Getting a dumb TV with an Apple TV box has been amazing.
No ads, just turn on, and play.
Of course you'd think "ew Apple". I did but the Apple TV box is simply the best streaming device available right now. The only thing it can't do easily is sideloading and VPNs, for those the Shield is still king.
No Vizio or Samsung.
I got a Sony and I'm glad I did. It seems to do what a smart TV should do. The apps I use are first, the shows I'm watching are suggested. It works seamlessly over HDMI with all my other hardware (sound bar, Blu-ray, consoles). They took the beautiful LG OLED display and made it look even better. It has a super minimalistic style, the android OS is unobtrusive, and the remote feels nice in the hand.
My 2013 Highest End Samsung was pretty much E-Waste three years later. 80% of the Apps broken, no new Apps for new services.
I plugged in a FireTV 4k which was on Sale for €25. Perfectly supported since many years. TONS of software, channels and so on. Best buy ever.
When I had to buy a new TV for my bed room I bought a "dump" monitor and plugged a FireTV in.
I've got a TCL smart TV from like 5 years ago. It's absolutely great. Never had any issues with overbearing ads or anything.
Thank fuck.
Back in my day you owned the hardware you bought and were allowed to install a custom operating system.
I have two TVs. Both are max 1080p. I am absolutely fine with that. One is not a "smart" TV. The other I only turn on when I'm using Airflow, which the TV boots directly into with its built-in Chromecast, skipping the "smart" bullshit. I will use these TVs until they break or there is some major change where they become totally obsolete like CRT TVs.
Image Transcription:
Comment by user timb @burgerdrome@aus.social reading:
"I love my smart TV. I love the way it takes a long time to boot up because it's trying to refresh the advertisements on the home screen. I delight in the way it randomly restarts because it's downloaded an update without asking me, each of which makes the TV slower and slower with every subsequent install. I adore the way it buries the apps that I want to use, and that I use without fail every single time, below the apps that it's being paid to promote and which I have never touched in my life and would never use without the cold metal of a glock pressed hard against my sweating temple. I am infinitely thrilled by the way the interface lags constantly, due to the need to have one thousand unnecessary animations rendered on hardware ripped wholesale from a ten year old phone. I feel myself borne aloft on wings of pure joy when I am notified that my data will be collected and analysed to determine my usage patterns. Even now I am writing this from a field of beautiful flowers and soft luscious grass as I lie and look up happily at the bright blue sky, smiling happily to know that this is the future of technology."
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I buy TVs with Android TV built in because the freedom is great. I love I can install APKs, and generally they have every app that Android has. Whereas Roku doesn't even have an official Twitch app.
Despite that, my fucking GOD they're slow. Both my $2000 and $650 Android TVs are such a fucking lag fest. Even trying to pause a YouTube video is such shit.
They both run Android TV 9, despite Android TV 12 being out, and 14 in beta.
My CCwGTV is a lot better, but I only use that on my non smart TV because I hate juggling remotes.
Still wont stop buying Android TVs, though. Roku is so empty, those TVs with their own built in OS have even less apps. My sisters $5500 OLED TV only has Plex, no Emby. Which is insane. I think her TVs app store has a total of like 20 apps?
Twitch updated in January with a shitty UI that lags. I just disabled updates and installed an older version of the app via APK. That's the benefit of Android TV.
EDIT: also can we please get some people on the Android TV custom ROM scene? It's weird to me that NO TVs have any sort of custom ROM or rooting. You'd think they would?
I have one of the first gen smart TVs from Samsung and it's absolute cheeks now. Changing the volume, no joke, can take multiple minutes to register from the remote. When I click the volume up button, you can see the red light on the ir sensor of the TV flash, registering that it got the signal, but for it to actually change the volume, that can take multiple minutes to do. Just buy a regular tv and get an nvida shield or something similar.
I bought a little antenna DVR box and it's absolutely delightful. it has the interface of a 2000s VCR, doesn't connect to the internet, doesn't have little ads and promo screens anywhere, has a simple plug and play DVR that records drm free mp4s to any USB device I plug in, and just stays on doing what it's doing, no shitty little we noticed you haven't hit a button in 2 hours! screen. i feel like I'm in a nursing home. it's beautiful
I recently bought a 75" Samsung PRO commercial tv, non smart. Plugged a firestick in, it's miles better than our TV with built in Roku that always restarts, freezes and is slow. I told the wife this tv will only be replaced when it breaks.
What brand of TV to you recommend that still sticks to the 'old ways'?
My neither of my smart tv’s has never been given the WiFi password. After a week or so they quit asking and defaulted back to being of with on/off, volume change, input source change as the only actions it’s ever asked to do
Simply don't let your TV onto the network. If you must have streaming services, I use an Nvidia Shield. It's DLSS capabilities are a good loophole for not paying extra for 4k on streaming services.
I choose to use a mini PC with arch Linux to connect to me TV. Most of media services I have can be access through the web browser.
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