Looking forward to the 1 yr free trial of my new TV, before I have to subsribe to Samsung+ for just 15.99 per month to turn it on.
Comment on After luring customers with low prices, Amazon stuffs Fire TVs with ads
ares35@kbin.social 7 months ago
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?
slaacaa@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Mog_fanatic@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I cannot stand how believable this scenario is.
Jaggle@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Unlock additional HDMI ports for only $5.99 a month!
PigsInClover@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Agreed. You can buy the displays that are marketed to businesses and usually come without all of the invasive smart features.
They definitely cost more on average, but they’re also built to run more often or constantly, and hold up far better. They’re even a lot more customizable.
You can buy some that come with slots where you put in a raspberry pi or another computer of your choice, instead of whatever OS that comes with smart tvs.
At this point, I’m starting to regularly check if there are “for business customers” options available when I need something, because the options for regular consumers are getting so bad with all this data hoarding and ad pushing.
RecallMadness@lemmy.nz 7 months ago
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.
coffeebiscuit@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Just don’t connect it to the internet.
Thekingoflorda@lemmy.world 7 months ago
That’s the point they are making. Currently that’s possible. But what is stopping the producers to force you to hook it up to the internet?
coffeebiscuit@lemmy.world 7 months ago
O… damn.
Not buying the tv might work… at mass. Like everyone. Please people, vote with your wallet/privacy.
Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de 7 months ago
Not gonna happen. People are fine with that.
lemann@lemmy.one 7 months ago
They already do, vizio sets and roku TV sets require an internet connection as soon as you power it on to set it up
ares35@kbin.social 7 months ago
ChrisLicht@lemm.ee 7 months ago
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?
Adramis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 months ago
Probably because it’s Chinese spyware. www.tomsguide.com/…/tcl-smart-tv-security-flaws
ChrisLicht@lemm.ee 7 months ago
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.
Adramis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 months ago
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.
Speculater@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Get a projector and a screen. They’re all dumb.
EngineerGaming@feddit.nl 7 months ago
Not always an option. You’d need to dim the lights every time and - most importantly - have a whole spare wall in your home.
Zeoic@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Im sure you could mount a rollup projector screen anywhere you would put your TV, but your first point is huge. The light issue is a huge non starter
EngineerGaming@feddit.nl 7 months ago
Two of our TVs hang from the arms in the corners and one occupies a bookshelf. I am not sure it would work that well with a screen that’s less than a meter wide.
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Been awhile but boy I really feel like my LG setup was pretty darn close to this sort of experience.
guiguinofake@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Roku tvs already do that iirc
PlungeButter@lemmy.world 7 months ago
You can choose not to connect a Roku TV to the Internet during the initial setup, and you just get access to live TV and the HDMI inputs with (obviously) no streaming channels or updates. It works fine as a dumb TV.
And the credit card thing? That’s after you create your account on their website, you can just close the browser window. Or click the button saying “skip” or “later” or whatever it is.
guiguinofake@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Was helping family with setting it up, I guess I didn’t see that
niucllos@lemm.ee 7 months ago
They don’t make it obvious at all, in fact they do their best to seem like you can’t
ares35@kbin.social 7 months ago
does this link to make an account without a payment method not work anymore?
https://my.roku.com/signup/nocc