
TV is bricked by Android malware and LG wont disclose factory reset - kristiandupont
https://twitter.com/darrencauthon/status/813096722989809665
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anilgulecha
My recommendation here is to simply buy a dumb TV with HDMI, and plugin
something cheap like a chromecast, or any of the aliexpress-20$ android TV
boxes [1].

You get the exact same smartness, without the worry of bricking an expensive
device. Just upgrade to the next cheap smart pluggable device in a couple
years.

I'm using one such android-TV box on a non-smart LED TV and it works very
well.

[1]
[https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=nexbox+a95x](https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=nexbox+a95x)

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kedean
Finding dumb tv's is surprisingly hard, now. Since I really wanted a 43"
(exact right fit for the space), I settled for one of Sharp's Roku-based tv's.
I'm pretty happy with it, because at least Roku's entire business is media
centers. The UI is polished, it receives regular updates, but its not a
general purpose OS like android, waiting to be infected.

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wccrawford
I've had smart TVs for a while, and wasn't a big fan because they tend to be
slow and clunky.

But the Sony TV with Android that we bought last year has been _amazing_.
Having everything built in (instead of a second box) has been great and
simplifies some things.

The hardware clearly is faster, and the apps tend to be a lot better because
they're generic Android apps, instead of one-offs produced just for that
year's TVs.

I'm sure I'll eventually end up having to buy an external box to get all the
new hotness for it, but until then, I'm really enjoying having it all in 1
piece. (Obviously I'll unplug it from the network when it comes to that,
thanks to this story.)

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soylentcola
Agreed. I had little to no interest in a "samrt" TV but when I was shopping
for a new HDTV, I really liked one particular Sony model for price versus
performance. It ran on AndroidTV but there was no similar "dumb" model for
less money. The same went for other brands.

In the end, being an Android user I said what the hell and bought it. So far
it's been great. Built-in Chromecast functionality fills in any gaps in the
supported apps or platforms (such as how Comcast refuses to authorize the
HBOGo app on AndroidTV so I need to cast from my phone).

I'd have preferred a dumb TV for $100 less plus an nVidia Shield or whatever.
But in the end this has worked out quite well and as you say, once the version
of Android is too old and no longer updated, I can just unplug the ethernet
cable, leave WiFi off, and continue using either my PC as the main input or
pick up some other box to do all of the "smart" stuff.

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andrewclunn
Does anyone have a non smart tv model they can recommend? Preferably with a
~50 inch model available?

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isoprophlex
I connected my Samsung smart TV to the internet, thinking I could use it to
send media directly to the screen, like a Chromecast. It started showing
intrusive ad overlays on whatever I was watching (regular HDMI input, I wasn't
doing anything 'smart' with it).

The fucking thing is now disconnected and blacklisted, and I'll be sure never
to buy a smart TV and/or a samsung TV if I can help it...

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piva00
Was it a "feature" directly from Samsung or some kind of malware? If it was
really from Samsung that's... Very intrusive.

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wears_sweaters1
This seems to be a Samsung initiative.
[http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/30/11814706/samsung-smart-
tel...](http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/30/11814706/samsung-smart-televisions-
new-menu-bar-ads-european-expansion)

