Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472 Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
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So it dawned on me that I refuse to allow my smart TVs to connect to the internet. This of course really limits their usefulness without something like an Apple TV or Xbox connected to them.
Since I did connect the TVs to my network in hopes of being able to adjust volume, power on/off etc I can see all the attempts it makes to report back to their mothership. Of course they are blocked, but I don't want all of that. I really just want a quality screen with multiple HDMI ports. Is there something like that on the market? Something between 55" - 65" like? If you're curious, since the 26th at 7pm my time I've had 226697 attempts to connect to cdn.samsungcloudsolution.com from ONE of my TVs. It only does it while it's on, but it is relentless. Multiple attempts per second. Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it. |
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Which way is up?
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
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The last TV we bought is just a dumb panel. It has 2 HDMI ports, I think a 55". Not at home right now, but it seems to me it is a Sharp.
Dumb panels are getting harder to find. There is lots of money to be made in surveillance advertising, and dumb panels don't get that revenue. - AppleNova is the best Mac-users forum on the internet. We are smart, educated, capable, and helpful. We are also loaded with smart-alecks! :) - Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Mat 5:9) |
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Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472 Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
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That's kinda what I expect at this point. It's like the assumed money in using us as a product results in lower price point on the sale of the TV. So I would end up having to get a TV designed for a convention center lobby wall rather than one for a living room.
Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it. |
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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I was looking at TVs this past weekend (Target, Walmart and Best Buy) and I didn't see one that wasn't "smart", at least there on the shelves/in stock. Just out of curiosity/adventure, I tried to find one, any size, that wasn't...and I didn't.
And I didn't realize everything was so cheap now, even the 4K stuff (I haven't looked at TVs in a store for a good year or so, so it was all news to me). I didn't realize they were constantly pinging out like that. Real life is becoming one of those crazy sci-fi movies from the 80's, isn't it? Our lives and info are all flying out to parts unknown, and at some point a mulleted cyborg is going to be banging on my door demanding to see my papers. I guess I shouldn't be laughing... |
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Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472 Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
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Yeah, it is pretty much a surveillance state really. Sure the police aren't watching what you're watching, they just need to subpoena the TV manufacturer for those details. Or use one of the FBI/NSA/CIA hacks to gain access.
I strive to maintain my privacy but know it's a losing battle. I'm not going to just throw all my stuff out there though. I'm going to make them work for it. Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it. |
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Which way is up?
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
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We got ours at Fred Meyer. It wasn't even on display, just sitting in a pile of boxes.
However, the other option is to just buy a smart TV and turn the WiFi off. - AppleNova is the best Mac-users forum on the internet. We are smart, educated, capable, and helpful. We are also loaded with smart-alecks! :) - Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Mat 5:9) |
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Sneaky Punk
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Yeah it's getting hard to find a dumb TV that isn't old stock. I thought about upgrading to a bigger, faster refresh rate TV, but after seeing the current state of the market, everything "smart", I decided that my current TV is more than good enough.
Worst part now is that the new generation of cable/satellite boxes are all smart too, with voice control as such, more junk that needs to be turned off and since those things are on the companies network, not ours, I cannot control everything they do. If it was just me I'd dump cable, but family members still want cable TV, so nothing can be done about that. |
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Space Pirate
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
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Don't forget that they make HDMI splitters!
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ಠ_ರೃ
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
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I managed to get a "dumb" TV, a 49" 1080p Insignia from Best Buy for like $180, a couple years ago. It was purchased solely because it was the only one that had flat feet, a necessity based on how our tiny living room was arranged at the time.
But "only" 3 HDMI ports. It's now part of a new media center and is connected to a Denon AV receiver that has 5 HDMI ports. I had a smart TV before it that broke. From like 2012 or something. The smart functions were really slow and crappy. I'm sure they've improved a lot since then but I prefer an external device so it can be upgraded more easily. It's like getting a car with in-dash GPS vs. just using your phone. |
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Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472 Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
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I think that is the thing with your example of the phone vs in-dash GPS. I don't want my TV to do anything but display. I use other devices and tools to choose what goes on my TV. Heck, at this point I don't even want to have coax for OTA TV.
