buying a ‘dumb’ tv is getting harder and harder to do…
how long until you are forced to hook a new ‘smart’ one up to the internet, just to “set it up”–even if you have no plans on ever using the ‘smart’ features or embedded apps?
Yeah, TCL was the front-runner when I was looking for a non-smart TV until I saw that. :( I ended up just going with a samsung and hoping for the best. I’ve not noticed anything annoying, but we’re probably going to switch back to a PC hooked up to the TV with all the subscription problems / price jacking lately.
buying a ‘dumb’ tv is getting harder and harder to do…
how long until you are forced to hook a new ‘smart’ one up to the internet, just to “set it up”–even if you have no plans on ever using the ‘smart’ features or embedded apps?
If you buy a Sony Bravia you can put them into “pro mode” which keeps all the signal processing, but lets you turn off android.
That’s good to know!
Roku tvs already do that, you even need to put in a credit card number for it to work.
I can’t figure out why the cheap TCL I bought 5 years ago isn’t packed with ads. Maybe because it’s Roku-based?
Probably because it’s Chinese spyware. https://www.tomsguide.com/news/tcl-smart-tv-security-flaws
Disturbing; thanks for sharing that. Seems like the Roku flavor may be okay-ish, but I just walled it off from rest of home network anyway.
Yeah, TCL was the front-runner when I was looking for a non-smart TV until I saw that. :( I ended up just going with a samsung and hoping for the best. I’ve not noticed anything annoying, but we’re probably going to switch back to a PC hooked up to the TV with all the subscription problems / price jacking lately.