I helped a friend's mom set up a new TV she bought and was unable to get the TV to "come online" without 1) giving it network access and 2) setting up an account. Only then would the TV give access to the inputs.
In my country install service is included in the price (mounting a wall holder inclusive) and required for warranty service. They go yes,yes,yes to every question on the install steps it becomes a blur. Must be part of their training. You can always get a hospitality tv though. They are pretty dumb unless you go into secret menus and such to enable network features.
Some have long splash screens and nag screens to punish those not on Wifi. TCL I believe was doing this, and I've read scattered reports of that behavior. Do research beforehand just in case.
Wait - how? I thought the whole reason the darn things are lower cost than equivalent PC monitors is the smart mode tracks viewing habits and seeks that to data brokers?
Every Google TV enabled smart TV I’ve seen has a built in dumb mode that’s the first question asked when the TV is first setup. It does exactly what you expect.
Do you know if this is a mandatory requirement set by Google, hence we can expect to find it on every single Google TV, or it depends on manufacturer? I cross checked some manuals from different brands and not all of them mention the "dumb mode" but maybe I just missed it. Based on my experience with Android devices, not every single Android feature is present on all devices, sometimes it's up to the manufacturer to implement certain features. I wonder if Google TV is the same.