Non smart TV recommendations for Sky use

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Bryannz

2 posts

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#318974 10-Mar-2025 15:45

My father in-law is not tech minded at all, we gave him a new Smart TV but because there are a ton of apps on it he gets confused and often ends up not being able to watch his beloved Sky TV. Because he is in a different city we cannot simply pop down the road and fix it for him, and its impossible to fix it over the phone!

What recommendations are there out there for a TV that can simple connect to Sky via HDMI so he doesnt press wrong buttons and get confused/upset!???

thanks

Bryan

nztim

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#3352234 10-Mar-2025 15:54

To get a "dumb" tv you need to go for a secondhand TV or buy a commercial display aka less costs more

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PolicyGuy

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#3352235 10-Mar-2025 15:56

If he has the new white Sky box, then hide the TV remote and let him operate only from the Sky remote.
The Sky remote power on / off button turns the TV on & off through 'TV magic' and then it'll come on with the Sky box feeding the TV in the same state as he left it, safely on Sky. 😂
You can pretend the TV is a dumb screen and never use any of it's 'smart' facilities.

If he's got the old black MySky HDi, I'm not sure

davidcole

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#3352262 10-Mar-2025 16:43

Bryannz:

Hi

My father in-law is not tech minded at all, we gave him a new Smart TV but because there are a ton of apps on it he gets confused and often ends up not being able to watch his beloved Sky TV. Because he is in a different city we cannot simply pop down the road and fix it for him, and its impossible to fix it over the phone!

What recommendations are there out there for a TV that can simple connect to Sky via HDMI so he doesnt press wrong buttons and get confused/upset!???

thanks

Bryan

Does the tv turn on to the last channel (or last input) each time? or is it wont of these annoying ones that insist on displaying its own home pages?

As I'd recommend just getting him a really basic universal remote that doesn't have buttons for all the crap. Just power and volume.

I also assume all his viewing is off the sky box and not a mix of sky + digital tv (so aerial and one input)

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richms

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#3352272 10-Mar-2025 17:10

There are very few things that are not smart available, even the cheap junk ones are splashing out on enough CPU and storage to be able to boot and show android TV or in some cases one of the other operating systems.

Using a monitor isnt really an option as they lack remotes in most cases, and often have speakers even worse than a TV.

Richard rich.ms

Radiotron

168 posts

Master Geek

#3352289 10-Mar-2025 18:30

Another vote for secondhand, a pre-Android Sony or Panasonic perhaps. Both Sony sets here are of an age, they only get used as displays. Just go new enough that they have a LED backlight, not CCFL. The FLs fade with time and aren't as reliable.