Comment on Newly purchased Vizio TVs now require Walmart accounts to use smart features
SeventySeven@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
Sounds like the trash taking itself out, no? If I don’t want smart features in the first place, then I see this as an absolute win. Nobody should be connecting their TV the Internet in the first place. Always make sure to use things like android TV boxes, fire sticks ect… over using the built in “smart” features as those TVs will be phoning home all day and serving you ads the minute you connect it to the Internet lol
My family stayed at my house and “the TV wasn’t working,” because it doesn’t have network access and I use an Nvidia Shield instead, so they connected it to the Wi-Fi and ad overlays showed up in the menus! I’m still mad about it years later.
Luckily I dodged a bullet and it didn’t brick it or anything, and the ads went away when the internet access did. I just disconnected it from the network and manually banned the MAC address in case anyone else tries it again.
And then banned your family from using the remote.
the ads went away when the internet access did.
Then why are you mad?
For one thing the same ad could have gotten stuck on the TV menus forever.
teft@piefed.social 2 days ago
Just build a media pc. Those media sticks have trackers and telemetry too.
renegadespork@lemmy.jelliefrontier.net 2 days ago
As soon as RAM isn’t more expensive than the TV.
teft@piefed.social 2 days ago
Personally i’d rather pay more than have these assholes tracking my viewing habits. But you could throw ddr4 in it. Should be fine for a simple HTPC.
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I don’t get the whole ram catagories. DDR3, DDR4, DDR5. They make it seem like the higher the number, the better the ram, but I always thought ram was just a space for computers to temporarily store information until it was ready to call on it.
So from my perspective 16GB DDR3 should be the same as 16GB DDR5. But that’s clearly not the case.
nathan@lemmy.permisuan.com 2 days ago
I just wish there was a way to control the PC as easy as a tv remote. I would totally do this except my wife and kids just want to hit a button on the remote instead of fiddling with keyboard or a track pad or controller of some kind
MrQuallzin@lemmy.world 2 days ago
FLIRC is your friend! It’s a USB IR receiver that you can train with literally any IR remote you have. Once you set it up (and it does take a little elbow grease to train it), it just works.
UniversalBasicJustice@quokk.au 2 days ago
Keep an eye out for the new Steam controller. It can interact via gyro, touchpad, and traditional controller input methods.
nathan@lemmy.permisuan.com 1 day ago
Yes! I’m saving now for a steam machine when it comes out too
MaXsteri@lemmy.world 1 day ago
My HTPC is running Bazzite and boots into Steam big picture mode. I watch media using Kodi and control everything using a Sofabatton remote.
This setup is almost as seemless as when I was using an Nvidia Shield and a Logitech Harmony remote.
The keyboard and controller are not needed, except for gaming.
The only negative I’ve found, is that I’ve not yet worked out a way to power on the PC from the remote.
teft@piefed.social 2 days ago
I believe Kodi supports IR remote controls.