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Comment by flanbiscuit | Hacker News Reader

I hated my Samsung "Smart TV". All the apps were slow, the Wifi receiver in it was crappy. Since I have so many devices now that have all the streaming apps (PS3, PS4, WiiU, Apple TV) I can save money when buying a TV by looking for the most dumbed down basic TV I can. I just need something with a good amount of inputs and that's it.

The last smart-type TV that I bought actually used Roku baked into it. At least Roku is a well-known and independent service and not a manufacturers proprietary shoddy system.

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Are there any dumb TVs at all? I keep thinking there has to be a market for it. It just doesn't make sense to be at the mercy of the TV makers to be able to provide apps and updates - when we have Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast, PS4, Xbox One and on and on that can provide a much better experience.

Back before Christmas, I picked up a Sharp 40" set that was very much a dumb TV, exactly how I wanted it. Any smarts (for now, a Raspberry Pi running OSMC) plug into the HDMI ports.

About the only thing I can ding it for is that some buttons on the remote aren't available for CEC, so I still have to use my RC6 remote and IR receiver on the Pi to control Kodi for all but the most basic functions.

Also, if you're looking for a 4K set, I'm not sure there are any out there that are dumb.

Seiki and a few others make dumb-as-nails 4k screens for dirt cheap prices. Using a 39" one I got a year or so ago right now, and even then it was ~$285 pre tax. Not bad.

> Are there any dumb TVs at all?

It's a good question, and the answer appears to be yes. Here's some discussion about the topic from about a month ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13347592

Yes: Humax has released their Pure Vision Display exactly for this reason. It's a 4K IPS display in 43", 49", and 55" sizes with a bunch of HDMI and USB ports. I'm having trouble finding an English product page, but a quick Google should get you the info you need.

Yep, I bought a Westinghouse late last year that has no network connectivity.

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