Agreed. These "smart" TVs mostly run outdated and buggy software which are difficult if not impossible to update either because of technical limitations or because the manufacturer doesn't care enough after getting your money.

So why bother with a "smart" TV if you're going to be using an external computer anyway. Saving a few hundred dollars to spend on that external computer seems like a better investment. I run a "dumb" big LG TV hooked up to a raspberry pi running Kodi via LibreElec. I'm very happy with the set up in terms of functionality and price.

Edit: the attack via signal is linked from the article, reading now.