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Moonjumper

macrumors 68030
Jun 20, 2009
2,740
2,908
Lincoln, UK
Putting all your set-top boxes, games consoles inside a closed cabinet. Not great for heat dissipation and therefore reliability. Also not good for allowing the remote controls to work.

I don't think Ikea have bothered with putting a top quality screen in there. I expect Apple to care more about such things if they release a TV.
 

wpotere

Guest
Oct 7, 2010
1,528
1
Putting all your set-top boxes, games consoles inside a closed cabinet. Not great for heat dissipation and therefore reliability. Also not good for allowing the remote controls to work.

I don't think Ikea have bothered with putting a top quality screen in there. I expect Apple to care more about such things if they release a TV.

Couple of guesses without even looking at it... :rolleyes:

As for heat, the front is a mesh cover that will ventilate so that likely won't be an issue. I think that it is a neat idea and it is great that someone is finally looking into it.
 

Arran

macrumors 601
Mar 7, 2008
4,847
3,779
Atlanta, USA
Quite fittingly green of Ikea: Recycling the radiogram concept:
 

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wpotere

Guest
Oct 7, 2010
1,528
1
Quite fittingly green of Ikea: Recycling the radiogram concept:

Actually my grandmother still has a unit that has a radio, TV and record player with speakers built into it. You are right, it is nothing new but we really don't have a great solution right now.
 

0dev

macrumors 68040
Dec 22, 2009
3,947
24
127.0.0.1
Building a bunch of stuff into a TV makes no sense.

I have a TV with internet features and all fancy bells and whistles, but I never use any of that, it just happened to be on the TV I wanted. Instead I have an Apple TV plugged into it which I use for downloading movies, streaming videos, playing music, and whatever else.

The issue with everything being built into the TV is that "smart TV" equipment needs to be updated a lot more often than a TV itself does. For example, if Apple came out with a new ATV which was more powerful and was therefore able to support some new features, I could easily buy it and plug it into my TV, but if the ATV was built into the TV itself then I'd have to buy a whole new TV just for a few new features. In the same way, if my Blu-ray player broke and I needed a new one, I'd just buy one, but if it was built into my TV I'd have to send the TV back under warranty or, again, buy a whole new TV. Either that or plug a cheap Blu-ray player in, defeating the purpose of it being all-in-one in the first place.

Computing equipment and even disc reading equipment becomes outdated a lot faster than a TV set is my point. Having that equipment built into a TV set is therefore a bad idea IMO.
 

kdarling

macrumors P6
Putting all your set-top boxes, games consoles inside a closed cabinet. Not great for heat dissipation and therefore reliability. Also not good for allowing the remote controls to work.

In the video, they point out that there's a mesh on the front that passes remote control signals, and hopefully air.

Actually my grandmother still has a unit that has a radio, TV and record player with speakers built into it. You are right, it is nothing new but we really don't have a great solution right now.

Yep, a lot of us grew up with TVs and stereos inside wonderful wood cabinets.

The issue with everything being built into the TV is that "smart TV" equipment needs to be updated a lot more often than a TV itself does.

Hence all the HDMI inputs.

I'd be more worried about the screen itself going bad, and having to throw out the furniture with it :)

Then again, a lot of us grew up with... see above.
 

basesloaded190

macrumors 68030
Oct 16, 2007
2,693
5
Wisconsin
Even with the mesh front, heat would be an issue. Most components either get rid of their heat from the top or back and with little room for the air to move around, there is no way I would trust my equipment in such a tight space. Neat idea, but not completely practical.
 

0dev

macrumors 68040
Dec 22, 2009
3,947
24
127.0.0.1
Hence all the HDMI inputs.

Sure, but if you're gonna plug in all your stuff via HDMI that defeats the purpose of the all-in-one.

I'd be more worried about the screen itself going bad, and having to throw out the furniture with it :)

Depends on what you buy I guess. When it comes to TVs I like to buy high end models from good brands which I know will last me ages. I have a Sony flatscreen from 10 years ago which still works, in fact. It has since been replaced, but that does go to show how long these things can last if you buy good ones.

Then again, a lot of us grew up with... see above.

And there's a reason that nowadays we buy things separately, because it may be less convenient to set up but in the long run it's a better way of doing it (IMO at least).
 

kdarling

macrumors P6
Sure, but if you're gonna plug in all your stuff via HDMI that defeats the purpose of the all-in-one.

