I just use my PC through my TV.
Also don't buy tvs with voice activation.
That means they have mics on 24/7.
this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
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This is fine IMO, because you shouldn't use the smart features in the first place. Just get a 3rd party streaming box. The ONN one is like $25. (Or if you're a giant nerd hook your computer to your TV.)
TIL my senior parents are giant nerds.
Roku is every bit as bad. They bricked all customer's previously purchased TVs by implementing a new user agreement through their UI without warning. It couuld not be bypassed. Opting out required first opting in, agreeing to those new terms and then mailing a letter within a very short window with explicit, detailed requirements.
My next TV won't be connected to the Internet and definitely won't be a Roku or Visio product.
Does the TV work as a screen if you factory reset it then never reconnect it to the internet?
Haven't tried that yet. For now I've blocked most of Roku's BS with Adguard Home.
It does. I wound up buying two new TVs because of the thing OP is talking about here. You could actually get around agreeing and then opting out by removing the TV from the network and then restoring it to factory and never reconnecting it.
TVs are screens or privacy nightmares. You get to choose as the consumer.
I think I prefer my 14 inch CRT
I used to prefer CRTs too... And then I got an OLED. Nothing else comes close, not even the best CRTs. Especially if it's got quantum dots in combination with OLED.
Given that input lag was already solved five years ago, really the only advantage CRTs still have left is their ability to look great at non-native resolutions. But upscaling filters like HQX/xBR for retro games, and DLSS/FSR for modern titles, have all but completely eliminated that last remaining advantage. These filters are really good at upscaling lower resolution content to fit your display's pixels. Hell, DLSS is so good that it looks better than native 4K.
The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a switch and the voice sank somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely.
– George Orwell
My decade old TV is starting to show its age with a couple of dead pixel columns.
I'm a bit stressed about trying to find a new one that has none of this kind of enshittification.
I just want something with a couple of HDMI inputs and an antenna connector.
I absolutely do not want any ad servers or mandatory account bullshit injecting itself where it isn't wanted.
Youll have to go with a monitor or business display. Its just a large screen with inputs but no tuner or speakers.
I use a Pi to drive my display.
Just wanted to add that you'll pay out the ass for them compared to consumer trash, but there's a reason for the higher price tag. They're often made for heavy usage environments where they're on like 24/7 for years showing slideshows and shit in office lobbies. Consequently, they often lag behind the feature set of modern TVs which may or may not be a problem (personally I hate all that image enhancement shit but everyone has their preference) and the higher refresh rate is not as big a selling point so not a huge comparison there if you're looking to use it for gaming or something. They also have a much more clear repair path though replacement parts can be fuckin stupid expensive. It's bullshit that the only way you can get around the enshittification of consumer electronics is by paying the enterprise tax but that's how it is.
I work in IT and about once a year or so I have to spec out that sort of stuff for clients, and they're always like "WTF?!" when they see the cost of some of that Enterprise/Professional grade stuff, but the difference is, the no-name crap they could get for $1499.99 from a big box is going to burn itself up within 18 months and be trash while the $5000 display will be humming along for as long as replacement parts are still available.
And if I don't want to use their smart features?
this seems like it might be a win
I have a Vizio TV I bought in the mid-teens that only lets you change the source and turn the volume/channel up and down with the remote. Everything else...the display/audio settings, naming the inputs, setting the channel names...requires the Vizio app on your phone. Literally no other way to access them. If I'd have known at the time I would have returned it immediately, but unfortunately I didn't discover this for a couple weeks as it was on sale and I was leaving for vacation, so I bought it, dropped it at home, and didn't actually touch it until it was past the point where I'd have been charged restocking fees so I kept it.
I guess my point is....I wouldn't necessarily bank on that. They can easily just make the TV not fucking work without the account, just like some of the other brands I've interacted with that will not even let you bypass the initial screen when you power it on for the first time without entering an email address or else it gets locked in it's demo mode.
Even if 50% of them get returned they'll likely still be making money.
My "big" TV is a dumb 55" Toshiba I bought in 2012. It works just fine plugged into my computer to display VLC. I don't need anything else. I don't bother with Jellyfin anymore, because all I do is "acquire" the content, watch it immediately, and delete it. I don't keep anything apart from a few old movies, because I don't rewatch anything.
Tonight I'm watching the next episode of Survivors, a BBC series from 1975.
We are we are Walmart!
My mini pc or laptop connected via HDMI to a projector setup makes me more happy every day when I see crap like this. Bonus is you can move it to the patio for outside movie night and it's a whopping five pounds. Same goes for moving apartments because I've always moved too often.
My CRTs make me happy in the same way. Except when i have to move them !! Oh well, all the more reason to get swol
Make sure to lift this bad boy 20 times a day.
Now wheel it into a coffee shop with your laptop.
Like the pig from holes
This is how you get me to never buy a Vizio TV.
What, you prefer to give your data to Sony, LG, Samsung, or amazon? Like they're not selling it to anyone with a buck as well? Never connect a TV to the internet, period. After that it doesn't matter what you buy.
good. maybe people will stop buying them then.
Don't plug in a Ethernet cord, and don't connect it to Wifi.
Now you have a fully functional TV screen that wont be artificially bricked with OS updates.
Get a dedicated "streaming device" like a Nvidia Sheild, Android TV, Apple TV, or Roku and you are good to go.
My dedicated media PC is the new Atari VCS. It works awesome and I can boot into Atari os for some light gaming too. Or emulate anything up to ps2.
Disabled all the smart TV bs and told the SO we dont use that anymore, 0 complaints so far. They're also learning some Linux because of it!
Don't buy the product. Don't give them the sale.
Televisions aren't mandatory, you can do without.
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I have an extremely expensive smart TV that probably cost around £4,000 (I didn't buy it so I don't know what the actual price tag was) and it's UI is awful because of stuff like this and it's all stupid. It has an app, it's a TV, I already have a method of controlling it why do I need an app?
As a result it's purely a media streaming platform I don't use any of its smart features. It's just hoocked up to a mini PC and it's just been a display.
WTF? And Walmart of all things. Fuuuuuck them.
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