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In this episode of Ask TG: we explore whether Apple Intelligence finally makes Siri worth using, if the Quest 3S is the best VR headset for you, where to mount your Frame TV for the perfect view, and which Kindle is worth your money.
Use #asktg for your chance to get featured in the next episode.
Use #asktg for your chance to get featured in the next episode.
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00:00Is Apple Intelligence and Siri finally good, or is it still playing catch-up to Google and Samsung?
00:04Want to get into VR? Is the Quest 3S the headset for you?
00:07Thinking of getting a frame TV, here are some tips for mounting setups.
00:10And if you're trying to buy a Kindle today, which one is worth your money?
00:18Welcome to Episode 2 of Ask TG.
00:20This is the show where I grab your comments and questions from our recent videos
00:23and get you answers from our Tom's Guide experts.
00:26And if you've got a burning question that you want us to answer next time,
00:28just use the hashtag AskTG.
00:33We'll give you a call, John.
00:36What's your thought on the latest versions of Apple Intelligence and the revamped Siri?
00:42So, I feel like Apple is piecemealing the whole rollout
00:46versus what you see with the other competitors like Google and also Samsung.
00:50When they unveiled their AI features, they all came out at the same time.
00:53But what I've tried out so far is promising.
00:56For example, you said Siri, the new Siri, is much more intelligent.
01:00I love that Siri is more conversational.
01:03The coolest feature I've seen so far with iOS 18.1 with Apple Intelligence
01:07is the cleanup feature with the photos.
01:10Magic Eraser has been around for a while now with Google,
01:13but I think Apple has a more intuitive interpretation.
01:16It knows exactly what you're trying to select.
01:18Is it better than Magic Eraser?
01:21That's questionable.
01:21I actually wrote a piece on that about which is better.
01:23Any other tools like that that you think maybe gives Apple an advantage
01:28compared to like Samsung and Gemini?
01:31I'm actually testing out the iOS 18.2 developer's beta,
01:35and with it is visual intelligence.
01:38And that's the next level for the iPhone
01:40because now you could use the camera to do a bunch of things.
01:42It's kind of like Google Lens or Google Gemini
01:46because now you could just take a photo.
01:48It'll research the information for you.
01:49For example, you know, this car here I'm test driving right now.
01:53It'll tell me what it is.
01:54You know, I could ask follow-up questions.
01:56There's chat, GP's integration.
01:58So if I want to know how many miles I get out of this EV,
02:01it'll do the research for me.
02:02I don't have to open up another app.
02:03So in that sense, it's great.
02:05But like you said earlier, it's still playing catch-up.
02:08What are you test driving today?
02:09BMW i4 M50, shimmery, lustery, red paint job.
02:15It got more compliments than any other car I've test driven.
02:18The handling's excellent.
02:19You take those tight corners really good.
02:21It's just exhilarating.
02:23Don't forget to watch our full review
02:24on the BMW i4n channel.
02:26See you then.
02:29Next up, if you're interested in getting into VR,
02:31maybe you've dabbled with it a bit
02:32or you're trying to find a headset that's worth your money,
02:35is a MetaQuest 3S the way to go?
02:37Well, I've been using the Quest 3 for, dang,
02:43I mean, almost a year now.
02:44But also a couple months ago,
02:46I had the chance to try out the Apple Vision Pro.
02:49During that experience,
02:50I actually was able to appreciate
02:54what $3,500 got you at the end of the day.
02:56And one of my main takeaways was,
02:58no, it's not worth it to me,
03:00but I wish I had that user interface.
03:03I wish I had, you know, the apps, the entertainment.
03:06That made it really great.
03:08But at the same time,
03:08it also showed for $500
03:10and now basically for $300,
03:12the 3S, the budget version of this,
03:14how close these headsets get to the Vision Pro.
03:17Now, having said that,
03:18this is a very powerful device.
03:20And even though I'm in a more unique spot
03:22where I don't really use this for entertainment
03:23or playing games as much,
03:25it's more for productivity
03:26when I don't want to use that monitor,
03:28I basically am getting a much bigger workspace
03:31on the go than my 49-inch ultrawide in this headset.
03:34And I can use it anywhere,
03:35train, plane, car,
03:37to get, you know, the same performance,
03:39but with a slightly lower resolution on the 299 3S.
03:44I wouldn't be surprised
03:45if they were selling it at a loss, honestly,
03:47because they're making their money
03:48on the software and the accessories.
03:50With a lot of people
03:51who are either upgrading from the 2,
03:53maybe the original 1,
03:54or haven't even tried out VR,
03:56the Quest 3S is an incredible value.
03:59And it's a great introduction,
04:01but it's also a great medium ground,
04:03I think, for a lot of people
04:04where you're getting a lot of value and performance.
04:07But yeah, if you've been on the fence about trying VR,
04:09you can't go wrong with the 3S.
04:18Hey, Kate.
04:19Hey, what's going on?
04:20So we actually have someone
04:22who commented on our last video
04:24asking about the frame TV.
04:26They need tips for mounting it.
04:28So they don't want it to be too low
04:29that it feels like a traditional TV.
04:32They've got a wall that's 9 1⁄2 feet tall,
04:34and they're probably going to be sitting
04:36about 10 feet away from the TV.
04:37So they want to know
04:38what the ideal height should be.
04:40I mean, look,
04:41the standard recommendation
04:42is based on having
04:43a directly centered eye-level view
04:46whenever you're sitting on the couch.
04:48So when it comes to mounting,
04:49I think the more specific recommendation
04:51is about 45 inches off the ground
04:53to the center of the TV.
04:55But most people aren't really going to do that
04:57because if you're looking at it visually
04:58or from like a home aesthetic perspective,
05:01you're mounting it in a place
05:02where you might have some other stuff
05:04set up on the wall.
