My TV died last night

[RAMd®d]

I remember things differently from my childhood, you took the back off, removed all of the tubes, went down to the corner drug store, tested each of them on their tube tester, and bought a replacement for the one that failed.


I did that maybe 1000 times. 

For me it was a variety store.

Prior to pulling tubes, I'd tap them with a wooden spoon to see which one(s) might be the problem.

After awhile, the back of the TV was off more often than it was on.

---

You're not in MA, are you? I have a 32" Sony Bravia sitting unused on a shelf in the bedroom that would be happy to find a new home.


I think ka is up in NYC.

[MindMeld]

I remember the first time a TV died on me... took the back off, found fuses - found a dead one - walked to the nearby radio shark and got a replacement for 25¢ probably - installed and all was well. Such a great feeling when it works out that way... times have changed.

I remember things differently from my childhood, you took the back off, removed all of the tubes, went down to the corner drug store, tested each of them on their tube tester, and bought a replacement for the one that failed.

Oh Wow! I remember those days.

[RAMd®d]

I'll probably get this one:

Samsung TV


The only caveat I see might be the fact that it doesn't seem to have an IPS screen, at least that I can find.

It's not a big deal if you're sitting front and center, well, mainly center, as other screen technologies lose brightness off axis. IPS screens are supposed to give a good picture ~170º. 

So if there's more than one viewer for this set, they'd both benefit sitting as close to directly in front of the screen.

You might need to connect the TV to the 'net to set it up maybe, and to make sure it's firmware is up to date.

Or not.

Depending on who one talks to, there's only factory skullduggery waiting for a smartTV on the other side of your WiFi.

[NewtonMP2100]

…..as did all my hopes & dreams…..

[PeterB]

Don't laugh, but I've gotten many of my current TV's free of charge, just by watching Craigslist and other avenues where people might be advertising something free.  The TV's are often in perfectly good condition and the person might have been getting rid of, just because they were upgrading... especially if they went for a larger size, so they're often tossing the smaller size sets.

[special]

Don't laugh, but I've gotten many of my current TV's free of charge, just by watching Craigslist and other avenues where people might be advertising something free.  The TV's are often in perfectly good condition and the person might have been getting rid of, just because they were upgrading... especially if they went for a larger size, so they're often tossing the smaller size sets.

Good for you! That is in line with my suggestion earlier in the thread.

[PeterB]

Yes, and I'm happy to keep things out of landfills. 

I should add that some of the TV's I've gotten this way have actually been better quality than the ones I've bought out of pocket... at least from the build quality perspective.  It does seem like the TVs that were built in the 2000-2010's are better than the ones being made now.

Edit: what just showed up on my local Nextdoor feed? A 32 inch for $10.  It sounds like it would have matched ka jot's requirements... the only thing it is missing, according to the seller, is a remote... but those can be had pretty easily....

[kahjot]

I don't know if it matters, but a lot of the 32" TVs are 720p rather than 1080p.

43" TVs are under $200 and almost all of those are 4K. I don't want to tell you what to do, but if it were me, I would completely abandon whatever it is that constrains the space to 32".

That's just not an option. It's a railroad tenement apartment (long and skinny), and there is really only one good place for the TV. I could rearrange stuff on the dresser where it sits, but I don't know where I'd put that stuff. And there's no way the art on the walls is going to be moved for the sake of a TV. I did some measuring back when I first thought about replacing it after noticing the slight darkening of the upper right corner, but it was quickly clear that going to 43" was way more trouble than it would ever be worth.

So I ordered that 1080p Samsung from B&H and set it up yesterday. You all probably heard me swearing at it, and I apologize. Setup involved a bar code appearing on the screen, and downloading an app. Of course the app won't run on my iPhone 7, which maxes out at iOS 15. So I used an iPad. Out of the box, the picture was not good. It was skewed toward red/yellow, too contrasty, over sharpened, etc. I had to get into the color settings to get it looking decent. Once that was done, it looks OK.

It does seem like a cheap piece of crap. It weighs 8 lbs. The remote buttons are overly sensitive, so I was constantly having to backtrack while navigating the settings.

The little feet were designed by a sadist. Half-inch screws had to be gotten into holes that were recessed half an inch. Much foul language occurred while attaching the feet, which was a two-person job: the Other Human had to hold the TV while I tried to maneuver the screws down into the holes.

I plan to cut off its access to my network now that it is up and running. The crap they would like their users to agree to is creepy and invasive. I found a handy guide at LifeHacker:

Make your smart TV dumb

I have an AppleTV connected in the event that I want use a streaming source.

The easy part was that the Spectrum remote didn't need to have anything reset, so that stuff just works.

Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions. I hope this thing outlives me.

[RAMd®d]

I didn't realize a set top box would obviate the need to connect a smartTV to the 'net.

There is an ATV in the box, waiting to be deployed.

A smartTV might still be needed to call home for some setup or firmware update.

[kahjot]

I didn't realize a set top box would obviate the need to connect a smartTV to the 'net.

There is an ATV in the box, waiting to be deployed.

A smartTV might still be needed to call home for some setup or firmware update.

Yeah, sounds like the ATV is a pretty safe choice. I'm not using any streaming services, but I may check out Max

I have an Asus router. The Asus app allows me to block the TV with a tap, which I did about an hour ago. Supposedly everything on the TV is up to date.

The app that Samsung has you install wants to get into everything in your home. No other Samsung devices here, but still creepy. I certainly don't need a fridge that connects to the Internet…