How long are modern smart TV's meant to last?

[tlink]

My dad bought a new tv today, in the shop i adviced to don't buy anything smart because its a liability in the long run and my parents last tv was their replacement to CRT and 10+ years old. its a samsung smart tv, it has a build in virus scanner so it only worry's me more for the long run. how long will they update this?

[saladcrack]

I'd hope they would continue to keep it fresh at least 5 years or more which imo is a decent amount of time.

[Shiv78]

I don't think anyone cares enough to make TV viruses.

[tlink]

Just now, Gamessys said:

I'd hope they would continue to keep it fresh at least 5 years or more which imo is a decent amount of time.

we all wish that for android too, they already have their money so i don't think they will but you never know. it sucks so bad that its impossible to get a good tv which doesn't have smart functionality in my region.

[tlink]

Just now, Shiv78 said:

I don't think anyone cares enough to make TV viruses.

do you not understand how big of a target a tv is? ransomeware, botnet, spying for the fun of it (these things have build in microphones and cameras nowadays ffs), ripping legitimate content, buying movies on someone else's account, stealing their paypall login, stealing their credit card info. these things are computers but shit.

[saladcrack]

4 minutes ago, tlink said:

we all wish that for android too, they already have their money so i don't think they will but you never know. it sucks so bad that its impossible to get a good tv which doesn't have smart functionality in my region.

Interesting that you're not able to get a "regular" TV, most places in my area have basically two options for most TVs, smart or not. If they do stop updating software I should think that most apps should still work, similar to an old phone, tablet or iPod, I can turn on my old iPod Touch and still be able to watch YouTube, it's not the best but it still technically works.

[tlink]

1 minute ago, Gamessys said:

Interesting that you're not able to get a "regular" TV, most places in my area have basically two options for most TVs, smart or not. If they do stop updating software I should think that most apps should still work, similar to a old phone, tablet or iPod, I can turn on my old iPod Touch and still be able to watch YouTube, it's not the best but it still technically works.

i mean they do have them, but they are small cheap crappy and already outdated in terms of HDMI, DRM, resolution, etc.

[Himommies]

2 minutes ago, tlink said:

do you not understand how big of a target a tv is? ransomeware, botnet, spying for the fun of it (these things have build in microphones and cameras nowadays ffs), ripping legitimate content, buying movies on someone else's account, stealing their paypall login, stealing their credit card info. these things are computers but shit.

I feel they are not so widely adopted as say Windows 10 or Android is and generally who the hell makes purchases on their TV.How do you type?It's much easier for me to pull out my phone 

[Himommies]

Just now, tlink said:

i mean they do have them, but they are small cheap crappy and already outdated in terms of HDMI, DRM, resolution, etc.

In terms of security I think the safest bet is regular TV plus chromecast

[Shiv78]

2 minutes ago, tlink said:

do you not understand how big of a target a tv is? ransomeware, botnet, spying for the fun of it (these things have build in microphones and cameras nowadays ffs), ripping legitimate content, buying movies on someone else's account, stealing their paypall login, stealing their credit card info. these things are computers but shit.

Each TV manufacturer uses a proprietary OS or heavily modified Android and even that changes from year to year. It's much easier for hackers to just target PCs.

Similarly to how not many hackers target MacOS because the size of the userbase is much smaller than WIndows.

 

Also, who buys things on TVs? Just get Netflix on your phone and log in, nobody purchases things on their TV.

1 minute ago, Gamessys said:

Interesting that you're not able to get a "regular" TV, most places in my area have basically two options for most TVs, smart or not. If they do stop updating software I should think that most apps should still work, similar to a old phone, tablet or iPod, I can turn on my old iPod Touch and still be able to watch YouTube, it's not the best but it still technically works.

Yeah, I have a 2011 Samsung smart TV (one of the first of the era, its 3D but nobody cares anymore) and everything still works.

[tlink]

Just now, Himommies said:

I feel they are not so widely adopted as say Windows 10 or Android is and generally who the hell makes purchases on their TV.How do you type?It's much easier for me to pull out my phone 

you can hook a keyboard up to it, and you can mirror it to your phone, and you can mirror it to a normal samsung branded computer. it supports controllers too, these things are really really broad and basically like a smartphone embedded into it. they might not be a big target now, but what about in 3 years? and it doesn't have to be a big target, its an internet of things device. they didn't build in a virus scanner for the fun of it.

