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Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

arstechnica.com

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Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#31

Post by jqpabc123 »

How I break free from Smart TVs ("smart" for the manufacturer but very dumb for the user).

Buy a cheap smart TV and run it in "store mode".

Brightness and saturation will probably be maxed out but with a cheap TV, it looks more like "normal" on a more expensive model. Hint: The main difference between cheap and expensive in some cases --- the color adjustment range is limited by software on the cheaper models.

Currently using a Hisense 4k model from Costco connected to a small mini PC --- Windows or Linux, your preference. The TV functions as nothing but a dumb display.

Use a small "air mouse" for control. On screen keyboard as needed.

Use a Hauppauge USB tuner for local digital broadcasts.

I use software called DVB Viewer to view local channels and IPTV. A browser with VPN for streaming in some cases.

In every case, I maintain full control of my data and the ability to block ads as I see fit.

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#32

Post by anonym29 »

M95D wrote: post #27
aquir wrote: post #15

Don’t ever connect your TV to the internet?

They nag.

This must be a very new or not universal feature. I have an Element E4AA70R 70" 4K UHD HDR10 Roku TV I picked up in mid-2023 for well below $1000. It has never once been connected to the internet, and it doesn't nag me.

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#33

Post by kotaKat »

jeremy151 wrote: post #10
deafpolygon wrote: post #2

tl;dr: don’t connect it to a network, and/or use a computer monitor.

My work health insurance recently offered a free scale and blood pressure monitor, I thought that's a nice perk, I'll use that, so I ordered with the intent of never using their app, just using it for my own tracking. The first time I used it, I got an email from my insurance company congratulating me and giving me suggestions. Both devices have a cellular modem in them, and arrived paired to my identity. I destroyed…

Similarly, I had a workplace dental provider ship me a ‘smart toothbrush’.

Turns out they track the aggregate of everyone’s brushing and if every employee brushes their teeth, the plan gets a discount.

”Lower rate based on group's participation in Beam Perks™ wellness program and a group aggregate Beam score of "A". Based on Beam® internal brushing and utilization data.”

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#35

Post by gear54rus »

jqpabc123 wrote: post #31

How I break free from Smart TVs ("smart" for the manufacturer but very dumb for the user). Buy a cheap smart TV and run it in "store mode". Brightness and saturation will probably be maxed out but with a cheap TV, it looks more like "normal" on a more expensive model. Hint: The main difference between cheap and expensive in some cases --- the color adjustment range is limited by software on the cheaper models. Curren…

> Buy a cheap smart TV

Why does it have to be cheap? What if I want a killer panel without all the bs?

> Use a small "air mouse" for control

An alternative is something like 'unified remote' on it, then you can even type from your phone without any pain.

> A browser with VPN for streaming in some cases.

There is a missing piece for me here. A magic 'send my PC browser tab to this other PC connected to the TV' button. Not sure if something like this exists. It would be ideal to send all the browser context with cookies etc so that you are logged in too and can just start playing whatever you found on PC.

Any for of cast is not an option, rendering has to happen on the TV PC box.

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#36

Post by anonym29 »

eightnoneone wrote: post #7
ToucanLoucan wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. Works great. All things equal I'd prefer just not buying a damn Smart TV to begin with, but absent that as a realistic option (every 4K TV I've ever seen is smart) I'll happily settle with them never seeing one byte of Internet.

I’m in the same camp. The next escalation is defending against a TV scanning for, and joining unprotected neighbor networks to “phone home.” It’s a thing.

Bet this is easy to fool with a fake/honeypot open network with a high rssi that blocks all traffic except the initial captive portal / connectivity check.

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#37

Post by gear54rus »

AshamedCaptain wrote: post #18

Spoiler: this is Ars Technica. Obviously they suggest you to instead get an Apple TV so that you send your data to Apple and watch Apple ads instead (with the only argument being that "so far they do less ads").

At least we can gather and post an actual solution in the top comment.

Re: Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options

#40

Post by M95D »

anonym29 wrote: post #32
M95D wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They nag.

This must be a very new or not universal feature. I have an Element E4AA70R 70" 4K UHD HDR10 Roku TV I picked up in mid-2023 for well below $1000. It has never once been connected to the internet, and it doesn't nag me.

I rented an apartment that had an LG. It showed a FOMO-inducing popup every week.
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