05:05I think it could look a bit off.
05:07But I would look to mount it
05:08maybe closer to 60 inches
05:10from the center off the ground.
05:11I think that might split the difference
05:13between the so-called traditional standard
05:16to having, you know,
05:17the full effect of something
05:18mounted on your wall.
05:19So with that said,
05:21let's say you have
05:21other pieces of furniture
05:23or like maybe even a fireplace
05:25or something like that.
05:26Would you say that the rules
05:26kind of differ?
05:28100% yeah.
05:29So I think if you're going
05:30for that wall art effect
05:32and that's a priority,
05:33that's what you're paying the premium for,
05:35I definitely think
05:36it's worth compromising.
05:37Think about it this way.
05:38If you're getting a TV
05:39that can emulate art
05:41so it can look really nice
05:42on your wall,
05:43why wouldn't you hang it
05:45and have wall art?
05:46First, get that direct line of sight,
05:47then maybe go up about 10 to 15 inches.
05:50If you were to buy
05:51a brand new TV right now,
05:53would you have your mind set
05:54on a frame TV?
05:55I know you also really like OLEDs.
05:56I think the frame TV,
05:57it usually goes down to like,
05:59it could be up to like
06:00a thousand dollars off,
06:02honestly, depending on the size.
06:03That said,
06:04OLED is usually the best bang
06:06for your buck
06:07and TV deal season
06:10is definitely upon us.
06:12An OLED TV is pretty different
06:14from a frame for what it's worth.
06:15It's also a bit more forgiving
06:16with that off angle viewing.
06:18What I think most people
06:19want to know about TV deals wise
06:21is related to LG OLED TVs
06:23specifically,
06:24which makes sense.
06:25It's the leading OLED brand
06:26and often among
06:27our top rated options.
06:29The best deal I've seen so far
06:30is for the LG C4,
06:32which is one of this year's flagships.
06:34It's 45% off
06:36in that 55 inch size.
06:37And I think if you can get
06:38a 55 inch
06:39or a 65 inch OLED TV
06:41and see it for under $1,400,
06:43that's a pretty great find.
06:45And if you're willing
06:46to compromise on a TV
06:47that's a year or two old,
06:49you might even be able
06:50to get a TV
06:51in one of those sizes
06:52closer to $1,100.
06:58I don't think Tony's online right now,
06:59but I'm curious to see
07:00what he thinks about this.
07:01Okay, so let's put it this way.
07:03For reading books primarily,
07:05I know Tony reads a lot of comics.
07:07It'll be interesting
07:07to see what he says about that.
07:09Let's put it out this way.
07:12He thinks it's for Tony
07:13because Tony reviewed it.
07:14What did Kate send?
07:16She went with the Kindle Paperwhite.
07:19Kate with the Kindle Paperwhite.
07:21John with the cheap HD tablet.
07:24Anthony, regular Kindle.
07:25Once you try black and white e-ink,
07:27it's hard to use anything else.
07:29Think of it as blue light glasses
07:30for your books
07:31that you don't have to wear.
07:33The Paperwhite is a bit better though.
07:34I'm not that eager to upgrade.
07:36No, given my Kindle
07:37is less than two years old,
07:38still in good condition.
07:40All right, finally,
07:40we got a reply from Tony.
07:42He's going with the Kindle Colorsoft
07:44since he likes seeing
07:46his book covers in color.
07:48But for those who don't
07:49really care about that,
07:50which I guess a lot of people might not,
07:52he suggests the Paperwhite
07:53since it has a nice seven-inch display.
07:56Regular Kindle is nice,
07:57but might be too small
07:58for some people.
07:59Sure.
08:00I wouldn't recommend an iPad
08:02if you're primarily reading
08:03since you'll get too many distractions,
08:05plus Kindle's produce
08:06less or no eye strain.
08:08And I think that's a big one.
08:09As much as I do love
08:11reading on my iPad,
08:12during the day,
08:13like in my living room,
08:15it's fine.
08:16You know, it's definitely bright enough.
08:17But as soon as,
08:18one of two things,
08:19I go outside,
08:20it's either completely washed out
08:22and I can barely read it.
08:23Or when it comes to nighttime,
08:24even on its lowest setting
08:26and when you put its color shift,
08:28so it's a little bit more yellow on the page,
08:30it's still not, you know,
08:31the same as reading
08:32with a nice soft light
08:34and reading a traditional book.
08:36An iPad for $349
08:38or cheap Fire HD for $75.
08:40From my new point of view,
08:42the paperweight is amazing
08:44and I'd buy it.
08:44If you can get the 2021 model
08:47at a good price,
08:48it might be worth it
08:49since upgrades are small.
08:51Oh, okay.
08:52There you have it.
08:53Minor upgrades.
08:54Might as well look for
08:55the previous model,
08:57save a bit more cash.
08:59That's probably the way to go.
09:00I'm also curious as well
09:01how many people can relate to this
09:02if you were to compare
09:04having a tablet,
09:05which can do so much,
09:08you know,
09:08you play your games,
09:09your movies,
09:10your shows,
09:10whatever,
09:11versus just something
09:12that's supposed to be
09:13a modern version of a book.
09:15I feel like I might be more likely
09:17to read more
09:19with a product
09:20that's dedicated
09:22as a book replacement
09:24versus something
09:24that can replace my books
09:26and everything else.
09:28That's also worth thinking about.
09:31That's it for episode two.
09:32Use the hashtag AskTG
09:33for your chance to get featured
09:34in another episode.
09:36Follow us everywhere
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09:37You can follow me
09:38to see what I'm reviewing next.
09:39Until the next one,
09:40catch you later.
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