this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2025
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I will need to replace my TV next year and I'm really not looking forward to it.
I will be hooking my two consoles (Series X and PS5), then all I need is something that I can put Emby and SmartTube on.
Are the Onn sticks still a good option?
I'm in the same boat, need 2 new TVs in May of 2026. Seriously considering Sceptre TVs for that.
I haven't heard of Sceptre. I'll take a look.
This is the link to their website. I apologize for not adding it in my previous comment.
https://www.sceptre.com/
Thanks for the link!
if you could purchase a basic/dump TV with no features at all and buy raspberry pi separately, you could install Android on raspberry pi and connect the two together
Not sure if it changed in the last year or so since I bought my tv but isn’t the issue that there are essentially no dumb tvs? The closest I could find were big monitors intended to be commercial public displays but they came with their own set of issues. In the end I bought a smart tv and I it’s quite bad.
That's what my search keeps coming up with - commercial display models. I don't know enough about them to make a good decision, though. I guess I'll keep digging.
Those displays are made to be very bright and usually have a lot of backlight bleed.
searching "non-smart tv" on amazon yield many results as long as you don't require highend brand like samsung or LG
I'm trying to avoid Amazon but I'll look there to see what I can learn.
it's not that complicated, just get a smart TV and don't connect it to your network. quite easy to never use any of the built in apps if you only use your own inputs sources.
That’s exactly what I do but that doesn’t magically shield me from the bad software running on these machines. The OS is still unstable, tries to apply a bunch of filters that need to be disabled, has extreme lag unless gaming mode is being used and has stupid UI decisions like putting the audio level exactly where the subtitles usually are so that changing audio will obfuscate them. Once every 24h I‘m also getting a warning that the tv is not connected to the internet, despite network connectivity being explicitly disabled.
sounds like you have a shitty TV. I have had 3 smart TVs of different brands and price range going back 10 years and I can't think of a single time I've noticed any OS issues, because I literally never use the OS.
This has nothing to do with smart features, any decent TV should have image processing options. You will have better picture and motion quality (especially on LCD/OLED) with a properly configured TV than you will with a TV/monitor without any of it. Sure lots of options are not needed, but I wouldn't say having options for how to do that is a bad thing.
Yes, if you want zero lag, you turn on gaming mode. I'm not even sure what your complaint is here other than "having options is bad".
Also has nothing to do with the "smart" functions, the exact same thing could happen with a poorly designed dumb TV or monitor as well.
again, this is not a thing for most smart TVs, you just have a shitty one.
I think laptop or mini pc is the best. Casting might not be an option, but its nice not having to deal with apps at all if you want to watch something on the TV, and picking up a cheap wireless keyboard with touchpad makes it a nice combo.
I was thinking I'd do a pinhole and maybe a minipc. I've never had much luck with casting.
Linux on minipc with a cheap wireless keyboard like the k400 is a great combo. Won't be seeing ads with that, since on browser you'll have ublock origin for things pihole can't block.
Very true. I'll need to buy a pi and play with that first.
if youre getting a minipc you can run pi hole or adguard on that instead of getting both. unless you just want a pi, theyre pretty cool
My router points to adguard, so I'd probably just run pi hole on the minipc.
yeah i have a pi with adguard on it as my backup dns if my server is down for maintenance or it exploded. you could also use unbound on it to keep your dns snappy too since it has a cache, and it keeps your dns from leaking. whatever that means idk i have it though lol
I have an LG. They have a jellyfin app. Just block the access to other stuff and it's fine, if not actually good.
I don't use or need a seperste streaming box. I don't get data mining or ads.
I need Emby - a friend runs his stuff on it. I'll eventually move towards self-hosting all my own stuff, but that's months away.
LG has both so it keeps your options open. Some tvs don't have either or both and you need a seperate box to act as your client.
Some people prefer not to connect their smart tv and instead connect a box they have more control over. I find the LG app to be perfectly good for me and prefer to keep it simple and just block other network access.
Jellyfin and Emby are kinda the same thing.
They are not when it comes to playback.
So, I can use Jellyfin client to watch stuff off his Emby server? Interesting.
No, you cannot. If your friend has an Emby server you'll need the Emby client for remote viewing (unless you friend is willing to go through a whole lot of hoops to provide direct DLNA remotely, which is a real PITA).