9 ms·

My rule for modern TVs: 1. Never connect the TV panel itself to the internet. Keep it air-gapped. Treat it solely as a dumb monitor. 2. Use an Apple TV for th

by kburman 10mo ago

My rule for modern TVs: 1. Never connect the TV panel itself to the internet. Keep it air-gapped. Treat it solely as a dumb monitor. 2. Use an Apple TV for the "smart" features. 3. Avoid Fire TV, Chromecast, or Roku. The logic is simple, Google (Chromecast) and Amazon (Fire TV) operate on the same business model as the TV manufacturers subsidized hardware in exchange for user data and ad inventory. Apple is the only mainstream option where the hardware cost covers the experience, rather than your viewing habits subsidizing the device.

mschuster91 10mo ago
Chromecast hardware wasn't ever sold at a loss, AFAIK. These things were/are pretty pricey for being long-outdated SoCs equivalent to low range smartphone SoCs and a HDMI driver chip.
funnythat36 10mo ago
This
gspr 10mo ago
> My rule for modern TVs: > 1. Never connect the TV panel itself to the internet. Keep it air-gapped. Treat it solely as a dumb monitor. A sensible rule, indeed. Next level of dystopia: cellular modems becoming so cheap that every TV, fridge and washing machine comes with one that connects it to the Internet whether you like it or not. And then when we Faraday cage those, the device refuses to function. Laws need to keep up and ban this shit outright. It sounds exactly like something that the EU could help with.
- monai 10mo ago
  > Next level of dystopia: cellular modems becoming so cheap that every TV, fridge and washing machine comes with one that connects it to the Internet whether you like it or not. That's already a reality with cars in Europe.
  - Angostura 10mo ago
    Just to be clear to anyone reading - those SIMs have one purpose only - to automatically call emergency services if you crash.
    - rjh29 10mo ago
      For now...?
    - gxs 10mo ago
      It’s naive to think that this is a) the only current use Almost everything ever introduced with good intentions gets perverted into something else Traffic cameras, facial recognition, phone GPS, social media - all can and are used against you in one way shape or form I’m not saying we shouldn’t have any of those things - I’m saying just open your eyes because e sims are no different
      - Y-bar 10mo ago
        Over twenty years ago there came a mandate that all places with many people gathers (both residential and commercial housing) should have a EN 54‑21 compliant alarm transmitter to automatically notify authorities in case of a fire. I'm afraid that we are crying wolf right now and are undermining our efforts to permanently shut down Chat Control and the likes when we complain about these efforts with a history of not being misused.
    - kylpytakki 10mo ago
      Do they need a SIM to do an eCall? I'd think not because after all it is a semi-regular emergency call. So if the car has a SIM it probably could be removed to neutralize it without interfering with the eCall. But eSIMs might be a different problem...
  - gspr 10mo ago
    I also don't like this precedent, but I do still feel cars are quite different. You need a license to drive a car on public roads. The car needs lots of certifications. You need an insurance. You need to prominently display your (your car's) ID for all to see. If you make mistakes while operating a car, the police can stop you and the state can take away your right to drive a car. This makes it all very different from a gadget you use for entertainment in your own home.
- pjc50 10mo ago
  The EU actually mandated that cars have a modem ("eCall"), so they could self-report accidents. I think this has been under reported even in tech circles.
  - darkwater 10mo ago
    You also need to have a spare tire or an inflate kit, that doesn't mean you can throw it at somebody's head or spray them in the eyes. Said in another manner: having eCall doesn't mean that they are authorized to send telemetry back in non-emergency situations or use it to do any other thing unrelated to the main function. Now, if there is not a law that forbids that, car makers are going to exploit that loophole for sure, but that does not mean the EU is evil in this context.
    - crote 10mo ago
      The path is obvious, is it not? Having two independent cellular modems in a car is obviously silly, so it only makes sense to use the same module both for the mandatory emergency calling and for the telemetry. Because the emergency calling is mandatory, it'll of course be made impossible to disable the modem - and by extension the telemetry. Oh, you disabled the telemetry? I bet that'll be called "tampering with safety equipment", and your insurance is now void, and your car is no longer road legal. If the law doesn't mandate that eCall has to be fully independent, it'll 100% be used to spy on you.
