Help build my parents' dream AV/home computer setup
So, several product returns and several conversations after previous misunderstandings, I think I finally have an idea of what kind of system my parents want. Unfortunately, I don't know how to solve this request by myself. So, help me help them, please, if you have ideas.
Here's what my mom wants:
* A living-room-size screen. Something whose display you can see clearly from across the room. So, like, 50" or larger.
* A device that can do both TV and computer functions. By "TV functions" I mean that it can accept and display signals from a standard TV cable box, such as through HDMI.
So far, pretty standard. It's about to get real complicated.
* By "computer functions" I mean that it is basically a computer for primarily web-browsing use. Checking e-mail. Checking credit card accounts and paying bills. Stuff like that. Also some side programs for handling e-mail attachments, presumably.
A computer requires input devices. This is a particularly...unique constraint. If not for this, I'd just attach a standard computer to any modern TV and give her a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse. But no.
* No wireless keyboard. No wireless mouse.
* Control everything from the remote control.
* Keyboard? One of the following, please: keyboard built into the remote, or on-screen keyboard accessed by pointing to the letters and clicking them. (Imagine a Wiimote. But preferably less shaky.) If push comes to shove, an on-screen keyboard accessed by a D-pad on the remote may be acceptable.
If this is possible with some kind of smart TV, AndroidTV, desktop/laptop + TV + adapters combo, I don't know it yet. Please do tell.
As for what my dad wants: I haven't asked him in as much detail yet, but from my understanding so far:
* a large TV. Basically the same as my mom's request.
* preferably 4K.
* needs to be able to play video from an app called vChannel (you can find it in Google Play or the iOS App Store). This can come in one of the following ways:
* * Natively can download and run vChannel. (Note that vChannel is VERY UNLIKELY to be part of any limited selection of apps available on a standard smart TV platform. Even Roku. We checked.)
* * Remotely duplicates screen from a phone or tablet. (vChannel seems to have a ChromeCast button but it may or may not work -- at least not with a tablet running Android 4.1.)
* * HDMI port for attaching a tablet via HDMI (with micro-to-regular HDMI converter on the tablet side). This is the least preferred option of the three.
Any ideas?
Here's what my mom wants:
* A living-room-size screen. Something whose display you can see clearly from across the room. So, like, 50" or larger.
* A device that can do both TV and computer functions. By "TV functions" I mean that it can accept and display signals from a standard TV cable box, such as through HDMI.
So far, pretty standard. It's about to get real complicated.
* By "computer functions" I mean that it is basically a computer for primarily web-browsing use. Checking e-mail. Checking credit card accounts and paying bills. Stuff like that. Also some side programs for handling e-mail attachments, presumably.
A computer requires input devices. This is a particularly...unique constraint. If not for this, I'd just attach a standard computer to any modern TV and give her a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse. But no.
* No wireless keyboard. No wireless mouse.
* Control everything from the remote control.
* Keyboard? One of the following, please: keyboard built into the remote, or on-screen keyboard accessed by pointing to the letters and clicking them. (Imagine a Wiimote. But preferably less shaky.) If push comes to shove, an on-screen keyboard accessed by a D-pad on the remote may be acceptable.
If this is possible with some kind of smart TV, AndroidTV, desktop/laptop + TV + adapters combo, I don't know it yet. Please do tell.
As for what my dad wants: I haven't asked him in as much detail yet, but from my understanding so far:
* a large TV. Basically the same as my mom's request.
* preferably 4K.
* needs to be able to play video from an app called vChannel (you can find it in Google Play or the iOS App Store). This can come in one of the following ways:
* * Natively can download and run vChannel. (Note that vChannel is VERY UNLIKELY to be part of any limited selection of apps available on a standard smart TV platform. Even Roku. We checked.)
* * Remotely duplicates screen from a phone or tablet. (vChannel seems to have a ChromeCast button but it may or may not work -- at least not with a tablet running Android 4.1.)
* * HDMI port for attaching a tablet via HDMI (with micro-to-regular HDMI converter on the tablet side). This is the least preferred option of the three.
Any ideas?
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Comments
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
(Why no wireless KBM though? Not meaning to even be rude or anything, I'm just genuinely curious as to why one would be opposed. Batteries?)
the Xbone and PS4 both have web browsers built in but both of them are literal trash; I wouldn't wish the couch version of Internet Explorer Edge or Sony's nameless browser on anyone, let alone an older person, and even then, neither is fully featured enough as a computer to work in this situation (though they do address the need for on-screen keyboards)
I think she basically wants something like a remotely-controlled tablet touchscreen.
Re Vizio TV
We bought one, but then discovered that we are forced to download its Vizio SmartCast app in order to set up the smart-TV features, and it turns out that my mom's phone is running out of space (and I haven't yet had the time to really dive into it and understand why it is), my dad's phone is also running out of space, my phone isn't connected to a Google account (which was intentional on my part), and the tablet that we have is too old (Android 4.1 I think? and it accepts no further updates) to use Vizio SmartCast (which requires Android 4.2 I think). (We finally solved it when I switched out my dad's microSD card for a larger card and transferred his photos onto there.)
And then, we tried to take advantage of the Chromecast feature, installing vChannel on his phone (which runs Android 4.4, IIRC), but that didn't cast to the TV either.