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For those looking for dumb TVs since Vizio sort of was a last holdout (although I’m reading they’ve recently become more garbage like), may I suggest the commer

For those looking for dumb TVs since Vizio sort of was a last holdout (although I’m reading they’ve recently become more garbage like), may I suggest the commercial kiosk versions of popular brands? I’ve found that you pay a little more but they don’t have the crappy OS installed and it’s just a dumb TV. You’re paying more to remove the ad experience manufacturers want you to use hence the price tradeoff.

j-bos 3y ago
Any suggestions on where they can be bought?
- PaulHoule 3y ago
  We have a "reuse center" in our town that sometimes has good deals on older TVs which may lack these features. https://ithacareuse.org/ https://ithacareuse.org/ there may be something like that in your town. For the rest of us there is Ebay.
theturtletalks 3y ago
I would also look into Sceptre at Walmart. I got a dumb 43” 4K TV for $150 out the door.
refracture 3y ago
Would you be able to buy say.. an LG C3 that has things like Dolby Vision/HDR10, VRR, 120hz? I'm skeptical Dolby Vision would be present on a display not intended for movies given the licensing fees to Dolby. I'm a fan of dumb TVs in theory but I'd rather just airgap a smart TV and plug in an Apple TV than lose DV and the like.
- hellisothers 3y ago
  Agreed on all counts, airgapping a TV is trivial I don’t get the complaining here for a dumb TV (aside for less technical people). That said, my LG G2 will full screen block content to show a “voice control” feature awareness notification that tells me to connect the TV to the internet about once a month :/
  - refracture 3y ago
    I have a C2 myself, C3 was just my example, I imagine the OS is similar to your G3, but in anycase maybe it's worth updating the firmware? That can be done by USB. My C2 had some odd behavior relating to complaining there was no internet connectivity and other misc bugs before I did that. Now it's basically perfect and I won't touch the firmware again without a really good reason.
    - hellisothers 3y ago
      Yes this is the problem! Complains there is no network so voice control doesn’t work even though I never initiated voice control and I don’t allow it on the network. I’ll check firmware version but I updated it relatively recently… though I just had a full screen replacement so maybe that moved my firmware back to whatever the new screen’s is somehow. Thanks!
mikeryan 3y ago
Vizio was not “the last holdout” They’ve been on the forefront of selling viewing data.
Shakahs 3y ago
Everybody says they want a "dumb" TV, but only so they can connect a streaming device (Roku/Fire/Kodi etc.). The problem isn't TVs being smart, it's the terrible firmware written by appliance manufacturers like TCL which are not software companies. It's more practical to just buy a smart TV running Roku or Fire OS internally, which are both built on Linux.
- Sohcahtoa82 3y ago
  100% disagree. The difference is that a Roku or Fire Stick is $50 or less. If I need to upgrade my device to support a new compression standard or something, it's only $50 to replace, rather than needing to buy a whole new TV. It's definitely more practical to buy a dumb TV and connect a streaming device, especially when smart TVs value their smart functionality at a couple hundred dollars. I'd far rather buy a dumb OLED for $1500 and connect a $50 Fire Stick than buy a $2000 OLED with smart features, if it was an option. Seriously, what's the benefit for having all that built into your TV?
  - Shakahs 3y ago
    The benefit should be completely obvious. Having a single integrated system is always going to be more reliable than running 2 separate machines that need to cooperate. Otherwise every issue needs to be isolated to the TV, the streaming device, or the connection between the two. Also hand waving about "new codecs" doesn't hold any weight. A Roku/Fire/Google TV is a Linux computer with hardware acceleration for all modern codecs. By the time AV1/VP9/H265 are being replaced in the 2030s, you're going to need a new TV anyway to support 8K and whatever other features are de rigueur then. Same goes for audio codecs and Wifi support.
    - Sohcahtoa82 3y ago
      > 2 separate machines that need to cooperate It's just a simple display cable like HDMI. Not really a lot of cooperation needed. > Also hand waving about "new codecs" doesn't hold any weight Fair, but trying to watch a streaming service on a smart TV and being told "This device will not support X service after Y date" has happened. https://www.tomsguide.com/news/these-old-devices-are-about-to-lose-netflix-what-you-need-to-know https://www.tomsguide.com/news/these-old-devices-are-about-t... https://www.reddit.com/r/Hulu/comments/xvaqqm/this_device_no_longer_supported_samsung_smart_tv/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Hulu/comments/xvaqqm/this_device_no... https://www.amazonforum.com/s/question/0D54P00006zSxAMSA0/smart-tv-now-says-amazon-prime-service-is-no-longer-available-on-this-device https://www.amazonforum.com/s/question/0D54P00006zSxAMSA0/sm...
wmf 3y ago
Google TVs have a dumb mode and they're cheaper than commercial displays. Vizio went smart around 6-7 years ago IIRC.

j-bos 3y ago

Any suggestions on where they can be bought?

