I’m still agonizing over it. However, I stopped caring as much and decided to focus on picture and capabilities. I’ll use it as dumb tv and try to beat whatever streamer will follow my shield into submission. Saves me getting a new dac for my hifi as well as none of my possible choices seem to support usb audio passthrough.
My biggest problem right now is that I always end up in the premium oled section ;)
I think it is a drama, because it’s not just the tvs doing that. Almost everything is getting more and more annoying and restricting. Things are starting to constantly nag you one way or another, shove things into your face you don’t care about, take away functionality and generally worsen user experience… It’s just mentally exhausting.
And yes I know you can reliably turn that data collection stuff off (at least in the EU) but hopping through those hoops each and every time for each and every device and service can and will hollow out your resolve (and you have to find all the buried options every time…). Thats how you get masses that just don’t care anymore.
I’m in the market for a new tv and all this crap just makes me want to scream in frustration. But prolonging the decision will just make it even worse.
On top of that my 2017 shield is starting to show its age and there is really no comparable 4k (streaming) alternative thats not a security risk. I feel more and more pushed towards piracy, so that I can use my linux box and decide how and where to watch content. I hate it…
You can still get them but prices are pretty outrageous compared to before. As a result of that a lot of the smaller companies have died and a lot of the small independent neighbourhood vaping shops have closed.
I have just checked my bulk order from before the tax… I paid 30€ for 1l 50:50 base. Today you pay 35€ for 100ml of the same (same shop of course).
Edit: the irony of the whole thing is that it’s now more economic to use high nicotine ready made liquids and to not use sub ohm coils to reduce liquid throughput… Great work lawmakers!
Yeah, sadly those have become the norm since they started the ridiculous vaping tax here in Germany. It started at 16ct/ml for everything that goes into a liquid independent of nicotine content (base, flavour concentrate, everything…) and its supposed to go up to 32ct/ml in 2026. This has greatly harmed the mod scene while strengthening the pod market. This was done for ‘health reasons’ making vaping less appealing for the youth, but everyone suspects the tobacco lobby influenced how the tax was set up, to profit their disposable businesses…
Probably a European pod they’re often around 2ml. Maximum nicotine concentration here is 20mg/ml independent of buying a nicotine shot for mixing liquid yourself, or buying a ready to use flavoured one. Yuul responded to this limit by increasing it’s wick size and effectively increasing nicotine levels per hit above the American levels (of course using up pods much faster is a welcome side effect).
Edit: just look at the top sellers here for example https://www.dampfalarm.de/E-Zigaretten/Pod-Systeme/?p=1
Exactly! I just don’t want constantly have to fight my devices. It tires me out and sucks the fun out of them.