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Thread: The Television Thread: The Best New Ways to Watch

  1. #1
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    The Television Thread: The Best New Ways to Watch

    Does anyone have Amazon Fire TV? I'm thinking about it. Here's a summary of all the major options for such devices and services:

    http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-tv...oom-1446080460
    Last edited by LA Ute; 10-29-2015 at 04:36 PM.

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  2. #2
    Five-O Diehard Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LA Ute View Post
    Does anyone have Amazon Fire TV? I'm thinking about it. Here's a summary of all the major optiobs for such devices and services:

    http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-tv...oom-1446080460
    We have a Firestick and Apple TV (the older version)

    They're both fine. It all depends on what you're wanting it for. (In my media room I literally have 6 ways I can stream Netflix. It's sort of ridiculous)


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  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by LA Ute View Post
    Does anyone have Amazon Fire TV? I'm thinking about it. Here's a summary of all the major optiobs for such devices and services:

    http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-tv...oom-1446080460
    If you are already an Amazon Prime member, it's good to have. Lots of older tv series you can stream for free, including a good portion of HBO series. Their free movie selection is hit and miss.

    If you are not an Amazon Prime member, it's probably similar to any other streaming device (Roku, AppleTV). I will say it streams content better than streaming sraight through our Samsung SmartTV.

    The Fire Stick works great on tv's if you have wifi. We use ours on our tv in our workout room since we don't have a cable box in there.
    “To me there is no dishonor in being wrong and learning. There is dishonor in willful ignorance and there is dishonor in disrespect.” James Hatch, former Navy Seal and current Yale student.

  4. #4
    What about Chromecast? A guy in my office says I have to get it.

  5. #5
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Diehard Ute View Post
    We have a Firestick and Apple TV (the older version)

    They're both fine. It all depends on what you're wanting it for. (In my media room I literally have 6 ways I can stream Netflix. It's sort of ridiculous)

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    Yeah, there are so many ways now. We're at one of those transition points again. Cable and satellite TV as we've known them are dying.

    Quote Originally Posted by chrisrenrut View Post
    If you are already an Amazon Prime member, it's good to have. Lots of older tv series you can stream for free, including a good portion of HBO series. Their free movie selection is hit and miss.

    If you are not an Amazon Prime member, it's probably similar to any other streaming device (Roku, AppleTV). I will say it streams content better than streaming sraight through our Samsung SmartTV.

    The Fire Stick works great on tv's if you have wifi. We use ours on our tv in our workout room since we don't have a cable box in there.
    We do have Amazon Prime, and that's how I first became interested in the Fire. Our Sony box (their version of Roku) works great but suddenly stopped working with Amazon Prime, which ticked me off. I just want to be able to access the main services -- Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc. We originally got the Sony box because our "smart" Samsung TV wasn't very smart and couldn't access Amazon Prime. Now our newer smart TV requires us to use three (count 'em) remotes if all we want to use is our Dish account.

    Quote Originally Posted by concerned View Post
    What about Chromecast? A guy in my office says I have to get it.
    My son uses it and loves it. I'm intrigued by it but I don't want to have six different ways to watch TV....
    Last edited by LA Ute; 10-29-2015 at 05:19 AM.

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  6. #6
    Five-O Diehard Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LA Ute View Post
    Yeah, there are so many ways now. We're at one of those transition points again. Cable and satellite TV as we've known them are dying.



    We do have Amazon Prime, and that's how I first became interested in the Fire. Our Sony box (their version of Roku) works great but suddenly stopped working with Amazon Prime, which ticked me off. I just want to be able to access the main services -- Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc. We originally got the Sony box because our "smart" Samsung TV wasn't very smart and couldn't access Amazon Prime. Now our newer smart TV requires us to use three (count 'em) remotes if all we want to use is our Dish account.



    My son uses it and loves it. I'm intrigued by it but I don't want to have six different ways to watch TV....
    The fire stick is like any other.

