Did this remote come with the TV, or did it come with the cable box?
It sounds like you’re not turning the TV off, because it wasn’t on in the first place.
A television will have a physical power button located on it somewhere. It may be very awkward to get to, but it will exist. Usually on the side or bottom edge. As someone else suggested, giving the make and model of the TV will help. A manual or online photo will probably show where that button is located.
If it’s plugged into power, and you can identify the button and press it, there are only 3 potential explanations.
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The outlet it is plugged into isn’t providing power (which is easy to check; plug something else into it).
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The power cord is either not functioning, or not plugged in fully or at all on either end. (A cord that goes bad with no external damage to it is extremely unusual though; it’s possible if it was bent too much a wire could break inside, or it could have had some kind of surge to damage it internally, but this again is incredibly unlikely.)
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The television does not work. There is some damage to it somewhere. And these days, televisions are replaced, not repaired. That’s the era we live in.
But if the television won’t power on without the remote (you’ll see something on the screen, even if it’s a message that it has no signal), then there’s no point in trying to turn it on with the remote. Because it’s not happening and it’s not the fault of the remote.
Thank you all for the answers. I have a guy coming from some kind of tech company who said he worked once for Toshiba, to come and look at it. I would gladly buy a new tv if this one is shot. I know nothing about these things, I am pretty much alone in the world and my friends are no help. The tv is a Toshiba 50ish inch, it was gifted to me, no instructions or manuals or anything. I can’t turn it around to look for a model number without help……I don’t know why this is so difficult, there must be millions of old bats like me waiting out our final days with these big old tvs, they must have helpful family, friends, smart grandchildren and helpful in-laws. I got nothin’.
Eh, it’s probably not you. Something probably broke. Hopefully you’ll get some answers from the guy.
Did you try anything we recommended at all?
What were you hoping for?
Yes. Yes. I tried all the usual obvious things. Nothing has worked. I was hoping someone would maybe tell me who I can call to fix the tv so it will turn on, with the remote control, as it had been doing for the last couple of years. They don’t have tv repairmen any more. I sit here with a dead 50” tv and no idea what to do. (Someone in the Next Door app suggested calling this tech guy - a glimmer of hope it’s something that can be remedied.) Maybe Best Buy will be next.
Did you try wiping your remote and pairing it again with your TV?
It’s probably not worth calling a repairman. The money you’d spend would be better spent on a new TV.
Since you have cable, you may be able to watch on on your laptop. Many cable providers have streaming capability. For instance, if you have Xfinity, you can use your laptop to watch TV from here:
There are also many online streaming options for TV watching. For instance:
PlutoTV is a free, cable-like interface to many streaming channels. It won’t exactly be like cable TV. Most of the channels will be things like news, reruns, old movies, etc.
Probably nobody. They don’t really repair TVs anymore, as you said. Maybe whoever this guy is will run through the usual diagnostics just to double check it’s well and truly dead, but I’d be surprised if he opened it up and tried to fix anything. If you’re lucky it might just be a dead remote.
Otherwise, hey, it’s an excuse to upgrade to a new model!
Remotes aren’t universally IR these days and don’t need to be pointed at the tv to work.
It took me 3 years to discover that the on/off button on my TV was along the bottom in the middle. How did I learn this? While visiting a young friend’s place, her baby scooted over to the TV in his rolling chair , reached under and pushed the button! I went home and sure enough, that’s where the buttton is placed! That one button also lets you do things that 4 or more buttons once did. Google the TV and see if you can find anything. Also, while this sounds like an eye-roll answer, but try unplugging the TV and cable connection. Wait about 10 minutes, then reattach the cable and plug.
Yeah, this whole thread would be a lot less speculatory if the OP could find the model number, but apparently it’s on the back of the TV and inaccessible without help.
OP, don’t suppose you could reach your phone back behind the TV and take a picture of the label? Sometimes that works if there’s enough of a gap.
Oh, sometimes you can also look up the remote model number and see which TVs it’s compatible with. If you’re lucky, it might just be the 2 or 3 sizes of that particular model, which would let you narrow it down. If you’re not, that same remote might work with dozens of models. Worth a shot though.
This is my best and only use for a selfie stick - taking pictures/videos of things out of reach.
We have a Sony. When we got it, Xfinity had to instruct me how to make it work with their remote control. It does work, except for one thing. Turning on the power with the Xfinity remote brings up some sort of menu. (I don’t remember what’s on it, only that there doesn’t seem to be a way to choose something so we can watch TV.) So we have to power up the TV and cable box with the Sony control before we can use the Xfinity one for everything else. One of these days I should call Xfinity’s support line to sort it out, but it’s not a big deal.
One nice thing with cutting the cord is no boxes, just the tv. I used to have a cable box, vcr, dvd player, dvr. It was like a Tetris under the tv. Even if I uncut the cord some day I’d get YouTube Tv or something that would be an app.
This, very much this.
Lots of 50 inch tvs for sale starting at $170. A Best Buy Toshiba is $209, free delivery.