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Is a TV like this available?
04-19-2017, 03:35 PM
My father's looking to replace his old television, because the cable company wants to charge him for a converter box once analog signals go away (despite (a)cable having nothing to do with over-the-air and (b)his contract with them saying they won't do that, but that's another thread).
He knows he's not getting another CRT - it'll be a flatscreen. The last two he tried were unsuitable - the first had poor electronics to the point where it couldn't hold a colour balance over a day, and the second kept prompting him to connect it to the internet (which he sees as a security hole, considering he doesn't yet have internet input to the TV).
So... something that won't malfunction before the warranty period ends (and preferably won't malfunction for decades, the way most old-style electronics last), and something that doesn't need (or nag) to be connected to the internet to work.
Brands: "Panasonic still makes TVs, right?" He won't have an LG. I haven't bought a TV in over a decade, so I don't know what's good and what isn't nowadays.
Size: What he has now is a 25" 4:3-ratio tube, so anything larger than a 30" flatscreen would probably be too big.
Location: Central Canada, relatively near Eastern Seaboard USA
What's worth looking at?
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Rob Kelk
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Try here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductL ... ageSize=36
Newegg has good prices & shipping to Canada shouldn't be too much extra. If you do a temporary Premier membership you can get expedited shipping free (just remember to cancel the membership).
If you're on a budget, they're doing sales constantly - there's a decent 32" screen going for $110 American right now, for example.
"Not this again!" Minerva said. "Albus, it was You-Know-Who, not you, who marked Harry as his equal. There is no possible way that the prophecy could be talking about you!" - Harry Potter and the Method of Rationality, Chapter 84
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We've had very good experiences with Sharp Aquos TVs over the past ten years. Our current living room set is a 32-inch and has served us very well for five or so years now, and before my dad passed away, we installed a 14-incher on the wall in his bedroom. Both seem(ed) to be tough as nails.
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Then the horns kicked in...
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Thanks, folks. Forwarding the recommendations along, please keep them coming.
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Rob Kelk
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We haven't bought a television since the 24" LG that's part of our office setup. It's the best of our three sets, but that's not saying a lot... the older 47" downstairs (part of an arcade rig) has a bad HDMI input because of a lightning strike (which is why my parents handed it over), and oddly only one port was fried, the other three work, and it's otherwise been a marvelous television. But the 55" in our living room is awful, and it's only a couple of years newer than the 47, so I perfectly understand your father's "hell no" reaction. The remote isn't very good on it, has that stupid keyboard on the backside, and the receiver we bought for it actually helps to neutralize the worst quirk, which is if it doesn't see a signal on whatever input you're on, it pretty quickly decides that we should be watching OTA signals. Pretty quickly means that a resolution change on a Framemeister external upscaler we use was just long enough (about 4 seconds) it would decide the signal was dead and switch, and we'd have to manually change it back. Which makes it really damned hard to troubleshoot signal issues. I don't remember if it was a nagger regarding the initial internet hookup, but we've also had issues with getting it to reliably stream from Amazon.
To be honest, if we were to have the choice again, we would have taken the damned thing back. As it is, if the 47 on the arcade rig dies, I'd be buying a television specifically for that, rather than attempting to move the 55 down, it's that bad. I have been tempted to see if I can find an open firmware to drop on it and see if that clears up the worst of the issues.
As a side note, my personal preference for internet streaming to television is to use something like a Raspberry Pi with Kodi and not even let the television do anything. Kodi gives us a lot more flexibility, even if we can't use most proprietary streaming services with it.
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The trouble with broadcast-over-air TV is that they're starting to go digital as well. I think all the stations here in San Antonio are digital now. Unfortunately, analogue signals will soon be a thing of the past. 
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Black Aeronaut Wrote:The trouble with broadcast-over-air TV is that they're starting to go digital as well. I think all the stations here in San Antonio are digital now. Unfortunately, analogue signals will soon be a thing of the past.
Which is exactly why he's looking for a new TV.
robkelk Wrote:... because the cable company wants to charge him for a converter box once analog signals go away ... --
Rob Kelk
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We've had no issues with Sony, but the smallest panel they do now days is 32". I know some of the off-brands have terrible remote & gui but can be bulletproof or trash, so go to a store and have a play.
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Did Sony ever apologize for putting rootkits on some of their CDs? I recall they were pretty gung-ho on the idea ... which means that anything could be in their devices' ROM.
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The 20" Sony doesn't have comms, so I doubt it has any interesting off-the-book features. The 40" on the other hand seeing that it's detectable on my PC as a stream to option & that it can natively show youtube content & other digital content, it may have something hiding there.
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There is a thing. The 24" LG we have here is actually a "dumb" set - no attempt at all at trying to be an all-in-one streaming device, it's literally just a television. A little hunting in your size range will probably turn up at least a few options in the dumb range, rather than being "smart" out of the gate. The "interface" will be familiar, the only real issue will be how well the remote actually operates in practice.
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Dunno if it's still relevant, but my flatscreen is an Insignia. It was the second-cheapest one in the lineup at Best Buy (the cheapest having been four inches smaller and only supporting 720p rather than 1080p resolution) and that's all I know really.
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Thanks, CD. I think it's still relevant...
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Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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