I imagine software updates might bring improved support for various media codecs, or UI enhancements, or better Bluetooth compatibility, etc.

Or more likely: reduced privacy settings, increased analytics, and in-menu advertisements.

I let one of my cheap smart TVs update for this reason (and not the other two identical ones I have) and now that one crashes and lags all the time, despite none of them being on the internet.

Embedded device software development quality is usually even worse than webapp software development quality.

Why would the manyfacturer spend money on that if it had your sale already and you aren't paying any support subscription?

Yes, those are the "smart" features. Just plug in a Raspberry Pi and don't touch the TV after its initial setup. I'm still using the same Raspberry Pi 2 I've been using for more than 5 years now. Beats "smart" TVs that you can buy today.

>Raspberry Pi 2

Isn't that the one with the network speed capped at 100MB/s and no capability to stream HEVC files?

It only has a 100Mbps Ethernet jack, yes, but so do both of my TVs.

I don’t have any HEVC media so I’m not sure there, but the lack of 4K output would be a big stopper for me.

I’m also not sure about the streaming services it would support, but chances are if your running off of a Pi2, you’re sailing the seven seas for media. Will that thing even play YouTube in a browser at this point?

Nah, I used to have a YouTube plugin that worked years ago but don't any more. I don't use it for "TV" purposes, though, it's more of a home cinema device. I don't have background screens in my house.

But my point wasn't literally to use a Raspberry Pi 2, just that you can get cheap low power devices that beat "smart TV" crap. You can of course get much more recent ARM-based boards that support all the latest HD standards etc. I don't do the hedonic treadmill, though, so I'm still happy with 1080p Blu-ray.

Can't disagree with that. If it's still fulfilling it's purpose, why change?

Smart TVs really aren't very smart and a nicely ripped 1080p Blu-ray often looks better than what the streaming services will stream you anyway.

I don't think I'd even have a TV if it were just me. Wife and kids seem to need one though, so simplicity counts. What would they do if they couldn't watch people who watch people play games?

My tv after a recent update has begun randomly crashing with audio looping for a few seconds before rebooting. When an update comes through for that you can he damned sure I’ll be disabling all future updates.

Same, my smart tv has never heard of the Internet.