this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2026
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That's fine if you only want to watch TV. For streaming you will either need to connect it to the internet or use some external device that will be connected. Most people will actually want to use streaming so "it's dumb until you connect it" doesn't really help.
The one big advantage is that it can be something you can completely control. A very tiny htpc or even a raspberry pi without the need of much storage that will forever work on floss and will never be remotely discontinued, show ads against your will, or sell your personal data.
People will technical skills can do many great things. For the rest it's either smart TV or some set top box and internet connection.
Technical skills including:
Yes, those count as technical skills and there are many, many people for whom it’s too big a hurdle.
picking out a decent micro PC that actually works is hard.
Getting a pc install (presumably windows) configured in a way that will display in the TV legibly from the couch is hard.
Requiring a keyboard and mouse to use your TV from the couch is weird and off-putting. Most people won’t want to and some people will have difficulty understanding what they’re supposed to do with these objects
The technical competence bar for getting a TV plugged in and working is just ridiculously, ridiculously low, and that’s for a reason
I think you missed the part about "very tiny htpc or even a raspberry pi without the need of much storage that will forever work on floss and will never be remotely discontinued, show ads against your will, or sell your personal data" because off the shelf PC with windows and default browser is definitely not that.
You could do that on a Windows PC as well of course the not being outdated part won't be the case.
For someone unwilling to even think about trying something you've never done before I would just suggest a $20 ONN streaming stick you can set up stremio with one YouTube video and like 10 minutes.
Sorry, being on c/technology I made some assumptions here. I was mostly talking to people who want a dumb tv and hook up an external smart device to it, like a media centre, an android box, or an iptv box.
This is generally agreed to be a better solution as it lets you actually control your media stack, and it provides longevity. A regular smart tv will be outdated and slow within a few years, while a dumb tv can last maybe three times longer unless something inside it actually fails.
If you want to use external smart device it doesn't really matter how smart the TV is. The only problem are TVs that refuse to work without internet connection but this doesn't really depend on how smart they are either.