Is Roku Box Or Roku Tv Redundant If You Connect Tv To Your Pc By Hdmi Cable?

I'm about to buy my first smart TV, and I'm considering a TCL Roku TV. I haven't done streaming. This is all virgin territory for me.

I know getting an HDMI cable to connect computer and PC is very cheap. Does that give me all I would get with a Roku box or a Roku TV?

I was comparing a TCL Roku TV to a Hisense TV. The Hisense had a web browser, but the Roku TCL didn't. Does that make a meaningful difference?

 

I don't recommend buying a "smart" TV. Instead, I advise you to buy a conventional TV and add on the Roku/Firestick/Apple TV/Chromebox or even the media PC you pondered via HDMI. The TV portion will last a decade or more and the "smart" part, like any computer, will be obsolete far sooner.

 

Every TV in our house has a PC connected to it. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon plus all the other benefits that come with a PC, like gaming.

 

Can you even buy a "decent" TV that is not smart in some way these days? Even this $135 TCL 32" TV is "smart". Yeah, you can find cheaper sets that are not smart but not sure I would call them decent in terms of acceptable image and sound quality.

Why? That really makes no sense. Virtually all TVs today are just dedicated computers with a big monitor attached. The "smart" part are just apps. How smart just depends on which apps are included and if network support (Ethernet and/or wireless) is included or not. And since those apps require licensing, that is factored in with the price. But because they are apps, they can be updated, added or removed to stay current and not go obsolete.

Yeah, networking protocols and hardware may change in 10 years, but does that really matter now? The stand-alone Roku device will be affected by the same changes in networking protocols and obsolete.

And because TVs today are basically just dedicated computers, they often need firmware updates. If not "smart" you may be totally out of luck when it comes to doing it yourself. At best, if the TV has a USB port, you may be able to load the firmware onto a thumb-drive via your computer, then attach the thumb drive to the TV and update the TV's firmware. If smart and there is a firmware update, you can just do it from the TVs own menu with your remote.

My LG OLED TV is very smart but I have a Roku streamer attached to it mainly because I already owned the Roku streamer before I bought this new TV. But I do enjoy being able to press one button on the TVs remote to see my local weather forecast, the current stock market figures, switch to Pandora to listen to music and more via the TV's smart features.