Streaming hardware & services...anybody use this stuff?

[theholycow]

I'm beginning to wonder if I ought to join the rest of everybody in this millennium and use my TV with le internet. I have basic 27" CRTs so nothing fancy, no HDMI or anything like that, just chillin' with standard definition...and tired of watching the same shit every day, full of commercials, censored, on the schedule dictated by the network/cable channels.

It's a huge market full of all kinds of shit I'll have to read up on, but what are you guys doing?

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

I have a Roku 3 hooked up to my HDTV in my room, besides the PS3. Have Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, Funimation, Crackle, Manga TV, Rev 3, Giant Bomb, IGN, and Machinima on it. There are a ton of channels on it besides those, quite a few free ones too. Crackle, Popcorn Flix, and OVguide all have free movies/shows on them...and those are only the more popular free ones I know about.

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Only thing is the Roku 3 is HDMI only, so if you don't wanna go that route and upgrade your TV I would just get one of the Roku 2 models.

Here is a good rundown of all the models/channels on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roku

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I have Dish HD and hardly ever watch it...usually watch shit on my Roku now...use to on the PS3 before I got this.

[Cez★]

netflix cao imo

[theholycow]

:hmm: Roku does look pretty cool, and the basic units (LT and HD) are more affordable than I expected.

Cez, I think Netflix is what got me thinking about this. Was at a buddy's place and he was playing episodes of TV shows I liked, pretty sure he was using Netflix. I gotta say I was impressed. I think he was using a game console.

[stonehenge]

We don't have cable TV at all. Just Netflix. On the TV we use a PlayStation 3 even though we never play games on it. You can get one used for $150ish and you get:

- a bluray/DVD/CD player
- can stream video/audio/image/pr0n files from your computer via network or from a flash drive
- can download movies/shows from PlayStation Store if you want
- can watch Netflix, Crackle, Amazon, Hulu, etc
- has an internet browser
- Controllers are Bluetooth and rechargeable so no batteries ever
- comes with red/yellow/white RCAs and has an HDMI port if you ever get an HDTV.
- you can play games on it if you/wifey/kittahs (not wein0r) ever feel like it

A Roku should work too but I love my ps3, bought the second one used just for streaming stuff.

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

The only thing better about the Roku's are the price and it has a a whole lot more free content. Although you miss the DVD/Blu-Ray player.

[stonehenge]

and you have to use bloated Plex to stream stuff to it :/

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

You can use PlayOn too, but FTS, I don't want either.

[stonehenge]

GheyOn?

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

$10 off this week on the Roku 2 XD on their website.

http://www.roku.com/roku-products

[theholycow]

I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on this and just grab a Roku LT. It's cheap enough to take the risk that it won't work out well. It's a birthday gift for my wife, and she loves purple so that will endear her to it. If she likes it but we need more features we can upgrade later. If they offered the HD or 2 LT in purple I'd consider them but I think she'll be more happy with purple than with technical features and therefore more likely to use it. Optimal end game would be we cancel Cox cable TV service, but until HBO sells standalone HBO Go subscriptions I may not be able to sell that; she can't live without seeing True Blood the day it comes out.

When I posted this thread I assumed these gizmos are priced in the hundreds of dollars.

[stonehenge]

Plus with Netflix you can watch pasture documentaries on the computer/iPad while she watches lady stuffs on the Roku

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

lol, pasture documentaries.

Yeah the LT is still good, it even plays in 720p HD if you ever upgrade your television or anything.

[theholycow]

:fiwdil:

Order placed. Purple thang coming in le mail. Wife's birthday substantially figured out.

[stonehenge]

First month of Netflix should be free, then only $8-9 after that depending on taxes and shit

[MikeH]

I don't watch Netflix all that much anymore, but there are quite a few good shows on there. Not the greatest movie selection though. I only have it still because my brother watches it all the time.

[stonehenge]

me and wifey watch it all the time since no cable :jester: there are a handful of shows i download because we watch them as they air

TV shows are definitely the best part of Netflix. There are decent movies too but they are mixed in with plenty of meh movies.

The documentaries and other informative shows can be pretty cool too.

Oh and the Netflix exclusives are fairly well made and they put the whole season on at once so you can watch them at your own pace. House of Cards was good, watched it all. Watched a few eps of Lilyhammer... a little weird but made well. Hemlock Grove just dropped and it is a warewolf show, it actually looks pretty gruesome lol. New Arrested Development later this month, Orange Is The New Black in July, and probably more after that.

Cao will like that all 9 seasons of Futurama, 9 seasons of Family Guy, 7 seasons of American Dad, 3 seasons of The Cleveland Show, 13 seasons of King of the Hill, and "Volume 1" of Beavis & Butthead, are all available to stream.

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

I honestly like a lot of the indie and B movies on Netflix...they have their fare share of big time blockbusters too though.

I usually have about 100 things in my instant queue all the time...and I usually watch Netflix rather than TV, if that gives an idea of how much content they have.

BTW, you foos need to watch Justice League/Justice League Unlimited and Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes on there...BAMF.

