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Comment by laurencei | Hacker News Reader

I love my LG TVs.

The problem is, for anyone who wants a smart TV, every brand is just as bad. Samsung, Sony etc.

I know some people say "get a dumb TV" and use chromecast etc - but I just want an all in one integration etc.

I've heard that the high end Sony Bravia TVs are better in this regard, but haven't confirmed it myself. They are quite a bit more expensive than the other OLED TVs on the market, however.

One thing I've been feeling lately with internet-connected home devices is that I'm being pushed towards products from big tech companies like Google. Google might mine my data still, but at least they'll ostensibly do it competently and securely. Not a great feeling. Despite not really being in the Google ecosystem, maybe my next TV will be one with Android TV support. On the smart home side, I did get into self-hosting Home Assistant recently. I didn't expect much from it at first, but it's remarkable how liberating and useful it feels compared to the one-size-fits-all approach of Google Home or HomeKit. I'm actually excited to try and get some more smart home devices now, beyond just a few lightbulbs.

Anon gathered around and hacked Sony back in 2011 (mainly) because of the absorbent information they were gathering from everyone's PlayStation 3 consoles. They never stopped gathering an obscene amount of information from their users, and nether did any other mid-major technology company.

Google knows everything about you/us if you use their services. It's really bad, we know. For some of us that's inescapable because of our careers/jobs, or if we use Google search on our own devices on our networks compared to alternative platforms. Even your smart lightbulbs are gathering data on you. Android (AND Android TV) is Google:

> https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/android-sends-20x-mo...

> absorbent information

Exorbitant fits better than absorbent, but it's still an interesting use of absorbent.

Something like "Absorbent nature they have for information" if you still want to use absorbent.

I have an LG TV (bedroom), one of the higher end Sony's (main TV), and the Sony is much better, IMO. The LG is constantly nagging for software upgrades, and once there is an available option it puts up a nag screen EVERY time you turn it on, making it very difficult to ignore. The LG also seems to be constantly removing apps and features, or just needlessly altering things. The Sony software updates have seemed less frequent and more logical.

100% would not buy another LG TV.

There are no dumb tvs' sold on the market anymore.

https://www.sceptre.com/TV/4K-UHD-TV-category1category73.htm...

I believe this company still sells them.

I bought a Sceptre because of another HN thread like this a couple of years ago and have been very happy with it. It's not as good looking as an 8K OLED, but it displays games and movies very satisfactorily, and best of all it's just a TV with no "smart" nonsense.

I also bought a sceptre 50” 4k dumb tv at the end of last year for around $225 and I have been very happy with it. It wasn’t HDR, but they are rolling out with HDR models now. Even so the color out of the box is pretty good and there are plenty of adjustments in the menu to tweak. Whats not to like?

They don't service the vast majority of the world.

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