PaulHoule 3y ago
We have a "reuse center" in our town that sometimes has good deals on older TVs which may lack these features. https://ithacareuse.org/ https://ithacareuse.org/ there may be something like that in your town. For the rest of us there is Ebay.

theturtletalks 3y ago

I would also look into Sceptre at Walmart. I got a dumb 43” 4K TV for $150 out the door.

refracture 3y ago

Would you be able to buy say.. an LG C3 that has things like Dolby Vision/HDR10, VRR, 120hz? I'm skeptical Dolby Vision would be present on a display not intended for movies given the licensing fees to Dolby. I'm a fan of dumb TVs in theory but I'd rather just airgap a smart TV and plug in an Apple TV than lose DV and the like.

hellisothers 3y ago
Agreed on all counts, airgapping a TV is trivial I don’t get the complaining here for a dumb TV (aside for less technical people). That said, my LG G2 will full screen block content to show a “voice control” feature awareness notification that tells me to connect the TV to the internet about once a month :/
- refracture 3y ago
  I have a C2 myself, C3 was just my example, I imagine the OS is similar to your G3, but in anycase maybe it's worth updating the firmware? That can be done by USB. My C2 had some odd behavior relating to complaining there was no internet connectivity and other misc bugs before I did that. Now it's basically perfect and I won't touch the firmware again without a really good reason.
  - hellisothers 3y ago
    Yes this is the problem! Complains there is no network so voice control doesn’t work even though I never initiated voice control and I don’t allow it on the network. I’ll check firmware version but I updated it relatively recently… though I just had a full screen replacement so maybe that moved my firmware back to whatever the new screen’s is somehow. Thanks!

mikeryan 3y ago

Vizio was not “the last holdout” They’ve been on the forefront of selling viewing data.

Shakahs 3y ago

Everybody says they want a "dumb" TV, but only so they can connect a streaming device (Roku/Fire/Kodi etc.). The problem isn't TVs being smart, it's the terrible firmware written by appliance manufacturers like TCL which are not software companies. It's more practical to just buy a smart TV running Roku or Fire OS internally, which are both built on Linux.

Sohcahtoa82 3y ago
100% disagree. The difference is that a Roku or Fire Stick is $50 or less. If I need to upgrade my device to support a new compression standard or something, it's only $50 to replace, rather than needing to buy a whole new TV. It's definitely more practical to buy a dumb TV and connect a streaming device, especially when smart TVs value their smart functionality at a couple hundred dollars. I'd far rather buy a dumb OLED for $1500 and connect a $50 Fire Stick than buy a $2000 OLED with smart features, if it was an option. Seriously, what's the benefit for having all that built into your TV?
- Shakahs 3y ago
  The benefit should be completely obvious. Having a single integrated system is always going to be more reliable than running 2 separate machines that need to cooperate. Otherwise every issue needs to be isolated to the TV, the streaming device, or the connection between the two. Also hand waving about "new codecs" doesn't hold any weight. A Roku/Fire/Google TV is a Linux computer with hardware acceleration for all modern codecs. By the time AV1/VP9/H265 are being replaced in the 2030s, you're going to need a new TV anyway to support 8K and whatever other features are de rigueur then. Same goes for audio codecs and Wifi support.
  - Sohcahtoa82 3y ago
    > 2 separate machines that need to cooperate It's just a simple display cable like HDMI. Not really a lot of cooperation needed. > Also hand waving about "new codecs" doesn't hold any weight Fair, but trying to watch a streaming service on a smart TV and being told "This device will not support X service after Y date" has happened. https://www.tomsguide.com/news/these-old-devices-are-about-to-lose-netflix-what-you-need-to-know https://www.tomsguide.com/news/these-old-devices-are-about-t... https://www.reddit.com/r/Hulu/comments/xvaqqm/this_device_no_longer_supported_samsung_smart_tv/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Hulu/comments/xvaqqm/this_device_no... https://www.amazonforum.com/s/question/0D54P00006zSxAMSA0/smart-tv-now-says-amazon-prime-service-is-no-longer-available-on-this-device https://www.amazonforum.com/s/question/0D54P00006zSxAMSA0/sm...

wmf 3y ago

Google TVs have a dumb mode and they're cheaper than commercial displays. Vizio went smart around 6-7 years ago IIRC.