at this point the TVs should be sold in ad and non-ad supported versions
Ad version $£€599.00
No ads $£€7.99
Profit.
Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features
91–100 of 190 posts
Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features
#92A lot of people do their grocery shopping at Walmart (even if you don't). This positions Walmart as being able to offer discounts for food and other daily necessities to people right on their TV. People are going to like this-especially the cohort that would buy a cheap TV at Walmart. They're going to really like saving a few dollars on groceries or gas. Not to mention Walmart can now offer perks through the TV to it…
> People are going to like this-especially the cohort that would buy a cheap TV at Walmart. What? If anyone truly believes that "People are going to like this", then just make it opt-in. There is a reason it's not "opt-in". They know damn well people are NOT going to like it.
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Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features
#93Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
It won't be "just a screen" for much longer if people continue paying for TVs that do this bullshit.
Can you even buy 'just a screen'? We have huge (100"+) screens in the office, they cost A LOT. full of spam, apps, ads, popups. It doesnt even swithc to hdmi or what ever you input automatically, you need to select the screen mode orso. The local electronics chain has 50-100 different TV's. All are 'smart'. I would be ok with classifying this as a crime against humanity. /s But honestly, I've just given up. I don't w…
Sceptre used to sell dumb TVs but they seem to be exiting the marketplace. Computer monitors and digital signage may be your best bet. You'll have to save up for 'em but that was true of TV sets back in the day too.
Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features
#95Is 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 wonder if a "woot" style service could work. If 10K like-minded consumers made a group-buy every 2-3 years, a high-end panel vendor might be willing to provision a new SKU with a few firmware tweaks.
For a while, Costco had a reputation as the place where you could buy a TV and be confident that it was usable as a "dumb" TV. The rumor (unconfirmed as far as I know) was that, among the customizations that manufacturers would make for retailer-specific models, the Costco ones included firmware tweaks to pull back on requirements for things like mandatory connectivity, account creation and the like.
I'm not sure how true any of that is, but in any case Costco still has a reputation as a place where it's easy to return a TV, and they pay attention to the stated reason for return.
Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features
#96I 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.
Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features
#97Earlier 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…
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.
Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
It won't be "just a screen" for much longer if people continue paying for TVs that do this bullshit.
Can you even buy 'just a screen'? We have huge (100"+) screens in the office, they cost A LOT. full of spam, apps, ads, popups. It doesnt even swithc to hdmi or what ever you input automatically, you need to select the screen mode orso. The local electronics chain has 50-100 different TV's. All are 'smart'. I would be ok with classifying this as a crime against humanity. /s But honestly, I've just given up. I don't w…
I meant, I treat the TV as "just a screen."
Set the input to "HDMI-1" or whatever my Roku is connected to, and that's the last thing I touch on the TV remote.
Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features
#99Isn't that actually great? Just never create and sign into a Walmart account and now your TV isn't infected.
This presumes that, now or later, there won't be an on-screen message that can't be dismissed saying "Sign in to a Walmart account to enable all TV features." There's plenty of ways they can interfere with attempts to use the TV in "dumb" mode. Heck it could refuse to show any video at all til you've signed in.
They can't do that later if you never sign in. If they do that now, you just refuse their terms, get a refund.
Re: Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features
#1002040: a $30k neural interface becomes available. 2042: a $20 budget neural version hits the market but requires the user to watch a 15s ad every 5 minutes.
Let's be honest, they'd put ads in the pay version too.