New Samsung SEK-3000 EvoKit

[FrostByte 5052]

For those who hadn't seen Samsung finally released the long promised SEK-3000 EvoKit here in the US a few months ago.  Originally only available in Korea and then discontinued before Samsung said no more EvoKits would be built for older TVs.  Well, then Samsung changed their mind again and decided to release the SEK-3000 EvoKit in the US afterall.  This kit should for the most part bring the older upper end FHD TVs to the same level the SEK-3500 brought older UHD sets to awhile back (minus things like HDR and UHD of course).

 

http://www.samsung.com/us/video/tvs-accessories/SEK-3000/ZA

http://www.samsung.com/us/televisions-home-theater/television-home-theater-accessories/televisions/samsung-sek-3000-full-hd-evolution-kit-sek-3000-za/

 

There is no e-manual available on Samsung's site yet, but found a scanned one on AVSforum

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1630153&d=1472508527

 

Some highlights of things updated:

1. Upgrades select full HD 2013 (LED F9000/8000/7000) and 2014 (LED H8000) TVs to the 2015 smart platform

2. Powered by an octave-core processor - my F8000 has a 4-core processor

3. Comes with a new smart control remote (TM1560a)

​

​I'll be ordering a new larger Tizen TV soon, but decided to also order the new EvoKit for my F8000 after waiting to see some user reviews on AVSforum and had $250 to burn.  I'll update this thread after receiving my kit and I've had a chance to put Emby on it (hopefully the Tizen store will see it).

 

 

 

 

[Luke 37099]

Great info, thanks !

[FrostByte 5052]

Small update on the SEK-3000 Evolution Kit

 

The installation of the new Evokit went fairly well and the instructions that came with the kit were good.  The toughest part was the removal of my old SEK-2000 Evokit.  I can go into that if someone needs the info, but basically it was a pita.  Anyhow, the new kit is in.  Says it brings my F8000 up to a 2015 J-series Smart Hub.  Basically, if you have one of the sets listed in my first post and can get ahold of one of these new Evokits I would recommend upgrading.  If you have a late model UHD Orsay set then look into the other SEK-3500 Evokit.

 

Real simple once the old Evokit was uninstalled:

 

Update firmware on TV to latest

Power off

Remove power cord

Remove plastic cover from Evokit spot and plug SEK-3000 Evokit in back of TV (make sure it's seated well)

Plug TV back in

Turn TV on

TV walks you through the upgrade (may reboot several times during process)

 

So right now I have a 2013 Orsay BD player, a 2015 Tizen SmartHub TV, and borrowing my sons 78" 2016 Tizen SmartHub TV while he is deployed (lucky me) all running a version of Emby app.

 

Finding the Tizen app wasn't hard at all and was on the first screen when I went into the apps store.  Store said it was version 1.0.16

 

[CBers 6771]

Nice post @@FrostByte.

 

So all I need to do to get my F8000 up to the same level, is hope Samsung start selling the evo-kits in the UK and for the Emby for Tizen app to be made available worldwide

[FrostByte 5052]

Nice post @@FrostByte.

 

So all I need to do to get my F8000 up to the same level, is hope Samsung start selling the evo-kits in the UK and for the Emby for Tizen app to be made available worldwide

 

Ya, right now I'm not seeing the 3000 being available in the UK or anywhere in Europe yet.  Not sure why that is.  All I'm seeing is the 3500 for UHD TVs. 

[mkmcgregor 2]

For anyone interested and following this thread, the SEK-3000ZA Evolution kit is currently on sale at BestBuy.com for $79.99. Just picked one up to upgrade my F8000. I only wish the 7150 had the same port. I would probably not buy this at $300, but $80 is a no brain'r. The TV is still a great set. I did not think that Tizen would ever be available for this set. Glad to see Samsung changed their minds. I hope my set is actually compatible (it does have the port) since this may be year dependent for the same model number. We'll see on Saturday if it arrives as planned  In particular, the Tizen Plex app is supposed to support the DVR and live TV functionality now or in the future. Hope this post helps someone. 

 

FrostByte, thanks for posting, providing the information, and moving this forward!

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-full-hd-evolution-kit/5031502.p?skuId=5031502

 

Sale ended. Probably a good thing based on what FrostByte posted and the number of negative reviews on Amazon and other sites. Mine will go to ebay I'm guessing.

Edited September 7, 2017 by mkmcgregor

[FrostByte 5052]

For anyone interested and following this thread, the SEK-3000ZA Evolution kit is currently on sale at BestBuy.com for $79.99. Just picked one up to upgrade my F8000. I only wish the 7150 had the same port. I would probably not buy this at $300, but $80 is a no brain'r. The TV is still a great set. I did not think that Tizen would ever be available for this set. Glad to see Samsung changed their minds. I hope my set is actually compatible (it does have the port) since this may be year dependent for the same model number. We'll see on Saturday if it arrives as planned  In particular, the Tizen Plex app is supposed to support the DVR and live TV functionality now or in the future. Hope this post helps someone. 

