Android virgin

T

trog

Active Member
I was bitten by the Black Friday bug and have just bought a Samsung TU8500 4k TV. As I do not even use a smart phone my knowledge of android devices is virtually nil so I would very much appreciate any advice and tips from you savvy people as the what apps I should get and which to avoid. It comes with Alexa, Google assist and Bixby so any advice on those would be be great too. Thanks in advance.
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-an...ixby-alexa-google-assistant-10206292-pdt.html
I downloaded a full manual where it stated that I need a minimum 10Mb internet speed to connect to the internet but I was on a paltry basic package which gave me only 7Mb so I have upgraded to fibre and will not set up the TV until that kicks in but having some food for thought now will be helpful.
This is not really relevant to my request but may spur others into getting a better deal for themselves. I was with Talktalk and the upgrades offered on their website to existing users were nowhere near as good as the Black Friday deals for new customers so I tried to call them to see if there was anything better they could offer me, after 15 minutes stuck in a queue I gave up and changed online to a Plusnet's Black friday 35Gb fibre package (£21.99 per month BB or £26.99 BB+ free weekend and evening phone calls to landlines and mobiles). I soon after received an e.mail from Talktalk saying "We are sorry you are leaving and we would like you to stay, call this number". I did and was talking to someone within 2 minutes and after a quick chat I have now been offered 67Mb fibre with anytime inclusive phone calls, fixed with no price rises guaranteed for 2 years, first 3 months free for a cost of £25.50 per month.
 
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We have Android tablets and phones and an Android (Sony) TV.
But unless you see the boot screen you'd probably never guess they share an os.

The 10MB is just a reasonable bottom limit for streaming programmes in HD - there should be no reason for you to not to get it set up and only watch broadcast or recorded content until you get a better internet connection.
 
MikeSh said:
We have Android tablets and phones and an Android (Sony) TV.
But unless you see the boot screen you'd probably never guess they share an os.

The 10MB is just a reasonable bottom limit for streaming programmes in HD - there should be no reason for you to not to get it set up and only watch broadcast or recorded content until you get a better internet connection.
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I was more concerned about it not being able to set up all the other features and updates, mind you it will take a fortnight for me to get my head around the manual, I've read shorter novels. Also some Diy, new leads to purchase and placement of the yet to receive new router to consider. I just prefer to have everything in place before I remove the old TV and hang the new one on the wall.
 
I suspect that the 'minimum 10Mb' requirement is just to ensure you have the bandwidth to properly stream 4K content if required, and that a lesser speed would not have meant that the set would have refused to connect to the internet at all. In any case, good that you've found a better and faster deal as part of this.

I've just upgraded my Mum's broadband package for her. She was on a 3G mobile dongle on an old package with 10GB/month allowance, and usually got nowhere near using this until a couple of months ago when she went a mere 500MB over and ended up getting charged £76 for the month instead of the usual £16. Have had to jump through a few hoops to get the provider to allow me to manage her account and get an upgrade (as she wouldn't be able to do it herself), but she'll now be on a 4G unlimited package for little more money, and we will now be able to video call as well which never worked for her on 3G.
 
@Scrat Sadly that cannot be avoided but its included in package price though it must make up for more than 50% of the cost.
@rpb424 Yes maybe. I do not know if Alexa, Google assist and Bixby also need a faster connection but as I was previously paying more for a slow internet with only free evening and weekend phone calls insted of anytime its a big win for me.

The change went smoothly on the day stated, I have made regular speed tests since and constantly get 68GB+ download and 18GB+upload speed whatever the time of day. Just before the change the TalkTalk lady who offered me the deal called to inform me that the price she had quoted for some reason could not be met and she would have to reduce the monthly cost by £1. I recently read that broadband prices are expected to rise this year with Plusnet and many of the other suppliers having a clause in their contracts that allow them to put up the price mid contract whilst TalkTalk guarantee a fixed price and a longer 2 year contract than Plusnet was offering I could not be happier that I made the choice to not jump ship. Just to be sure I went back to Plusnet to tell them what I had been offered and to cancel my switch to them unless they could better the offer but they could not come even close to it.
 
@BH There was a Sky broadband ad just on the TV that seemed not a bad offer, is that not even an option for you? No fibre in the valley?
 
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trog said:
@BH There was a Sky broadband ad just on the TV that seemed not a bad offer, is that not even an option for you? No fibre in the valley?
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Is this fibre to the premises? Very few of us have that. We have fibre to the cabinet, and struggle to get 40Mbps.

As for BH, you kidding?
 
I ought to review what's available at no more cost than I'm paying overall now, but the only alternative I have to landline (which just about manages 3Mbps) is Virgin. There have been men digging up roads recently though, so fibre-to-cabinet might be around the corner.
 
Black Hole said:
I ought to review what's available at no more cost than I'm paying overall now, but the only alternative I have to landline (which just about manages 3Mbps) is Virgin. There have been men digging up roads recently though, so fibre-to-cabinet might be around the corner.
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If it is, it's difficult to miss the cabinet.
 
Temporally! However, I don't know why I'm feigning jealousy - it is rare my available bandwidth isn't adequate for my needs (unless it drops out completely - I'd like to get rid of that!).
 
We have recently moved house, and having been with TalkTalk/Tiscali for 16 years with good service, I asked them to supply the new house. They couldn't, as the developer seems to have done a deal with BT. I tried several other ISPs but came up blank.
Having no option we had to go with them and as the house has fttp and there was an Openreach modem already on site, they supplied the new router and we were up and running in a couple of days.
Steady 36Mbps down and 10Mbps up was the minimum they could supply. We didn't need it, but there was no other option. The downside is that in order to keep our Tiscali email address, we had to sign up to T/Talk's mail plus for £5 month until we can migrate to something like gmail. That is a pain.
All in all we are now £12 month worse off - that is a bigger pain!

When all is settled, I plan to research why I couldn't get another ISP, as I understood that Openreach have to provide access to other providers.
 
RobH1 said:
The downside is that in order to keep our Tiscali email address, we had to sign up to T/Talk's mail plus for £5 month until we can migrate to something like gmail. That is a pain.
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I have that problem should I want to migrate away from BT. I have come to the conclusion that despite it being my email address for at least 30 years, I shall bite the bullet and acquire a email address elsewhere... the problem being where exactly.

Having a personal domain doesn't cost a huge amount per year, but it soon mounts up and you also have to find an email service to redirect it to that will let you set the "from" field (or pay to operate your own server as well, with all the admin problem).

Gmail (or the like) seems secure long-term, but at least it is free.
 
I have a personal domain and web hosting for £37.62 pa (as at this year). The web hosting gives me loads of alias email addresses (I have 50 at the moment). I use Thunderbird which allows me to set multiple From addresses.
Although I appreciate I am 'stuck' with the web hoster, at least I have no problem if/when I change my ISP. For this reason I feel it is money well spent.
 
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