Since it doesn't include apps or Netflix etc, it doesn't strike me as being intended as an all-in-one device beyond just being a TV+furniture setup.

Depends on what you buy I guess. When it comes to TVs I like to buy high end models from good brands which I know will last me ages.

Sure, but in this case the TV is built into the furniture, right? No choice. That's why I mentioned having to throw out the furniture if the TV goes bad.

And there's a reason that nowadays we buy things separately, because it may be less convenient to set up but in the long run it's a better way of doing it (IMO at least).

I like buying separately too, so we're clearly not the target market :)

The IKEA thing seems to be a throwback to the old receiver-as-furniture paradigm, which was popular for a century.
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
So was this a serious post?

This is like saying Archos (or Black & Decker, Lol) beat Apple to the media player market. Meaningless.

A lot of Apple's competition arrives first to the market with something - though IKEA doing it is just comedic. In any case, most of them are promptly forgotten when Apple shows up. Guess why.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,478
43,405
I like IKEA products but I'm not really seeing this as a good fit. The question for me is the quality of the TV good.

What about when you want to get a new TV, you'll be stuck buying the components if you don't choose another IKEA TV?
 

AppleScruff1

macrumors G4
Feb 10, 2011
10,026
2,949
So was this a serious post?

This is like saying Archos (or Black & Decker, Lol) beat Apple to the media player market. Meaningless.

A lot of Apple's competition arrives first to the market with something - though IKEA doing it is just comedic. In any case, most of them are promptly forgotten when Apple shows up. Guess why.

Why?
 

RenoG

macrumors 65816
Oct 7, 2010
1,275
59
I like IKEA products but I'm not really seeing this as a good fit. The question for me is the quality of the TV good.

What about when you want to get a new TV, you'll be stuck buying the components if you don't choose another IKEA TV?

Exactly.. not only components but also another console, no thanks.
I too really really like IKEA because they took modern house hold goods back to its original philosophy. 'Timeless design that vertually anyone can afford'.

But this tv idea, sorry I can't get behind this one...
 

Tinyluph

macrumors regular
Dec 27, 2011
191
0
The selling point to this product isn't that it is a Smart TV, but that it comes pre-packaged and works with your furniture so you don't have to worry about cables. I don't see how this beats Apple to anything.
 

roadbloc

macrumors G3
Aug 24, 2009
8,784
215
UK
I'm going to be honest here. That looks utter ****. If that is the best SmartTVs will ever get, I think I'll give this tech fad a bit of a miss.
 

Yumunum

macrumors 65816
Apr 24, 2011
1,452
0
U.S.
The title seems to imply that Apple couldn't make it to the TV market before Ikea did. That is not the case. Apple could've made a TV by now if they wanted to. Ikea probably could've made a TV earlier too. In the end, does it matter? I don't see how being first gives anyone a huge advantage (if any advantage at all). Success depends on the product, company, ect. We all know that if Apple released a TV it'd sell more than this Ikea one.
 

Liquorpuki

macrumors 68020
Jun 18, 2009
2,286
8
City of Angels
I think Apple has something more ambitious in mind when it comes to their TV.

When they put out the iPod, their ambition didn't stop at just making a better MP3 player - it involved transforming the way the music industry does business. I'd think they'd be trying to transform the television industry in a similar manner and forcing cable providers to adapt just like they did to Sony and all the major record labels.

That Ikea TV works within the limits of what we expect a TV to do nowadays. It just integrates everything into a streamlined interface and removes clutter.

I'd expect Apple to go beyond that and redefine what a TV is/does.
 

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
The title seems to imply that Apple couldn't make it to the TV market before Ikea did. That is not the case. Apple could've made a TV by now if they wanted to. Ikea probably could've made a TV earlier too. In the end, does it matter? I don't see how being first gives anyone a huge advantage (if any advantage at all). Success depends on the product, company, ect. We all know that if Apple released a TV it'd sell more than this Ikea one.

Exactly. Well said.
 

Demosthenes X

macrumors 68000
Oct 21, 2008
1,954
5
I think this is a great idea. It's obviously not for everyone, but for a lot of people, I can see this being very popular. I do like the concept of it being entirely wireless, but I'm not sure I'd be happy with the sound quality from their 2.1 setup, so I don't think I'd buy one on those grounds.

But for someone just looking for a basic, fashionable TV-watching experience? Perfect.
 
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