dumbest reasonable TV

[solarvic]

I purposely bought the Samsung last time because someone told me it was a good name brand, but it had a much shorter lifespan than the crappy fat

How long did your samsung last? I have a 2008 model and it still has a like new picture. It is a projection tv with led projection bulbs. It got white dots on the screen and I found on you tube that there is a computer chip that goes bad. Bought a new chip for about $275.00 and that made it work new again. PS I got a budy that believes just about any conspiracy theory coming along and gets the old cathode ray tv,s because He thinks a new tv will watch him. I have an old 36 inch toshiba I am going to give him as soon as I get both covid shots. Got the first one yesterday.

 

[Green Tiki]

It looks like it was manufactured in 2013, so I guess I underestimated its age. Years tick by so fast now, and the last one is one giant blur of similar memories smashed together. But I know my old CRTs were annoyingly indestructible because it took me forever to upgrade, waiting for them to die.

When I finally got my first flatscreen for Christmas, the local Goodwill was no longer taking those heavy behemoths. No one wanted to deal with them any more.

At any rate, you have inspired me to look into repairing my TV. I'll probably still get a new one, but it would make for a much better backup than my old Vizio and it's a fun project. And I'd much rather keep this pile of plastic and toxic metals out of the waste stream. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm watching some YouTube videos now.

Somehow repairing a device I probably won't even use again is more fun than shopping for a brand new shiny one that would be better in every way. I just frickin' hate shopping!

 

[Tower Guy]

Take a look at the 50” Hisense Roku smart TV. It’s $264 at Walmart. At one point Hisense made TVs for Sharp, so the picture quality is excellent.
I’ve never used mine without WiFi, so I can’t endorse its ability to work without an Internet connection.

 

[arlo]

Take a look at the 50” Hisense Roku smart TV. It’s $264 at Walmart. At one point Hisense made TVs for Sharp, so the picture quality is excellent.
I’ve never used mine without WiFi, so I can’t endorse its ability to work without an Internet connection.

Not so long ago my internet was out for 24 hours. I kept right on watching satellite on HDMI 1, and my Fire Cube kept on searching for an Internet connection with its Kitt from Night Rider scanning LED.
NO smart tv apps griped at me for no internet. But of course if I tried to launch one of them, you get the gist.
Paranoia....Conspiracy Theory?....Hell if the Fire Cube does call home it's so full of tv audio (I don't have Tourette's) it would never pick up a person talking to el-hakkabar for a plutonium sale or the old lady reminding it it was Wednesday and to go upstairs to do the deed! Voice search on my Roku and Sony remote isn't even activated until I push the little microphone button on the remote. Same for the Fire remote...but Alexa still waits to hear her name.
Just NEVER tell Alexa to talk like Picachu!

 

[Tower Guy]

Oh yes, thanks for reminding me. My power was out a few months ago. I watched off air TV just fine. I used an inverter connected to the car battery to power the Hisense TV. I did not bother to power up the router or cable modem. So, the Hisense with Roku will work fine without an Internet connection.

 

[DRCars]

You probably won't trust this but Google TV is planning a Basic TV option on some TVs:

Google TV 'basic' mode will strip smart features, apps on TVs from TCL, Sony, others

If you want your Google TV panel to ignore smart TV features such as apps, Assistant, and more entirely, the "Basic" mode is a useful option.

9to5google.com

 

[jct21]

OK, yeah, I don't want it so dumb that it doesn't have a remote. Good point there, thanks, that rules out an option for me.

I honestly don't care that much about picture and sound quality, within reason. I obviously care if there's some new format the comes out and the thing won't even play it. Maybe I want to go one generation ahead of what my current tech requirements are to build in some capacity?

Maybe that doesn't make sense, because whenever I buy a new input device, I'll probably get the newest version so it won't stop working or have a sluggish interface I can't cope with in a couple years.

Maybe I should go about it the other way...what brands do you guys recommend? Last time I asked my a/v friends, they told me to get a Samsung, but that's the model that died and I don't really want to reward the company by buying another one.

I bought a non-smart samsung 42 inch plasma back in 2007 and its still going strong. based on my experience with that tv I bought a 55 inch samsung curved model and it died 2yrs later. during that time my samsung 27inch curved pc monitor bit the dust too. however while both of them was working, PQ was amazing. samsung customer service was atrocious & refused to offer any resolution. both were put in the trash. I understand you not wanting another samsung, I feel the same way now.

I know its cheap, but I now have a 50 inch element brand tv in my living room. it was only $150 and the PQ is truly stunning. perhaps I won the cheap tv lottery but its been flawless for me. its as good if not better than the PQ on my vizio & lg. my son has an older element brand tv purchased from kmart in 2008 and its still going. excellent picture also.

here is the element tv I currently use daily. until I'm burned like I was with samsung I wouldn't hesitate to buy this again... Amazon product ASIN B07VBPG3D7

 

[Howard Simmons]

I get Samsung email offers all the time and I saw on YouTube today how to set up a 65" tv and it took almost 8 minutes to get thru the video to tell you how. What ever happened to the guy delivering it, hooking up your cable or antenna and seeing if the remote worked and leaving.