Comment on Anon buys a TV without researching
glitchdx@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I just bought this dumb tv. Couldn’t be happier.
www.amazon.com/dp/B01CJV6722?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_f…
It’s not a good tv, but it’s the biggest one I could fit on my desk and it has absolutely no “smart” features.
hardaysknight@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Just don’t connect smart TVs to the internet. That’s all you have to (not) do
a_baby_duck@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
My TCL TV flashes a little ring light constantly if it doesn’t have an internet connection. The best part is the LED is part of the IR receiver, so if you cover it up your remote stops working. I’ve dimmed it as much as possible through the hidden service menus, but the option to remove it was apparently removed in a firmware update at some point.
FuryMaker@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
Jesus fucking christ. This is by design; they knew what they were doing.
Rtings needs a category/filter for design and “smart” features that cause issue.
ArsonButCute@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 hours ago
Open it up and replace it with a resistor, can’t blink if it doesn’t exist.
SolaceFiend@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Many smart TVs have firmware that interfere with your ability to switch sources using the remote for your cable service provider, or causes it to default to a specific source menu or app, or auto-switch between sources when it thinks it’s “detecting” them, even if you were actually using the other one.
And older people don’t know how to navigate the new user interfaces that come pre-installed on these smart TVs, especially if they have several connected devices on different ports. Have you had to walk a customer over the phone through using the Video Input button on their cable service remote, only to discover the TV software doesn’t allow 3rd party remotes to access the video input menu; because only the TV remote they lost is able to access that menu?
Or had to look up an article on a customer’s brand of smart TV, and walk them through disabling specific tv settings buried in their menu that prevent the TV from properly detecting and switching between sources, or having to mess with the TV closed captions, because they’re somehow interfering with the closed captions settings on their cable box.
I have. SmartTV software is occasionally a nightmare to negotiate with when trying to get it to work with a customer’s STB or their wifi, or what have you.
flying_sheep@lemmy.ml 1 day ago
Too much of a gamble. What if someone already did once and it uses the cached ads? What if they have some preloaded?
Better financially support products that never have ads and that way demonstrate demand.
LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 19 hours ago
They put barely functional processors in these things. A new smart tv that isn’t connected to the internet is not going to come cached with ads.
TomAwsm@lemmy.world 1 day ago
From what I have heard, this is not true for all brands. Some won’t work without being connected. Shouldn’t be legal, but here we are.
MacAttak8@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
Yes. I’ve heard some brands will search for nearby devices of the same brands that are already connected to the internet so that even if YOU didn’t connect the TV to WiFi, it still calls home/gets ads.
LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 19 hours ago
Ok now I know yall are just making shit up.
LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 19 hours ago
Where?
TomAwsm@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
In a different thread here on lemmy.
Acters@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
I think I saw a review of the Amazon fire TV and they literally lock controls and tell you some basic af features are locked behind an Amazon account registration or login
skizzles@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
I have an Amazon fire TV.
It is not connected to anything, and everything works fine. I just hooked up my shield to it and use that, but basic tv functions (settings and whatnot) work just fine without being logged in.
Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works 14 hours ago
Everything should work without being logged in. Being logged into your TV shouldn’t even be a thing.