8 ms·

This might be the wrong place to complain about this issue. But "smart" TVs need to be replaced with "dumb TV + set top box" bundles. As it is now, the best p

This might be the wrong place to complain about this issue. But "smart" TVs need to be replaced with "dumb TV + set top box" bundles. As it is now, the best panels are obsolete after a year.

jtsiskin 6y ago
You can always plug a box into the TV, even if it’s a smart TV. The software can still update. Does the hardware needed to play a video really become obsolete in 1 year? Why, do hardware decoders improve that fast? People aren’t using these panels for games
- lapetitejort 6y ago
  My smart tv constantly gets in the way. If I boot up a game device it starts with a footer bar with apps and such that won't disappear for up to a minute. I have to press back on the remote if I want it to go away faster. If I accidentally press or long press a button on the remote the whole TV will be hijacked for a voice command or something. A year or so ago the TV decided that if it wasn't getting any inputs it should switch to a video app I never installed and automatically play. The days of getting a giant monitor must be over as the profits from bundling crapware with TVs must have driven down the costs so much that they no longer cannot contain them.
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    I stick to high end Sony TVs because I trust them to not pull this kind of garbage.
  - edogg 6y ago
    i'm getting the $200 sceptre brand 4k tv from walmart. it is just a display. they still exist
  - bickeringyokel 6y ago
    I bought a cheap Toshiba that only has a built in chrome cast that you can ignore. It's a good option.
toby 6y ago
I bought my TV from Costco, it has Roku built-in and I think it gets the same software updates. The full integration has some advantages, like having a single remote that stops the playback when I turn the TV off.
- mikelward 6y ago
  That should already be possible via HDMI-CEC. Unfortunately some devices don't support it, but I would guess most streaming sticks/boxes do.
- lsaferite 6y ago
  But now that Roku has decided they want in on the content business and the ad business you are stuck with them (as am I). I don't want a device that has to make deals with content providers to take a cut TBH. That's why HBO Max is still not on Roku.
  - notJim 6y ago
    Why are you stuck with them? Does your TV not have HDMI ports or something?
x87678r 6y ago
I used to think this but LG TV has the main few apps, they work great and my roku never gets turned on.
- phamilton 6y ago
  WebOS was always solid and works well. I enjoyed it on my palm pre 10 years ago and I enjoy it on my LG TV today.
notJim 6y ago
Gotta disagree with this, I'm very happy with the integrated Roku in my TCL TV. And the TV still has HDMI ports, so I don't see how it's obsolete if I ever want to stop using the Roku.
- Polylactic_acid 6y ago
  Depends on the implementation. My parents samsung tv has become unbearably slow and a factory reset doesn't fix it. I assume updates are to blame. Others are also reporting that their smart tv started showing adverts after years of owning it. Since the panel is expensive and the brains are cheap, it makes more sense to have them split.
- wlesieutre 6y ago
  My parents have an Android TV, they have to regularly reboot it to fix its (wired) network connection. Nothing else on the network has a problem. Meanwhile I have a second-hand Apple TV and it's great, but if it weren't great I would keep my television and replace it with a Fire/Roku/Whatever device. I suppose they could keep their smart TV and hook up a less shitty external device to do the smart things, but then the smart TV is just a dumb TV that takes 5x longer to boot and presumably wastes extra electricity in the process. If I had any faith in these Android-based televisions to get long term software support and be at all reliable maybe it would be different, but based on track records in the ecosystem I absolutely don't. The life span of a television panel is many times as long as the effective useful period of an android device.
chaostheory 6y ago
There's a simple solution: don't connect your TV to the internet and just use its HDMI ports for a separate streaming box.
pndy 6y ago
> But "smart" TVs need to be replaced with "dumb TV + set top box" bundles. That's how it used to work about 20-15 years ago before flat panels become popular and still does to the some degree - at least in Poland. You had a CRT tv and DVB-S receiver and service providers were teasing all the time with revolutionary tech that will come soon and change our life; we were promised home banking, shopping, VOD, interactive channels and content, even Internet browsing with phone line used as upload channel. Years later, we got a new flat tv and gave up on satellite tv as ISP finally upgraded infrastructure to FTTH from classic copper and it made sense to have all services in one cable and pay for it at single provider. The Samsung UHD ICU 100 receiver comes with ISP branded linux software that handles tv features like EPG, show recording etc., parental control, USB external storage playback, there are also 3 VOD choices - ISP own one, Netflix and HBO in separated "apps", weather and radio interactive channels (radio comes with predefined stations you can't change). You can check bill, change the tv plan (channels are handled by company that still operates with DVB-S; once it was possible to buy channels separately, now you gotta aim at full packet offer). There are "ads" - of shows from VOD services but nothing else; no idea if device pukes anything if you decide to not opt-out from tracking but so far, I'm satisfied. The smart tv itself become obsolete quite fast - applications doesn't load anymore, Netflix notoriously crashes upon launching, but with this receiver it's like it got a second chance. Summing up, some ideas advertised become the reality but on a different medium - VOD, interactive channels and content is here, done by FTTH (and of course DVB - all comes what you need and what you can have, where do you live) but some stuff never arrived or become pointless to implement (Internet browsing, home banking and shopping).
dbbk 6y ago
Tech-illiterate people do not want multiple boxes and multiple remotes to just watch Netflix.

