this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2023
597 points (97.2% liked)
Technology
59390 readers
2569 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I already did this by never getting smart devices.
It's increasingly difficult to get a TV nowadays that isn't "smart".
Don't connect it to the Internet
That's easier said than done. I've had TVs that wouldn't work unless TOS were accepted and I've had TVs scan for open networks.
I'm at the point of opening TVs to disconnect the wireless antennas.
Remember that if a TV is connecting to random WiFi spots, it is breaking hacking laws if it logs into someone else's unsecured WiFi where you don't have permission to join. Permission, not security measures like passwords, is the key part that defines the legality or otherwise of what you are doing
I see what you're saying but you give up Netflix, Hulu, and screencasting. It's an actual sacrifice.
You can connect other devices to your TV, like anything from a Nintendo Switch to an entire laptop/PC. Obviously they have their own privacy issues, but at least on a real computer you have some agency.
I just checked the pricing on OLED monitors, do they go on sale?
It doesn't have to be a monitor. The computer doesn't care what the other end of the cable calls itself.
Sometimes occasionally but they're probably never going to be cheap. Too hard/expensive to manufacture which is why folks like Samsung keep trying really hard with quantum dot LED panels.
That being said, I regret nothing about purchasing my LG C9 OLED TV a couple years ago. Works fantastic, looks fantastic and I pretty much never use the built in UI for anything by going to a Nvidia Shield for my content/streaming needs. I think the LG C series does an excellent job and it occasionally goes on sale during holidays/Black Friday.
You missed the point but also accidentally found it. The point you missed, as others have replied, is that a TV and a monitor both work as PC displays.
But the point you accidentally found is that monitors are pretty much TVs without the smart tv bs added in. They are priced like TVs would be if they weren't making money from them in other ways, like getting paid for preinstalled apps and selling harvested data.
I didn't miss that point, I really like LG channels because it introduces me to stuff I wouldn't normally see. I had a dumb TV up until right before the pandemic and I love the smart TV features but you really sign your life away with their cotracts. I put on live cams or videos of nature while I work directly from the TV while working on my computer. I go offline a lot when I'm working on something that needs to be copyrighted yet, so I couldn't screencast it unless I got an old computer or something to do that. I think I have unique circumstances and I'm lazy and cheap, tbh.
Oh I see what you mean. Yes, you can use things like Chromecast to use your PC on your TV, but you can also directly connect your PC to your TV via HDMI or DisplayPort (though the first one is a lot more common on TVs). You can keep it offline in that case.
Some PCs and laptops might lack the HDMI port, but it's pretty common. If you're using a discrete GPU, you most likely have one. And if you don't have one, you can get USB dongles for it.
I've kind of already signed my life away to LG and it's 3rd party people but the next time I need a TV, I'll definitely look at that. I'm saving this on the hopes I won't need it for a few years. Thanks for explaining it.
There's cheap devices you can get to connect to the expensive device to do that for you. That way the expensive device never takes a turn for the worse.
Nvidia Shield. Or another Android TV set top box. You're welcome.
I don't recommend any Android TV box anymore that isn't from a big brand, which pretty much leaves the Shield and Chromecast with Google TV. All those no-name Amazon boxes are lousy with spyware.
Chromecast? You connect it when needed.
Chrome cast is google, lol.
But it doesn't rely on any sort of cloud services, so unlike the guy in the article's problems, you don't have that if Google decides you're an undesirable. Your Chromecast will continue to function. It's rare for a device these days.
Sure, not denying it. But the point was that you can not connect the TV into the Internet and still use netflix etc. You stream the content through chromecast when you need to.
I dont have netflix, hulu, and dont own a TV at all. Its not a sacrifice.
especially since you can get what you want to watch via alternative means.
presumably.
its been to long for me so I do not know the waves like I once did
I am not honestly sure. It has been over a decade since i consumed TV, shows, etc in any serious quantity.
I ended up just getting a big monitor.
Hmmmm, that's a good option I hadn't thought of.
I have two TVs. One is an small 720p set we keep in the bedroom with a connected Chromecast, and the other is a 1080p "smart" TV, but they made the mistake of building a Chromecast into it, so we literally never use the "smart" features and just cast from a phone or computer.
I don't care if that's "low resolution." I grew up with CRT TVs. 1080p is terrific as far as I'm concerned.
I can't even find a goddamned thermostat that doesn't require some kind of internet connection.
Smart Devices are fine. Buy devices that use Z-Wave or ZigBee and run them with something like Home Assistant. All local processing, no internet needed.
I have a couple of smart bulbs and switches and a couple of wyze cams around but I don't want or need a smart doorbell, thermostat, etc. I like being able to turn off our bedroom light from my watch or phone and the smart switches work well for devices that need to be plugged in where the actual power cable is hard to reach.