Agreed. I had little to no interest in a "samrt" TV but when I was shopping for a new HDTV, I really liked one particular Sony model for price versus performan

Agreed. I had little to no interest in a "samrt" TV but when I was shopping for a new HDTV, I really liked one particular Sony model for price versus performance. It ran on AndroidTV but there was no similar "dumb" model for less money. The same went for other brands. In the end, being an Android user I said what the hell and bought it. So far it's been great. Built-in Chromecast functionality fills in any gaps in the supported apps or platforms (such as how Comcast refuses to authorize the HBOGo app on AndroidTV so I need to cast from my phone). I'd have preferred a dumb TV for $100 less plus an nVidia Shield or whatever. But in the end this has worked out quite well and as you say, once the version of Android is too old and no longer updated, I can just unplug the ethernet cable, leave WiFi off, and continue using either my PC as the main input or pick up some other box to do all of the "smart" stuff.