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[โ€“] 9 points 5 months ago (10 children)

Is there any way to lobotomize these smart TVs? Even the specs on a cheaper mid-range would blow my current dinosaur out of the water

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  • [โ€“] 18 points 5 months ago (6 children)

    Don't connect them to the internet.

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  • [โ€“] 6 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    True, I'll probably end up going that route when this one dies (assuming they don't all require sign in and heartbeats at that point)

    Was hoping for something like a FOSS OS just for the convenience of keeping jellyfin up to date and cleaning up the useless baked in apps.

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  • [โ€“] 15 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Never connect them to the internet

    You want your favorite streaming service on there? Get an older (used office) PC, load it up with (your prefered flavor of) Linux, get a bluetooth keyboard mouse combo, hook it up to your HDMI port, and go ham.

    Some TVs even let you turn them on directly to a specific HDMI port for a bonus fun time of never having to see the TVs menu.

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  • [โ€“] 2 points 5 months ago

    Not really, the smarts are integrated into the control circuitry. You can't bypass them and turn them into simple, dumb displays.

    Depending on the model, you can block the TV from the internet and leave it on set to one of the inputs and the smarts bits won't bother you again. Other ones are more intrusive and pushy about it.

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