      - 1718627440 10mo ago
        > Having two independent cellular modems in a car is obviously silly They should put mandating exactly that into the law.
      - darkwater 10mo ago
        But the EU can just (and maybe already does) mandate that such telemetry must be opt-in by the user, and on top of that the data collected that way must be treated accordingly to the GDPR anyway.
rusk 10mo ago
> 1. Never connect the TV panel itself to the internet. Keep it air-gapped. Treat it solely as a dumb monitor. I gave up on this. I turned off a lot of the smart features but couldn’t justify not being able to use the apps. It’s pretty dystopian my TV spying on me for sure but they’ve already got my phone, my internet history and presumably some pretty good spy satellites If a drone has my name on it I’m done for either way
russdill 10mo ago
OG Chromecast is specifically being phased out because it doesn't offer the same level of control as the current crop of "smart" TVs/devices.
- Angostura 10mo ago
  I image they will be much sought-after, unless you are suggesting they are being bricked
  - pedro_caetano 10mo ago
    Even if they don't brick them explicitly they will no longer provide security updates for them. I'm on the same boat, smart TV has never been online, all content is just cast from media server/phone/tablet straight to chromecast. It works, no fuss, glitch free, and of course they will kill it.
    - gpderetta 10mo ago
      Even if they were to provide security updates, a few platforms no longer work with them. At the very least, now Disney+ refuses to stream to my original chromecast dongle.
  - neurostimulant 10mo ago
    My og chromecast frequently crash (I suspect due to running out of ram when casting contents) so I ended up replacing it with the chromecast ultra. The og chromecast is still usable if you can tolerate the crashing, but I imagine it's going to get worse as developers keep updating their cast players (basically a webpage that plays video) with new features that consume more and more ram.
- tracker1 10mo ago
  I'm still disappointed they killed the Chromecast Audio... have one uptairs I use regularly. Would have bought a couple extra had I known.
mr_mitm 10mo ago
What do you think of Nvidia Shield? I haven't tried it, but I think it should also belong to 2). It's clearly much more expensive than a FireTV, but as you say it shouldn't be subsidized by ads. As an Android device it should be more open than an Apple TV. While I recognize the near flawless UI and high hardware quality of most Apple devices, I disagree with their "golden cage" or walled garden approach.
- Y-bar 10mo ago
  I see many people liking their shield, and with good reason it seems, but is it a worthy ecosystem to buy in to when it has not seen a new hardware revision since 2019?
  - p_j_w 10mo ago
    What benefits would a hardware upgrade bring the end user? Not releasing a new model every year sounds like a perfectly good thing to me as long as they keep updating the software without introducing performance problems. My biggest gripe with the Shield is the newest one has a remote that I really don’t like. Luckily it can be replaced with a third party remote!
    - Y-bar 10mo ago
      I too think yearly updates are a bit too much and I too want to keep my devices for a long time. Still rocking an iPhone 12 (mini). But support for newer codecs like AV1 and general hardware refreshes to keep up with the underlying Android base would still seem like good ideas to me. Reading the specs it seems that the Shield also would benefit from being able to detect frame rate to auto-switch via HDMI. Higher network bandwidth to play UHD Blu-ray rips seems like something people want.
    - tracker1 10mo ago
      Same, one of mine is from the initial models, and still working and receiving updates... it doesn't have the 4k upscaling of the newer models, but I've been happy and have several in my house. About half my watching is YouTube on a paid account, the other half via Kodi and the high seas. My SO uses the regular apps for Netflix, Amazon and HBO currently. Having support for hacker-friendly features as well as blessed apps with 4k support has been pretty great. As another post mentioned, the remote (current and previous) have been less than stellar... I've been using the one linked below[1], which works pretty well, though uses a USB dongle. FWIW, can also pair a bluetooth headset if you want the big screen experience, but don't want to blow out the house with audio sometimes. 1. https://amazon.com/dp/B07RFN8Z47 https://amazon.com/dp/B07RFN8Z47
