I have 2 Vizio tvs and neither is connected to the internet. I don’t use built in tv functionality because they all perform terrible and show unwanted content. I use 3rd party streaming boxes without issue. My oldest Vizio is nearly 10 years old and still works as well as I bought it and still on the same smart software from 10 years ago.
I owned a Vizio a few years ago, and that was my experience - I just needed a panel to turn on and show HDMI1, and bonus points if whatever was plugged in to HDMI1 could turn it on as well. That said, I don't think you and I are the majority, and a lot of people find it beneficial for these TVs to be online and stuff so they don't need a stick/box of some sort. Coming from the days of three remotes to watch a DVD with a stereo, and missing the days of Logitech Harmony, maybe it's not so bad to have one box and one remote handle everything for the average user. They clearly don't care about the ads or quality, so we shouldn't push that on them
