OV9

Finally bought a new TV.

Ended up with a Samsung 43" M70.

It is a low/middle spec one, that meets our requirements. It will be set up once my wife finishes watching Pride and Prejudice on the old one.

The buying experience was... interesting. Went to our local(est) Richer Sounds. They were helpful, on the ball and keen, just didn't have anything on display or available that fitted the bill (very small shop in their defence).

Drove to the Currys around the corner from home, and while they had plenty of stock, the salesperson was disinterested, bordering on rude. He didn't know anything about the products, acted like I was inconveniencing his busy day, and displayed all the enthusiasm of a wet piece of paper.

I told him that I wasn't interested in any LG TVs, and he then tried to explain to me why I wanted one of them. I suspect he couldn't give products away for free if he tried.

Finding a remote so I could check out the features was another chore that he barely could work up the energy for. Only when a manager stepped in, did he seem to rouse from his stupor.

Edit: just been given a frown. It is apparently Sense and Sensibility.

I had a similar experience in my local curry’s the other day, although not a TV. We needed a new hoover. Specifically a battery one- Being a tradesman I favour a bagged hoover over a cyclone with filters to clog/clean so wanted the Henry quick, well the hetty as the wife wanted the pink one, and happily it’s on offer currently

So I knew the specific product I wanted, and had to wait ages for someone to come over, then when she came over, then had to go get one for me to buy, all the way seemed as if it was an inconvenience for her

I remember only a few years ago buying a sale Samsung tv and being made to feel like I owned the place. Wonder if they stopped paying commission for sales or something

Did you buy it at Curry's in the end, Alex?

I don't remember ever buying a tv in a shop. With the barrage of brightness showing you the same thing it's impossible to choose anyway. Just go by the reviews and order online.

I did. Had the boys with me and they were bouncing up and down. Shouldn't have rewarded the poor service with a sale.

Slightly unrelated to new TVs, but could make your old TVs feel like new. I saw that someone has created a way to remove bloatware from Android based TVs with Claude and you can make it look more like Apple TV. There's a GitHub repo and you can use Claude to remove bloat, tracking, apps etc. I've not tried it myself as I've been using an Apple TV for 6 months now, but tempting to give it a go. My Sony TV was terrible when being used as a smart TV. I've just turned the WiFi off and left it as a dumb TV.

If you're curious - https://github.com/Gathin23/cleanyourtv

Interesting, I'll have a look at that when I get home. I've got a Panasonic TV running Android and it's absolutely chronically slow. I should have sent it back after I bought it, but couldn't be bothered and it's worse now.

just buy a cheap firestick. Infinitely better than the software on the TV

Mito Man wrote: Mon Oct 26, 2026 4:18 pm just buy a cheap firestick. Infinitely better than the software on the TV

I've just binned off the firestick for the telly in our bedroom, as...

1) It was fucking awfully slow. Terribly, terribly slow.
2) My son knocked the telly off the sideboard that it was resting on and broke it.

So we got a new telly. As it's bedroom and not lounge, and as there is no actual aerial cable at that point, I've gone for a Sharp Roku Freely TV, meaning that all it needs is power and an internet connection (over wifi in this case). No aerial needed.

I love it. Cheap and really responsive. Roku is a dream compared to the top end Sony Android TV in the lounge that's bloaty and slow.

Brannen wrote: Mon Oct 26, 2026 1:15 pm Slightly unrelated to new TVs, but could make your old TVs feel like new. I saw that someone has created a way to remove bloatware from Android based TVs with Claude and you can make it look more like Apple TV. There's a GitHub repo and you can use Claude to remove bloat, tracking, apps etc. I've not tried it myself as I've been using an Apple TV for 6 months now, but tempting to give it a go. My Sony TV was terrible when being used as a smart TV. I've just turned the WiFi off and left it as a dumb TV.

If you're curious - https://github.com/Gathin23/cleanyourtv

Well, this is great.

Unless you've got the paid version of Claude, it's a long process as you have to be the runner entering commands and pasting the results back, but the upside is I've gone from a TV that was close to useless (button presses taking up to 30seconds to respond) to being instant.

Stripped it back to Live TV, input selection and a few core apps, which is all that's needed. It even went though and asked if I wanted to reconfigure any of the buttons.

AI might be the downfall of civilisation, but until I become a slave to the clankers, at least I've got a quicker TV.