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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

#141

Post by Loughla »

rtkwe wrote: post #96
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.

They're also cheaper because they're subsidized. I did the same thing with a FireTV but understood the extra crap they want to boot and use is part of why they're so cheap, they're hoping for information to sell or puchases they can monetize.

We just bought a vizio to replace one that broke. Once you skip the setup process, all you need to do is remove the solder from the 'home' button on the remote or whatever it is and you'll never see their pop up crap again.

I get why people like this, though. It takes all of your accounts and puts them in one place. Honestly, if I could run Plex and my own media through it, it would be tempting to just block it from dialing out and get rid of my Nvidia shield.

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

#142

Post by ProllyInfamous »

bob1029 wrote: post #52

My solution to this problem has been to stop using TVs. The last TV I actually enjoyed more than a PC/Mac display was a monster Panasonic plasma that had some serious practicality issues. I'd use it maybe 2-3 hours per week. None of the other display technologies are that interesting to me. OLED gets close sometimes, but nothing matches the visceral urgency of a plasma panel clocked at 600hz. The noises it would make…

>plasma that had some serious practicality issues

I finally had to let my mid2000s plasma go, only because moving it required two people (I can one-person a mattress). Not even OLED can reproduce those backlightless blacks (but my 48" Aorus comes close, when viewing straight-on).

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

#143

Post by freedomben »

jvolkman wrote: post #97
sjsdaiuasgdia wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A manufacturer can target multiple markets and make different choices for different markets. The Samsung S90D (a 65" 4K model) you bought appears to sell for about $1000. Looking at Best Buy's site, you can also buy a Samsung 65" 4K TV for as little as $180 (model DU6900). Yes, there's other differences. LED vs OLED etc. But at a glance they seem equivalent to a consumer...and one costs 5x more. The $1000 TV is targe…

While all of that is certainly true, even the DU6900 has the "Start with Smart Hub Home" option that defaults to enabled but can be disabled according to its manual. I assume that's what OP is seeing; it's a common thing to want to disable on Samsung TVs.

I'm not at home currently so can't check, but you might be right about what it is. I'll definitely have to check! I do remember being nagged to connect to wifi though, but it might be a combination or something. I appreciate you mentioning this because if I can just disable it, that would actually improve my life :-)

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

#144

Post by nunez »

jerlam wrote: post #84
sjsdaiuasgdia wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A manufacturer can target multiple markets and make different choices for different markets. The Samsung S90D (a 65" 4K model) you bought appears to sell for about $1000. Looking at Best Buy's site, you can also buy a Samsung 65" 4K TV for as little as $180 (model DU6900). Yes, there's other differences. LED vs OLED etc. But at a glance they seem equivalent to a consumer...and one costs 5x more. The $1000 TV is targe…

There are free TVs now that are completely subsidized by ads: https://www.telly.com/ But don't think people who can afford the more expensive TV are also more tech-savvy. Some just want a nicer TV. Also, they are a much more lucrative target market than people who cannot afford the nicer TV.

I finally saw one of these in person last year!

It was as fascinating as it was terrifying.

It had a noticable array of sensors and (I think?) microphones along with a camera smack dab in the middle. Above that was its permanent ad display. The TV also has access to its own portal, which was what was on when I saw it. An AI-generated reporter was talking about entertainment news.

Not even Orwell could've imagined a better telescreen than this. You know it's chock full of anti-defeat protections to prevent curious minds from scoring a free TV.

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

#145

Post by m463 »

sjsdaiuasgdia wrote: post #72
jvolkman wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the half-screen display? On my Samsung S90D (new within the last year or so), I can set it to skip the "home" screen and go directly to the last input on power on. It works well.

A manufacturer can target multiple markets and make different choices for different markets. The Samsung S90D (a 65" 4K model) you bought appears to sell for about $1000. Looking at Best Buy's site, you can also buy a Samsung 65" 4K TV for as little as $180 (model DU6900). Yes, there's other differences. LED vs OLED etc. But at a glance they seem equivalent to a consumer...and one costs 5x more. The $1000 TV is targe…

It's like poor people living in the crowded business district with little peace and giant billboards shining in the bedroom window.

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

#146

Post by grounder »

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.

Same for me. I had to quarantine my FireTV box with its own rules on my network to stop it from using all of my XFinity bandwidth for the month just doing nothing but maybe an hour of actual usage per day.

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

#147

Post by nunez »

Robdel12 wrote: post #15

Is there any kind of “hook up” on wholesale large dumb displays? I know I’m preaching to the choir, but I just want a giant dumb display from my Apple TV. I vaguely remember someone posting a link to tvs restaurants use but I don’t remember exactly what or if it was what I’m looking for. (Sorry, being lazy here)

I wondered this as well when I was shopping for a new TV a few years ago. Unfortunately, not only is it really difficult to find a "dumb" modern TV, but the best display panels will always be on smart TVs because that's what sells.

That said, I ended up getting a Sony A95K 55" TV, and it's been great. It has Google TV built-in, but I immediately connected our Apple TV to it, and it's never seen the Internet since. No nags, either. Sony also made it really easy to disable motion interpolation, a feature I really dislike.

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

#148

Post by skillina »

rtkwe wrote: post #96
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.

They're also cheaper because they're subsidized. I did the same thing with a FireTV but understood the extra crap they want to boot and use is part of why they're so cheap, they're hoping for information to sell or puchases they can monetize.

The frustrating thing is the lack of options. If you buy a $300 TV or a $3000 TV it will still come loaded with bloat/ad/spyware built in.

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

#150

Post by 1234letshaveatw »

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.

My google dongle got progressively worse and worse. Frequent disconnects, I found out you had to like orientate it a special way, youtube kept having issues. Dumped it and switched to my built in LG OS (WebOS based I think). Works fine, does basically the same thing as my Google dongle did without the slow degradation march
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