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TV that doesn't require 'on-line activation' to set up. (midwest.social)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

76 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm going to buy my first new TV in years. Even if it's a 'smart' tv we plan to just use our Roku. I've heard that some TVs require you to connect it to the internet before you can even use a Roku device. For privacy reasons I don't want my TV to EVER have access to my wifi. Is anyone aware of how to know what models/brands of TVs allow me to use it without ever connecting the TV itself to wifi?

If necessary I guess I could connect it to my guest network to 'activate' the TV, set up the Roku to connect to my private network, then change the password to the guest network.

Would rather just have a TV that doesn't even 'phone home' once.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Alternative perspective: Buy the most intrusive, ad-subsidized set you can find and disconnect/block it so you get all of the benefit and none of the privacy invasion?

[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Ensure it works offline before buying would be my only advice here. Also don’t be surprised if it still has ads, I know android tv can have ads without connecting to the internet because it’ll have them cached from a fresh install. Adblocking on android tv is a pain because the caching of ad content can make you think it’s not working

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ugh. This is why we can’t have nice things.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

You can, they just cost more.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

This isn’t really true, they don’t write a separate os for the fancier TVs. The $5000 83” oled still does all this. It’s not as bad as the $75 37” lcd that’s heavily subsidized but that’s only partially because of less intrusive ads. The ads are still there, just not as much, the data collection is still there, and the tv is just runs smoother because the hardware is generally (a bit) more powerful

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I think that even the most expensive TVs have the same OS and data collection

[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 months ago

Maybe, but no ads though. I guarantee Bill Gates does not see ads on his TV.