What is the best dumb TV? • Hacker News Board

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#391

Post by xmprt » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 9:00 AM UTC

moksly wrote: post #322

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…

My microwave has a wheel to turn the timer, a wheel to set the WATT, a stop button and a start button. If you press the start button it’ll automatically run for 30 seconds, if you press it again it’ll add another 30 seconds to the current run. It took me maybe 4 years of owning it before I learned of the start button feature. Not sure what the hell people are doing with microwaves that connect to the internet, but I…

Tech can often make complex processes simpler but it can also make simple things complicated by adding too many unnecessary bells and whistles. That's how I feel about a lot of the IOT products coming out today.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#392

Post by PostThisTooFast » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 9:05 AM UTC

garfieldnate wrote: post #330

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…

We're going off topic now, but why do all microwaves have knobs now? I hate them. I want a number pad like the microwaves had when I was growing up. I want to close the door, press the numbers that indicate the amount of time I want and hit "start". When you turn a knob, either you have no indication of the exact time, or there's a display that moves in increments that the computer thinks are good (usually 10s). I do…

My beef is microwaves that force you to press “cook time” before can use the number pad.

If I walk up to the thing and start typing, WTF does GE think I’m entering? Their default is... NOTHING. It ignores the input. STUPID.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#393

Post by PostThisTooFast » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 9:06 AM UTC

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.

What does that have to do with TV vs. monitor?

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#394

Post by knaq » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 9:08 AM UTC

garfieldnate wrote: post #330

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…

We're going off topic now, but why do all microwaves have knobs now? I hate them. I want a number pad like the microwaves had when I was growing up. I want to close the door, press the numbers that indicate the amount of time I want and hit "start". When you turn a knob, either you have no indication of the exact time, or there's a display that moves in increments that the computer thinks are good (usually 10s). I do…

I would be happy with a big red rocker switch. It should have labels "ON" and "OFF".

A more daring design uses the door as a switch. Close the door, and the microwave runs. Open the door, and it stops. This is about as simple as it could be. User efficiency is maximized.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#395

Post by scatters » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 9:10 AM UTC

lostlogin wrote: post #310

tornato7 wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your best bet is to find a large PC monitor. There are a few 43" monitors out there with decent speakers. The predator CG7 is one I'm looking at.

How do you adjust volume or turn it on and off?

Why bother? Whatever you plug into it will have its own volume control, and when that switches off or disconnects the monitor will go into power saving mode.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#396

Post by iforgotpassword » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 9:11 AM UTC

garfieldnate wrote: post #330

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…

We're going off topic now, but why do all microwaves have knobs now? I hate them. I want a number pad like the microwaves had when I was growing up. I want to close the door, press the numbers that indicate the amount of time I want and hit "start". When you turn a knob, either you have no indication of the exact time, or there's a display that moves in increments that the computer thinks are good (usually 10s). I do…

Found the millennial? The knob design is the much older one as it's purely analog.

I don't have a microwave anymore for almost a decade now, but even before I used it occasionally only, mostly for heating up food from the day before, nothing where I'd need sub-millisecond accuracy. Also in general food tastes different/weird if you blast it at full power, so going for lower wattage and longer cooking times would reduce the need for super accurate timing controls. Unless you grew up on microwaved food exclusively, then I guess food prepared on a stove tastes weird. :-)

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#397

Post by zamalek » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 9:15 AM UTC

I routinely call them dumb TVs too, but they truly are the smartest choice. A TV costs $500, a Chromecast/Apple TV costs, what, $50? In addition to the price advantage of decoupling your TV from your "tuner," who is going to continue to support your device? Apple? Likely for perpetuity. Google? For some years at least. Samsung? Enjoy the only firmware that will ever ship for that device.

Don't buy smart TVs, they are practically stupid.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#398

Post by beagle3 » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 9:21 AM UTC

kllrnohj wrote: post #274

nitrogen wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see why people aren't rioting in the streets about this, apart from the fact that there are currently bigger issues already occupying rioters. It's seriously beyond the pale.

Since I never connect my TV to the internet, why would ACR bother me? Doesn't really matter if the data isn't going anywhere.

The TV might still find a way to connect through open WiFi, Comcast xfinity or (a future model) 5G whispernet style connection.

It might not do that today, but perhaps a future firmware update that you would need or want, will do that; Visio TVs started ACRing and uploading that data after an update (they were sued for it and lost; it was called “smart data” or some other innocuous name.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#399

Post by read_if_gay_ » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 9:22 AM UTC

ssss11 wrote: post #128

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…

But alot of people want Netflix etc streamed. also alot of people dont know how to manage firewalls, pihole etc. This idea of stuffing tracking and ads into everything “smart” is such an insult to the individual.

Anyone should be able to setup and use Apple TV. (If you trust Apple, that is).

If not, you could use a Raspi? I had non-techie (but still young) friends who came up with and implemented this idea by themselves.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#400

Post by danielheath » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 9:30 AM UTC

iforgotpassword wrote: post #396

garfieldnate wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're going off topic now, but why do all microwaves have knobs now? I hate them. I want a number pad like the microwaves had when I was growing up. I want to close the door, press the numbers that indicate the amount of time I want and hit "start". When you turn a knob, either you have no indication of the exact time, or there's a display that moves in increments that the computer thinks are good (usually 10s). I do…

Found the millennial? The knob design is the much older one as it's purely analog. I don't have a microwave anymore for almost a decade now, but even before I used it occasionally only, mostly for heating up food from the day before, nothing where I'd need sub-millisecond accuracy. Also in general food tastes different/weird if you blast it at full power, so going for lower wattage and longer cooking times would redu…

> Found the millennial? The knob design is the much older one as it's purely analog.

Modern microwave knobs are not properly analog. They are so infuriating - an analog control fiddling with a discrete setting. As you turn the knob, it will occasionally (with no haptic feedback) tick over to the next discrete value.