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What is the best dumb TV?

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Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#311

Post by lopmotr »

skyyler wrote: post #281
phonon wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> wattage (energy output) Nope, power output.

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

While I'm sure it's usually for some personal emotional reasons, it's still a valuable service. Getting that wrong inhibits your ability to reason about the topic. What's the point of having thoughts that are just a soup of words that sound like they make sense but are actually nonsense?

This is not like correcting grammar where it hardly matters and we have to use some kind of grammar to write. If you didn't know what something meant, you could have just not tried to explain it or not used the word.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#312

Post by lostlogin »

theshrike79 wrote: post #261
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…

It's next to impossible to have good or even decent speakers in a flat TV and keep the price at a sane price point. My advice is just to ignore the speakers and get any soundbar, literally anything will be better than the built-in ones. I went all-in on Sonos because it's wireless and the sound quality/UX are excellent. Just got their soundbar (the Beam) first and went up from there to a full 5.1 setup.

I know they are (rightly) slated here for their business practices, but I love my Sonos speakers. I just have the Play Ones and they are so much better than anything I’ve ever had before.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#313

Post by contradictioned »

lostlogin wrote: post #284
bArray wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 temperat…

The oven in my apartment doesn't even have knobs, but only touch surface controls. It is so annoying as I cannot quickly set it to one of the three programs I normally use, and holding the "up" button for selecting the temperature is also not working well. Especially since the thing gets harder to control the dirtier my fingers are, and that just naturally happens when preparing a meal.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#314

Post by pegasus »

skyyler wrote: post #281
phonon wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> wattage (energy output) Nope, power output.

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

I found it a useful reminder. The ranking algo made sure it wasn't distracting. And it's a good idea to use the correct term when it's available.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#315

Post by dharmab »

shitgoose wrote: post #222
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 would reduce it to one dial. Two dials is too much.

I've got a one-dial microwave (the dial is also a button), it's so quick and easy to use.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#316

Post by lostlogin »

contradictioned wrote: post #313
lostlogin wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 temperat…

The oven in my apartment doesn't even have knobs, but only touch surface controls. It is so annoying as I cannot quickly set it to one of the three programs I normally use, and holding the "up" button for selecting the temperature is also not working well. Especially since the thing gets harder to control the dirtier my fingers are, and that just naturally happens when preparing a meal.

We got a Smeg induction cooktop which is amazing, but it also has touch controls. Water on it, wet fingers or some random factor I don’t understand prevent it working.

Boil water and a drip goes on the special zone and it switches off.

It’s really irritating.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#317

Post by panpanna »

lostlogin wrote: post #293
tornato7 wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should try running it through a pihole. Even better, maybe you can manage to MITM it and replace the ads with something funny.

Some devices bypass the Pihole, and while you can catch them at the firewall, it’s a tedious game.

So what we need is a jailbreak and custom firmware?

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#318

Post by tigershark »

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.

How can you even think to not buy an OLED instead of their scammy QLED full of advertisements is beyond my comprehension...

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#319

Post by speedgoose »

kioleanu wrote: post #268

I bought a Phillips dumb TV about 2 years ago after spending way too much time searching for a TV. The caveat is that it’s in the low cost range, otherwise my alternatives were extremely limited. In the TVs manual they mention multiple times and in a fatalistic tone that I must register my purchase with them and always install the latest updates. The register form needed my full address and phone number. And that’s n…

If you don't want them to connect to Wi-Fi, can't you simply never connect them to Wi-Fi?

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#320

Post by akvadrako »

noodlesUK wrote: post #300

My strong advice for my fellow HN readers is to buy a nice projector. Optoma makes several 4K models, and you can buy a screen of whatever size you want (silver ticket on amazon for instance). They’re fairly inexpensive if you just want a 1080p or even one of the lower end 4K models, and none of them have any ‘smart’ tech. No malware, no anything. The immersiveness of a 100+ inch screen beats any TV, and if you want,…

That depends if you want to use it in a dark or quiet room.

A decent and bright projector is at least double the price of a decent tv.

All the bright ones I’ve seen also require fans.

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