zelos 10mo ago
Exactly. I disabled internet access on my LG C1 after an update reenabled the setting that pops up adverts over the top of what you're watching.
UnreachableCode 10mo ago
What's wrong with Roku? They have a few ads here and there but I've always found the interface to be super slick. And they aren't Google, so not as harmful to share my data with? (a big assumption, I know)
- everdrive 10mo ago
  Roku has been bad in a number of ways, but here's one: https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/05/roku-disables-tvs-and-streaming-devices-until-users-consent-to-forced-arbitration/ https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/05/roku-disables-tvs-and-stre...
- theshrike79 10mo ago
  "Few ads here and there" is always worse than "no ads".
- robhlt 10mo ago
  I wouldn't assume Roku is better to share your data with. Google uses your data to feed their own algorithms instead of just straight up selling it. Their incentive is to keep the data internal so they alone can extract value from it. Roku just directly sells it to anyone who wants it: https://advertising.roku.com/learn/resources/roku-unveils-data-cloud-collaboration-suite https://advertising.roku.com/learn/resources/roku-unveils-da...
alias_neo 10mo ago
Maybe this is what I need to do. I disconnected our living room LG TV from the internet and got a Fire Stick 4K Max, but I hate it; 90% of the screen is advert, and you get a tiny sliver for the 5 apps it lets you see, and you have to go digging for the rest, not to mention the home-screen advertising isn't always appropriate for young children. I hadn't considered Apple TV because I've never been an Apple user, but perhaps this is what I need. Though I'm an Android user, all of the Android TV devices seem to be junk or ad-ridden junk. Is Apple TV the way to go (asking other opinions).
- isoprophlex 10mo ago
  Happy apple tv user for > 5 years now. It has icons for the apps you want to start on the home screen. You click the icons. The apps start. It's connected to a samsung tv that's not allowed wifi access. Besides the bad and steadily worsening UX of streaming apps like Netflix, my setup itself never shows me any ads. Also the apple tv remote has a very solid, premium feel, which i like
  - alias_neo 10mo ago
    Thank you, that's exactly what I'm after. A quick search, suggests the latest is 3rd gen (2022), am I looking at the right device?
    - asix66 10mo ago
      Yes. Macrumors here says “don’t buy” [0], but only because they tend to recommend only if tech is “new”. I have this ATv gen and it’s not perfect, but is really the best streaming box, having used roku and nvidia shield. PS: get the version with wired ethernet if you can…wifi works, but no surprise that wired is more solid. [0] https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/apple-tv/ https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/apple-tv/
  - tstrimple 10mo ago
    I just wish the remote wasn't so small that I can never find it after my girls use it. I've just gotten used to using the phone app.
gman83 10mo ago
I got one of those Google TV Streamer boxes, put a different launcher on it (Projectivy Launcher), and it's been great, no ads or anything.
mikkupikku 10mo ago
My new rule for modern TVs is don't have a TV at all. The social role of having a TV is rapidly dwindling. First off, the number of movies and TV shows that merit even being watched is dwindling. Secondly, even if you find something worth watching, the odds that anybody else will want to watch it is small; everybody has been atomized by recommendation algorithms, everybody gets shown a different set of ads and media, there's no longer and shared culture when it comes to media. It used to be that everybody went home and watched NBC or one of the two other channels, all saw the same ads for the same movies and shows, so if you mentioned one the next day everybody knew what you were talking about. This is no longer true, if you try to bring up some Netflix show you heard of last night, probaby nobody else has heard of it. Now let's say you actually talk somebody into watching something with you despite that... What are the odds that both they and you get through the show or movie without reaching for their phone? Almost zero, in my experience. It's done. The cultural significance of TV is toast. Our culture is too atomized, too personalized for shared experiences. Large TVs, centerpiece of the living room, are becoming an anachronism that date people as being from a previous era when television was still a shared cultural experience.
