv are not that expensive now.

Why trash a perfectly good TV and pay hundreds for a new one when for $20-$40 tops you can get the same experience as a smart TV? (or arguably a better experience since most smart TVs have their own OS quirks that range from mildly odd to outright annoying).

[Rumpy]

I've been a fan of theirs for quite a long time, but I've often felt like I was born in the wrong decade since their popularity was pretty much over by the time I was born. I never got the chance to see them in concert other than Mike Love's touring version of the band (in 2010, I think) which honestly paled in comparison to seeing them in their prime, I'm sure. Funnily enough, when I did go, our arena had a busted air conditioner, and it was sweltering in there, and they had complained about the heat. A band from California complaining about the heat in a town up North...

The concert was practically deserted, and easily managed to get a seat near the front roat getting good looks at Mike and Bruce.

Why not just get a new TV? The price of "smart" 4k/Ultra HD tv are not that expensive now.

Why trash a perfectly good TV and pay hundreds for a new one when for $20-$40 tops you can get the same experience as a smart TV? (or arguably a better experience since most smart TVs have their own OS quirks that range from mildly odd to outright annoying).

Not to mention that if the device goes south, you can just throw it away and replace it with another. I find having a separate device to be an advantage. I've gone from having a first-gen Chromecast to the latest, along with multiple Roku devices, yet still have the same TV. And if you end up needing an upgrade, getting a newer device is much easier than a whole new TV.

[jztemple2]

Why not just get a new TV? The price of "smart" 4k/Ultra HD tv are not that expensive now.

Why trash a perfectly good TV and pay hundreds for a new one when for $20-$40 tops you can get the same experience as a smart TV? (or arguably a better experience since most smart TVs have their own OS quirks that range from mildly odd to outright annoying).

Exactly, our nice 42 inch TV still works great, not a single dead pixel. And I also agree that I'd like to just attach a "smart" device to a dumb TV.

[hitbyambulance]

Why not just get a new TV? The price of "smart" 4k/Ultra HD tv are not that expensive now.

the built-in apps won't get updated after a while. just a few weeks ago i was trying to get someone's 2011 LG TV to work with any of its built-in/included streaming services, and none of them (including Youtube) were compatible with the current media company APIs/security/current OS/whatever and all refused to connect. Sony (Blu-Ray players and consoles) have a bad problem with removing apps over time with later device updates.

newer TVs tend to also have gnarly tracking 'functionality' added.

[Victoria Raverna]

I'm thinking of smart tv that run android tv OS. Not custom or less popular OS.

[Punisher]

I'm thinking of smart tv that run android tv OS. Not custom or less popular OS.

There are also TVs with built in Roku. That may be our next type.

[Blackhawk]

I have a smart TV, with all of the streaming services built in and ready to go.

I use a Roku stick with it. I prefer to have a single 'system' that I can run on everything (like the older TV we still have in the bedroom.) Besides, Roku is big enough that problems are solved quickly, while individual TV companies consider it a side benefit, and fix things whenever they get around to it. For a while - sort of like a phone.

[Scraper]

I have a Panasonic 50 inch HDTV, it's over 10 years old now, with 1080p and no 4k or smart tv features. The damn thing won't die, i want to upgrade to a 65 inch 4k, but it's hard to justify when i can just plug a firestick in and get all the smart features. It also has a really good picture.

[disarm]

I have a Panasonic 50 inch HDTV, it's over 10 years old now, with 1080p and no 4k or smart tv features. The damn thing won't die, i want to upgrade to a 65 inch 4k, but it's hard to justify when i can just plug a firestick in and get all the smart features. It also has a really good picture.

We still have a 50" Panasonic plasma that I bought in 2011. It's been relegated to our master bedroom as we got larger 4K TVs for other parts of the house, but it still works perfectly and has a great 1080p picture...was one of the best TVs you could buy 13 years ago and is still going strong. It doesn't have any smart features that work anymore, but I have an original nVidia Shield TV that does everything we need.

The rest of our house uses Roku though. I just bought the Shield as something neat to experiment with...pretty cool having it set up to emulate pretty much any retro video game I want to play.

[Rumpy]

Not to mention, that even if I did have a Smart TV, I think I'd still only use stand-alone devices, as I think it can actually lengthen the life of the TV.

[Scuzz]

We have a Roku on my older tv out on the patio. Using the Roku I can actually psync it to our cable so I can watch sports outside.

We also have a Roku in our travel trailer but we are rarely anywhere with wi-fi available. Although my daughter tells me I could run it through my phone.

[jztemple2]

"psync"? Not familiar with that term.

[disarm]

"psync"? Not familiar with that term.

I think that's when you time going to the bathroom just right so you can watch sports outside but still make it inside to pee during time outs. I'm not sure how the Roku helps with that though...

[Blackhawk]

No, it's the power to get a show to play in your brain at the same time as on the screen.

[Pyperkub]

We have an older Sony TV, very nice but not in any way Internet ready. We have cable. When in the past we needed to watch something I would hook up an old laptop to it, but I no longer have that laptop.

My wife recently had me get her a subscription to Disney+ so she could watch the Beach Boys documentary. So I'd like to do something so she could watch it on the big screen, but I don't want to buy a laptop just for this. Is there a cheaper alternative? I do have wifi in the room.

I stream everything from the console apps (xBox in my case). You could have talked the wife into a brand new console!

[Rumpy]

I've found that I use apps in different places depending on what I watch. It's somewhat infuriating that in Canada, apps aren't available on all services. It's why I have Roku device, a Chromecast device, and I'll use my PS5 at night so that I can use my headphones in order to watch something. We used to watch something that was on Netflix, which moved to CBC Gem, but for months that app wasn't available on the Roku, but was available on the Chromecast, which necessitated me to upgrade to the latest one seeing as the 1st gen device was no longer being supported.