HBO Max Offer (and a big question)

Some say $500

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I purchased this for a neighbor 2 months ago. How can a 55" Smart TV that cost $449 have smarts that cost $500....


Screen Shot 2020-09-27 at 5.20.10 PM.png
 
I do want a good picture. After helping my mom buy cheap TVs, I can tell the difference easily. Just to see if I could find a decent set without "smart" features, I went to bestbuy.com, chose all TVs, selected 4k only, and then scrolled through 13 pages of TVs, all of which are "smart' aside from some commercial displays. With some additional web searching, I did find that Sceptre sells some dumb TVs. I'd have to find some calibrated reviews to get an idea of how good the picture is as that is not a brand with which I am familiar. Stock is limited in any case:

Amazon product ASIN B0198XNF6U
It’s out of stock at the Air Force and Army Exchange where I purchased it saving tax and shipping. It’s available at Amazon for a few dollars less but there is tax on that sale.

Amazon product ASIN B083XWM64L
Thanks guys! You have just given me some good ideas about which TV to buy next. I am sure that Amazon pays each of you a decent commission each time you post. ;)
 
Thanks guys! You have just given me some good ideas about which TV to buy next. I am sure that Amazon pays each of you a decent commission each time you post. ;)
It’s also available at Best Buy and several other outlets. I am not promoting Amazon. It’s just easy to use them to make a point about the availability of various equipment that come up here.
 
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And pay for something you don't want or need
You do know that the "smart" features actually lowers the price of the TV? They figure they will be able to collect data from you and sell that data. As was said, just don't hook it to the internet.


and

 
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You do know that the "smart" features actually lowers the price of the TV? They figure they will be able to collect data from you and sell that data. As was said, just don't hook it to the internet.


and

Not really
 
Really. Why would companies like Vizio start their own advertising divisions unless they figure they could sell TV ads?

For starters..hardware and software cost money to develop and produce

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For starters..hardware and software cost money to develop and produce

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All the software is developed and provided by 3rd parties like roku and android. The apps are developed and supplied by the streaming services. The hardware is cheap when is is being produced in the 100s of millions. I showed you info supporting my side, show some things supporting your view. Did you even read any of the articles in the links? Example of just one:

The connected TV advertising market is becoming crowded as so-called over-the-top streaming viewing that eschews traditional cable TV bundles skyrockets. Other OTT ad sellers span TV networks, digital video programmers and tech giants such as Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. Rival TV manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics Co. are also in the game.

Streaming video ad revenue on TV screens in the U.S. is expected to hit $4.4 billion in 2020, up from $3.4 billion last year, according to a forecast by ad-buying group Magna.

“It’s our largest growth driver,” said Molly Finnerty, senior vice president of strategic investment for Magna. “Our connected TV and OTT ad spend is starting to come from traditional linear investment as consumption is shifting.”

Such platform businesses seem to have plenty of potential for connected TV ad sellers: Roku Inc., one of the largest streaming ad sellers in the market, reported $481.2 million in platform revenue through the first nine months of 2019, far surpassing the revenue it makes from selling streaming devices.
 
Bottom line there are much better ways to save money on a new TV purchase then simply avoiding smart TV features. By limiting yourself to non-smart TVs, you are greatly limiting your options. You are certainly not going to be able to buy a high-end tv, like an LG OLED, unless you get a commercial version or a very large display monitor that uses the technology assuming you can find one for cheaper. For budget models, the TCL with built in Roku gets very good reviews for PQ in the budget model class.

I bought my first new TV in 12 years earlier this month and saved $200 simply by waiting 6 weeks for a Labor Day weekend sale price.

With that said, I certainly wouldn't buy a TV because of its streaming apps. I'm not too happy with my LG OLED's smart TV features. It doesn't include HBO Max, and the CBS All Access app crashes everytime I use it. So I'm using my 4K FireTV stick, PS4, and even 2016 model Roku still.
 
The advertising and data collection is the reason my smarttvs aren't connected to wi-fi or ethernet. I started getting ads on my Samsung 2012 Plasma, and that was all I needed to unplug it.
 
The advertising and data collection is the reason my smarttvs aren't connected to wi-fi or ethernet. I started getting ads on my Samsung 2012 Plasma, and that was all I needed to unplug it.
I never get ads on my 2013 sony bravia..the stuff stopped working after 3 years

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The advertising and data collection is the reason my smarttvs aren't connected to wi-fi or ethernet. I started getting ads on my Samsung 2012 Plasma, and that was all I needed to unplug it.
I guess what most people don't think about is that any internet connected service you use is using and selling your information to serve you advertisement. I haven't looked at the code here but there is a very good chance that Satellite Guys is using a 3rd party service for advertisement which means your data is being used and tracked.
 
I guess what most people don't think about is that any internet connected service you use is using and selling your information to serve you advertisement. I haven't looked at the code here but there is a very good chance that Satellite Guys is using a 3rd party service for advertisement which means your data is being used and tracked.
That third-party service's algorithms are the worst judging by the ads, especially political ones, they keep feeding me. I'm not a SatGuys supporting member, so I see a ton of ads, particularly on mobile devices.
 
I never get ads on my 2013 sony bravia..the stuff stopped working after 3 years

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I never got any on my Sony TVs either, but I only ever connected them to do firmware updates, so the window to deliver was pretty small. With the Samsung, I had banner ads popping up in the middle of TV shows, usually related to some product placement within the show I was watching.
 
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It makes me miss the days when I could simply say "Alexa, go to channel 300 on Dish." Sorry, just trying to make this relevant to the Dish forum, since that is where this thread was posted.
By the way. HBO Max was finally added to Amazon Prime yesterday. I'd post about it in the Dish Satellite forum, but it might get squirreled away in this Cord Cutters thread anyway. Crodrules, can you start a thread there if you think it worthy?
 
By the way. HBO Max was finally added to Amazon Prime yesterday. I'd post about it in the Dish Satellite forum, but it might get squirreled away in this Cord Cutters thread anyway. Crodrules, can you start a thread there if you think it worthy?
It seems that Prime is offering more and pay per views and less and less "free" stuff. Prime isn't a good deal for me anymore.
 
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