- Braxton1980 10mo ago
  >First off, the number of movies and TV shows that merit even being watched is dwindling The first item in your list to others is subjective
  - mikkupikku 10mo ago
    That's a popular and socially safe point of view, but it's completely wrong. Artistic merit, like truth and beauty, is an objective quality completely orthogonal to cultural differences or personal opinion. To illustrate this orthogonality, I invite you to realize there exists art which has great merit and yet which you personally do not like. You should be able to do this, if you can't manage I can provide my own examples for you. The existence of such art proves that personal preferences don't weigh on the recognition of artistic merit.
    - 10mo ago
GaryNumanVevo 10mo ago
This works until eARC breaks and you have to update (LG C6, never connected to the internet, only using AppleTV). And then of course the next LG update will break eARC again.
nerdjon 10mo ago
It frustrates me that this is where we have come too. I refuse to connect any of my TV's to the internet but I have to wonder how long until a few different things happen: - The TV's just connect to unsecure Wifi and collect the data anyways (I think there were reports of at least one manufacture already doing this at one point?). Or just make a deal with xfinity to use their mesh network that seems to be everywhere. - The TV's don't work without being connected to the internet. - The manufactures find out that the cost of adding in a cellular modem is justified by the increase in data they can collect. I would love the idea of buying a modern TV without any of this crap shoved in, I happily use my Apple TV for everything that isnt video games. It bothers me though when it seems like to fix an issue with HDR or something I need to update the firmware. I have wondered on occasion if this is intentional to "force" people to connect. If I have to do this I will run an ethernet cable to temporarily connect.
- PeterStuer 10mo ago
  99.999% of TV's are connected directly to the Internet by their users without any restrictions. Investing in additional hardware or operator deals to capture the remaining .001% isn't typically worth it, for now.
- msum 10mo ago
  For one of our Samsung TVs, we were able to put the update on a thumb drive (we're old, we still have some around) and then use that to install the update on the TV. It's kind of funny, we bought these TVs because they were "smart" (when they first came out) but they were so clunky and unreliable we disconnected them and used either PS or Apple TV for other things. Now we wouldn't connect our TVs to the internet for anything, and only use PS5s for specific things. We mostly just use our Apple TV.
jncfhnb 10mo ago
Mini pc + HDMI. Oh look, everything is free and no ads
- gridlocdev 10mo ago
  I’ve thought about doing this, what kind of device do you use for input? I have a Logitech K400 Plus portable keyboard and it works great for general use, but I end up using my Apple TV on the couch instead since I prefer using a TV remote / gamepad to navigate.
  - adrianmsmith 10mo ago
    I have a Logitech K830, it's great. Alas they're not manufactured any more. Modern equivalents are a lot cheaper. I think they might not have the backlight feature which is extremely useful, and I've dropped mine many times, even spilled coffee over it, and it still works flawlessly.
  - preisschild 10mo ago
    a game controller works also really well with something like Steam Big Picture and Media Players
  - jncfhnb 10mo ago
    i just use the cheapest wireless keyboard and mouse I can. I’m accessing content through the browser so there’s enough typing that I wouldn’t want a non keyboard personally. Imo you only need remote like hardware if you’re planning to scroll through Netflix style walls of content.
  - devilbunny 10mo ago
    I just use an Apple TV box these days, but ~15 years ago I was running a Windows 7 Media Center PC for DVR and a few saved movies. The best remote was a TiVo Slide Pro (no longer made, and my wife broke the one we had). Normal TiVo remote buttons on top, slides open to expose a small keyboard. They occasionally show up on eBay or if you have a local source, use that. You'll need one that has the RF dongle to be able to use the keyboard with anything other than an RF-capable TiVo.
beaugunderson 10mo ago
just make sure at least one side of your TV connection doesn't support HDMI Ethernet Channel ;P
Casteil 10mo ago
100%. Roku's privacy policy is the most wildly invasive thing I've ever seen - basically everything that used to be just conspiracy theory.
msum 10mo ago
This is what we've been doing for a few years now. It works.

