4 ms·

Same. I had a TCL "smart" TV which was pretty straightforward to use, and then my teenage daughter decided to get tripped up on the cord. Ruined the TV, decid

Same. I had a TCL "smart" TV which was pretty straightforward to use, and then my teenage daughter decided to get tripped up on the cord. Ruined the TV, decided to buy one with sturdy feet that won't trip, ended up buying Samsung. Man, the UI is a clusterfuck. A lovecraftian horror show. At least the feet are stable.

ocbyc 4y ago
LG+ ROKU seems to be a good alternative to Samsung's Bloat.
- propogandist 4y ago
  Roku is constantly phoning home and is the chattiest device with PiHole. Roku considers itself and ad company more than a hardware/software company, also.
doublerabbit 4y ago
Just wait until you try Sony. My mother required a television so I bought her one. Sony is a good brand right? WiFi drops out at the most random times. The router is touching differences away. The UI lags as it tries to connect to netflix to download all the latest "trends". So you have to wait many-frustrating seconds upon turning on the TV to actually use any UI feature. You can't even change the channel during that time. Firmware upgrades when it wants. BBC iPlayer has a dogtag that appears on any BBC channel "Press Green to watch from beginning" that intrudes any program witb no opt-out setting. Sigh.
- mlyle 4y ago
  > The router is touching differences away. Probably not your problem, but too close can actually be much worse than a moderate distance away. Radios struggle with dynamic range, and overly strong signals can be as bad as weak ones.
  - MBCook 4y ago
    If it’s that close I’d just use a cable and cut WiFi out of the equation.
    - dachryn 4y ago
      it insane how this is often not the reflex of people. If its closer than 2m, attach a cable.
- ThatMedicIsASpy 4y ago
  I've been in the TV business and still have friends there. Never buy an older person something other than a Panasonic. You won't get bothered by your mom/dad/grandpa compared to any other TV manufacturer. The amount of TVs we've replaced with Panasonics because kids bought their parents a cheap TV and left them to their own was just sad.
  - foxylad 4y ago
    My parents-in-law found LG to be much easier to control than Panasonic.
- CamperBob2 4y ago
  Just get her an AppleTV or something similar. TV manufacturers are about as good at UI/UX as car manufacturers are.
  - philistine 4y ago
    Apple TV hardware + a television with solid, no-nonsense HDMI CEC support (like the Roku TV models) is the best experience nowadays. I don't understand how anybody on this site would consider using the underpowered mess in their TV.
    - eropple 4y ago
      I use my LG TV's YouTube application as the only media player on my TV because it's plenty fast enough and it does 4K. On my other television I have an Apple TV, and the only real difference is that I like the Apple remote more.
      - philistine 4y ago
        I guess your needs are small, but I bet there will come a time where your YouTube on your TV suddenly becomes super slow and there’s nothing you can do about it.
        eropple 4y ago
        At which point I will have gotten many years out of it and will stick an Apple TV on it like the rest of my TVs. Meh?
- Nursie 4y ago
  We bought a Sony with google tv a year or so back. I don't see the issue? All smart tvs take a few seconds to start up, fill in the UI and that sort of stuff. My LG certainly does and samsungs seem to as well. Firmware upgrades have so far all been "Would you like to update?" And given it's basically android, I'm pretty confident that the apps won't go away after a couple of years like they seem to on most tv manufacturers proprietary OS's. Personally I couldn't be happier.
  - bee_rider 4y ago
    Their mother might be used to the dreadful before-times when TVs were dumb and just instantly did what you told them to.
    - Nursie 4y ago
      1. The before times of CRTs? Go back much before their EOL period and they took a bit of time to switch on and warm up too. Plus if you hit the "TV" button on my sony it goes to the TV pretty quickly because it no longer needs to load the home screen elements. 2. In which case why single out Sony? This behaviour is common across all brands. 3. Pretty sure the "I want everything as separate devices that do their one thing well" war has been lost to a large extent. Apple TV seems popular but the number of separate devices sold is an order of magnitude lower than the number of TVs shifted per year. See also point and click cameras vs mobile phones.
- RajT88 4y ago
  > Sony is a good brand right? WiFi drops out at the most random times. The router is touching differences away. Barring Playstations, I don't buy Sony anymore. Wonderful hardware, always with a premium fit and finish. But there's always something wrong with a Sony product. Sometimes ridiculous software design, sometimes ridiculous and unreliable hardware design. But it's always fucking something with them. They always get 90% of the way to an amazing product, and then fuck it up.
  - chemmail 4y ago
    It is really sad, they have the most issues back in the days of VCR/VHS and still persists. I swear most of the jokes about how things made in Japan are junk is from Sony. Their phones are equally bad, most of the demos in the stores are always frozen.
  - summm 4y ago
    They often fuck it up on purpose even. Like back then their legendary "mp3" players that wouldn't actually play mp3 files. Currently their ridiculously short security update available. 3 years only for their 1600$ phone. at least somewhat increase from the 2 years they offered previously.
  - abenga 4y ago
    Well, this sucks. I currently have a Sony TV that I love (bought it c.2019). It's just clean Android TV, there were a few widgets for Sony streaming services that were easy to disable on the settings. I just use the Plex app, Netflix app, Youtube App, and NBA League Pass, without any shenanigans. Traditional simple buttons-only remote (no weird touchpad, no point to click nonsense). Brilliant display panel. It seems I will not be happy when I have to replace it.
HyperSane 4y ago
I never feel comfortable unless an LCD TV is securely connected to the surface it is resting on. I use nylon straps and wood screws.

