What is the best dumb TV? • Hacker News Board

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#411

Post by andi999 » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 10:01 AM UTC

danielheath wrote: post #400

iforgotpassword wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

but much better than the old analog knob. For less than a minute you couldnt even turn it (usually jumped back to the bell or was anything from 20s to 1min)

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#412

Post by junon » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 10:01 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…

I believe you're both talking about two separate designs - I'm sure one might have influenced the other but they're certainly not the same.

The analog knob you're referring to, I think, is the _very_ old design that functioned more like an egg timer. It was spring loaded and simply turned on the microwave circuit and broke it when the timer mechanically reached resting position.

The new knob is digital, and you use it to navigate a digial menu and to increase/decrease the timer prior to pressing it inward to start the process. Completely novel input mechanism.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#413

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

What's the point of specifically looking for dumb TV?

Is it because of tracking stuff? If so... Why just not connecting it to internet achieve same effect as having a dumb TV?

Or is there something else? :)

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#414

Post by Lio » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 10:04 AM UTC

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…

Sadly, that won't help you if the smart TV is constantly looking for open wifi networks to use without your knowledge or intervention.

Rather than constantly monitoring and investigating what your TV is doing it's far simpler to just avoid Samsung, LG, Panasonic or Sony products.

Even if your current smart TV doesn't do this, it's exactly the sort of dark pattern that certain manufacturers could add with an update and there's nothing you can do about it because you don't control the product.

Best to just avoid brands you don't trust.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#415

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

acjohnson55 wrote: post #232

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…

A couple years ago, I discovered the joy of microwaving at low to mid power. The results are far better for foods that have already been cooked, at the cost of mildly longer cook time. The only thing I nuke at full power is liquid.

You and me both. I was fed up of following the cooking instructions only to have some things explode. I was particularly tired of cleaning up porridge which will quickly turn concrete-like. Instead, drop it down to medium, add on a minute or two and it's perfect.

Why is it that all microwave cooking instructions say to use high power. I recently bought a soup that included the cook time for a 1000W microwave, I can't imagine that ending well.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#416

Post by ece » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 10:11 AM UTC

In case someone is wondering about the brand Sceptre, it's relatively old, and I've had Sceptre monitors (22", 24") for a few years now without problems. The colors and latency seem fine to me too, though I'm not a pro artist/gamer. Some of their smaller monitors are a great deal on Amazon with high refresh rates too, though I wish they had matte options. I didn't know they had TVs too.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#417

Post by boiporitto » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 10:12 AM UTC

Sceptre 65 Inche 4K UHD LED TV 3840x2160 MEMC 120 Ultra Thin HDMI 2.0 Upscaling U658CV-UMC, 2018

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#418

Post by solarkraft » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 10:13 AM UTC

srtjstjsj wrote: post #131

solarkraft wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The WiFi rumor is plausible because it's free for them, the LTE story is not because it would be quite expensive in multiple dimensions.

Expensive how? Maybe not LTE, but Kindle comes with 3G cellular.

- An LTE module is significantly expensive (10€?).

- A carrier contract costs some money (some m2m contracts for very low bandwidth can go for around 1€/month).

- It's extra design and management effort (antennas, contract management and such)

- Maybe most importantly: It's rather easy to spot and people would ask uncomfortable questions.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#419

Post by codeulike » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 10:16 AM UTC

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…

Microwaves have such terrible UIs. I always wanted to make an online Microwave UI simulator where it generates a random Microwave control panel and you have to work out which buttons to press to heat up some soup.

Re: What is the best dumb TV?

#420

Post by 3np » Sat, Oct 03, 2020, 10:17 AM UTC

hjnilsson wrote: post #371

nfoz wrote: post #52

LG sells them as some of their "Business" tvs, intended e.g. for hotels. In Canada some of them are branded as "Commercial Lite". Here's an LG 65" 4k HDR dumb TV: https://www.lg.com/ca_en/business/commercial-tv/lg-65UV340H I have a similar model from a few years ago (purchased from Canada Computers fwiw), and I love it. Because I don't notice it exists. It just does its job, like a TV should.

Main issue with these are the lack of inputs. 2 HDMI ports is not enough for most people. And lack of ARC complicated adding a sound system.

Not for everyone I guess, but I've been very happy with a decently modern receiver (in my case Sony STR-DN1080) taking care of all that and acting as an HDMI "switch". 6 HDMI inputs, 2 HDMI outputs and all the other in/outs at least I could possibly want.

"Smart" features are starting to creep into these devices as well, though...