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Re: Purchasing a Smart TV [message #90733 is a reply to message #90722]

Tue, 30 July 2019 10:29

Rusty
Messages: 1205
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

That's a reassuring point. I mainly reflect from a post in home theater from a fellow whom seemed plagued by ads infusing into his new smart tv. Even after making sure to follow explicitly, instructions to avoid such occurrences setting up from the tv's menu. Just from my initial perusing local sources. Smart tv's are the only choice to pick from. Guess I'll have to do a little research online to figure if any brands are more or less prone to unwarranted ads annoying the viewing experience. I better get to it, as I write the tv is flickering and going black.

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Re: Purchasing a Smart TV [message #90734 is a reply to message #90733]

Tue, 30 July 2019 15:28

Wayne Parham
Messages: 18793
Registered: January 2001

Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I'm with you on the online research. Might even be worth it to go to some big box stores to actually give 'em a hands-on try.

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Re: Purchasing a Smart TV [message #90735 is a reply to message #90734]

Wed, 31 July 2019 12:25

Rusty
Messages: 1205
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

I found this with a cursory search for smart tv adware. https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/ads-in-smart-tv
It's there, so be ready for it I suppose. Though most tv's as Augustus can vouch for won't let you "opt" out.
Reading onward intrepidly I see issues with hacking, spying, malware, voice conversations being picked up, etc,etc. Cheee-rist! This is our brave new world. Even looking at the FTC website, finding current articles regarding developments with regulating this crap is not current. Regulation is a dirty word in the political landscape.

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Re: Purchasing a Smart TV [message #90736 is a reply to message #90735]

Wed, 31 July 2019 17:36

Wayne Parham
Messages: 18793
Registered: January 2001

Illuminati (33rd Degree)

That's a great link for this thread. Thanks!

Semi-related aside: I've been a computer guy since the days of the Intel 8080, the RCA 1802, the MOS 6502 and the Motorola 6800. I've always loved microcontrollers and the benefits thereof.

But I find myself liking "dumb" devices with no connectivity so much more than the Internet-of-Things (IoT) and smartphone devices so common today. The new stuff is feature-packed but clunky and unreliable and it allows so much intrusion, hacks and viruses, I just don't like it.

We went to the moon in July 1969, and at that time computers had just a few kilobytes of internal memory and disk drives the size of washing machines that stored a few megabytes on a huge disk pack. The Arpanet wasn't running yet; It wasn't switched on until October of that year. Phones actually worked - Even if we lost power, we usually had phone service 'cause central offices had batteries to power the lines.

Now we have cellphones and smart devices and IoT, but all of them are annoying and largely unreliable.

So I'll keep my land-line phone, my cars with distributors and points, my tube amplifiers and my televisions with analog inputs, thank you very much. Cool

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Re: Purchasing a Smart TV [message #90737 is a reply to message #90736]

Wed, 31 July 2019 21:15

gofar99
Messages: 1955
Registered: May 2010
Location: Southern Arizona

Illuminati (5th Degree)

Hi, I'm with you Wayne. I'll let other folks have their fun with refrigerators that talk to them, and possibly anyone else that can hack them. Hack-able thermostats that can roast or freeze you. TVs that can spy on you. IoT is not for me. The more I hear the more I figure that Big Brother is just about to strike. Audio and video in your own home that you put there that sends signals to ....where? Hummm. Your car that talks to the manufacturer and insurance company....humm. And then folks have the gall to holler about privacy. Hummm. No thanks, I'll get by with the minimum digital and IoT foot print possible. Confused

Good Listening
Bruce

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Re: Purchasing a Smart TV [message #90740 is a reply to message #90736]

Thu, 01 August 2019 06:47

Barryso
Messages: 207
Registered: May 2009

Master

The old crt TV died about two years ago so I set out to buy a new flat panel model.

Went for a "smart" option because I'd never had one and was using credit card points to buy the thing. It quickly became clear after very little use that the smart functionality of the set was slow and the interface was poor. The smart part of the set sits unused.

Added a Fire Stick to it and that works far better than the built in electronics. The fire stick also has voice recognition so you don't have to type things on a screen keyboard.

So if I was doing it again there would be no smart to the TV and it'd just get an add on device like a fire stick or a Raspberry Pi (running whatever video server you like). The fire stick and/or Raspberry Pi are more likely to be upgraded and patched along the way, too.

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Re: Purchasing a Smart TV [message #90741 is a reply to message #90737]

Thu, 01 August 2019 10:22

Rusty
Messages: 1205
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

gofar99 wrote on Wed, 31 July 2019 21:15

Hack-able thermostats that can roast or freeze you.

My sister and I joke about the generational buy in with smart technology. I say I have a 'smart' finger, which can allow for temperature adjustment interface with thermostats.

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Re: Purchasing a Smart TV [message #90744 is a reply to message #90741]

Fri, 02 August 2019 21:52

gofar99
Messages: 1955
Registered: May 2010
Location: Southern Arizona

Illuminati (5th Degree)

Good Listening
Bruce

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Re: Purchasing a Smart TV [message #90863 is a reply to message #90744]

Sat, 14 September 2019 18:16

Rusty
Messages: 1205
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

I still haven't purchased a new hdtv. I wax and wane between the need, (my tv intermittently flickers and goes black) and the frustration with reading about smart hdtv annoyances and reading way too many frustrating purchasers complaining about their brand new hdtv. I thought the new oled tv's were the latest greatest, most expensive technology. But no dear friends, there's micro led tv's on the horizon, 8k, and even more expensive. So, there is no end to the pro's and con's and just as soon as you invest into what you might think is a hedge in the advancing technology. Your new tv is soon obsolete. I just want it to last more than a day after it's warranty expires. The stuff hasn't been around long enough to judge longevity.

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Re: Purchasing a Smart TV [message #90927 is a reply to message #90863]

Wed, 25 September 2019 18:52

Kingfish
Messages: 557
Registered: November 2012

Illuminati (1st Degree)

I just went on Amazon to look for the old style televisions. The top of the list was a T.V. that looked straight out of the'60's, but the homescreen display looked like my smartphone homescreen. Wrapping my head around that IRL might make my head explode. Laughing

The only thing smart about me is my phone, and even that's debatable. Laughing

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