My decision never to buy a smart TV just keeps paying off.

Can you buy a generic TV nowadays?

All that I have available in typical stores are smart TVs. The rest is some display panels meant for commercial installations (like big ad screens, multiple, working as one), which are only available online at a premium price.

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everdrive a day ago | parent [-]

Yes, but they can be a bit tricky to find. You can find them used. You can use a computer monitor.

Ultimately, I'm planning for a world where the technological decline continues (ie, technology continues to be something which its users do not own or control) and things like adblock just don't work anymore. When that finally happens, I'm honestly going to be watching DVDs, VHS, reading books, etc. This is a game of cat and mouse and if I'm pushed far enough I'm just going to check out of the system completely. TV is not so valuable that I'm going to let some sleazy company push me around.

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szszrk a day ago | parent [-]

> Yes, but they can be a bit tricky to find. You can find them used. You can use a computer monitor.

Sir, that's basically a no.

A TV is a specific device. It has many functions that TV monitor seldom has, or implements poorly. Like speakers. Or rich inputs and outputs, like multiple hdmi and antenna. Or a proper remote, a dvb-t tuner. Or play media on it's own when connected via USB. Or DLNA (I had devices far from modern smart-tv that could do that, in the past).

Monitor or panel can mimic some of this, with effort on your side, but not really.

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everdrive a day ago | parent | next [-]

You use use cases will vary, but I'll bet what 90% of people do can be duplicated with a laptop or an Apple TV.

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array_key_first a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Sceptre makes dumb TVs. I have a monitor for them that's many years old - it was a good value and has held up.

	▲	szszrk a day ago \| parent [-]
		Thanks, they don't seem to exist in EU. I think closest are some Sharp models, and their screens are great. But that also requires hunting for commercial models mean for large displays.

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tech2 a day ago | parent | prev [-]

I tried to do that, really did, but my TV was circa 2006 and I needed a replacement. None of the options in my region are good, there's no Scepter equivalent unless you pay 3x as much for something akin to a commercial display. So, air-gapping it is!