5 ms·

I haven't bought a TV for five years (a Samsung, as it happens, plugged into a Roku). Can you even buy a TV that isn't smart these days?

by a3n 12y ago

pjmlp 12y ago
In Europe yes.
pkfrank 12y ago
Yes. Most big box retailers have an "in house" brand that is no-frills but still fairly quality. IE Insignia from Best Buy.
wil421 12y ago
There are plenty of companies that sell budget TVs without Smart features. Visio, Magnavox, and even Samsung's low end TVs dont have Smart features. If you are looking for a top of the line TV it may be hard to find (but is the display really better than a budget Samsung, are we paying extra for Smart features?).
anon4 12y ago
Yes, it's called a monitor. There are plenty of monitors that have hdmi inputs and a standard audio jack output for connecting to a set of speakers.
- Roboprog 12y ago
  Like how you think. I'm not sure what the biggest monitor you can get is, though.
  - jpindar 12y ago
    The largest monitor I am aware of is the one in the Dallas Cowboy's stadium, which is 72 feet by 160 feet and 1920 x 1080 resolution. The largest one a normal person can afford is of course a different question.
    - boobsbr 12y ago
      It's not even 2k? Ewww.
      - nitrogen 12y ago
        In consumer land, 1920x1080 is 2K. 4K is 3840x2160. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-definition_television#Resolution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-definition_televisi...
  - qanael 12y ago
    Newegg has a "large format display" category for big monitors. 46" seems to be a popular size. There's some pretty cheap 1080p ones in there, but I don't know anything about their image quality.
  - tomjen3 12y ago
    Sysadmin at work as a 40inch 4k monitor. Not sure if it has external speakers though.
- a3n 12y ago
  How does the viable viewing angle of a repurposed monitor compare to a TV?
rm999 12y ago
Sort of, but if you want the best quality TV it's hard to avoid "smart" TVs. From wirecutter: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-tv/ http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-tv/ >Is there a best TV with no apps (or 3D)? >Not really. Nearly every TV worth considering is also a Smart TV. There used to be several great midrange “dumb” TVs, but they’re all pretty much gone. You don’t have to use them, and you’re probably still better off getting a media streamer (since they have more content sources). As far as 3D goes, we’re starting to see good TVs that lack 3D
teacup50 12y ago
TVs meant for commercial installations (hotels, hospitals, digital signage, etc) often either have no smart features, or have fully user-controllable smart features (e.g., think hotel menus).
- nicwolff 12y ago
  I'm still using a 10-year-old 42" Panasonic Commercial Plasma, no tuner, no "smart" features, stellar picture, totally expandable, totally reliable. They stopped making them of course.
rasz_pl 12y ago
Seiki makes cheap dumb 4K TVs.
rsync 12y ago
Yes. Look for "commercial displays". You know those industrial looking NEC monitors with the tiny bezels that are turned sideways to be departure/arrival boards in airports ? I use one of those as a TV. Is wonderful. Will probably last 20 years. Prior to that I used a panasonic commercial plasma. Still running after 10 years. Neither of them have any smarts whatsoever. They're not even that expensive, which makes sense because many installations use 8 or 12 of them at a time as screenwalls. http://www.necdisplay.com/p/large--screen-displays/p462?type=support http://www.necdisplay.com/p/large--screen-displays/p462?type...
- burger_moon 12y ago
  The NEC P462 46" is on Amazon for ~$2k. Plus you still need speakers. That seems like quite a bit to spend on a 46" tv.
rodgerd 12y ago
I picked up a Panasonic Viera that is entirely bereft of smart features, not even a network port. About 2/3rds the price of equivalent quality screens with smart functionality, too. That said, simply not plugging a smart TV into the network will solve most of the problems with it.
a3n 12y ago
Great responses, and from reading them I realized I should have qualified as "a good or high quality display." Which many responders assumed, and there's some good direction to explore here.
LordKano 12y ago
Even if we get to the point that all of the available/affordable TVs are "Smart", you still have the option of not letting the thing on your network. Well, at least for now. I will continue to use my plain old "Dumb" TVs and Roku devices.
tomjen3 12y ago
Yes. I brought one a year or so ago (40 inches I think) and it isn't smart (that is it doesn't have an internet connection option) but it does have the ability to e.g auto tune channel discovery and play music and movies from the attached usb stick (super useful feature btw) so it isn't like a tv of yesterday either. I imagine the televisions you tend to see ads for or that are displayed most prominently in stores are those that they want to sell (no shit) and thus those tend to be the smart tvs.

