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What is the best dumb TV?

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Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#281

Post by skyyler »

phonon wrote: post #225
kebman wrote: post #207

I don't have a TV, only a few monitors (it's very liberating, actually). So instead I'll talk about my microwave. Yes, unironically! :D It has two dials. OMG how do I survive with only two dials? How do I program it? Well, the answer is, unsurprisingly, that I don't program it. Instead I crank it to watever wattage I need (usually the top one), and the time I think it'll take until the food I becomes hot. Aaaand that…

> wattage (energy output) Nope, power output.

Did your distinction really deepen the conversation? Why are people compelled to make corrections like this?

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#282

Post by kllrnohj »

clouddrover wrote: post #233
davidhyde wrote: post #73

My advice is to stop seeing a “smart tv” as a feature and see it as an expensive piece of equipment subsidised by extra advertising revenue. Don’t get upset about this, just understand it for what it is. Now, what can you do about it? Easy, don’t connect it to the internet. They will tell you that it needs updates but come on, what is a security vulnerability going to to to something that’s only output is a screen an…

> Easy, don’t connect it to the internet. Maybe not so easy in the future. TVs might eventually have 5G internet connections built-in and paid for by the manufacturer. It could be worth it to them if they get enough revenue from their software platform through user tracking and advertising.

Only if there's enough users who refuse to give their TV wifi to justify such a crazy expense. Which seems highly unlikely.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#283

Post by kllrnohj »

canucker2016 wrote: post #117
crazygringo wrote: post #102

Some people are suggesting just don't connect your smart TV to the internet, others are suggesting it might still connect to open (unsecured) Wi-Fi networks. Is there any major brand of smart TV's that will attempt to connect to open networks, in order to download updates, ads, send back data, without your consent? I've never in my life had a Wi-Fi-enabled device that would connect to a network I didn't tell it to, a…

This reddit user said their Samsung TV connected to a nearby open WiFi AP. see https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/bpr6xs/if_you_choo...

There doesn't seem to be any shred of evidence in that post? Just a random statement?

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#284

Post by lostlogin »

bArray wrote: post #234
shitgoose wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would reduce it to one dial. Two dials is too much.

Eh, I've had the "one button" UI on a "smart" watch where you're doing a series of single taps, multi-taps, short presses, long presses, etc. It's really not fun for several reasons: 1. It takes forever to do anything even remotely complex. 2. The most common features aren't really the easiest to access (in terms of input effort). 3. If you make even a single mistake in a long series of taps, you have to loop all the…

So much this. I bought an oven. I wanted as few features as possible, ideally just a bake and a grill, then a knob for the amount of heat. I bought one with 2 knobs and that appeared to have very few ‘features’. It turns out it does a ton. You hold both knobs and do various twiddle manoeuvres and things start happening. The light turns on, the clock adjusts, the timer is set, the eco mode is activated or the temperature goes up. It’s awful. Smeg.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#285

Post by bjelkeman-again »

gruez wrote: post #209
m463 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

no no no. this is bad advice. 1) "Some Samsung TVs already try and connect to open WiFi networks if you don't connect them yourself." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24629155 2) there is ethernet over hdmi - I would image this is another source of inadvertent connection. 3) samsung tvs require an ethernet cable to "update firmware" so HDMI works. 4) ACR - which will look at ALL the inputs. and wait for the next…

>1) "Some Samsung TVs already try and connect to open WiFi networks if you don't connect them yourself." This claim doesn't seem to be well sourced. It's essentially going on the word of an anonymous redditor.

See user mkhpalm’s comment

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#286

Post by Hamuko »

mtalantikite wrote: post #235
kebman wrote: post #207

I don't have a TV, only a few monitors (it's very liberating, actually). So instead I'll talk about my microwave. Yes, unironically! :D It has two dials. OMG how do I survive with only two dials? How do I program it? Well, the answer is, unsurprisingly, that I don't program it. Instead I crank it to watever wattage I need (usually the top one), and the time I think it'll take until the food I becomes hot. Aaaand that…

“I don't have a TV, only a few monitors.” I also highly recommend this. It’s been 18 years since I’ve lived in a house with a tv. It’s still weird to me that people design their living rooms around sitting facing a screen rather than other humans.

>It’s still weird to me that people design their living rooms around sitting facing a screen rather than other humans.

I spent the vast majority of my time facing a screen rather than other humans.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#287

Post by kllrnohj »

toast0 wrote: post #263
neilv wrote: post #249

If I can add an additional requirement to the question, what are good dumb-TVs/monitors that have acceptable integrated speakers (driven from HDMI) ? (To avoid "smart TVs", I got a nice Sony Bravia TV, from circa 2009, and even that has more "smart" than I'd like (e.g., linked to online services that were discontinued), but it doesn't try to get onto the Internet, it has a great 1080p picture, the remote worked easil…

The tvs are just too thin, there's no really no room for speakers that sound better than laptop speakers. I think you really need a receiver/soundbar. I'm optimistic and think one day HDMI-CEC will actually work and you won't need a crazy remote control to make that work (but my newest tv is circa 2013, so maybe things are better already?)

HDMI-CEC already works great and has for a while now. The only "issue" is sometimes you have to go enable it.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#288

Post by ornornor »

conradfr wrote: post #272
ornornor wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Samsung TVs are an extreme example though. They’re the most obnoxious and the most disrespectful of your privacy by implementing all these dark patterns. Not to mention their QLED bullshit, it’s just LED but it’s meant to make you think it’s OLED and pay extra. I despise Samsung and their junk.

It's sad because I have multiple (ageing) Samsung appliances (amongst them a dumb TV) and they're all great so Samsung would have naturally be a contender for my next TV.

If all you’ve read in this thread doesn’t put you off Samsung... then nothing will.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#289

Post by b112 »

derwiki wrote: post #123
powersnail wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buy a cheap router, don’t connect the router to the internet, and connect all smart appliances to the router.

Wonder if the TV would detect it as nonfunctional and still search for open networks that work.

If you can think if it, they can too.

As Samsung is essentially hostile beyond belief, and has thrown away all pretense of 'helping', I'd say yes.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#290

Post by lostlogin »

m463 wrote: post #146
davidhyde wrote: post #73

My advice is to stop seeing a “smart tv” as a feature and see it as an expensive piece of equipment subsidised by extra advertising revenue. Don’t get upset about this, just understand it for what it is. Now, what can you do about it? Easy, don’t connect it to the internet. They will tell you that it needs updates but come on, what is a security vulnerability going to to to something that’s only output is a screen an…

no no no. this is bad advice. 1) "Some Samsung TVs already try and connect to open WiFi networks if you don't connect them yourself." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24629155 2) there is ethernet over hdmi - I would image this is another source of inadvertent connection. 3) samsung tvs require an ethernet cable to "update firmware" so HDMI works. 4) ACR - which will look at ALL the inputs. and wait for the next…

To add to this, various things try to bypass the Pihole by doing their own DNS. Google devices skip the Pihole, and I’ll bet others do too. You can catch at least some of the bad behaviour by blocking all outbound port 53 traffic that isn’t from the Pihole, or redirect it back to the Pihole.

I’m sure this will be beaten though.

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