My main problem with smart TVs is that they might take a while to turn on.
What is the best dumb TV?
81–90 of 661 posts
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#82My 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…
What's really concerning is that "smart" TV's are no longer an upgrade, but the standard. You practically cannot find a new dumb 4k TV. When I went to purchase one recently, Best Buy at least had no other option.
All smart TV's are dumb if you don't connect them to the Internet.
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#83I’ve had good luck with sceptre brand TVs. They are no frills and cheap. Plug in a $30 roku and hook it up to some decent speakers and you are good to go. I’ve had two of them going on 8 years strong now. Loads of connectivity to. From vga to dvi to component/composite, 1/8” audio in/out, spdif, hdmi, etc, etc. On the other hand the power supply in my (former) LG plasma tv died after 1.5 years. I DIY replaced that wi…
It's worth noting that Roku devices apparently send a lot of information about your usage habits back to their servers, so if "privacy" is one of your reasons for choosing a dumb TV, perhaps Roku's not the best choice. Not sure if there are authoritative deep dives out there, but here's what the Pi-hole folks saw: https://pi-hole.net/2018/09/19/what-really-happens-on-your-n... I was disappointed but not surprised to…
Agree. I use pihole + Roku with my dumb tv and it feels like a good balance. The pihole also gets rid of the big ad on the channel screen
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#84Just get a projector.
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The best dumb TV is a monitor Can you find a monitor as large as a good TV for a reasonable price?
Not sure how large you're looking for - however, I use a LG 43" 4K monitor as a TV. Lots of connectivity - Multiple HDMI, DVI and even USBC inputs.
That's thousands of dollars, though, innit?
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#86You're probably better off the buy the screen you like and pair it with a low cost NUC to sidestep the privacy invasion of the "smart" part of that TV.
Modern high end TVs, such as those from Samsung, intercept all video coming from every HDMI port and use content recognition on it for ad targeting.
Granted: never put it online, and never use the smart stuff bundled with it, and you should be fine (assuming there's no critical software updates it needs to function, which has also happened). But its still disgusting behavior.
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#87The best dumb TV is a monitor with an HTPC attached to it. Also, you can find "LVDS converter boards" which are sold for repurposing LCD panels out of laptops and such, but they can also be used to dumb down TVs. You can buy a large smart TV just for the panel (which is the majority of its price anyway) and replace its motherboard with a dumb converter board.
> You can buy a large smart TV just for the panel (which is the majority of its price anyway) and replace its motherboard with a dumb converter board. This seems way harder than the alternative: just not connecting it to the internet.
Sure, you may not connect it to the Internet, but you might have a guest over that logs into their Netflix account while you're in the other room.
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unless you get a visitor over that wants to use those features and accepts them while you're away.
They'd have to have my WiFi password as well, which is 64 hexadecimal digits, and the SSID is the poo emoji. Have fun entering that with a TV remote.
Or they could connect it to their phone.
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#89Can't you just buy a smart TV and not connect it to your WiFi? It's not like they come bundled with 4G to pipe adverts...
Re: What is the best dumb TV?
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's worth noting that Roku devices apparently send a lot of information about your usage habits back to their servers, so if "privacy" is one of your reasons for choosing a dumb TV, perhaps Roku's not the best choice. Not sure if there are authoritative deep dives out there, but here's what the Pi-hole folks saw: https://pi-hole.net/2018/09/19/what-really-happens-on-your-n... I was disappointed but not surprised to…
Agree. I use pihole + Roku with my dumb tv and it feels like a good balance. The pihole also gets rid of the big ad on the channel screen
Are there any issues with a Pi-hole'd Roku?