I own a few smart TVs. Not all remain so. Some manufacturers stop supporting them after a while. They stop receiving updates or the apps stop working. Eventually nothing works and they become a monitor, a screen.
You end up sourcing another device to re-enable the feeds you subscribe to. A USB / HDMI stick, a games console, or a set-top box of some kind. The smartness moving outside of the screen hardware into an externally connected device.
Some retailers offer up to 5-years cover on the hardware, but not for the software. That could end in a year or maybe two if you are lucky.
Your smart TVs are basically PCs with no upgrade potential. At some point the manufacturer will cease all support and you can’t upgrade it. Better to buy a large computer monitor and have the smart part in something external that can be upgraded or is cheaper to replace.
Tag: upgrade
Windows 10 End-of-Life
It’s Microsoft Windows 10’s End-of-Life (EoL) this October (2025). A lot of people with older machines will be impacted by this as their machines will not be able to run Windows 11, even with hardware upgrades.
Over the years I’ve managed to keep my older machines running for as long as possible with various upgrades and modifications. The best upgrade for your money and the return on investment is moving from a disk-based hard drive (HDD) to a solid state drive (SSD). I have laptops that are 15 years old that are running Windows 10 just fine but fail the Windows 11 compatibility check.
So what are the options for those of us that can’t afford a new computer?
First, backup your computer. I mean, you are already doing this anyway right? This will ensure that you have access to your data should anything happen to your PC going forwards. Backup both the data and take an image of the drive and store two copies in separate safe locations.
Once your data is backed-up, replace the OS with Linux. There are many flavours available. Go peruse distrowatch to see which one best suits you. If you are still unsure then Ubuntu is popular among those new to Linux.
Once you are up and running you can port your data across. There are Linux applications that are alternatives to Windows applications that can still read your files. Instead of Office you can run LibreOffice for example. There are many open source applications that should be able to help.
If you really need to run Windows and your laptop is powerful enough you can run something like Virtualbox and run your Windows 10 in a virtual machine. Or you can containerise your applications and run them in something like Docker. Or look at WINE, the linux Windows emulator.
Just because Microsoft is no longer supporting Windows 10 does not mean that you have to pay for a new machine to use Windows 11. You have options.
Got any other suggestions? Let me know.
Upgrading your car
I’ve been thinking about upgrading my car. I don’t mean the mechanics or body. I mean the in-car electronic systems.
Let me explain. The year my car was released the manufacturer saw fit to install an SD card reader with an upper storage limit that was only a few MB above the current version of the TomTom navigation and head unit software. So the original owner was unable to upgrade the software without replacing the SD card reader. So the in-dash navigation unit keeps referring to turns and roundabouts that are no longer there.
Looking into the upgrade options, I could replace the SD card reader at considerable cost, then pay for the latest TomTom software for my head unit, which is now considered old tech. Or I could replace the entire head unit with a third-party Android unit avoiding the need to pay TomTom anything.
In addition to the head unit, the security system is also considered out-dated and even hackable. Like a Samsung mobile the manufacturer of my car abandoned support after several years and after realising there was a serious security flaw that could not be fixed cheaply. So they just fixed it in the next model.
And don’t get me started on the sound system, AC, and in-car illumination.
Upgrading modern cars feels more like upgrading your PC, only way more expensive and complex. And I’m not even talking about electric cars!