Casual Conversation

Then I dump 12 hours into researching on youtube

There's your problem!

Notebookcheck for phones and laptop is god tier. RTIngs is great for TVs.

From what I've experienced the newer TVs aren't built for longevity. That's been a real disgusting revelation. I mean.. FFS.. you're expected to shell out a ton of cash but you can't have the peace of mind that it'll be there in working order 7 years from now. And even expecting that... There's almost an air about it that "what do you expect.. it's been 7 years, upgrade!"

So I feel you. Sorry for the rant.

They also don't last. I've bought 6 flat screens since 2006. 4 have died, all in the second year of ownership. 3 of those died on month 13, 1 month after the warranty. 1 of those died the day after the warranty expired...

I swear they plan for them to die right after warranty or I just have the worst luck. Doesn't matter if I spend $500 or $3000+ on name brand. I started saving money on the last two that died by insuring them. At this point I'm just leasing them until they die.

I've not met anyone who enjoys buying things these days. Reviews aren't trustworthy, and even as I type this my hands burn from using a (checks notes) standard web browser app (Firefox, Android) - possibly my own fault for using Blokada VPN but iirc I've shut it off before and the issue still persists. On a Samsung Galaxy S22 for fucks sake!?!?!?

My next phone will probably be either a Fairphone, dumb phone (except I really need Google Maps rarely but occasionally), or maybe I'll get a pihole (or sth) on my home network and buy an iPhone, except I don't want to pay premium prices for just a handheld web browser attached to a phone and Maps device.

Anyway, companies don't sell what we want, only what they can extort from us to buy. If we don't like that then... well no, that's it, we have no choices between "become god-tier expert in every subject that we might ever want to make a purchase in, even once a decade", and "we enslave ourselves to the whimsy of chance to do with us what it wills".

If it helps, I'd go for the LG G4. Or C4 if you want to reduce the cost a bit.
I've sworn off Samsung, just for the sheer levels of anticonsumer bullshit they pull.
I've had my CX off the network for its entire life. The Apple TV handles internet and playing media properly, the TV handles taking an HDMI lead and displaying the picture accurately.
The anti-glare it does have was still miles better than my previous plasma, even though the screen is glossy.

Check out AVForums for TV reviews, and just as a general thing, Which.
Though Which do sometimes struggle with comparing the technical details that matter.

And get it from somewhere that offers a decent warranty. If costco is the same in your area, you get 5 years on TVs so long as you maintain membership.

The more I learn about the horrors of modern smart TVs and their ads and privacy breaches, the more I am convinced that I lucked out when I went to the store some years ago and picked up "any" TV that fit my requirements (and I didn't have many requirements).

I bought a pretty cheap Samsung. My todler broke the old TV, so I needed a new one on short notice. I wish it had one of those RF remotes instead of IR, but it's fine. The only "ads" I see is that when you turn it on, it defaults to a streaming service named Rakuten, and they always show Andromeda episodes. All of my kids know how to start their streaming service of choice, so nobody really cares.

Then I dump 12 hours into researching on youtube, trying to filter the company fanboys and the real talk people just to find out they are all “bought” and only 5% of the reviews aren’t bought.

To me, getting this kind of info in good faith without corporate sponsorship has been one of the most important functions of Reddit and something I hope Lemmy can take up as it grows. Even now, astroturfed content is much more common on Reddit than it was, and forget about any article with SEO good enough for one to even find on a search engine. At least Fakespot helps a little with the AI-generated reviews out there, but it's not going to catch anything written by a human in bad faith.

For what it's worth--and for posterity--the screen on the Samsung TV my father bought a few years ago is still going strong, but holy crap has the smart TV side of it been bad. One of the apps I used regularly (Steam Link) was outright discontinued and a couple others just stopped working. For whatever reason, it wipes out the app list on its own every few months or so, too. I ended up buying him a Fire Stick. At this point, all the smart TV functionality he's getting out of it is getting served ads on the menu. 🙄

I snapped and instead bought a large computer monitor, Edifier speakers + fossi BT amp, and use a computer running kodi to watch media now.

No apps, no end of support life, no subscriptions, no shitty UI, no ads etc. I power on and yay my shows. Can also play the radio/music through it and retro video games when feeling nostalgic, control through phone if needed.

Cost more (TVs subsidised because they sell your data) but I don't have to worry about that or learn some manufacturers bespoke and bizarre settings.

I think the difference isn't the TV tbh, it's you. People have always had the ability to dive deep into the differences in tech of various devices. There have always been in depth reviews of every item or phone.

The difference is the last time you purchased a TV, you didn't seem to care about all that. Guess what? You still don't. You could absolutely walk into any store that sells TVs, buy one on a whim that looks ok, and be perfectly fine. They are all just TVs. Sure, they have their differences, but they mostly function the same.

The same could be said for smartphones. Just grab one that looks decent and they mostly will have the same experience as one another unless you're some sort of power user.

Really, there are a butt load of people who actually don't know all the tech details. They stroll in the store and just buy something that looks ok within the price range they are willing to spend. Non-internet people are far more inclined to do this. Sometimes places like Lemmy and Reddit don't realize how little the general public knows or cares about tech...and they all manage to get by just fine.

If it bothers you to be this into tech reviews, just don't. Be spontaneous. They are all going to basically do the same thing.

Whatever you end up buying, and from wherever you end up buying from, make sure it has a liberal return policy, and don't destroy the box, padding when unboxing. Get it home, hook it up, check it out, and if you don't like it, send that sucker back from when it came.

I was in a good spot when I got my tv. Literally two requirements: not a god-forsaken LG, and it had to have feet that would fit on an existing IKEA stand which was maybe three feet from end to end. Best Buy promptly showed me to the TVs for Poors aisle, and we measured the Samsung tv bases for the widest possible feet under 36”. Got an absolutely brain-melting 43” screen. Honestly very happy with it.

duo

due*

You tripped me up with this one. I thought you were talking about Duolingo for a bit.

For me, it's relatively simple because Sceptre is basically the only brand left that sells modern TVs that aren't "smart".

If you were happy enough with your tech to hold onto it 5 years past its updates anything on the market today will please you.

I was looking at computer upgrades and started getting too in the weeds before remembering that anything available will be better than what it is replacing.

I don’t know too much about TVs these days. I know I’ve been happy with my mid level TCL I got prob 6 years ago. The black levels aren’t fantastic but I was long overdue for an upgrade.

I don’t think I saw this in your post but how big of a TV are you looking into purchasing?

Have you tried not buying Tvs? I wonder the average number of TVs per household is in America?

Who cares? TVs won’t last long anyway, and they’re basically carriers for advertising anyway. If you’re only watching streaming content, buy an apple tv or similar and a decent monitor. Both will last much longer than a regular smort TV and are way better adaptable to your needs.

I still go to Best Buy to buy a TV. whatever you do, don't get a Vizio. they look good, but the firmware is shit and if you update it to try to fix it, they break something else with every update

Why even the newest stuff? Get an LG C2 or LG C3, save a ton of many, be happy and move on.

Planned obsolescence, I would suggest checking what your bang for buck is, but make sure the coverage plan or warranty is also good as well. 

It seems you are just looking at the high-end stuff when it comes to phones and TV, so any choice should last a good amount and perform well enough; it just goes back to the niche features and new PR names they are using to sell the next big thing. 

Last time I bought a TV, it was an LG cheap one just for the living room. We have curtains to darken the room when we watch movies, and it does the job. It cost me around $400 bucks.

It has smart features and other stuff, but I mostly connect a dongle or internet connection with a VPN so I can stream whatever I want, especially if I don't want ads and all the other 'bloatware'.