 

FrostByte, thanks for posting, providing the information, and moving this forward!

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-full-hd-evolution-kit/5031502.p?skuId=5031502

 

Before updating you may want to Google Sek3000 and Reboot Loop.  I should have updated this post, but I no longer have the SEK-3000 EvoKit because it caused issues for me.  It was working great for awhile before starting the reboot loop and the problem is you can't just unplug the kit because it has to be removed in the settings first and I couldn't get to the settings because it would reboot almost immediately after turning on.  After many painful hours on the phone with Samsung they said there was nothing they could do for me.  They would reimburse me for the EvoKit, but not the TV since it was way past warranty.  

 

What I ended up doing was ordering a whole new main board to get around the issue.  Some people said they were quick enough with the key combination to get to the maintenance menu to remove the EvoKit, but I was never able to get in.  There is also another trick where you can short a certain circuit on the mainboard which resets the options back to factory, but I wasn't feeling confident in doing that.

 

It's possible Samsung has released a firmware update since which resolved the issue (they acknowledged they were aware of the issue at least) and I know there have been a few firmware updates since I returned my kit.

 

Here are some links I responded to elsewhere:

 

https://forum.samygo.tv/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=11169

https://forum.samygo.tv/viewtopic.php?t=11183

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/166-lcd-flat-panel-displays/2608209-2015-samsung-sek-3000-za-evolution-kit.html

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-Evolution-SEK-3000-ZA/dp/B01KZHPARK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

[mkmcgregor 2]

One more follow up note on the SEK3000 Evolution Kit. Mine arrived yesterday, and I decided just to see what it provided. These are the following observations for installation on UN55F8000.

- Installation easy.

- Every app requires downloading and credentials provided again if needed.

- All settings are reset to default values; every setting.

- Load times increased by 50-60% (i.e. they took longer after the upgrade) for most every application used; Plex, Amazon, YouTube, NetFlix, and the browser. Every app previously from a TV restart took about 8 seconds; it was odd but all seemed timed the same. After the upgrade, 13+ seconds. Browser did feel faster to load; under 5 seconds, but was more sluggish using. This was the major reason I tried the upgrade. The longer load times lead me to uninstall. Also, Plex app for example with the new kit installed was missing a useful feature; intro music volume setting. That was odd and made me question what version the app was and what else was missing.

- Volume up/down felt more sluggish. Entering keys on the onscreen keyboard was sluggish and had large lags. It was unpredictable at times.

- New interface is a very flat black and white UI; menu. volume, channel, .... This looked bad compared to the colorful 3D look of the original images in the stock interface. The new bottom SmartHub was that same as the updated 2013 stock UI patched to x017. So, the the kit did not add anything.

- Playing a movie on Plex saw audio dropouts every 1-5 minutes for a fraction of a second (1/5 to 3/5 of a second but always recovered).

- In Plex, the fast forward and reverse buttons would work but then you could not start play again without going the other direction first. Then it popped up a message stating "those buttons don't work, use the left and right selection buttons. Those did work, but still. They worked in the old version; again with the what version of Plex was this? 

- This may have been due to other video settings, but HDMI based HD channel cable picture (I tried a few dozen) seemed not as sharp as before. 

- Uninstalling the evolution kit left the TV without sound (would sometimes play the setup music or nothing) and eventually (a few minutes) the TV menu button stopped working. This was after a restart and pulling the power cord for over 30 seconds.I was able to do a factory reset from the Mute 1 8 2 Power service menu and that did bring back all operations. Phew!

- Once uninstalled, the HDMI cable tuner picture seemed sharper again.

- When removed, the unit was almost too hot to touch; TV had been running with the new kit for about 3-4 hours. It uses passive cooling only through two side vents (top and bottom when installed) and this is clearly not enough for the included hardware.

 

Overall, do not upgrade to this unit if you have a 2013 generation LED TV. I saw no advantages to installing this unit; in fact only disadvantages. 2012, maybe due to a much older interface, but you still may/will run into the reboot loop issue. The unit getting ridiculously hot was a major concern and assumed failure point for so many. Since this seats right over the MB, separated by the plastic of the case only, I can assume the excessive heat added to the units existing heat production is causing failure to some component on the kit or MB. Electronics will fail when power is first sent to a weakened component which explains why it fails the next time you turn it on after some use. The initial higher voltage/current surge at startup. I theorize the excessive heat is weakening components on the main board in the TV or the kit itself. Either way, it's a disaster waiting to happen.

[Luke 37099]

Thanks for the info !