ocbyc 4y ago

LG+ ROKU seems to be a good alternative to Samsung's Bloat.

propogandist 4y ago
Roku is constantly phoning home and is the chattiest device with PiHole. Roku considers itself and ad company more than a hardware/software company, also.

doublerabbit 4y ago

Just wait until you try Sony. My mother required a television so I bought her one. Sony is a good brand right? WiFi drops out at the most random times. The router is touching differences away. The UI lags as it tries to connect to netflix to download all the latest "trends". So you have to wait many-frustrating seconds upon turning on the TV to actually use any UI feature. You can't even change the channel during that time. Firmware upgrades when it wants. BBC iPlayer has a dogtag that appears on any BBC channel "Press Green to watch from beginning" that intrudes any program witb no opt-out setting. Sigh.

mlyle 4y ago
> The router is touching differences away. Probably not your problem, but too close can actually be much worse than a moderate distance away. Radios struggle with dynamic range, and overly strong signals can be as bad as weak ones.
- MBCook 4y ago
  If it’s that close I’d just use a cable and cut WiFi out of the equation.
  - dachryn 4y ago
    it insane how this is often not the reflex of people. If its closer than 2m, attach a cable.
ThatMedicIsASpy 4y ago
I've been in the TV business and still have friends there. Never buy an older person something other than a Panasonic. You won't get bothered by your mom/dad/grandpa compared to any other TV manufacturer. The amount of TVs we've replaced with Panasonics because kids bought their parents a cheap TV and left them to their own was just sad.
- foxylad 4y ago
  My parents-in-law found LG to be much easier to control than Panasonic.
CamperBob2 4y ago
Just get her an AppleTV or something similar. TV manufacturers are about as good at UI/UX as car manufacturers are.
- philistine 4y ago
  Apple TV hardware + a television with solid, no-nonsense HDMI CEC support (like the Roku TV models) is the best experience nowadays. I don't understand how anybody on this site would consider using the underpowered mess in their TV.
  - eropple 4y ago
    I use my LG TV's YouTube application as the only media player on my TV because it's plenty fast enough and it does 4K. On my other television I have an Apple TV, and the only real difference is that I like the Apple remote more.
    - philistine 4y ago
      I guess your needs are small, but I bet there will come a time where your YouTube on your TV suddenly becomes super slow and there’s nothing you can do about it.
      - eropple 4y ago
        At which point I will have gotten many years out of it and will stick an Apple TV on it like the rest of my TVs. Meh?
Nursie 4y ago
We bought a Sony with google tv a year or so back. I don't see the issue? All smart tvs take a few seconds to start up, fill in the UI and that sort of stuff. My LG certainly does and samsungs seem to as well. Firmware upgrades have so far all been "Would you like to update?" And given it's basically android, I'm pretty confident that the apps won't go away after a couple of years like they seem to on most tv manufacturers proprietary OS's. Personally I couldn't be happier.
- bee_rider 4y ago
  Their mother might be used to the dreadful before-times when TVs were dumb and just instantly did what you told them to.
  - Nursie 4y ago
    1. The before times of CRTs? Go back much before their EOL period and they took a bit of time to switch on and warm up too. Plus if you hit the "TV" button on my sony it goes to the TV pretty quickly because it no longer needs to load the home screen elements. 2. In which case why single out Sony? This behaviour is common across all brands. 3. Pretty sure the "I want everything as separate devices that do their one thing well" war has been lost to a large extent. Apple TV seems popular but the number of separate devices sold is an order of magnitude lower than the number of TVs shifted per year. See also point and click cameras vs mobile phones.
RajT88 4y ago
> Sony is a good brand right? WiFi drops out at the most random times. The router is touching differences away. Barring Playstations, I don't buy Sony anymore. Wonderful hardware, always with a premium fit and finish. But there's always something wrong with a Sony product. Sometimes ridiculous software design, sometimes ridiculous and unreliable hardware design. But it's always fucking something with them. They always get 90% of the way to an amazing product, and then fuck it up.
- chemmail 4y ago
  It is really sad, they have the most issues back in the days of VCR/VHS and still persists. I swear most of the jokes about how things made in Japan are junk is from Sony. Their phones are equally bad, most of the demos in the stores are always frozen.
- summm 4y ago
  They often fuck it up on purpose even. Like back then their legendary "mp3" players that wouldn't actually play mp3 files. Currently their ridiculously short security update available. 3 years only for their 1600$ phone. at least somewhat increase from the 2 years they offered previously.
- abenga 4y ago
  Well, this sucks. I currently have a Sony TV that I love (bought it c.2019). It's just clean Android TV, there were a few widgets for Sony streaming services that were easy to disable on the settings. I just use the Plex app, Netflix app, Youtube App, and NBA League Pass, without any shenanigans. Traditional simple buttons-only remote (no weird touchpad, no point to click nonsense). Brilliant display panel. It seems I will not be happy when I have to replace it.

HyperSane 4y ago

I never feel comfortable unless an LCD TV is securely connected to the surface it is resting on. I use nylon straps and wood screws.