Are there any TVs Which Are Not Smart?

[engine]

Last weekend a friend told me they were trying to choose a new TV but they weren't sure what to buy, but they didn't want a "smart tv" that was sucking the data on their watching choices, and especially they didn't want one with a speech control or any of the "home" controllers built in. They are not particularly privacy aware, it's just that they didn't see the need for all those things.

It got me thinking, and it seems there's now a race by the TV manufacturers to include some kind of voice control, or monitoring facilities.

I did suggest they can unplug or disconnect the TV from the Internet, and the microphone can be blocked up with putty.

Very soon, i'm not sure you'll be able to buy a TV without those facilities.

[Marshall]

Personally, I do not see the need for a 'smart' anything. I do not care to be that connected, privacy issues aside. But manufacturers will cater to the masses, not the few who are not interested. It is like trying to find a typewriter repair person: good luck with that. :)

[not2easy]

Instead of a "Smart" TV we opted for the oldest functional version of AppleTV (2nd gen) and a plain old unsmart TV. Until it won't work I think this is as close as I can get. Neither the TV nor the 'receiver' has a camera and voice command options have never been activated. Some networks insist on a higher resolution than our connection can handle. Other than that it is just right for the lightweight use it gets.

[engine]

I'll be speaking to my friend tomorrow and i'll find out what he's discovered in his search for a basic TV without the "smart."

[TorontoBoy]

I have not shopped for a TV for quite a while, because I'm the only one who watches TV. I use an Over the air OTA antenna, no cable service. The rest of the family streams to various devices. We have a Toshiba 32L1350UC, but it is old now. No "smarts" of any kind, and I wanted it that way. I have an old PC hooked to it if I want to stream something, or if I have a movie on a USB stick. With the PC it can also surf the web.

Good luck on the dumb TV. I'm not sure about the UK, but here in North America we can get OTA TV with any old antenna in most urban areas, all for free, in HD quality.

[lucy24]

plain old unsmart TV

Seriously. Every 10-20 years when I have to buy a new TV, part of the challenge is getting the smallest available screen, as I do not care to live in a movie theater. That is, the smallest actual television, not some novelty that's meant to be worn on your wrist or mounted under your kitchen cabinets. For years and years that was 13", but now it has gone up to 19". Sigh. My computer monitor is larger by an inch or so, so that's where I watch DVDs. (Also because my vcr/dvd player is so old, it doesn't understand how widescreen movies work.)

TorontoBoy, when I was reading up on TV antennas I learned that most of the people who write informational sites are in the business of installing rooftop aerials, so they have a vested interest in getting you to believe that an ordinary pair of rabbit ears--or, nowadays, a flat thing that sits in an east-facing window--is useless. Where I live, all the stations' transmitters are located on the same hillside at the same compass point, which helps. But the best OTA signal has always been the local public television station, which has a strong financial incentive to be available to everyone.

[tangor]

My current is a "new" closeout of a discontinued RCA ... dumb as a post ... about 40" ... which for aging eyes is not a bad thing.

My favorite TV, however, was a 1958 Sylvania 12" that did not die until 2005... B&W, semi-decent sound, just small enough to sit next to the computer screen (19" 800x600 color that weighed a zillion pounds) so I could keep up with news, sports, and fave shows while coding. Felt like I lost a valued friend when that little TV gave up the ghost!

Things have changed ... my current set up is 3 computer screens (2 landscape, 1 portrait, all 24") and that 40" tv is sitting in the wings beyond. :)

Not sure which is more dumb ... the tv or me!

Life used to be so simple. :(