Just an FYI to anyone looking, you can still actually buy mostly-dumb TVs.
I was looking for a TV to buy for my parents last year and it seemed like the only options available were “smart TVs,” and I begrudgingly ended up buying a Philips ambilight unit. I was pleasantly surprised by how dumb the Titan OS on it was. Sure, it had WiFi, and the usual Netflix and other streaming apps, but I just didn’t connect it to the WiFi, and from then on it was just a souped up version of their 15 year old TV. It did ask to be connected to WiFi, but stopped after being told no a few times.
I’m sure other manufacturers have similar “smart on paper, but dumb in reality” OSes, as it seems to mostly be a cost cutting exercise. The hardware in the TV would need to be more expensive to run an actual smart platform. So the manufacturers just make a low end thing that ticks the right boxes to be able to call it smart for marketing, thinking that’s what people want.
Pro tip: Look for a hospitality TV, they come in smart and non-smart versions. Generally they’re made tougher also. You do pay more vs a Walmart pos though.
Pro tip 2: Avoid the Samsung ones, their quality control is shit.
It did ask to be connected to WiFi, but stopped after being told no a few times.
That’s still fucking awful.
That’s fine if you only want to watch TV. For streaming you will either need to connect it to the internet or use some external device that will be connected. Most people will actually want to use streaming so “it’s dumb until you connect it” doesn’t really help.
The one big advantage is that it can be something you can completely control. A very tiny htpc or even a raspberry pi without the need of much storage that will forever work on floss and will never be remotely discontinued, show ads against your will, or sell your personal data.
People with technical skills can do many great things. For the rest it’s either smart TV or some set top box and internet connection.
Technical skills including:
- buying a micro or other sff PC
- hooking it up to wifi
- Connecting a wireless keyboard and mouse to use it.
I think you missed the part about “very tiny htpc or even a raspberry pi without the need of much storage that will forever work on floss and will never be remotely discontinued, show ads against your will, or sell your personal data” because off the shelf PC with windows and default browser is definitely not that.
You could do that on a Windows PC as well of course the not being outdated part won’t be the case.
For someone unwilling to even think about trying something you’ve never done before I would just suggest a $20 ONN streaming stick you can set up stremio with one YouTube video and like 10 minutes.
Sorry, being on c/technology I made some assumptions here. I was mostly talking to people who want a dumb tv and hook up an external smart device to it, like a media centre, an android box, or an iptv box.
This is generally agreed to be a better solution as it lets you actually control your media stack, and it provides longevity. A regular smart tv will be outdated and slow within a few years, while a dumb tv can last maybe three times longer unless something inside it actually fails.
If you want to use external smart device it doesn’t really matter how smart the TV is. The only problem are TVs that refuse to work without internet connection but this doesn’t really depend on how smart they are either.
42% of all 3rd party apps? Maybe don’t make android TVs at all. They are not secure.
LG TVs sound like a nightmare. They spy on what you’re watching, listen to what you’re saying and doing, open a doorway into your home network for malware, and put you on the hook for whatever some pedo decides to download through your IP address via one of these proxy-infested apps. Plus their monitors have been silently installing highly privileged adware that is also probably spyware on people’s PCs, and popping up big unwanted ads for McAfee etc. that users can’t turn off.
Who’s TV is it?
LG’s or the resident?
“A residential proxy network is not an intended use for LG smart TVs, and LG Electronics is working with developers to remove the residential proxy option from their apps on the webOS platform,”
I guess their ecosystem is too fragile to suspend the developers immediately for what is pretty clearly abusive behavior.
botnet builders don’t care, and they’re doing this because they started at some point and nobody stopped them
It doesn’t matter what brand smart TV I have, I never connect them to the internet. I manually download updates to flash drive and install them off the flash drive.
For smart features, I rely on Nvidia Shield TV Pro devices (living room & master bedroom) or Onn 4K (for other bedrooms).
I currently trust Nvidia, and yes, Walmart, more than Sony, LG, Roku, etc. For anything I don’t trust on these devices, that’s what I have PiHole servers for.
There’s no reason to even keep them if they don’t work out of the box.
TVs cost a dime a dozen now. Walmart was selling 85" TVs for $210 last time I was in there. There are a hundred units of a hundred models in every store with demo units set up for you to preview each of them. And color fidelity and resolution are basically standardized now, so everything at the same price point looks exactly the same.
If it doesn’t work out of the box, who cares if it “needs an update”? It’s defective. Return it and pick up another one made by a competitor.
Apparently, TVs don’t give a shit. They have mesh networks that’ll search and connect with other TVs, until a TV with internet has been found. That TV can belong to anyone.
Do you have any articles about this? Would like to read more about it.
I got that as a reply a few weeks ago. I didn’t research it further when true, that’s just hacking a network - and it should be illegal. If true.
This type of information is irresponsible to repeat without verification. While I agree it would be scary, the current likelihood of a TV OS activating its own wireless systems without user permission and connecting to unpermissioned sources for updates or instructions is slim. At least without some type of malefactor hijacking.
Glad I do not even need to block my TV in my home firewall.