by kburman 10mo ago

mschuster91 10mo ago

Chromecast hardware wasn't ever sold at a loss, AFAIK. These things were/are pretty pricey for being long-outdated SoCs equivalent to low range smartphone SoCs and a HDMI driver chip.

funnythat36 10mo ago

This

gspr 10mo ago

> My rule for modern TVs: > 1. Never connect the TV panel itself to the internet. Keep it air-gapped. Treat it solely as a dumb monitor. A sensible rule, indeed. Next level of dystopia: cellular modems becoming so cheap that every TV, fridge and washing machine comes with one that connects it to the Internet whether you like it or not. And then when we Faraday cage those, the device refuses to function. Laws need to keep up and ban this shit outright. It sounds exactly like something that the EU could help with.

monai 10mo ago
> Next level of dystopia: cellular modems becoming so cheap that every TV, fridge and washing machine comes with one that connects it to the Internet whether you like it or not. That's already a reality with cars in Europe.
- Angostura 10mo ago
  Just to be clear to anyone reading - those SIMs have one purpose only - to automatically call emergency services if you crash.
  - rjh29 10mo ago
    For now...?
  - gxs 10mo ago
    It’s naive to think that this is a) the only current use Almost everything ever introduced with good intentions gets perverted into something else Traffic cameras, facial recognition, phone GPS, social media - all can and are used against you in one way shape or form I’m not saying we shouldn’t have any of those things - I’m saying just open your eyes because e sims are no different
    - Y-bar 10mo ago
      Over twenty years ago there came a mandate that all places with many people gathers (both residential and commercial housing) should have a EN 54‑21 compliant alarm transmitter to automatically notify authorities in case of a fire. I'm afraid that we are crying wolf right now and are undermining our efforts to permanently shut down Chat Control and the likes when we complain about these efforts with a history of not being misused.
  - kylpytakki 10mo ago
    Do they need a SIM to do an eCall? I'd think not because after all it is a semi-regular emergency call. So if the car has a SIM it probably could be removed to neutralize it without interfering with the eCall. But eSIMs might be a different problem...
- gspr 10mo ago
  I also don't like this precedent, but I do still feel cars are quite different. You need a license to drive a car on public roads. The car needs lots of certifications. You need an insurance. You need to prominently display your (your car's) ID for all to see. If you make mistakes while operating a car, the police can stop you and the state can take away your right to drive a car. This makes it all very different from a gadget you use for entertainment in your own home.
pjc50 10mo ago
The EU actually mandated that cars have a modem ("eCall"), so they could self-report accidents. I think this has been under reported even in tech circles.
- darkwater 10mo ago
  You also need to have a spare tire or an inflate kit, that doesn't mean you can throw it at somebody's head or spray them in the eyes. Said in another manner: having eCall doesn't mean that they are authorized to send telemetry back in non-emergency situations or use it to do any other thing unrelated to the main function. Now, if there is not a law that forbids that, car makers are going to exploit that loophole for sure, but that does not mean the EU is evil in this context.
  - crote 10mo ago
    The path is obvious, is it not? Having two independent cellular modems in a car is obviously silly, so it only makes sense to use the same module both for the mandatory emergency calling and for the telemetry. Because the emergency calling is mandatory, it'll of course be made impossible to disable the modem - and by extension the telemetry. Oh, you disabled the telemetry? I bet that'll be called "tampering with safety equipment", and your insurance is now void, and your car is no longer road legal. If the law doesn't mandate that eCall has to be fully independent, it'll 100% be used to spy on you.
    - 1718627440 10mo ago
      > Having two independent cellular modems in a car is obviously silly They should put mandating exactly that into the law.
    - darkwater 10mo ago
      But the EU can just (and maybe already does) mandate that such telemetry must be opt-in by the user, and on top of that the data collected that way must be treated accordingly to the GDPR anyway.

