I have a 47 inch 1080p 120hz TCL with no smart capabilities that I've been extremely happy with over the last two years. Looking at models now they do seem to have a lot of smart tvs, but if you can find a non smart model I would recommend it.
I bought a TV in November after backlights on my previous one started to fail. I couldn't find a high-end non-smart TV anywhere.
I haven't used any of the 'smart' features yet, it's simply plugged into my AV system and I use that to switch between Kodi, Chromecast and Sky.
Unfortunately, even ARC is a waste of time. I thought I had everything working but every time I changed input it 'forgot' my sound settings, so it'd default back to stereo despite it allowing me to choose DD/DTS passthrough in the settings. Totally frustrating.
I connected my Samsung smart TV to the internet, thinking I could use it to send media directly to the screen, like a Chromecast. It started showing intrusive ad overlays on whatever I was watching (regular HDMI input, I wasn't doing anything 'smart' with it).
The fucking thing is now disconnected and blacklisted, and I'll be sure never to buy a smart TV and/or a samsung TV if I can help it...
If connected to the Internet, my parents' Samsungs periodically force them to page through and re-sign an EULA upon power-up before allowing them to actually use them.
Needless to say, they have since been disconnected.
My recommendation here is to simply buy a dumb TV with HDMI, and plugin something cheap like a chromecast, or any of the aliexpress-20$ android TV boxes [1].
You get the exact same smartness, without the worry of bricking an expensive device. Just upgrade to the next cheap smart pluggable device in a couple years.
I'm using one such android-TV box on a non-smart LED TV and it works very well.
Thats basically the setup I use. Old 48" flatscreen (not even 1080p) with an Xbox One plugged into it as my media center. Smart enough for me right now at least.
Finding dumb tv's is surprisingly hard, now. Since I really wanted a 43" (exact right fit for the space), I settled for one of Sharp's Roku-based tv's. I'm pretty happy with it, because at least Roku's entire business is media centers. The UI is polished, it receives regular updates, but its not a general purpose OS like android, waiting to be infected.
I've had smart TVs for a while, and wasn't a big fan because they tend to be slow and clunky.
But the Sony TV with Android that we bought last year has been amazing. Having everything built in (instead of a second box) has been great and simplifies some things.
The hardware clearly is faster, and the apps tend to be a lot better because they're generic Android apps, instead of one-offs produced just for that year's TVs.
I'm sure I'll eventually end up having to buy an external box to get all the new hotness for it, but until then, I'm really enjoying having it all in 1 piece. (Obviously I'll unplug it from the network when it comes to that, thanks to this story.)
Agreed. I had little to no interest in a "samrt" TV but when I was shopping for a new HDTV, I really liked one particular Sony model for price versus performance. It ran on AndroidTV but there was no similar "dumb" model for less money. The same went for other brands.
In the end, being an Android user I said what the hell and bought it. So far it's been great. Built-in Chromecast functionality fills in any gaps in the supported apps or platforms (such as how Comcast refuses to authorize the HBOGo app on AndroidTV so I need to cast from my phone).
I'd have preferred a dumb TV for $100 less plus an nVidia Shield or whatever. But in the end this has worked out quite well and as you say, once the version of Android is too old and no longer updated, I can just unplug the ethernet cable, leave WiFi off, and continue using either my PC as the main input or pick up some other box to do all of the "smart" stuff.
16 comments
[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 43.5 ms ] threadI'd recommend a projector if you want a 'non-smart' display
I haven't used any of the 'smart' features yet, it's simply plugged into my AV system and I use that to switch between Kodi, Chromecast and Sky.
Unfortunately, even ARC is a waste of time. I thought I had everything working but every time I changed input it 'forgot' my sound settings, so it'd default back to stereo despite it allowing me to choose DD/DTS passthrough in the settings. Totally frustrating.
The fucking thing is now disconnected and blacklisted, and I'll be sure never to buy a smart TV and/or a samsung TV if I can help it...
Needless to say, they have since been disconnected.
http://www.rtings.com/tv
http://m.thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-tv
No apps, no tuner, excellent picture quality, great range, etc.
m.thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-tv/
No apps, no tuner, excellent picture quality, great range, etc.
You get the exact same smartness, without the worry of bricking an expensive device. Just upgrade to the next cheap smart pluggable device in a couple years.
I'm using one such android-TV box on a non-smart LED TV and it works very well.
[1] https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=nexbox+a95x
But the Sony TV with Android that we bought last year has been amazing. Having everything built in (instead of a second box) has been great and simplifies some things.
The hardware clearly is faster, and the apps tend to be a lot better because they're generic Android apps, instead of one-offs produced just for that year's TVs.
I'm sure I'll eventually end up having to buy an external box to get all the new hotness for it, but until then, I'm really enjoying having it all in 1 piece. (Obviously I'll unplug it from the network when it comes to that, thanks to this story.)
In the end, being an Android user I said what the hell and bought it. So far it's been great. Built-in Chromecast functionality fills in any gaps in the supported apps or platforms (such as how Comcast refuses to authorize the HBOGo app on AndroidTV so I need to cast from my phone).
I'd have preferred a dumb TV for $100 less plus an nVidia Shield or whatever. But in the end this has worked out quite well and as you say, once the version of Android is too old and no longer updated, I can just unplug the ethernet cable, leave WiFi off, and continue using either my PC as the main input or pick up some other box to do all of the "smart" stuff.