---------- Post added at 05:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:13 AM ----------

If you use this website it can help you find movies/shows a lot easier and keep up on new releases.

http://instantwatcher.com/

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I swear I honestly don't know how I lived before I got DSL.

[theholycow]

Cao will like that all 9 seasons of Futurama, 9 seasons of Family Guy, 7 seasons of American Dad, 3 seasons of The Cleveland Show, 13 seasons of King of the Hill, and "Volume 1" of Beavis & Butthead, are all available to stream.
:read:

I'm worried that I'm too late to the party though:
http://dottech.org/107610/netflix-has-lost-1794-movies-and-tv-shows-thanks-to-expiring-contracts-with-warner-bros-mgm-and-universal/
Netflix has lost 1,794 movies and TV shows thanks to expiring contracts with Warner Bros, MGM, and Universal

Did Netflix lose all content from those studios, or just some?

I honestly like a lot of the indie and B movies on Netflix...they have their fare share of big time blockbusters too though.

When Netflix first came out, before streaming was anything more than a pipe dream and they mailed DVDs 3 at a time for $15/mo, I had it and B movie jest was mainly what I used it for.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265587/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092610/
http://www.amazon.com/Bucket-Blood-Giant-Gila-Monster/dp/B00005A07K

[stonehenge]

Not sure about the contracts but I didn't notice any drop in content. Plus they are always signing different contracts, they recently got Disney and Cartoon Network.

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Also, you can still get physical discs mailed to you. I think its $8 for one at a time. Idk don't use it.

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

I get 2 disks at a time and streaming, think mine is around $23 a month.

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I think it is $8 for one at a time, but you get the best value with the 2 or 3 at a time if you send them back asap.

[theholycow]

That's why it never worked for me...I'd get 3 discs, procrastinate, and next thing you know it's months later and I could have bought them twice over for the monthly fees I've spent to sit on them.

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

Yeah, that is the main thing I try to do so I can get my moneys worth and more. I always watch them as soon as they come and then send them back the next day if possible.

[stonehenge]

nailz hoars it up

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

Stick em in, go hard, then pull out...and send them away.

[stonehenge]

:lol:

[theholycow]

:rofl2:

[theholycow]

:fiwdil:

Order placed. Purple thang coming in le mail. Wife's birthday substantially figured out.

Already arrived.

:horyshet:

Usually shet takes forever to arrive here on le east coast.

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

They're a legit company. Got mine fast too.

[stonehenge]

dat streaming bovine

[theholycow]

Roku: No qwerty remote? Don't like the remote? No problem. There are Android and iOS apps. Install app, it automatically connects to Roku on WiFi LAN. It just plain works. http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv315/theh0lyc0w/EmotiCows/cow-thumbsup.gif

Man, these channels are chock-full of crusty, moldy, old shit that the wife likes. Fak.

[stonehenge]

:jester: the free channels?

haven't dove into netflix yet?

[Cez★]

:rofl:

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

lol, cow's wife be happeh...good job cow

Yep, there's a shit ton of channels on it. I just added the ones I use all the time, I haven't even looked around at all of them.

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android app is win too

[theholycow]

Yeah, we're just doing free channels for now. Taking a week off next week, gonna sign up for trial of netflix or amazon or hulu and binge I guess.

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

Netflix, the best of those by far. I have Amazon Prime and have also tried the trial of Hulu. Amazon Prime is decent, considering it's basically free for me since I do it just for the 2 day free shipping. It's got a lot of stuff on it that is pretty good. Hulu on the other hand has to be the worst streaming service I've ever used, half the stuff on their website isn't even available on their app and even when you do watch something you have to sit through 3 or 4 commercials during the show.

[theholycow]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Netflix is gonna be it. We gotta go where our content is and I suspect that they have more of it than the others.

[Cez★]

Netflix, the best of those by far. I have Amazon Prime and have also tried the trial of Hulu. Amazon Prime is decent, considering it's basically free for me since I do it just for the 2 day free shipping. It's got a lot of stuff on it that is pretty good. Hulu on the other hand has to be the worst streaming service I've ever used, half the stuff on their website isn't even available on their app and even when you do watch something you have to sit through 3 or 4 commercials during the show.

so much hulu hate

[theholycow]

Plex is a bit buggy and sensitive and such but it looks like it might be pretty cool if I can get it to cooperate.

[stonehenge]

i still find it kinda shitty that the Roku doesn't support DLNA like every other damn thing.

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

so much hulu hate

justified hate

[stonehenge]

Tried free month of hulu, fts ads everywhere even on a paid service.

Also I hated how both Hulu and Amazon would bring up clips/trailers/previews when searching. If I want that shit I'll go to YouTube, just show me full eps/movies like Netflix and stop wasting my damned time.

:imo

[Cez★]

meh. i like hulu

[theholycow]

Apparently there is a plethora of unlisted/"private" channels for Roku and Plex. Anyone using that sort of thing?

Also I found this Plex plug-in that can add channels for a bunch of shady movie sites and porn sites.
http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/25523-unsupported-appstore/page-1

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

Yeah they're are a bunch of private channels, there's a few websites where you can look through all of them or search for a specific type. I myself haven't added any yet though.