rusk 10mo ago

> 1. Never connect the TV panel itself to the internet. Keep it air-gapped. Treat it solely as a dumb monitor. I gave up on this. I turned off a lot of the smart features but couldn’t justify not being able to use the apps. It’s pretty dystopian my TV spying on me for sure but they’ve already got my phone, my internet history and presumably some pretty good spy satellites If a drone has my name on it I’m done for either way

russdill 10mo ago

OG Chromecast is specifically being phased out because it doesn't offer the same level of control as the current crop of "smart" TVs/devices.

Angostura 10mo ago
I image they will be much sought-after, unless you are suggesting they are being bricked
- pedro_caetano 10mo ago
  Even if they don't brick them explicitly they will no longer provide security updates for them. I'm on the same boat, smart TV has never been online, all content is just cast from media server/phone/tablet straight to chromecast. It works, no fuss, glitch free, and of course they will kill it.
  - gpderetta 10mo ago
    Even if they were to provide security updates, a few platforms no longer work with them. At the very least, now Disney+ refuses to stream to my original chromecast dongle.
- neurostimulant 10mo ago
  My og chromecast frequently crash (I suspect due to running out of ram when casting contents) so I ended up replacing it with the chromecast ultra. The og chromecast is still usable if you can tolerate the crashing, but I imagine it's going to get worse as developers keep updating their cast players (basically a webpage that plays video) with new features that consume more and more ram.
tracker1 10mo ago
I'm still disappointed they killed the Chromecast Audio... have one uptairs I use regularly. Would have bought a couple extra had I known.

mr_mitm 10mo ago

What do you think of Nvidia Shield? I haven't tried it, but I think it should also belong to 2). It's clearly much more expensive than a FireTV, but as you say it shouldn't be subsidized by ads. As an Android device it should be more open than an Apple TV. While I recognize the near flawless UI and high hardware quality of most Apple devices, I disagree with their "golden cage" or walled garden approach.

Y-bar 10mo ago
I see many people liking their shield, and with good reason it seems, but is it a worthy ecosystem to buy in to when it has not seen a new hardware revision since 2019?
- p_j_w 10mo ago
  What benefits would a hardware upgrade bring the end user? Not releasing a new model every year sounds like a perfectly good thing to me as long as they keep updating the software without introducing performance problems. My biggest gripe with the Shield is the newest one has a remote that I really don’t like. Luckily it can be replaced with a third party remote!
  - Y-bar 10mo ago
    I too think yearly updates are a bit too much and I too want to keep my devices for a long time. Still rocking an iPhone 12 (mini). But support for newer codecs like AV1 and general hardware refreshes to keep up with the underlying Android base would still seem like good ideas to me. Reading the specs it seems that the Shield also would benefit from being able to detect frame rate to auto-switch via HDMI. Higher network bandwidth to play UHD Blu-ray rips seems like something people want.
  - tracker1 10mo ago
    Same, one of mine is from the initial models, and still working and receiving updates... it doesn't have the 4k upscaling of the newer models, but I've been happy and have several in my house. About half my watching is YouTube on a paid account, the other half via Kodi and the high seas. My SO uses the regular apps for Netflix, Amazon and HBO currently. Having support for hacker-friendly features as well as blessed apps with 4k support has been pretty great. As another post mentioned, the remote (current and previous) have been less than stellar... I've been using the one linked below[1], which works pretty well, though uses a USB dongle. FWIW, can also pair a bluetooth headset if you want the big screen experience, but don't want to blow out the house with audio sometimes. 1. https://amazon.com/dp/B07RFN8Z47 https://amazon.com/dp/B07RFN8Z47

zelos 10mo ago

Exactly. I disabled internet access on my LG C1 after an update reenabled the setting that pops up adverts over the top of what you're watching.

