So I’ve heard fire tv’s require an amazon account (and internet of course) to setup.
I’ve also heard samsung tv’s have constant pop ups if you don’t connect them.
Commercial tv’s cost way too much.
Anyone know which tv I can buy at bestbuy with cash that works without internet on hdmi without being annoying?
Check out non-smart tvs at Best Buy and if they’re available at your location: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?browsedCategory=abcat0101001&id=pcat17071&qp=televisiontype_facet%3DTelevision+type~Non+Smart&st=categoryid%24abcat0101001.
For $450, you can get the Samsung - 50". Or you can get a TuTu 35" for $160 or a 40" for $230.
I’ve used Hisense, LG, and Samsung TVs offline and didn’t have any issue with them, though.
You can just ask. Most people who work there will get it. And they’ll know you’ll return it if it doesn’t. Which is more work for them.
I guess it depends on what you need in a TV.
Under a certain size, you could always go with a computer monitor, but those are only really marketed for up to 32"-ish.
Commercial TVs typically have all the “smart” features ripped out as they’re normally just placed in a window with a media hub strapped to back. I used to install these and they never were connected to the internet as the media hub was instead connected and just fed looping slides over HDMI. Usually about the same price as normal TVs, but might be called “professional” or “signage” display.
It sucks that many TVs now have a persistent “continue setup” prompt if you don’t connect to the internet. You may need to check the manual “troubleshooting” page to see if there’s a way to clear the prompt permanently.
Edit: Sorry I totally glanced over the section where you mentioned Commercial TV prices are too high. I have seen them at somewhat reasonable prices, but they are generally not as competitive due to being niche. This one seems OK, but you may find used ones online.
Since you mentioned Amazon’s Fire TV Stick: It is possible to install LineageOS on a specific edition of the Fire Stick 4K ( [ROM][UNOFFICIAL][7.1.2] LineageOS 14.1 for Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (mantis) | XDA Forums ), but it’s quite a hassle. One could also wonder if this is worth it, since Amazon’s own firmware allegedly contains optimized drivers for video playback, and the remote apparently no longer works as well. Using a throw away Amazon account to login (and sideloading certain applications) might not be too bad, all in all.
Why do you mean ‘internet on hdmi’ ?
Also, did you considered to buy an used TV ?
My LG is generally fine, but it constantly asks me to enable the internet to accept voice input terms and conditions. IIRC I looked it up earlier and there’s no way to stop it from doing that other than to connect to the internet and accept/deny them. It works fine other than that though.
Supposedly Hisense ones work fully offline (last I checked) without annoying pop ups. I’ve read that they can arbitrarily connect to random open WiFi access points to update though, so not sure how true that is anymore.
I have LG smart TV from like the 2020-ish era. Works fine without internet. No annoyances. Not sure how good the newer models are. Generally, if you don’t connect them to the internet, you’re fine.
Try using a raspberry pi and install LineageOS Android TV.
This is the image I’ve been using for a couple of years now:
Additionally you could get something like this as a remote:
Yep same here, new LG OLED, never connected it to the internet at setup, then I went into settings and turned Wi-Fi off, and it hasn’t been annoying once (and the “TV” is really good! I got a 42 inch one as my computer monitor 
, there’s even an option to automatically go into the latest HDMI device on boot)
@Link do you think it would be possible to find something similar outside** the US and UK and EU?
Also, what are commercial TVs exactly? Sorry
Do you mean the brand? It’s an LG C5 42 inch It is available everywhere I think
There’s also the LG G5 that is better, but it doesn’t exist in 42 inches (only 48 and up), unsure about availability on the 48 inch version, but bigger is available everywhere
Im sorry, I don’t really understand the question, do you mean like the definition of them? I guess that would just be TV’s you can buy from regular stores/retailers
My Sony TV (X950G) is fully offline and has had no issue. I don’t know if newer models have added nag screens but I feel like I’d have heard about it if they did.
Of the major brands I’ve only ever encountered Samsung TVs being truly obnoxious about the internet thing, though there are still ways to use them offline.
The LG C5 can be used fully offline by changing the input to HDMI. Making the HDMI input sticky was more difficult than expected (it is buried somewhere in the configuration menu).
In my experience this won’t result in a usable device. The Pi just isn’t powerful enough for 4K streaming, and 1080p is now a thing of the past even on cheap TVs. You are better-off with a modest mini-PC or thin client overall if you want a truly “free” TV box.
It’s been usefull for me for years now.
For watching 4K content (Netflix alternatives, local media servers, YouTube via browser): Pi 4 works adequately, Pi 5 is much better.
hey, is this the one you’re referring to? seems min. is 55" and it says “AI” in the name which is worrying.
I have to wonder if this is why TV’s at Walmart are so ridiculously cheap? They must be making such a significant amount of money on the data collected from the “smart” TV’s they sell.
Yes I think that’s the one, read somewhere that the 48 inch version may not be available in the US, unsure.
And it does have some “AI processing” dumb features like color/audio, but you can turn them off during setup, and it takes 30 seconds to disable them in the settings
This may be a good option: