Did your Roku TV decide to strong arm you into giving up your rights or lose your FULLY FUNCTIONING WORKING TV? Because mine did.
It doesn't matter if you only use it as a dumb panel for an Apple TV, Fire stick, or just to play your gaming console. You either agree or get bent.
As an IT guy: FUCK smart TVs, fuck them hard.
...with a brick. Repeatedly
I will never buy a smart TV, ever. I don't care if I'm left behind.
Are there new TVs that are not smart?
Lobotomize them after buying.
only sceptre makes dumb TVs anymore, and their quality varries wildly
That's scary. Only solution then is to buy smart and castrate it.
What I did. I have two smart TVs.
Fuckers have never once been online. You can even go the extra mile and open them up and unplug the wifi antenna (or just remove the wifi card if its slotted and not integrated into the mainboard)
I brought mine online long enough to do an initial firmware update. That was it. I may bring it online long enough to do another one, but I'm going to google first to be sure they haven't done something like Roku here without my having heard about it.
I wouldnt even do that unless there is an actual issue you are having that can only be fixed with a firmware update.
There are, but they're old or not of the best quality. Last time I had a Sceptre TV, and I had to use a sound bar because the speakers were awful. But it was as dumb as it could be, so I was happy with that.
Edit: The only reason I gave it up is because of lack of space in my new apartment. I miss that TV.
Damn, so the solution is to buy whatever I want and castrate it with no access to internet.
Unfortunately. I personally prefer not to give money to those fuckers.
Don't worry about it, they sell the TVs at a loss because they expect to get the revenue back from ads. You're costing them money when you buy one of their TVs.
Well, yeah, but eventually you'll have to. I currently have old Toshiba LCD which is super awesome. Not thin but works like a charm and came with all the schematics and bill of materials so it can be easily repaired. Needless to say I don't plan on replacing it, but panel itself has expiration date unfortunately.
No, I don't really have to. I've lived without a TV for more than a year. I miss it sometimes, but it's not like my life is falling apart because of it.
Awesome that you have a dumb TV. I'll try and get me one as soon as I have extra space.
Mine is used as extra display for gaming and watching movies. That's it. However it is more comfortable to sit on sofa when watching.