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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
 
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You can get most of the basic cable channels live streaming as plugins in XBMC (Android based see below) or on Playon (through your Roku) -- I don't use it -- but you can get all over the air NYC stations free for month -- but I like it free for ever... Here is the link
https://aereo.com Aereo works in JC now -- and again if you are thinking about getting Amazon Prime (with free shipping from Amazon & free Streaming) now is the time to get half price an Amazon student account for only $39 dollars for the whole year -- Amazon will raise the Prime price very soon to $99 per year! All you need is an .edu email address -- click this link below: http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=tb_surl_astudent/?node=668781011
Posted on: 2014/3/18 14:34
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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There are a lot of technically-astute people on this thread, so this is going to be an elementary question. I have an external (indoor) antenna, and it works great on some OTA channels, not at all on others. Any suggestions? I can't put anything outside my apartment.
Posted on: 2014/3/18 13:57
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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I asked about something similar a while back, and someone mentioned that the Roku adjusts streaming quality so that you don't get hiccups in the stream. I've had it about 2 months and found this to be true when streaming through amazon prime. I am liking prime right now but may add netflix and hulu and then ditch cable entirely (as soon as mad men has its finale).
Posted on: 2014/3/18 12:44
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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Amazon is raising it's Prime yearly cost -- but if you want a half price deal to get Amazon Prime (free shipping & free prime TV/Movie Streamin) -- and have access to a .edu email address check out this great deal!
(Click link below) http://www.amazon.com/gp/student/sign ... LUL6T4NA&ref_type=generic
Posted on: 2014/3/17 21:03
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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For only $60 -- you can get one of these Quad Core android devices (HDMI into you TV) -- they can run XBMC (look it up) -- and XBMC can run 1Channel (look it up) -- which has almost all TV and movies in High Quality streaming "free" -- even if you don't do that right away -- you can also just use it like a Roku Box with android apps (Netflix HBOgo MAXgo etc)-- has JustinTV($5) etc... just add a Logitch wireless keyboard K400r (skip the little remotes) It can make a great computer for older people you know -- email Browser etc -- (also for HD video you might need N router --set to "N only" for speed)
http://www.amazon.com/Tronsmart-MK908 ... ds=MK908+RK3188+Quad+Core http://www.ebay.com/itm/321342663874
Posted on: 2014/3/6 14:59
Edited by GrovePath on 2014/3/6 15:16:00
Edited by GrovePath on 2014/3/6 15:19:00 |
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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Thanks for the info. I am not into recording. I just like movie and having my geeky programs I watch while working out (Discovery channel type stuff).
I am tempted to build the computer for games. However the last one I bought was 10 years ago... Rome Total War. My wife had to peel me away from the computer during mid battles, forcing me to go to bed. So maybe I will just stick to one with a bluray player and a TV receiver.
Posted on: 2014/2/5 22:29
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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Quote:
If you do, look into the micro itx integrated motherboards, I built my most recent HTPC with one. Some of them can be fanless or nearly so, and run ~20w of power from a inline brick rather than a full PSU. All you need is the MB, an optical drive and a bigass HD of you're going to record or download.
Posted on: 2014/2/5 22:16
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
Joined:
2012/1/11 18:21 Last Login : 2019/12/26 15:30 From GV Bayside Park
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I use the Roku box on the upper level and Apple TV for the lower level, I stream Netflix on both devices. I watch pretty much all else over the internet such HGTV, Turkish TV etc using my iPad and streaming it through the television using Apple TV.
So far I love it, I pay $8.00 a month and never had any problems. I have been doing this since 2009. I did use Hulu once and hated it, too many damn commercials for a fee, so I got rid of it.
Posted on: 2014/2/5 20:29
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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I get Netflix over a Panasonic Vieracast Bluray player.
I am planning (if I have the spare $$) to build a home theater pc. I use a DLP project sometime, so I need a TV receiver not built into a TV. Maybe I will be able to get Dolby when I replace the Bluray player with the pc.
Posted on: 2014/2/5 20:21
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
Joined:
2006/5/10 16:36 Last Login : 2023/7/18 1:45 From Hamilton Park
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981
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> We got a Roku only to find out that our TV doesn't have enough inputs for us to wire sound for the Roku and cable at the same time.
Purchase an HDMI AV amplifier, then you will only need one HDMI input on the television. Robin.
