Do not connect your tv to the internet. Period.
This is the way.
HTPC for life!
While i would generally agree I’ve fiddle with htpc and stuff for solo long. Then I broke down a few years ago and bought a cheap TV with GoogleTV (version 10 or something) on it. I removed some bloat via ADB but it still is GoogleTV do I get some ads on the home screen. However I installed SmartTube, Kodi, Jellyfin but also Netflix and Amazon Prime since those are the two services I still subscribed to. And I have to admit I’m a happy camper. I got used to ignoring the ads on the home screen and being able to directly play Netflix/YouTube … whatever without setting up a browser or something on top of Kodi or whatever is just such a breeze.
If you don’t have the technical know how to physically lobotomize the TV’s wifi chip, simply blocking its mac address would suffice.
No, it’s not an Apple TV.
Do you think that only apple TVs have wifi chips?
It was a bad joke. ‘Mac’ address.
I did not understand. I’ll see myself out.
Writing Prompt: A TV with an onboard artificial general intelligence connects to the internet for the first time and is alarmed to discover that a thousand years have passed since it was manufactured.
So Vizio is offering dumb TVs without Walmart accounts? I am actually kind of interested.
Vizio is likely offering unusually large paperweights without Walmart accounts.
now require a Walmart account for setup and accessing smart TV features
In a functioning society I think that would be criminal.
it’ll still be listening and spying.
Just don’t connect it to the internet 🤷♂️
Don’t plug in a Ethernet cord, and don’t connect it to Wifi.
Now you have a fully functional TV screen that wont be artificially bricked with OS updates.
Get a dedicated “streaming device” like a Nvidia Sheild, Android TV, Apple TV, or Roku and you are good to go.
Until the next one refuses to even pass through HDMI if it’s not connected.
Just don’t buy shitty devices.
And what happens when the shitty devices are literally the only ones available?
Well, too bad. Do something else.
But as long as people have some brain, if the market gets a majority of “smart” devices to the point there’s enough people looking for alternative, some people are likely to try and fill the gap. It might become a new niche market, but it’s one place where supply and demand will work to our advantage.
In that case, the answer has to be shop for used or do without.
Yep. Just don’t connect it. Or connect it once a year to get some firmware updates if one wants (or better yet use a USB stick).
I have a good Samsung TV, but when I had it connected to the internet the UI would be painfully slow every time I needed to switch inputs (I have most things running through my receiver, but my PC was straight into the TV). Turning off all internet functions vastly improved my experience with this TV.
I use a TV for my monitor - last job I worked I really needed the screen real estate for excel.
I hate hate hate when I shut the computer off or power goes off and when the TV comes back on, it auto-plays some “free” streaming channel, which is ALWAYS fascist propaganda. I rush to turn that shit off just as quickly as I can. Fuck that shit.
I just use my PC through my TV.
Also don’t buy tvs with voice activation.
That means they have mics on 24/7.
This is how you get me to never buy a Vizio TV.
What, you prefer to give your data to Sony, LG, Samsung, or amazon? Like they’re not selling it to anyone with a buck as well? Never connect a TV to the internet, period. After that it doesn’t matter what you buy.
The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a switch and the voice sank somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely.
– George Orwell
My mini pc or laptop connected via HDMI to a projector setup makes me more happy every day when I see crap like this. Bonus is you can move it to the patio for outside movie night and it’s a whopping five pounds. Same goes for moving apartments because I’ve always moved too often.
You’d be better off buying a non-smart Samsung commercial TV from eBay and getting a $20 Onn 4K TV Box from Walmart. The latter can be Degoogled and sideloaded with Stremio, Cloudstream, or your streaming app of choice to make it the ultimate privacy-respecting media center.
side note . if you like stremio try nuvio . it works 10x better for me . looks like a fork.
You da freaking GOAT! Thank you for introducing me to this!
What sources are you using?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Nuvio/comments/1rjq95b/repos_and_plugins_suggestions_for_nuvio/
i think i used 1 . add repoistory under settings not addons. ill check later on my tv which one i have. stremio addons work as well.
good. maybe people will stop buying them then.
so don’t make an account and it’s a normal tv?
I’m tempted to go back to htpc lol. The tracking is so bad these days. I need to block the mac of my tv (Google tv) and just do a tiny PC or something instead.
Joke’s on them, I don’t want any of the smart features
This is fine IMO, because you shouldn’t use the smart features in the first place. Just get a 3rd party streaming box. The ONN one is like $25. (Or if you’re a giant nerd hook your computer to your TV.)
TIL my senior parents are giant nerds.
