[isthiseasymode]

> Samsung hardware is top-notch, but the software bloat is ridiculous.

Their self developed UIs are also garbage. My Samsung tv remote has no source button and source menu is hidden in home all the way to the left. If I make the mistake of clicking on an unrecognized device, it spends forever trying to detect it.

I may just be complaining about smart tvs in general, but my old TCL was not this much of a pain to use.

[yongjik]

Same. I had a TCL "smart" TV which was pretty straightforward to use, and then my teenage daughter decided to get tripped up on the cord. Ruined the TV, decided to buy one with sturdy feet that won't trip, ended up buying Samsung.

Man, the UI is a clusterfuck. A lovecraftian horror show.

At least the feet are stable.

[doublerabbit]

Just wait until you try Sony. My mother required a television so I bought her one.

Sony is a good brand right? WiFi drops out at the most random times. The router is touching differences away.

The UI lags as it tries to connect to netflix to download all the latest "trends". So you have to wait many-frustrating seconds upon turning on the TV to actually use any UI feature. You can't even change the channel during that time.

Firmware upgrades when it wants.

BBC iPlayer has a dogtag that appears on any BBC channel "Press Green to watch from beginning" that intrudes any program witb no opt-out setting.

Sigh.

[ThatMedicIsASpy]

I've been in the TV business and still have friends there.

Never buy an older person something other than a Panasonic. You won't get bothered by your mom/dad/grandpa compared to any other TV manufacturer. The amount of TVs we've replaced with Panasonics because kids bought their parents a cheap TV and left them to their own was just sad.

[foxylad]

My parents-in-law found LG to be much easier to control than Panasonic.

[Nursie]

We bought a Sony with google tv a year or so back. I don't see the issue?

All smart tvs take a few seconds to start up, fill in the UI and that sort of stuff. My LG certainly does and samsungs seem to as well.

Firmware upgrades have so far all been "Would you like to update?"

And given it's basically android, I'm pretty confident that the apps won't go away after a couple of years like they seem to on most tv manufacturers proprietary OS's.

Personally I couldn't be happier.

[bee_rider]

Their mother might be used to the dreadful before-times when TVs were dumb and just instantly did what you told them to.

[Nursie]

1. The before times of CRTs? Go back much before their EOL period and they took a bit of time to switch on and warm up too. Plus if you hit the "TV" button on my sony it goes to the TV pretty quickly because it no longer needs to load the home screen elements.

2. In which case why single out Sony? This behaviour is common across all brands.

3. Pretty sure the "I want everything as separate devices that do their one thing well" war has been lost to a large extent. Apple TV seems popular but the number of separate devices sold is an order of magnitude lower than the number of TVs shifted per year. See also point and click cameras vs mobile phones.

[mlyle]

> The router is touching differences away.

Probably not your problem, but too close can actually be much worse than a moderate distance away. Radios struggle with dynamic range, and overly strong signals can be as bad as weak ones.

[MBCook]

If it’s that close I’d just use a cable and cut WiFi out of the equation.

[dachryn]

it insane how this is often not the reflex of people.

If its closer than 2m, attach a cable.

[CamperBob2]

Just get her an AppleTV or something similar. TV manufacturers are about as good at UI/UX as car manufacturers are.

[philistine]

Apple TV hardware + a television with solid, no-nonsense HDMI CEC support (like the Roku TV models) is the best experience nowadays.

I don't understand how anybody on this site would consider using the underpowered mess in their TV.

[eropple]

I use my LG TV's YouTube application as the only media player on my TV because it's plenty fast enough and it does 4K.

On my other television I have an Apple TV, and the only real difference is that I like the Apple remote more.

[philistine]

I guess your needs are small, but I bet there will come a time where your YouTube on your TV suddenly becomes super slow and there’s nothing you can do about it.

[RajT88]

> Sony is a good brand right? WiFi drops out at the most random times. The router is touching differences away.

Barring Playstations, I don't buy Sony anymore.

Wonderful hardware, always with a premium fit and finish. But there's always something wrong with a Sony product. Sometimes ridiculous software design, sometimes ridiculous and unreliable hardware design. But it's always fucking something with them. They always get 90% of the way to an amazing product, and then fuck it up.

[abenga]

Well, this sucks. I currently have a Sony TV that I love (bought it c.2019). It's just clean Android TV, there were a few widgets for Sony streaming services that were easy to disable on the settings. I just use the Plex app, Netflix app, Youtube App, and NBA League Pass, without any shenanigans. Traditional simple buttons-only remote (no weird touchpad, no point to click nonsense). Brilliant display panel. It seems I will not be happy when I have to replace it.

[summm]

They often fuck it up on purpose even. Like back then their legendary "mp3" players that wouldn't actually play mp3 files. Currently their ridiculously short security update available. 3 years only for their 1600$ phone. at least somewhat increase from the 2 years they offered previously.

[chemmail]

It is really sad, they have the most issues back in the days of VCR/VHS and still persists. I swear most of the jokes about how things made in Japan are junk is from Sony. Their phones are equally bad, most of the demos in the stores are always frozen.

[HyperSane]

I never feel comfortable unless an LCD TV is securely connected to the surface it is resting on. I use nylon straps and wood screws.

[ocbyc]

LG+ ROKU seems to be a good alternative to Samsung's Bloat.

[propogandist]

Roku is constantly phoning home and is the chattiest device with PiHole.

Roku considers itself and ad company more than a hardware/software company, also.

[burnte]

I don't use Samsung phones for this reason. The hardware is great but their UI is such total garbage I can't stand it.

[dachryn]

I honestly don't like their hardware either.

Well, the camera and battery that is. My huawei and iphone vastly outperform the samsungs I had.

I grade Samsung on the same level as Sony Xperia: great phones, but one too many things that are failing to be acceptable

(Had a Samsung s7, s20 and now an s22 from work, not by choice)

[acomjean]

our samsung TV does this as well. You plug your computer into it and it takes like 15 seconds trying to figure out what it is. .Then you have to select manual, and PC.

I thought after a while I was imagining things, but I pluged my laptop into our old "dumb" sony and it was showing to the screen in less than one second.

[tpxl]

Oh, but it gets worse. Upon plugging a laptop into our TV, the image is displayed, then it overlays the 'detecting input' thing for about 5 seconds, then it switches back to the image.