Posted on: 2014/2/5 18:57
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Just can't stay away
 
Joined:
2008/4/14 22:24 Last Login : 2017/10/9 2:11 From Downtown JC
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138
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You do get 5.1 Dolby Digital with Netflix and Amazon Instant streaming as long as the title is encoded with it, some hardware (Smart TV's) don't support it, but that's a manufacturer issue.
Posted on: 2014/2/5 18:21
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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Newer action movies I still get on disk. Streaming HD from Netflix lacks the picture quality and in particular, the sound quality you get with Bluray.
Dolby 5.1 sound is awesome and you don't get it on streaming. You do with Vudu though, but you pay a lot more for it.
Posted on: 2014/2/5 18:07
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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Netflix has lots of great shows and movies, it's just that recent BIG movies and HBO aren't among them. HBO are such asshats about this, you should feel OK about bittorrenting their shows. They ask for it by refusing to create any streaming option for non-cable customers. But other premium cable shows and indie movies are aplenty. The other thing that drives me crazy about Netflix is the shows that disappear from my queue. They have had whole series just vanish, like Stargate SG-1.
Posted on: 2014/2/5 16:16
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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If you can't run a cable, a pair of powerline adapters work pretty well. I use the Trendnet ones. Occasionally I need to unplug & re-plug them when I reboot the router - other than that, no different to a direct cable.
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA40 ... B00AWRUICG/ref=pd_cp_pc_0 http://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-Powerl ... m_e_2/180-2624655-6796141
Posted on: 2014/2/5 15:36
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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The streaming/instant options with Netflix are pretty crap honestly. For both movies and TV. No HBO that I'm aware of (I think I've looked for Boardwalk Empire and The Wire and they had neither). Thanks dtjcview for the suggestion about hard wiring the receiver. Been wondering about that. The netflix issues are not always related to bandwidth as we've used speedtest to check on that. We got a roku only to find out that our tv doesn't have enough inputs for us to wire sound for the roku and cable at the same time. It's not a super old tv, maybe a 4 year old flatscreen. THinking of just ditching cable and using the roku. Except that Walking Dead comes back on this weekend and that is one of the last currently airing cable shows I care about. I wish AMC had an option like HBO Go.
Posted on: 2014/2/5 14:37
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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Glad someone brought this up, I was just thinking about it myself. On the subject of Netflix, I was thinking of cancelling my DVD subscription and switching over to streaming. But I don't want to do that if the selection of streaming movies and TV shows isn't any good compared to the DVDs. I watch a lot of HBO Original Series on Netflix, and I'd like to continue to do so with the streaming version. What has been peoples' experience on this?
Posted on: 2014/2/5 14:30
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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I use Netflix from my apple tv box. It's fine. Down in my asbury house I have both apple tv box and a roku box. I don't use the Roku box at all.
Posted on: 2014/2/5 12:26
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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If you also want a DVR, TiVo is excellent. It streams all the major services seamlessly (except for the least expensive model).
Posted on: 2014/2/5 11:19
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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Of the different players I've tried out (Wii, Roku, Chromecast) - my PC works the best. I think that's because I run an ethernet cable direct to the PC. Over wifi, the Roku is pretty solid - it automatically adjusts the picture quality based on quality of signal - so it rarely freezes and has no sound/picture issues other than resolution. The Chromecast can freeze, and has sound out of sync if I run it at too high rez. Over Chromecast, I'd say Netflix works better than Amazon Prime and Xfinity, cast from a Chrome browser. Bottom line though - I'd recommend you hard-wire your receiver box to your router if you can, or for wifi, get a receiver like a Roku that auto-adjusts based on signal strength. I'd also check your bandwidth on speedtest.net. Anything under about 10mb/s you'll run into issues with streaming any service.
Posted on: 2014/2/5 5:40
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Re: Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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I find Netflix better than Hulu as far as streaming problems. Hulu can really suck, I only use it for The Daily Show. I get both buffer underruns and jittery image even without an underrun, I suspect the latter is codec issues. It's stupid, my HTPC is plenty powerful enough to play a H264 1080p file. It shouldn't choke on a much lower rez stream.
Posted on: 2014/2/5 2:37
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Non-cable options for TV (netflix, amazon, hulu)
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Home away from home
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What does everyone here use to stream tv shows and movies? Do you have any issues with streaming services? I've tried both Netflix Instant and Amazon Prime Instant, and Netflix often has server issues causing lags in the stream. Amazon Prime seems to crash a lot and the interface I access via my dvd player is really crappy, but the streaming of shows themselves is consistent. I haven't tried hulu.
Posted on: 2014/2/5 1:45
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