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Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features

arstechnica.com

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Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features

#111

Post by prepend »

john_strinlai wrote: post #10
SunshineTheCat wrote: post #3

Kinda a wild idea I had never really considered, but absolutely a possibility: using a TV as a loss leader to sell ads. Not sure if that's they're intent here, but I could easily see that becoming a thing (if it isn't already). And what better way to collect useful ad data on people than forcing them to create an account and then tracking their usage of the device.

it is definitely a thing. a 65" 4K OLED tv costs less than 32GB of ram! practically every other electronic has gone up in price like crazy, tvs have gone down.

Havent all electronics dropped in price?

Computers are cheaper. Phones are sort of cheaper. Headphones are cheaper.

Game systems cost more.

Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features

#112

Post by autoexec »

prepend wrote: post #104
SoftTalker wrote: post #35

Just use an AppleTV, Roku, etc. and connect it to the HDMI port. TV is just a screen. That is how I've used mine for the last 5+ years.

I find roku really ad heavy and it sent tons of traffic back to roku.com. Same for firetv.

Exactly. If I wanted ads and surveillance I'd have just connected the smart TV directly to internet in the first place.

Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features

#113

Post by tverbeure »

autoexec wrote: post #110
joering2 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here! none of my home Tvs, most LG and Samsung, have ever seen w Wifi password. Always putting firestick on it and call it a day. At least firestick I can unplug throw away, God only knows what updates TV does that I obviously cannot revert.

> Always putting firestick on it and call it a day. Aren't you just letting amazon collect and monetize your viewing habits while allowing them to push ads at you? Avoiding ads and data collection are the reasons I'd want to leave my TV offline in the first place.

Option A: use Amazon Prime Video to watch shows. Share your viewing habits with Walmart/Vizio and Amazon.

Option B: use Amazon Prime Video to watch shows. Share your viewing habits with Amazon.

Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features

#114

Post by autoexec »

SoftTalker wrote: post #82
plagiarist wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It won't be "just a screen" for much longer if people continue paying for TVs that do this bullshit.

IDK. People are always going to want to connect game consoles, computers, etc to big screens without a lot of fuss.

To me "a lot of fuss" includes having to sign up for a walmart account and dealing with ads being shoved in my face

Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features

#115

Post by Marsymars »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #68

I never connect my smart TVs to the network, I just plug in my Apple TV and move on. It's frustrating because it takes longer to turn these devices on than it should because of all the additional overhead I don't want or need. I wish someone would make a painless gadget to flash the software with dumber software that loads instantly.

I've got a Sony TV with Google TV (not connected to internet) that turns on pretty quickly.

If it's going from a cold boot e.g. where it was unplugged or if it's doing a full reboot it takes a bit longer and shows a splash screen, but if it's turning on from a regular "off" state it takes about the same amount of time as the rest of my dumb screens and goes directly to the last used input.

Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features

#116

Post by john_strinlai »

prepend wrote: post #111
john_strinlai wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it is definitely a thing. a 65" 4K OLED tv costs less than 32GB of ram! practically every other electronic has gone up in price like crazy, tvs have gone down.

Havent all electronics dropped in price? Computers are cheaper. Phones are sort of cheaper. Headphones are cheaper. Game systems cost more.

>Havent all electronics dropped in price?

that does not reflect my reality, for the things i have bought (or considered buying), no.

but i dont have hard data to back that up, so maybe i am wrong about the general case and the price increases are more local or specific to some other variable.

Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features

#117

Post by c420 »

SoftTalker wrote: post #35

Just use an AppleTV, Roku, etc. and connect it to the HDMI port. TV is just a screen. That is how I've used mine for the last 5+ years.

Saw this elsewhere:

"It will not let you do anything until you download the app on your phone, make an account, and log in on the TV. You cant just change it to HDMI 1 and use a Firestick. I set it up with a throw away email, then deleted the app, and took the TV off of the WiFi."

Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features

#118

Post by autoexec »

tverbeure wrote: post #113
autoexec wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Always putting firestick on it and call it a day. Aren't you just letting amazon collect and monetize your viewing habits while allowing them to push ads at you? Avoiding ads and data collection are the reasons I'd want to leave my TV offline in the first place.

Option A: use Amazon Prime Video to watch shows. Share your viewing habits with Walmart/Vizio and Amazon. Option B: use Amazon Prime Video to watch shows. Share your viewing habits with Amazon.

Using a firestick means amazon collects data on what you watch regardless of the platform you view it on. Also ads.

Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features

#119

Post by Marsymars »

prepend wrote: post #104
SoftTalker wrote: post #35

Just use an AppleTV, Roku, etc. and connect it to the HDMI port. TV is just a screen. That is how I've used mine for the last 5+ years.

I find roku really ad heavy and it sent tons of traffic back to roku.com. Same for firetv.

I've got a Roku on a TV in a spare room because it's the cheapest way to add airplay to a tv - I have it plugged in to a "smart" power bar that only provides power to the roku when the TV is turned on, so at least for the 99% of the time that the TV isn't turned on the roku isn't spamming my network.

Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features

#120

Post by unethical_ban »

dylan604 wrote: post #93
m4tthumphrey wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An airgapped TV I expect.

That's the point though. TVs like from TFA are preventing use when air gapped. As more manufacturers go this route, there will be fewer tvs that will allow that to work

Are they?

I skimmed TFA and what I consider "Smart TV features" are the things the Shield does: Apps, streaming, etc.

I see no indication that picture settings or HDMI features are disabled without an account.

I have a Samsung TV that is "smart" but I use a Shield and never touch my TV remote unless I need to adjust a picture setting.

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