UnreachableCode 10mo ago

What's wrong with Roku? They have a few ads here and there but I've always found the interface to be super slick. And they aren't Google, so not as harmful to share my data with? (a big assumption, I know)

everdrive 10mo ago
Roku has been bad in a number of ways, but here's one: https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/05/roku-disables-tvs-and-streaming-devices-until-users-consent-to-forced-arbitration/ https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/05/roku-disables-tvs-and-stre...
theshrike79 10mo ago
"Few ads here and there" is always worse than "no ads".
robhlt 10mo ago
I wouldn't assume Roku is better to share your data with. Google uses your data to feed their own algorithms instead of just straight up selling it. Their incentive is to keep the data internal so they alone can extract value from it. Roku just directly sells it to anyone who wants it: https://advertising.roku.com/learn/resources/roku-unveils-data-cloud-collaboration-suite https://advertising.roku.com/learn/resources/roku-unveils-da...

alias_neo 10mo ago

Maybe this is what I need to do. I disconnected our living room LG TV from the internet and got a Fire Stick 4K Max, but I hate it; 90% of the screen is advert, and you get a tiny sliver for the 5 apps it lets you see, and you have to go digging for the rest, not to mention the home-screen advertising isn't always appropriate for young children. I hadn't considered Apple TV because I've never been an Apple user, but perhaps this is what I need. Though I'm an Android user, all of the Android TV devices seem to be junk or ad-ridden junk. Is Apple TV the way to go (asking other opinions).

isoprophlex 10mo ago
Happy apple tv user for > 5 years now. It has icons for the apps you want to start on the home screen. You click the icons. The apps start. It's connected to a samsung tv that's not allowed wifi access. Besides the bad and steadily worsening UX of streaming apps like Netflix, my setup itself never shows me any ads. Also the apple tv remote has a very solid, premium feel, which i like
- alias_neo 10mo ago
  Thank you, that's exactly what I'm after. A quick search, suggests the latest is 3rd gen (2022), am I looking at the right device?
  - asix66 10mo ago
    Yes. Macrumors here says “don’t buy” [0], but only because they tend to recommend only if tech is “new”. I have this ATv gen and it’s not perfect, but is really the best streaming box, having used roku and nvidia shield. PS: get the version with wired ethernet if you can…wifi works, but no surprise that wired is more solid. [0] https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/apple-tv/ https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/apple-tv/
- tstrimple 10mo ago
  I just wish the remote wasn't so small that I can never find it after my girls use it. I've just gotten used to using the phone app.

gman83 10mo ago

I got one of those Google TV Streamer boxes, put a different launcher on it (Projectivy Launcher), and it's been great, no ads or anything.

mikkupikku 10mo ago

My new rule for modern TVs is don't have a TV at all. The social role of having a TV is rapidly dwindling. First off, the number of movies and TV shows that merit even being watched is dwindling. Secondly, even if you find something worth watching, the odds that anybody else will want to watch it is small; everybody has been atomized by recommendation algorithms, everybody gets shown a different set of ads and media, there's no longer and shared culture when it comes to media. It used to be that everybody went home and watched NBC or one of the two other channels, all saw the same ads for the same movies and shows, so if you mentioned one the next day everybody knew what you were talking about. This is no longer true, if you try to bring up some Netflix show you heard of last night, probaby nobody else has heard of it. Now let's say you actually talk somebody into watching something with you despite that... What are the odds that both they and you get through the show or movie without reaching for their phone? Almost zero, in my experience. It's done. The cultural significance of TV is toast. Our culture is too atomized, too personalized for shared experiences. Large TVs, centerpiece of the living room, are becoming an anachronism that date people as being from a previous era when television was still a shared cultural experience.

