A friend is looking for one and I don’t know what to recommend.
Assuming that the goal is to never connect it to the internet and plug in another device with HDMI.
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A LGOLED and then a Apple TV box so it never has to connect to the Internet
LG OLED for a main tv. Anything less is meh.
Seriously. I’ve had an LG B7 for many years now and it’s amazing. It’s not internet connected and I don’t use any of the built in apps. Straight up display.
The first time a pitch black scene came on and my room likewise went pitch black was something else. No going back from OLED after that.
I think that’s the same OLED I have. B7 or C7. It’s starting to band on red, but I got at least… 7 (?) years out of it, and the bands are only mildly annoying. Similarly, I have never connected it to the internet, and don’t use any of the apps.
It’s not very bright, but I’ll take that over washed out or blotchy blacks. I’ll shop for a used OLED like this when I’m ready.
Sony Bravia. Because I just did this last year. My old TV was also a Bravia, and it lasted about 15 years. One big selling feature for me was that you can set it up as either a smart TV, or a ‘basic’ TV that doesn’t require an Internet connection and doesn’t pester you for one.
I’d buy an HDMI monitor instead of a TV, I guess. Why a new one though? There are tons of super cheap ones at goodwill stores.
Does anyone make a 65"+ monitor though?
Yes, most major brands. They’re often used in meeting rooms, lobbies, and public places (places you don’t want pop-up ads that you aren’t already being paid for). Not to mention that you can get LED video walls that are modular and snap together.
Web search says absolutely yes. Affordable ones? IDK, you’ll have to check.
100%. if ever i buy another display thingy it’d be a beamer though
LG OLED. You can find last year’s models at some price clubs. I’ve seen the 65” C4 for like $1100 which is great.
LG or Samsung, but the model matters too. If you’re on a budget, there are some solid TCL options
I am very done with Samsung’s smart tv OS.
LG, the quality is really great, just have a few issues with CEC on my Nvidia Shield Pro.
I wouldn’t get a television. I would get a monitor. No UI. No smart features. Just a black square that had HDMI inputs.
If you really want to watch OTA TV, you can buy box tuners that connect to the HDMI. Usually with DVR capability.
It will cost more. Like…a LOT more. But thats just what regular TVs used to cost back in the 90s. You wanted a bigscreen tv? $800 then, which would be like $2,000 now. And “big screen” was like 55 inch. Though it was a 4:3 ratio. So 55 inch then wold be more like 70 inch now in a 16:9 ratio.
I bought a hisense tv last year, you can run advtv to cripple its ability to phone home and disable stuff, then install projectivy launcher to bypass all the other bullshit.
Sony also was an option for that.
For sure, never ever connect it to the internet.
Samsung equipment is pretty good, and to some degree the larger companies subsidize the cost of the TV with the assumption that you’ll connect it and give them data to sell. So while a large monitor might be more expensive, there’s a reason why. Unless your friend actually gets over the air TV stations, consider a large monitor, then Samsung and LG.
Samsung is literally the worst TV brand
Whatever RTings recommends.
I dont see it mentioned here, but I went with a 75" Spectre earlier this year. I had a 40" Spectre that was given to me third- hand, and I only replaced it because it was too small for the new place I moved into. Spectre doesn’t seem to even offer smart TV, and I wanted to support that decision. The only potential downside that you may see is the lack of a 4k offering, but that wasn’t something I care about.
I was kind of expecting the comments to be the way they are, which is nice.
Preferably a TV with no smart features.
Or just take the cheapest option and never connect it to the internet.
Not a Vizio and not a Samsung.
Not Vizio because their customer support is terrible and the firmware updates they push render older televisions slow as dog shit and require customer service intervention to undo.
Not Samsung because their panels are so fucking blue that it scalds your eyes.
Probably not an LG because their webOS interface is dogshit.
So I guess a Sony Bravia because it can be used as a dumb TV or worst case like a TCL or something. I just use my cell phone Wi-Fi as its Wi-Fi setup and then change the Wi-Fi SSID so that it gets to talk once and then never again.
Slight counterpoint
I have 2 TVs in my house. A 70" Vizio as my main TV and a 40-ish inch Samsung fame in the bedroom
Haven’t used the TVs smart features in years, everything I watch is run through a game console or dedicated streaming device (currently a 4k Chromecast)
Their software is kind of dogshit, but I never interact with it except once in a blue moon after a power outage or something when it defaults back to that. I otherwise find it to be a perfectly fine TV for the price I paid for it.
However, as bad as the software is on the Vizio, the Samsung is 10x worse. And unfortunately as bad as it is, that’s what we use because it was hard enough trying to hide the box the TV came with (the way they get the frame TV’s so light and thin is by moving all of the electronics into a separate box, I installed a cabinet in the wall behind the TV to hide it) let alone trying to hide a separate streaming stick/box along with it. I also feel like using one of those may not play as well with the art mode as the built-in software, which is kind of the whole point.
I second LG. Probably even if I don’t connect it to the internet. OLED + webOS + magic remote. If it was super important to not require internet etc, still LG but JB it.
Excellent picture quality. I’ll never connect it to the internet. No usage for the smart side of it but the image quality is awesome!
