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Why I will never buy another Samsung device

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Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#591

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can disable tracking account-wide at https://myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy - scroll down to the confusingly-named "History settings". If you turn these off, particularly "Web & app history", your TV (and all other Google devices) will obey the settings if it is logged into that Google account. It will still be contacting Google's servers, but it won't be recording anything.

Are you sure? Or are they just not showing you, via your UI, what they're collecting into their data pools anymore?

If you don't trust what companies explicitly say they are doing, then there is no solution that will satisfy you.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#592

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just don't connect your TV to the internet and buy an external streamer.

A vendor could display a nag screen at inopportune moments to connect the TV. As far as I know Samsung does this.

Connect it to your network and blackhole all their traffic.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#593

I avoid all things Samsung for a much more important reason: They spy on you mercilessly, up to about the same level as Facebook. For example, they take screenshots of what you watch on your Samsung Televisions! Don't believe me? Take it from them: https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/resources/tv-... and https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/insights/ You're not their customer, you're the product.…

Interesting, the UI on my TV I bought in 2017 has gotten dog slow. I distinctly recall it being very snappy when I first used it.

I wonder if part of it is horribly cheap flash storage used in smart TVs, after a bunch of update cycles, telemetry upload/downloads, etc. etc. I wouldn't be surprised if the flash chips might be wearing out and take longer to read/write to.

That or the TV companies are intentionally making previous TVs slower with updates they know old TVs can't run with any modicum of speed.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#594
post #574

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Allegedly, one major reason is that Apple has been successfully pressured by Greenpeace to remove PVC from their cables, causing them to be more brittle and fail sooner. https://fee.org/articles/this-is-the-real-reason-your-iphone... is one source, but Apple and Greenpeace themselves tout this "achievement". It seems to me to be just like replacing nuclear power with coal and natural gas power: another casualty of id…

Interesting. What about nylon clad cables? Anker makes these (as do others) and this is what I buy. Why couldn't Apple sell those?

I think the new imac has a braided coating like those fancy anker cables for it's main power cable.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#595

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You're not their customer, you're the product. What is really annoying though is that you are their customer. It's sort of understandable when Google or Facebook spy on you and monetise your data to profit from the services that they provide you free of monetary charge to you. With Samsung, you've already handed over a few hundred dollars at least for the product. Spying on you as well is like having their customer…

> It's sort of understandable when Google or Facebook spy on you and monetise your data to profit from the services that they provide you free of monetary charge to you. I personally don't like that line of reasoning. If you start to justify abusive behavior in the name of making money you're not giving someone for a "service", it's a small leap to reach the conclusion that abusive behavior (and profiting from it) is…

This is a difficult one because, like the other person that replied to you, I can't agree that cash payment is the only legitimate form of bargain that might be struck for services. I feel like it's an elitist take, because while I can thankfully afford to pay for these services with cash, a lot of people out there can't and that doesn't mean they should be shut out of basic internet services (like email, for example). And once you agree that non-cash payment is legitimate in principle, we're arguing over matters of degree and what is "reasonable".

Although I've become more privacy conscious in recent years, I'm not even sure I can agree that the bargain offered by the ad tech companies is objectively unreasonable. What I can conclude is that it is highly opaque, many people are sleepwalking into it without fully considering its ramifications, and I personally am not comfortable with it.

Samsung's practice of taking your money, offering you a product and then taking your data as well is a particularly dark pattern because it strays even more from the reasonable expectations of consumers.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#596

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You're not their customer, you're the product. What is really annoying though is that you are their customer. It's sort of understandable when Google or Facebook spy on you and monetise your data to profit from the services that they provide you free of monetary charge to you. With Samsung, you've already handed over a few hundred dollars at least for the product. Spying on you as well is like having their customer…

Do you find the smartphone keeps working? I stopped buying Samsung after two phones. About 18 months or so after I got them, some update would make things so slow I needed a new phone. Second time I figured it wasn't the phone being old, it was the update slowing it on purpose. Other phones I've had don't seem to have this problem, updates seem to not change the speed of the UI at all. But I also don't appreciate the…

I haven't experienced updates making the phone unusably slow, but I do find that they don't hold up as well as you might expect a high-end phone to. The main problem is that the battery goes to shit; not sure if that's a hardware or a software problem. I also find I tend to have trouble with the charging port after a while.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#597
Years ago I worked in customer support for samsung for a bit. Yeah, sounds about right, I'm not gonna buy customer electronics or household appliances from them either. Don't get me started on planned obscolescence. (Components like SSDs or the LEDs (different part of conglomerate) are fine probably, can't say about the submarines) Since OPs pictures had German notes: Just ask the merchant, he has to fix your stuff, (even if foldable phones are stupid), Samsung sends you away because their warranty is voluntary in the first place and - I believe - just there to confuse people.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#598

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, the UI on my TV I bought in 2017 has gotten dog slow. I distinctly recall it being very snappy when I first used it.

I wonder if part of it is horribly cheap flash storage used in smart TVs, after a bunch of update cycles, telemetry upload/downloads, etc. etc. I wouldn't be surprised if the flash chips might be wearing out and take longer to read/write to. That or the TV companies are intentionally making previous TVs slower with updates they know old TVs can't run with any modicum of speed.

> I wouldn't be surprised if the flash chips might be wearing out and take longer to read/write to.

This is what happened to the Nexus 7 tablets, I owned one and the experience, which was great at first, became terrible over time.

Smart TVs are a mistake, unfortunately most (maybe all current productions) are smart TVs nowadays. TVs are something that can last a long while - I kept my old dumb TV for 10 years before the backlight became too dark for my liking -, smart components on the other hand.. plus, it's not like it's a huge inconvenience or extra expense to add something like a chromecast or fire tv to get literally the same experience the smart components provide, except that this time, if the stick dies, you don't have to replace the whole tv.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#599

I think the main thing, is that this is a device that you bought in the EU that failed within the first 6 months. This is legally guaranteed, that within the first 6 months any defects are assumed to have existed at the time of delivery [0]. If samsung don't respect the warranty, issue a chargeback. Your bank will back you up and Samsung have no leg to stand on. (Also, samsung really shouldn't be playing silly-bugger…

Dont do that. You have to speak to the merchant, as they are your legal contract partner and you can demand they fix it. Not Samsung or your bank. This is a horrible advice

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#600
post #25

Folding LCDs have been a solution in search of a problem for years. Maybe they looked cool in some ID rendering or model, but I’ve never understood why anyone would want one other than the novelty factor. And as has already been pointed out, they’re destined for failure at the fold.

Twice the screen while still fitting in your pocket? If they were reliable I'd love one of those
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