I wouldn’t get a television. I would get a monitor. No UI. No smart features. Just a black square that had HDMI inputs.

If you really want to watch OTA TV, you can buy box tuners that connect to the HDMI. Usually with DVR capability.

It will cost more. Like…a LOT more. But thats just what regular TVs used to cost back in the 90s. You wanted a bigscreen tv? $800 then, which would be like $2,000 now. And “big screen” was like 55 inch. Though it was a 4:3 ratio. So 55 inch then wold be more like 70 inch now in a 16:9 ratio.

I dont see it mentioned here, but I went with a 75" Spectre earlier this year. I had a 40" Spectre that was given to me third- hand, and I only replaced it because it was too small for the new place I moved into. Spectre doesn’t seem to even offer smart TV, and I wanted to support that decision. The only potential downside that you may see is the lack of a 4k offering, but that wasn’t something I care about.

I would probably be trying to pick something with at least 120hz now.

It would need to be an OLED.

I really like the reviews on this site https://www.rtings.com/

There’s at least one supplier here in the UK that still sells free-to-air-only dumb TVs. Digital of course, because we turned off analogue TV signals years ago, but no smarter than that. Definitely no Internet connectivity.

If I decided I was going to become a regular TV watcher again, I’d probably get one of those.

IDK, but whatever it will be won’t have smart features and also will have all the input ports. I’d spend a little bit more for a classic display that just works as a display and has no network connectivity on its own.

That friend needs to be more specific, they didn’t even give you resolution or screen size preferences? What kind of friend does that?

well first I’d take an extension cord to goodwill

LG OLED. You can find last year’s models at some price clubs. I’ve seen the 65” C4 for like $1100 which is great.

I really like my LG G4 OLED, best television I’ve ever had and reviews are great.

The Dell P5524Q is a 55" conference room monitor. It has no built-in wifi, microphones, camera, or other smart tv bullshit, it’s just a big monitor. It just turns on when you turn it on and turns off when you turn it off - it doesn’t take 5 minutes to boot up because of the shitty low-grade computer hardware built into it. You can find them on eBay in the US$900 range.

I know you asked for TV recommendations, but, if your friend is open to other ideas, they could also look into home theater projectors. I got a super cheap projector on sale a few years ago and being able to watch TV and movies on a 150 inch screen is absolutely bitchin’. I later upgraded to a higher quality projector cause the cheap one crapped out after about a year (and replacement bulbs were impossible to find due to the supply chain issues during early covid). Spent about the same amount on the high quality projector that I would have spent on a much smaller TV.

Though there’s obviously drawbacks to projectors:

• They generate a lot of heat. In the hottest months of the year, I don’t like turning it on
• You will initially blind yourself a lot by accidentally looking at it when it’s turned on. After blinding yourself a dozen or so times you’ll develop the muscle memory to avoid it.
• You gotta replace the bulbs periodically, but they last for thousands of hours. My current bulb has about 5000 hours on it and still doesn’t need to be replaced.
• Contrast is really weak compared to a TV. Need to close the curtains and not let sunlight into the room if you want to be able to see the picture clearly
• Need a big surface to project the picture onto, ideally a screen, but a blank wall works just fine.

When we moved into our house a few years ago, I saw there was an elevated alcove in the living room with a big, blank wall on the opposite side of the room. I knew right then that it would be perfect for a projector.

Movie night kicks ass. Every re-watch of Lord of the Rings is like watching it in the theater again. And Superbowl Sundays are epic on the big screen.

I have an Epson 2250 and it’s worked nicely these past few years.

Sony Bravia. Because I just did this last year. My old TV was also a Bravia, and it lasted about 15 years. One big selling feature for me was that you can set it up as either a smart TV, or a ‘basic’ TV that doesn’t require an Internet connection and doesn’t pester you for one.

LG OLED for a main tv. Anything less is meh.

I’d buy an HDMI monitor instead of a TV, I guess. Why a new one though? There are tons of super cheap ones at goodwill stores.