Hi, this is Ty Pendlebury with the review of the Insignia NS-55E480.
TV manufactures have been trying to sell us Smart TV for some years now.
But some people would like to be able to choose the platform that suits them and not be lumbered with the one that comes with their TV and to the Roku Streaming Stick, one of the first TVs to support the Insignia NS-55E480.
The 2 devices used an HDMI-based standard called MHL,
which is so far being used to control Smartphones, but is now extending to set-top boxes.
The Insignia doesn't come with the Roku Stick.
It's available separately for $99, but the TV is obviously designed for it as even the MHL port is purple.
Combine the two therein, you get a Roku experience that clears your AV unit of clutter and lets you use the TV remote to control it.
But even if you take the Roku Stick out of the equation, the Insignia is still a good deal.
It offers similar picture quality to a Samsung LED panel,
but at a saving of about $400.
Sure, it's not the best TV in the world, but $800 it sticks out by pairing decent black with vibrant colors.
While it's possible to get a plasma at around the same price with an even better picture if you simply must have an LCD, there is very little else that competes with this Igsignia TV.
This has been Ty Pendlebury for cnet.com.