For now, I went ahead and unplugged the ethernet cable from my TV. I didn't give it access to my WiFi so I'm good there. Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it. |
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Rocket Surgeon
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: The Canadark
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If you don’t mind paying for the privilege, and you really want a dumb TV, there are options in the world of professional TVs for digital signage or Hotel TVs that might be what you want.
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Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472 Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
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That might be more of what I'm looking for but that seems odd to pay more just to not have smarts. Unless of course we pay less for smarts because they sell out tracking data to offset the cost of the equipment. Like printers and the ink supply. They sell you an inkjet cheap because you're going to buy the ink over the long run.
Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it. |
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Rocket Surgeon
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: The Canadark
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Generally the panels themselves are designed for longer running times per day, so that's really where the additional cost comes from.
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Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472 Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
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That makes a lot of sense. I need to consider that for one of my screens actually. We have one that we use a lot for many reasons.
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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I got a non-smart 55" HD Samsung some years back. Been wondering what I'll do when I'm ready to go to 4K.
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Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472 Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
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My new Samsung works fine without the network connection. Really I don't even notice it now that it is controlled with the Apple TV remote or turns on with the Xbox. We do need the remote that came with it for the volume with the Xbox though. If you use the one with the Apple TV for the volume it switches from the Xbox to the Apple TV input.
Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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The problem with leaving a Smart TV unconnected to your network is that if the technical capacity exists for it to be connected, you have to be vigilant to ensure that some bad actor isn't out finding a way to connect it. I have enough to worry about these days.
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Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472 Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
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Well, you really don't have to be vigilant with a TV if you never put it on your wireless network and you don't wire connect the network either. That is until the put a cellular chip in them... then you'd have to be concerned.
Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it. |
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Space Pirate
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
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What did you end up doing??
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Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472 Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
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I still haven't bought another TV. We ended up moving a few states from where we were so buy new stuff took a backseat to getting work done at the new place and covering the expenses of the move. Likely, I'm going to end up getting a normal TV and just keep it removed from the network at this point.
Commercial displays are very pricy for what I'm looking at size wise. Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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Surprise, the communists are already exploiting smart TVs, and everybody else isn't going to be far behind.
And if you're skeptical about that last part, note that I'm in a Western country where most of the country is locked in their homes, and the 'liberal' federal government is using the opportunity to launch "a full-blown assault on the freedom of expression." I doubt HomeKit is going to save us from exploitation. I want all my appliances to be dumb from here on. |
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Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472 Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
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While I can agree with a good portion of your sentiment there is no need to prevent owning something that has smarts... just don't give it access to any network and it isn't connected. Once smart TVs come with cellular modems in them, then you need to avoid them. I did end up getting a cheap Android TV in my house and a Samsung one that have never connected to a network. In fact, I currently have no TV connected to any network in my home. I can assure you, those two TVs aren't feeding anyone anything.
IF you wanted to connect the TV to your network you could also force it to run through a DNS filter that would help prevent it from resolving the IPs of the check-in servers. Something like this blocklist go a long way. I combine blocklists like this with my PiHole and keep my home "safer". I also have an SSID that is just for connected things. The only items connected through that network/SSID are things like plugs, Nintendo Switch, etc... this way they can't communicate with the primary network in my home. That being said, I'm still confused why these TV cost less to be smart as opposed to dumb. It must be in the terms somewhere that by using it you're consenting to being monitored and so it is a "discount" to the end user for all the money our data brings them in. Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it. |
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Which way is up?
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
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It's also a mass-production thing. There are fewer and fewer "dumb" TV's being made, so they are getting more expensive compared to the others.
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- AppleNova is the best Mac-users forum on the internet. We are smart, educated, capable, and helpful. We are also loaded with smart-alecks! :) - Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Mat 5:9) |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
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It was a 55" class studio reference monitor. For $12k. Same panel as the 55" plasma I ended up getting for $1200, with a gazillion inputs, 'smart apps', networking, the works. Of which I use one HDMI input. :/ |
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Sneaky Punk
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I love my dumb TV, may it last many, many years to come.
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