This might be the wrong place to complain about this issue. But "smart" TVs need to be replaced with "dumb TV + set top box" bundles. As it is now, the best panels are obsolete after a year.

jtsiskin 6y ago

You can always plug a box into the TV, even if it’s a smart TV. The software can still update. Does the hardware needed to play a video really become obsolete in 1 year? Why, do hardware decoders improve that fast? People aren’t using these panels for games

lapetitejort 6y ago
My smart tv constantly gets in the way. If I boot up a game device it starts with a footer bar with apps and such that won't disappear for up to a minute. I have to press back on the remote if I want it to go away faster. If I accidentally press or long press a button on the remote the whole TV will be hijacked for a voice command or something. A year or so ago the TV decided that if it wasn't getting any inputs it should switch to a video app I never installed and automatically play. The days of getting a giant monitor must be over as the profits from bundling crapware with TVs must have driven down the costs so much that they no longer cannot contain them.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  I stick to high end Sony TVs because I trust them to not pull this kind of garbage.
- edogg 6y ago
  i'm getting the $200 sceptre brand 4k tv from walmart. it is just a display. they still exist
- bickeringyokel 6y ago
  I bought a cheap Toshiba that only has a built in chrome cast that you can ignore. It's a good option.

toby 6y ago

I bought my TV from Costco, it has Roku built-in and I think it gets the same software updates. The full integration has some advantages, like having a single remote that stops the playback when I turn the TV off.

mikelward 6y ago
That should already be possible via HDMI-CEC. Unfortunately some devices don't support it, but I would guess most streaming sticks/boxes do.
lsaferite 6y ago
But now that Roku has decided they want in on the content business and the ad business you are stuck with them (as am I). I don't want a device that has to make deals with content providers to take a cut TBH. That's why HBO Max is still not on Roku.
- notJim 6y ago
  Why are you stuck with them? Does your TV not have HDMI ports or something?

x87678r 6y ago

I used to think this but LG TV has the main few apps, they work great and my roku never gets turned on.

phamilton 6y ago
WebOS was always solid and works well. I enjoyed it on my palm pre 10 years ago and I enjoy it on my LG TV today.

notJim 6y ago

Gotta disagree with this, I'm very happy with the integrated Roku in my TCL TV. And the TV still has HDMI ports, so I don't see how it's obsolete if I ever want to stop using the Roku.

Polylactic_acid 6y ago
Depends on the implementation. My parents samsung tv has become unbearably slow and a factory reset doesn't fix it. I assume updates are to blame. Others are also reporting that their smart tv started showing adverts after years of owning it. Since the panel is expensive and the brains are cheap, it makes more sense to have them split.
wlesieutre 6y ago
My parents have an Android TV, they have to regularly reboot it to fix its (wired) network connection. Nothing else on the network has a problem. Meanwhile I have a second-hand Apple TV and it's great, but if it weren't great I would keep my television and replace it with a Fire/Roku/Whatever device. I suppose they could keep their smart TV and hook up a less shitty external device to do the smart things, but then the smart TV is just a dumb TV that takes 5x longer to boot and presumably wastes extra electricity in the process. If I had any faith in these Android-based televisions to get long term software support and be at all reliable maybe it would be different, but based on track records in the ecosystem I absolutely don't. The life span of a television panel is many times as long as the effective useful period of an android device.

chaostheory 6y ago

There's a simple solution: don't connect your TV to the internet and just use its HDMI ports for a separate streaming box.

pndy 6y ago

> But "smart" TVs need to be replaced with "dumb TV + set top box" bundles. That's how it used to work about 20-15 years ago before flat panels become popular and still does to the some degree - at least in Poland. You had a CRT tv and DVB-S receiver and service providers were teasing all the time with revolutionary tech that will come soon and change our life; we were promised home banking, shopping, VOD, interactive channels and content, even Internet browsing with phone line used as upload channel. Years later, we got a new flat tv and gave up on satellite tv as ISP finally upgraded infrastructure to FTTH from classic copper and it made sense to have all services in one cable and pay for it at single provider. The Samsung UHD ICU 100 receiver comes with ISP branded linux software that handles tv features like EPG, show recording etc., parental control, USB external storage playback, there are also 3 VOD choices - ISP own one, Netflix and HBO in separated "apps", weather and radio interactive channels (radio comes with predefined stations you can't change). You can check bill, change the tv plan (channels are handled by company that still operates with DVB-S; once it was possible to buy channels separately, now you gotta aim at full packet offer). There are "ads" - of shows from VOD services but nothing else; no idea if device pukes anything if you decide to not opt-out from tracking but so far, I'm satisfied. The smart tv itself become obsolete quite fast - applications doesn't load anymore, Netflix notoriously crashes upon launching, but with this receiver it's like it got a second chance. Summing up, some ideas advertised become the reality but on a different medium - VOD, interactive channels and content is here, done by FTTH (and of course DVB - all comes what you need and what you can have, where do you live) but some stuff never arrived or become pointless to implement (Internet browsing, home banking and shopping).

dbbk 6y ago

Tech-illiterate people do not want multiple boxes and multiple remotes to just watch Netflix.