[Shiv78]

1 minute ago, tlink said:

they didn't build in a virus scanner for the fun of it.

OEM virus scanners are shit anyway. Just for peace of mind of the consumer.

 

You're just being paranoid

 

[tlink]

6 minutes ago, Shiv78 said:

Each TV manufacturer uses a proprietary OS or heavily modified Android and even that changes from year to year. It's much easier for hackers to just target PCs.

Similarly to how not many hackers target MacOS because the size of the userbase is much smaller than WIndows.

 

Also, who buys things on TVs? Just get Netflix on your phone and log in, nobody purchases things on their TV.

Yeah, I have a 2011 Samsung smart TV (one of the first of the era, its 3D but nobody cares anymore) and everything still works.

that its not your preference doesn't mean that it isn't other people their preference. these things literally ask during setup to log in into samsung account, facebook or paypall, with a tiiiiny button in a corner that doesn't even look like a button to skip that step. that all is beyond the point anyways, since money login details isn't the only problem as i said.

[tlink]

1 minute ago, Shiv78 said:

OEM virus scanners are shit anyway. Just for peace of mind of the consumer.

 

You're just being paranoid

no, you're not answering my question.

[tlink]

10 minutes ago, Himommies said:

In terms of security I think the safest bet is regular TV plus chromecast

ye i get that, it wasn't for me to decide. i kinda get the choice, buying something outdated is just bad value and not much of an upgrade, just a replacement.

[KenjiUmino]

28 minutes ago, tlink said:

they didn't build in a virus scanner for the fun of it.

if you are so concerned about it, don't plug the damn thing into your network - problem solved.

 

maybe get a chromecast or android media box or whatever you are comfy with if you want some smart features on the big screen - any decent media box will probably run circles around your TVs smart features anyway.

 

i bought a cheap smart TV and stopped using all the fancy smart features after a week.

because they SUCK on this particular TV ... a browser that takes minutes to load websites, a youtube app that crashes halfway through a video ... who needs this?

 

and by the way - there wasn't a single update available for my TV since i bought it in 2015 ... i gave up checking for updates by now ... they just don't care ... 

[tlink]

23 hours ago, KenjiUmino said:

if you are so concerned about it, don't plug the damn thing into your network - problem solved.

 

maybe get a chromecast or android media box or whatever you are comfy with if you want some smart features on the big screen - any decent media box will probably run circles around your TVs smart features anyway.

 

i bought a cheap smart TV and stopped using all the fancy smart features after a week.

because they SUCK on this particular TV ... a browser that takes minutes to load websites, a youtube app that crashes halfway through a video ... who needs this?

 

and by the way - there wasn't a single update available for my TV since i bought it in 2015 ... i gave up checking for updates by now ... they just don't care ... 

on this one  the smart features are actually decent, it automatically detects which hardware is plugged in and changes the tv remote so it can control everything with the correct buttons. i was quite impressed by that. it also has a chromecast build in. and again, that isn't an answer to my question, i don't care what you think i should do, i didn't create the thread for that.

[KenjiUmino]

15 minutes ago, tlink said:

on this one  the smart features are actually decent, it automatically detects which hardware is plugged in and changes the tv remote so it can control everything with the correct buttons. i was quite impressed by that. it also has a chromecast build in. and again, that isn't an answer to my question, i don't care what you think i should do, i didn't create the thread for that.

then what do you want to know?

 

how long it will take before the manufacturer stops caring and your TV will no longer recieve updates?

 

how are we supposed to know?

 

some manufacturers will care for longer, some for shorter and some didn't care to begin with.

 

but if that thing has chromecast and everything there is a good chance it will be supported for a while.

 

how long exactly? i don't know ... if i could see into the future i'd be the richest guy on the block by now and would not need to buy cheap TVs with broken smart apps any moar

[KenjiUmino]

1 minute ago, KenjiUmino said:

 

oops ... quoted myself again instead of editing ... damn