Is it time to review Smart TVs ??

[Rupert]

built-in Roku.

I thought Roku would be a reasonable option.  Or are they now owned by one of the big boys?  Or sell data to them?

[rcjordan]

>thought Roku would be a reasonable option

Oh, she was an early-early-adopter of roku.  And I have yet to see any indication that they are selling data.  For -hopefully- long-term appliances, I think it is better to have separate, dedicated devices as they can individually be replaced when one or the other fails.  That said, I don't recall seeing any dumb tvs with roku. 

[rcjordan]

>If it passes muster once installed, I may order another as a spare as these dumb tvs are getting scarce.

Hot spare on order.

[Brad]

> Hot spare on order.

Smart move I think.  These are becoming rare.

[rcjordan]

Dual SONY's let me replace the downstairs TV in an evening. Louise didn't even have to reprogram the remote, the IR codes were the same.

[rcjordan]

+

> becoming rare

Worse, the vendors are getting aggressive and forcing wifi connections.  /r is howling about *having* to connect their dishwasher, etc. to wifi or the appliance wouldn't complete the installation.  The vendor says it is to 'update firmware'  ....yeah, right. How much firmware does it take to wash a damn dish?!!! 

[Brad]

Frankly, a dish washer should not even need a circuit board (usually the first thing to fail).  Dishwasher used to me mechanical with dials and such.  You don't need a panel or wifi.  It's all BS.

[ergophobe]

It's pretty bad. <y new clothes washer has failed to connect despite a dozen tries. Now, normally, I would not even want to connect, but features that are standard buttons on my 18yo dishwasher, like delayed start, now require you to do it by phone.

So it's not like you get all the function you got from a 2010 machine built in, then some add-ons with the phone. You get a subset of the 2010 functions and to get full 2010 functionality, you need to connect.

I'd be less perturbed out it if the connection function worked.

>> circuit boards

Three failures in 18 years. An understated appliance repair person said to me: "Putting a circuit board in a place that gets constant steam is not really a good design." Basically, if the circuit board goes out and they don't sell it anymore, you trash the machine. It's so bad that it makes me think maybe I should just buy a circuit board for my new dishwasher and warehouse it. Ridiculous.

[rcjordan]

Speak  of the devil...

Your Roku TV Is Getting Ads With Buy Buttons: Take a Look
https://www.howtogeek.com/812770/your-roku-tv-is-getting-ads-with-buy-buttons-take-a-look/

[rcjordan]

>Hot spare

Debbie got this one right.

The downfall of smart TVs: From promises of seamless viewing to ad tool on steroids
https://adguard.com/en/blog/smart-tv-ad-blocking.html

[Brad]

This thread came in handy.  My mother's TV went out and once we figured out is was indeed the TV and not the cable I had to go shopping.  Fortunately, I remembered the warnings in this thread so I ignored the Smart TV's and hunted down a 32" dumb TV.  "Insignia" which is Best Buy's house brand at about $90 (cheap).  And it worked.

Mom is 92 and has never seen the Internet let alone have an internet connection so I suppose having an unconnected Smart TV might be okay (if it would even work) but I wanted to avoid any menu screens or "no internet" warning screens popping up which would send her into a complete panic.

[rcjordan]

> wanted to avoid any menu screens

DVD menu screens were an insurmountable obstacle for my elderly, nearly blind mom.  She was fine with VCR ---just stick 'em in the slot and press Play.  But she could not read the DVD menu screens nor navigate to Start.

[rcjordan]

Forget ad-supported streaming — here come the ad-supported TVs - The Verge

https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/4/23711450/pluto-tv-co-founder-free-ad-supported-ilya-pozin

[rcjordan]

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/12/upcoming-wireless-tvs-sell-users-on-screen-products-when-they-raise-their-hand/

Wireless TVs use built-in cameras, NFC readers to sell you stuff you see on TV | Ars Technica

[rcjordan]

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/08/tv-industrys-ads-tracking-obsession-is-turning-your-living-room-into-a-store/

Your TV set has become a digital billboard. And it's only getting worse. | Ars Technica