Ask Wirecutter: Can you recommend a not-smart TV for me?
&quot;just don&#x27;t connect it to the internet&quot; is such a typical HN response that completely misses the point. A smart TV with no internet connection is still a smart TV. It still has an entire operating system that needs to load wifi, ethernet, Bluetooth, usb driver stacks. It still has an awful, flashy interface that adds unnecessary steps between changing inputs. It still tries to load god knows what apps every time you turn it on.<p>A dumb TV is a panel, some inputs, and an OSD menu that hasn&#x27;t changed since 2005. It has exactly two functions: select an input and display that input. It should turn on in <i>seconds</i>, not minutes. Changing inputs should have at most two steps and take no more than two seconds. It should have exactly as much processing power as is required to pipe an hdmi signal to the panel and nothing more. It should be so fundamentally incapable of injecting ads that the very idea is laughable. Hell, I&#x27;d even prefer it not have speakers.<p>Disconnecting your smart TV from the internet only means it doesn&#x27;t spy on you and advertise to you. It doesn&#x27;t solve any of the other problems making these devices awful.