• @Arbiter
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    355 days ago

    They’re a little bit better if you just never connect them to the internet.

    • @Fungah
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      215 days ago

      I opened my smart TV and removed the Bluetooth/WiFi PCI card that was inside it.

      Good fucking luck connecting to something you privacy invading piece of shit.

    • DominusOfMegadeus
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      5 days ago

      This just doesn’t seem to click for a lot of people for some reason that I cannot explain whatsoever. I don’t even have mine connected to electricity when I’m not using it.

      • @triptrapper
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        54 days ago

        To be honest, I recently got a TCL Roku TV and I almost gave up on trying to use it as a dumb TV. I’m not a beginner at this, but setting up a network connection was so embedded in the initial setup, from the moment you turn the TV on. I did a couple factory resets and I could not figure out how to bypass it. Turns out I had to set it to “store display mode” at a certain point and then connect my other streaming device.

        • DominusOfMegadeus
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          54 days ago

          Yeah, the Roku OS is REALLY baked in there and REALLY wants your data, and they recently updated it to make it even harder to circumvent. The trick is to just block its connection at the router level.

          • @[email protected]
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            24 days ago

            My gf has one of these and I tried to plug and Apple TV into it to bypass all of that and it won’t take the signal …. It works everywhere else but that Roku TV is like “nah fam, no signal sooorrrrryyyyty”

          • @triptrapper
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            54 days ago

            Oh my god that didn’t even occur to me. Maybe I am a beginner!

            • @IamAnonymous
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              24 days ago

              I have a Fire TV which I rarely use and when I do I stream from the Apple TV box. I noticed that the TV was consuming 50-100mb data per day even when it was turned off. I have blocked WiFi access using my router so I can tell you that it works.

      • @SamboT
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        5 days ago

        Mine gets put in the garage when its not being used. Microphones to record you can work on battery power inside the tv

        • @Arbiter
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          64 days ago

          I keep mine chained up in the basement when not in use.

        • Lexam
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          35 days ago

          I’m picturing a big screen on the old school TV carts.

    • Eager Eagle
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      85 days ago

      Exactly what I did. I’d get a 65" monitor if there was any. But an always offline smart TV will do.

    • @[email protected]
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      45 days ago

      Even then you still have a bunch of cheap hardware crammed into an insufficiently ventilated box that will lead to problems down the line.

      My TV is 15 years old, not very smart, thick as oatmeal, but works like a charm.

      • @acosmichippo
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        65 days ago

        you don’t have to use the smart bulllshit.

        • @AA5B
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          4 days ago

          I’m not worried about me using the smart bullshit. I’m worried about it using me. Beyond the ones that literally spy on you through camera or microphone …

          A few years back I started to see descriptions of media recognition, so a tv could know what you’re watching even if it’s not through one of its apps. While I have no idea how widely that’s deployed, it’s awfully dystopian. There’s a specific reason to keep your smart tv off the network, even if you never use the apps.

          I’ve also read articles (not sure if legit) about smart TV’s piggybacking on other networks, such as using WiFi even when you disable it, or picking up your streaming devices network over hdmi

          • @acosmichippo
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            13 days ago

            you can opt out of all that stuff. They bury the options deep in the settings but you can do it and it works.

            • @AA5B
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              13 days ago

              While there are usually options to opt out, past behavior has shown that manufacturers can’t be trusted. It starts with opting you in by default, and trying to trap you into one sided terms of service that you can’t even see until you’ve “agreed” by opening the box. However most manufacturers have been caught ignoring these options in the past, so we have no reason to trust they won’t again. Especially here in the US where what little consumer protection we used to have is being shut down

        • @[email protected]
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          55 days ago

          It’s still there, though.

          And since it’s usually one integrated board, a failure in the “bullshit” will likely affect the not-shit.

          • @acosmichippo
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            5 days ago

            that’s just pure speculation. if they design the boards to cool properly during the warranty period there’s no reason to think they’ll have major issues after that.

              • @acosmichippo
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                -55 days ago

                unnecessary disrespectful bullshit.

                • @[email protected]
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                  25 days ago

                  It’s the maximum amount of respect you can’t expect for posting nonsense.

                  Why on earth do you think something keeps working just because it survived the warranty period? That doesn’t make any sense.