Business, Economics, Technology and Society

“Smart” Teevees

30 Comments

All I want is a large-screen video monitor I can feed a video signal to. I don’t need speakers, or Internet in it. But apparently, you can’t find one any more. I did a search at Amazon for “tv -smart” and no televisions came up.

[Thursday-afternoon update]

Hey, this might be what I’m looking for.

[Bumped]

30 thoughts on ““Smart” Teevees”

  4. I wonder if there is market for devices that strip the IOT stuff but renders the device usable for it’s (sp?) basic function?

  5. Search for a monitor, not a TV. A smart TV without the smart bit, and that only takes video in, is a monitor.

  6. a large-screen video monitor I can feed a video signal

    Reminds me of Andy Rooney on 60 minutes asking, “How much does it cost to not add something?”

    Market info must be so valuable that there is no incentive to produce a less expensive product. Consumers have to revolt or nothing will be done.

    1. To answer Rooney, “a lot”.

      Because it’s another SKU, another production setup, more validation, and almost nobody cares about not having that stuff.

      (I mean, I don’t want a “smart TV” either, but I don’t care if it’s there, as long as it doesn’t pester me to turn on networking.

      I don’t use speakers in a TV, either, but it’d cost more to make them both ways, and a lot of people don’t want to have to buy a soundbar or HT system.)

  7. Heh. That was fun. I was saying the exact same thing to a sales guy just the other day… That it was better to have a dumb TV with a smart box than a smart TV.

  8. Just don’t attach to the net….

    Of course that means no netflix/amazon video/hulu/sling/whatever….

    1. I have a Blue-Ray player that gives me all that, I don’t need it from the video display. But I’ve heard that some of the “smart” teevees will complain until you give them your wifi pass phrase.

      1. I’d be surprised if someone hasn’t worked out a phone-home server blacklist yet: just set the router to block snooper.lge.com and igotyourdata.samsung.com

      2. Open ’em up, cut the trace to the WiFi chip or antenna, and Bob the Primate’s your uncle. Then give the TV your password, and who’ll complain afterwards?

  9. Looking for a monitor instead of a TV (as suggested above) sounds like the best bet to me.

    I had to buy a “smart” TV to get the curved screen I wanted. I won’t tolerate the intrusive behavior or privacy loss, so I simply don’t allow the device to connect to my router. If there were other internet sources around (such as if I lived close enough to a neighbor to pick op their router) I’d probably neuter the tv by opening it up and killing its wifi transceiver.

    I also recently had to take apart the trunk of a friend’s car to get rid of the Onstar system he wanted out of it. Cutting a wire did the trick, but it was a beast to get to.

    I utterly despise the fact that so many things these days require physical hacking to remove things that shouldn’t be in there anyway (not without a physical off switch, anyway).

    1. Two tricks they play these days is turning something off in settings often doesn’t; Microsoft violated the industry standard by making the close box mean accept rather than the standard cancel.

      These are both crimes of fraud, but they get away with it.

      1. I’ve seen quite a few things done by Microsoft and Google that take away the ability to turn things off, and also just make you think you have. That’s why I won’t run Windows 10, or anything by google.

        I don;t think it’s fraud, any more than if I sold you a “new” car battery that wasn’t really new. Oh wait, that’s fraud! 🙂

    2. “I also recently had to take apart the trunk of a friend’s car to get rid of the Onstar system he wanted out of it. Cutting a wire did the trick, but it was a beast to get to. ”

      I just got a car this spring that has onstar–I’m thinking of doing that, myself.

      1. My suggestion; google the exact make, model, and year along with “onstar location” and then “remove onstar” because GM varied the location and hookup method a lot.

        1. I was checking out a Corvette forum a while back and asked them if anyone objected to the mandatory Onstar installed in the car. A system which would allow them to track you at the behest of the government and even kill your motor should they decide they didn’t like your driving. Literally nobody on that forum believed that would be a problem for them.

  11. You could get one with a wired internet connection. Then you’d have definitive control over when it’s online, at least. Let it go get its updates on first boot, then yoink the cable.

    We have a fairly recent LG (bought in last year’s post-Christmas sales) and it hasn’t been annoying in any way… but I have left the cable in, because the kids love Netflix. The blu-ray player would also run Netflix, but the TV’s version is distinctly more responsive.

  12. I found 4K monitors up to 43″ competitvely priced by reputable brands like Viewsonic, Philips, and Dell. There was even a curve model by AOC. NEC seemed to be the only maker greater then 43″, but then they used the term commercial grade; which may be a clue on how to find larger ones.

  13. You can always just use it as a monitor. Just don’t plug it into your network and don’t give it the wifi password.

  14. When I was looking for a non-smart TV last month I noticed that Amazon carries far fewer low feature sets than it used to. Strangely enough, Best Buy still has a fair number.

  15. Try to look for a 120 Hz refresh rate, to reduce eye strain. The one you linked to was just 60 Hz. Anyway, just a thought.

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