[svckr]

I'm fairly certain the smart features are what's subsidizing current TVs and making them relatively cheap. Last time I checked dumb TVs were reserved for the more high end part of the maker's lineup (if at all available). So, yes, you're still paying, but you get a price cut in exchange for being … productized?

[babalulu]

I bought a 32-inch dumb TV just a couple of weeks ago. It was only $77US, on clearance at Walmart from $129US. The brand is Element, which I'm unfamiliar with, but it works nicely and has absolutely no smart capabilities. So you can find dumb TVs on the low end these days if you look for them.

[EpicEng]

This one? https://www.walmart.com/ip/Element-ELEFW328-32-720p-60Hz-Cla...

So, a small, 720p TV? In other words, a TV most people don't want? I fail to see how that's an alternative when I'm looking for a 60" 4K model, not to mention I have no idea what the quality of the device will be.

[y4mi]

Ive heard great things about swedx, never had one myself however. Theyre also not IPS/HDR. Also, its important to use the pixel policy 1, there are some dead pixels otherwise.

http://swedx.se/index.php?cPath=133_149&language=en

[na85]

Does it support 4k?

[hocuspocus]

Non-smart TVs from the major brands are reserved to their enterprise line-up, that's why they're more expensive.

I worked at Samsung and given how much they poured into Tizen and the various in-house services for SmartHub, I guarantee they aren't making any significant money from them. They have zero leverage with apps for services that people consider a given (like Netflix). And a lot of smaller partnerships don't end well (see Peel for instance).

I'm not sure about brands that went with Android TV, but Google is pretty smart in such partnerships and fully takes advantage of the fact that OEMs like Sony don't have the internal resources to come up even with a half-decent OS.

Questionable updates that push things like samba.tv are probably a (poor) afterthought.

[jmilloy]

And in particular, I suspect this is why smart TVs are often cheaper or the same price as the equivalent non-smart (?) TV.