Braxton1980 10mo ago
>First off, the number of movies and TV shows that merit even being watched is dwindling The first item in your list to others is subjective
- mikkupikku 10mo ago
  That's a popular and socially safe point of view, but it's completely wrong. Artistic merit, like truth and beauty, is an objective quality completely orthogonal to cultural differences or personal opinion. To illustrate this orthogonality, I invite you to realize there exists art which has great merit and yet which you personally do not like. You should be able to do this, if you can't manage I can provide my own examples for you. The existence of such art proves that personal preferences don't weigh on the recognition of artistic merit.
  - 10mo ago

GaryNumanVevo 10mo ago

This works until eARC breaks and you have to update (LG C6, never connected to the internet, only using AppleTV). And then of course the next LG update will break eARC again.

nerdjon 10mo ago

It frustrates me that this is where we have come too. I refuse to connect any of my TV's to the internet but I have to wonder how long until a few different things happen: - The TV's just connect to unsecure Wifi and collect the data anyways (I think there were reports of at least one manufacture already doing this at one point?). Or just make a deal with xfinity to use their mesh network that seems to be everywhere. - The TV's don't work without being connected to the internet. - The manufactures find out that the cost of adding in a cellular modem is justified by the increase in data they can collect. I would love the idea of buying a modern TV without any of this crap shoved in, I happily use my Apple TV for everything that isnt video games. It bothers me though when it seems like to fix an issue with HDR or something I need to update the firmware. I have wondered on occasion if this is intentional to "force" people to connect. If I have to do this I will run an ethernet cable to temporarily connect.

PeterStuer 10mo ago
99.999% of TV's are connected directly to the Internet by their users without any restrictions. Investing in additional hardware or operator deals to capture the remaining .001% isn't typically worth it, for now.
msum 10mo ago
For one of our Samsung TVs, we were able to put the update on a thumb drive (we're old, we still have some around) and then use that to install the update on the TV. It's kind of funny, we bought these TVs because they were "smart" (when they first came out) but they were so clunky and unreliable we disconnected them and used either PS or Apple TV for other things. Now we wouldn't connect our TVs to the internet for anything, and only use PS5s for specific things. We mostly just use our Apple TV.

jncfhnb 10mo ago

Mini pc + HDMI. Oh look, everything is free and no ads

gridlocdev 10mo ago
I’ve thought about doing this, what kind of device do you use for input? I have a Logitech K400 Plus portable keyboard and it works great for general use, but I end up using my Apple TV on the couch instead since I prefer using a TV remote / gamepad to navigate.
- adrianmsmith 10mo ago
  I have a Logitech K830, it's great. Alas they're not manufactured any more. Modern equivalents are a lot cheaper. I think they might not have the backlight feature which is extremely useful, and I've dropped mine many times, even spilled coffee over it, and it still works flawlessly.
- preisschild 10mo ago
  a game controller works also really well with something like Steam Big Picture and Media Players
- jncfhnb 10mo ago
  i just use the cheapest wireless keyboard and mouse I can. I’m accessing content through the browser so there’s enough typing that I wouldn’t want a non keyboard personally. Imo you only need remote like hardware if you’re planning to scroll through Netflix style walls of content.
- devilbunny 10mo ago
  I just use an Apple TV box these days, but ~15 years ago I was running a Windows 7 Media Center PC for DVR and a few saved movies. The best remote was a TiVo Slide Pro (no longer made, and my wife broke the one we had). Normal TiVo remote buttons on top, slides open to expose a small keyboard. They occasionally show up on eBay or if you have a local source, use that. You'll need one that has the RF dongle to be able to use the keyboard with anything other than an RF-capable TiVo.

beaugunderson 10mo ago

just make sure at least one side of your TV connection doesn't support HDMI Ethernet Channel ;P

Casteil 10mo ago

100%. Roku's privacy policy is the most wildly invasive thing I've ever seen - basically everything that used to be just conspiracy theory.

msum 10mo ago

This is what we've been doing for a few years now. It works.