Topic: why is it so god damned difficult to buy a normal fucking tv
Anonymous A started this discussion 1 year ago#118,801
My elderly mother needs a new TV. She can not use a smart TV. I don't know how she does it, but she always manages to get out of live TV and into the apps. It confuses her, she gets frustrated, and then stops watching TV until I fix it for her. This is a near daily process. It's so fucking infuriating that I can't buy a new TV that just doesn't have all that bullshit. The closest thing is a Roku TV where you can set it ALWAYS go to live TV when the TV is turned on. That way she can just turn the fucking thing off and back on again. But the remotes don't have a number pad, and they don't support number inputs from universal remotes, which also frustrates her to no end because she has to slooooooowly go one channel at a time to get to what she wants to watch. Yes, the channel guide is faster, but that confuses her too. No, voice activated remotes don't work because 9 times out of 10 it will try to send her to an app instead of the channel she's trying to get to.
Anonymous B joined in and replied with this 1 year ago, 21 minutes later[^][v]#1,303,957
Try with Google Best TV for senior citizens - Looks like and out of time - the top ones use Alexia voice
Have you tried giving her written instructions?
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 1 year ago, 1 minute later, 37 minutes after the original post[^][v]#1,303,963
@1,303,957 (B)
I have, and there is no amount of detail that will keep her from getting lost in the menus. Plus I can't account for every scenario she may somehow manage to get herself into by pressing a series of wrong buttons. That and the idea of needing instructions to watch TV frustrates her (and me). She should be able to press power, channel up and down, volume up and down, and numbers. That's what she understands. That's all she uses. It blows my mind that we've moved to an entirely smart TV landscape and I somehow missed the transition. It really looks like there isn't a single manufacturer today making dumb TVs.
I guess I have to prowl thrift stores in hopes of finding one for her.
Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 1 year ago, 13 minutes later, 50 minutes after the original post[^][v]#1,303,964
I haven't had a cable box in a while, but if it had hdmi out, a lot of TVs have 'wake on input' on HDMI port #1. This gets it back to 'did you turn it off and turn it on?' and that's it. If the cable actually still uses coax to the tv then nevermind.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 1 year ago, 1 hour later, 2 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,303,975
@previous (C)
I didn't mean to! :( Yes I am in Burgerland and I'll be damned, it looks like you found one. Thank you! What did you search for to find this?
@1,303,964 (D)
She actually doesn't even have cable and uses an antenna for local over-the-air stations!
@1,303,965 (Meta !Sober//iZs)
Pretty sure you're right, and that's part of why they're so cheap. You're paying for it with your data
Anonymous F joined in and replied with this 1 year ago, 40 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,303,976
@previous (A)
Sony makes televisions you can program to turn on and automatically set the input to the antenna like an old "dumb" television. You can tell if it has that feature if the remote control has a giant TV button in the middle. It's practically designed for old people.
tteh !MemesToDNA joined in and replied with this 1 year ago, 2 hours later, 12 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,304,055
There are very few options. Essentially zero manufacturers care to make "dumb" TVs anymore. They rely on the revenue from ads, from preloaded channels, and from third-party apps that pay to be bundled with the OS. It's far cheaper for a manufacturer to make a smart TV.
But you aren't forced to connect it to the Internet. If you accidentally try to use a "smart" feature, most TVs will simply prompt you to connect to WiFi and you can just hit the back button.
I spent a good while looking for a non-smart TV for a family member about 3 years ago and eventually just gave up. :(
I figure a 40-45 inch TV wouldn't be too bad, old people don't like huge TVs. My GM has a 30 inch and it suits her fine. Until not so long ago a 30 inch TV was considered huge.