I haven't bought a TV for five years (a Samsung, as it happens, plugged into a Roku). Can you even buy a TV that isn't smart these days?

by a3n 12y ago

I haven't bought a TV for five years (a Samsung, as it happens, plugged into a Roku). Can you even buy a TV that isn't smart these days?

pjmlp 12y ago

In Europe yes.

pkfrank 12y ago

Yes. Most big box retailers have an "in house" brand that is no-frills but still fairly quality. IE Insignia from Best Buy.

wil421 12y ago

There are plenty of companies that sell budget TVs without Smart features. Visio, Magnavox, and even Samsung's low end TVs dont have Smart features. If you are looking for a top of the line TV it may be hard to find (but is the display really better than a budget Samsung, are we paying extra for Smart features?).

anon4 12y ago

Yes, it's called a monitor. There are plenty of monitors that have hdmi inputs and a standard audio jack output for connecting to a set of speakers.

Roboprog 12y ago
Like how you think. I'm not sure what the biggest monitor you can get is, though.
- jpindar 12y ago
  The largest monitor I am aware of is the one in the Dallas Cowboy's stadium, which is 72 feet by 160 feet and 1920 x 1080 resolution. The largest one a normal person can afford is of course a different question.
  - boobsbr 12y ago
    It's not even 2k? Ewww.
    - nitrogen 12y ago
      In consumer land, 1920x1080 is 2K. 4K is 3840x2160. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-definition_television#Resolution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-definition_televisi...
- qanael 12y ago
  Newegg has a "large format display" category for big monitors. 46" seems to be a popular size. There's some pretty cheap 1080p ones in there, but I don't know anything about their image quality.
- tomjen3 12y ago
  Sysadmin at work as a 40inch 4k monitor. Not sure if it has external speakers though.
a3n 12y ago
How does the viable viewing angle of a repurposed monitor compare to a TV?

rm999 12y ago

Sort of, but if you want the best quality TV it's hard to avoid "smart" TVs. From wirecutter: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-tv/ http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-tv/ >Is there a best TV with no apps (or 3D)? >Not really. Nearly every TV worth considering is also a Smart TV. There used to be several great midrange “dumb” TVs, but they’re all pretty much gone. You don’t have to use them, and you’re probably still better off getting a media streamer (since they have more content sources). As far as 3D goes, we’re starting to see good TVs that lack 3D

teacup50 12y ago

TVs meant for commercial installations (hotels, hospitals, digital signage, etc) often either have no smart features, or have fully user-controllable smart features (e.g., think hotel menus).

nicwolff 12y ago
I'm still using a 10-year-old 42" Panasonic Commercial Plasma, no tuner, no "smart" features, stellar picture, totally expandable, totally reliable. They stopped making them of course.

rasz_pl 12y ago

Seiki makes cheap dumb 4K TVs.

rsync 12y ago

Yes. Look for "commercial displays". You know those industrial looking NEC monitors with the tiny bezels that are turned sideways to be departure/arrival boards in airports ? I use one of those as a TV. Is wonderful. Will probably last 20 years. Prior to that I used a panasonic commercial plasma. Still running after 10 years. Neither of them have any smarts whatsoever. They're not even that expensive, which makes sense because many installations use 8 or 12 of them at a time as screenwalls. http://www.necdisplay.com/p/large--screen-displays/p462?type=support http://www.necdisplay.com/p/large--screen-displays/p462?type...

burger_moon 12y ago
The NEC P462 46" is on Amazon for ~$2k. Plus you still need speakers. That seems like quite a bit to spend on a 46" tv.

rodgerd 12y ago

I picked up a Panasonic Viera that is entirely bereft of smart features, not even a network port. About 2/3rds the price of equivalent quality screens with smart functionality, too. That said, simply not plugging a smart TV into the network will solve most of the problems with it.

a3n 12y ago

Great responses, and from reading them I realized I should have qualified as "a good or high quality display." Which many responders assumed, and there's some good direction to explore here.

LordKano 12y ago

Even if we get to the point that all of the available/affordable TVs are "Smart", you still have the option of not letting the thing on your network. Well, at least for now. I will continue to use my plain old "Dumb" TVs and Roku devices.

tomjen3 12y ago

Yes. I brought one a year or so ago (40 inches I think) and it isn't smart (that is it doesn't have an internet connection option) but it does have the ability to e.g auto tune channel discovery and play music and movies from the attached usb stick (super useful feature btw) so it isn't like a tv of yesterday either. I imagine the televisions you tend to see ads for or that are displayed most prominently in stores are those that they want to sell (no shit) and thus those tend to be the smart tvs.