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> Electrolux washing machine I had to buy one a couple of years ago. Snarkily I asked the floor salesman if I could get the washer “without all the smart featu
by toastal 1y ago
> Electrolux washing machine
I had to buy one a couple of years ago. Snarkily I asked the floor salesman if I could get the washer “without all the smart features”. He said “let me check”, which had me puzzled. He came back to inform me that they still had last year’s model which was before the “smart” features were rolled out. He said they can sell it on the same warranty, & since it was older I would get a significant discount. I cherish that machine for its dumbness.
…No such luck for TVs.
- Workaccount2 1y agoThey are called "Commercial TVs", selection is more limited and the cost a bit higher, but no smart-TV BS.
- toastal 1y agoDo they come in OLED now?
- mschuster91 1y agoYup, at least from LG: https://www.lg.com/global/business/oled-signage https://www.lg.com/global/business/oled-signage
- chipotle_coyote 1y agoThe parent post saying they “cost a bit higher” is, AFAICT, understating it a wee bit. LG’s consumer 65-inch 4K OLED TVs run between $1200 and $2500 at retail, from a quick search; the 65-inch 4K OLED “professional monitor” linked on that page—e.g., the one that’s closest to an actual TV—retails for around $8000 at B&H. The cheapest OLED commercial TV I could find at b&H was a 55” LG for $3K…and as far as I can tell it’s really just a Smart TV, complete with all internet connectivity, for twice the price because it has the word “commercial” in its name.
- seany 1y agoThe other specs are often different. Things like 100% duty cycle, uv resistant coatings, ipx ratings, serial ports for control etc etc
- benbenolson 1y agoI got a Spectre TV (pretty cheap, they sell it at Walmart). It's a little more expensive than other TVs in the same class, but has no smart features: you plug HDMI into it and it displays it. You hit "Source" and are greeted with a no-nonsense menu that lets you choose the HDMI port, composite input, etc. It's great.
- edoceo 1y agoI've got one too! I hope it lasts.
- qwerpy 1y agoIt was a pain to do, but I have a Sony "Google TV" that I fixed to remove or hide the Sony bloatware and Google adware. I hated how the home screen would display full screen loud ads and the TV would constantly want to update so that it could display an even more obnoxious screen layout with more ads, so I loaded a simple launcher that always displays a static list of hand-picked apps. It required (or successfully dark patterned) me to sign in with a Google account, so I created a dedicated burner account. Google really didn't want to let me create one "please provide a working phone number to verify" but I managed to create one. Of course I'd prefer a plain dumb TV but there weren't any cheaply and conveniently available at the time. Second best thing is a de-Googled TV. Now if only I could figure out a way to disable the Google buttons on the remote so that kids don't accidentally get into the app store (ads!) or activate the voice control.
- edoceo 1y agoOpen the remote, put insulator over the contacts. Works on Roku/Samsung - voids warranty but, it looks like you're already past that (or moving in that (correct) direction)
- vorpalhex 1y agoA bit of kapton tape under the button works and is reversible if you change your mind. Also works well for childrens toys that produce music.
- genewitch 1y agosuper glue the buttons in place
- com2kid 1y agoThe annoying part is if you disable all the ads and recommendations, they disable voice search. Feels like they are punishing me for opting out of ads...
- jkestner 1y agoI personally like the ad-subsidized TVs. The money I save easily covers a used Apple TV on eBay, and I never connect the TV itself. Regardless of TV brand my interface stays the same. Bring back modularity!
- Night_Thastus 1y agoI don't get why people care about about whether a TV is "Smart". I have a "Smart" TV and never use the features, and it doesn't bother me. I have a PiHole in case it tries to do anything funny, and that's good enough for me.
- ajsnigrutin 1y agoSome tv's bother you with popups and notifications and all the other crap related to its "smart features". And yes, even when not connected to the internet, then they show you popups to connect it to the internet, updates may be waiting, new features may be in a new update, you software has been last updated 726 days ago, click here to troubleshoot the internet connection, etc.
- genewitch 1y agomine used to strobe the light underneath when it lost internet connectivity. used to.
- inetknght 1y agoWait until TVs come with their own cellular modems so they can give the corporate middle finger to people like us.
- Analemma_ 1y agoThis is the actual reason there was all that hysteria around the "race to 5G" with the dire warnings that we'd be buried by China if we didn't roll out 5G ASAP. The actual reason is that 5G works better with congested cells and large numbers of clients than 4G, so it's a lot easier to put cellular modems in every device and bypass those pesky users.
- com2kid 1y agoExcept many TV models are already sold at a loss. Throwing a $20/month cellular modem in there isn't going to help any. The number of users who opt out of connecting their smart TV to Wi-Fi is so damn tiny that it is a rounding error for TV makers. They just don't care.
- joezydeco 1y agoMy LG washer and dryer send a push notification to my phone when the load is done, or I can check on the minutes remaining from anywhere. The other stuff I don't care about, but that feature is pretty useful for me. Having an open API would be better, but I know 99% of their customers wouldn't know what to do with that.
- vorpalhex 1y ago$10 smart home vibration sensor works great for this. I have it all fancy in HomeAssistant so I can toggle if I want to be notified or not. You can also cue off the light if it has an led to indicate it's running.
- dwedge 1y agoI bought a projector mostly to avoid the smart stuff. Large monitors are also an option to some extent.
- sifar 1y agoTry the Spectre TVs. They are normal oled TVS, not smart. Been using one for a few years now, am very glad they exist.
- toastal 1y agoThat brand isn’t for sale in my country