[theholycow]

Plex channel CBS has actual TV shows, like Star Trek TOS, Taxi, Big Bang Theory, etc.
:fuckyeah:

Looks like they don't play dependably though. :( Dunno, only watched a minute of Big Bang to see if it works; had to adjust settings to get ST TOS to play and it aborted after a few minutes, now watching Taxi.

---------- Post added at 06:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:14 PM ----------

:hmm: In unrelated news, reality TV is nothing new...I'm watching an episode of Taxi from 1978, and the premise is that a film crew shows up at the garage to film a reality show. They didn't call it "reality show" but they used the word "reality" to describe what they're trying to film.

[stonehenge]

dat deVito

[theholycow]

Also I found this Plex plug-in that can add channels for a bunch of shady movie sites and porn sites.
http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/25523-unsupported-appstore/page-1

:eek2: "SS Plex" channel from Unsupported Apps plugin has a fuckton of shit.
:horyshet:
:fuckyeah:

[Cez★]

cao turning to couch potato nao

[stonehenge]

can haz free content? :chin: how well does Plex work with the ps3 nailz?

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cao turning to couch potato nao

*caoch

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

Never tried it on PS3.

[stonehenge]

fine then

[theholycow]

http://icdn8.digitaltrends.com/image/roku-contra-codes-gray-300x300.jpg

[stonehenge]

Dem cheat codes

[theholycow]

I cut the cord today. Canceled TV service, cut off my Cox as it were, just have internet. Saving $100/month. Gotta order a second Roku.

:awwyeah:

[Cez★]

:clap:

im trying to talk mother into letting our directv just end

[stonehenge]

:bitchin:

We haven't had cable for years. Every now and then there is a show that we want to watch that isn't on Netflix or we'd like to see current episodes as they come out instead of waiting for them to hit Netflix, but we can acquire those in other ways. :cheeky:

I need to get a Roku for the other services they offer. For now we use Netflix built into the TV and Serviio to stream downloaded goodies from my computer to the TV. The only service we currently pay for (besides the internet) is Netflix.

[theholycow]

I just have to stay ahead by trying to always have some (live?) channels she can put on, instead of merely on-demand stuff. Wife likes to just turn the TV on and have background noise without having to choose something to watch. That and Red Sox games have been the only thing holding her back from agreeing, but we really need to cut our expenses and Cox is switching to encrypted QAM and requiring box rentals for every TV so she agreed to cut off our Cox.

So yeah, we have this channel called CCloud that shows :pirate: content. You open the channel, choose one of its numbered channels, and see what's on it. That's her current background noise but I don't expect it to last forever because :pirate:.

[stonehenge]

:jester:

for background noise, we usually put on a series that we've seen before and don't really have to pay attention to if we are doing something else

(Friends, Law & Order, Psych, How I Met Your Mother, Criminal Minds, Bob's Burgers, etc, etc).

On the ps3/4 this works great because the next episode auto-plays. On the TV (smart tv) it doesn't autoplay which gets annoying when you're using it for background noise.

[theholycow]

The latest plex media server version has playlists and shuffle but I don't think it's compatible with my OS...otherwise it would work well.

[stonehenge]

Sling ($20/mo) offers these channels:

A&E
History
CNN
Adult Swim
Cartoon Network
Travel Channel
TNT
TBS
AMC
Food Network
HGTV
IFC
Lifetime
H2
El Rey
Maker
ESPN
ESPN2
Disney
ABC Family
Bloomberg
Galavision

And then you can add on other channels/packages for $5-15. If you prepay for 3 months in advance, you can get a Roku stick or FireTV stick for free. Or a FireTV/Roku box for $50.

Thinking about it, need to look at reviews and talk with wifey and make sure we would actually use those channels, I know I'd watch about half of them.

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Plus, if I choose a FireTV, I can run Kodi, which sounds promising. Lots of :pirate: add-ons for it. :cheeky:

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Hmm and apparently the FireTV behaves like any other Android so you can have Spotify or something playing music while you use it to look at other stuff.

:notbad:

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or maybe I'll get a Nexus Player instead of a FireTV/Roku :chin:

[Chevrolet Fanatic]

My Roku has been baller as fuck for me, wouldn't take anything else for it to be honest.

[stonehenge]

The Android TV interface looks pretty sexy and the ability to root it and put ROMs on it later in life sounds nice. Also, can't have Kodi (XBMC) on a Roku I don't think.

The Razer Forge TV is nice too (like a Nexus Player with more RAM and double storage space) but doesn't come with a remote.

[theholycow]

Sling ($20/mo) offers these channels:

Yeah, I've been thinking we might get Sling if we find that we really need something like that.

Plus, if I choose a FireTV, I can run Kodi, which sounds promising. Lots of :pirate: add-ons for it. :cheeky:

SS Plex has really good coverage. https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/48412-rel-ss-plex/

Since it runs in Plex, I can use it on any device, including my phone, even when I'm not at home.

[stonehenge]

:chin: I haven't really messed with Plex. I have the paid android app because it was free on Amazon at some point.