    My wife actually prefers our Apple TV for ease of use. And of course with iPhones I can stream from my phone to it which can be handy.

    I hardly use either though as my Xbox One does it all and has voice control.



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  7. #7
    So because of various tvs and various locations I have appletv, roku, FireTV and chromecast. They all have their ups and downs.

    AppleTV is my favorite for ease of use and the ability to stream my iPhone or computer to the TV. The downside is you can only use they limited apps, recent announcement means this is changing, but my old one you can put Amazon prime or anything else.

    The roku is nice but the version I have doesn't have a reliable tv/iPhone streaming app that I've found.

    Fire is good, although a little clunky in my estimation. The big plus is the voice activated remote control. Integration with Amazon prime is nice too.

    Chromecast is my least favorite, although it does let you share a chrome browser from your computer.

    The ideal world in my estimation is when AppleTV opens up their environment and you can add prime.


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  8. #8
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rocker Ute View Post
    The ideal world in my estimation is when AppleTV opens up their environment and you can add prime.
    A great example of why I have a love-hate relationship with Apple. I love their products, but hate the way they try to dominate their competitors at the expense of their customers.

    Similar story: Our Sony box worked perfectly, but then for some reason. Amazon was no longer available on it. We have purchased entire seasons of some shows, and they are all on Amazon.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  9. #9
    Five-O Diehard Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LA Ute View Post
    A great example of why I have a love-hate relationship with Apple. I love their products, but hate the way they try to dominate their competitors at the expense of their customers.

    Similar story: Our Sony box worked perfectly, but then for some reason. Amazon was no longer available on it. We have purchased entire seasons of some shows, and they are all on Amazon.


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    Except Apple allows Amazon on the new AppleTV, it's Amazon who won't make an App for the new AppleTV, and won't sell Apple TV in Amazon.




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  10. #10
    Quick Question: I have an Amazon fire stick. Is there anyway to stream the Pac12 network (or Espn for that matter)?

  11. #11
    Five-O Diehard Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Applejack View Post
    Quick Question: I have an Amazon fire stick. Is there anyway to stream the Pac12 network (or Espn for that matter)?
    I think both apps are available in the App Store, but as with all those services you'll need a cable or Satellite login.


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  12. #12
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Diehard Ute View Post
    Except Apple allows Amazon on the new AppleTV, it's Amazon who won't make an App for the new AppleTV, and won't sell Apple TV in Amazon.
    Sigh. Maybe I do need six ways to access TV. I'm also confused. The Wall Street Journal piece I linked says Apple TV is "Missing Amazon and Sling TV apps," and says that is a drawback to Apple TV. But it's Amazon who won't play with Apple? Also, its says that with Amazon "Video search doesn't include Netflix titles; home screen can't be customized and is largely built around Amazon content; product ads on home screen." Golden age of TV, my eye!

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  13. #13
    Five-O Diehard Ute's Avatar
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    Random chat thread

    Quote Originally Posted by LA Ute View Post
    Sigh. Maybe I do need six ways to access TV. I'm also confused. The Wall Street Journal piece I linked says Apple TV is "Missing Amazon and Sling TV apps," and says that is a drawback to Apple TV. But it's Amazon who won't play with Apple? Also, its says that with Amazon "Video search doesn't include Netflix titles; home screen can't be customized and is largely built around Amazon content; product ads on home screen." Golden age of TV, my eye!
    Yeah. It's Amazon that won't play.

    The new Apple TV is different from the old one. It has internal memory and the ability to download apps much more easily than the original. (It's just being released tomorrow)

    They've opened the hardware to anyone who wants to produce an app, but so far Amazon hasn't offered one or commented on it.

    And recently Amazon removed both AppleTV and Chromecast from the retail part of Amazon.

    My wife (who is not the tech geek I am) preferred when we had the AppleTV upstairs, even though she couldn't access Amazon.

    I have Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, frankly I use Amazon the least of the 3. While there's occasionally something cool on Prime, 95% of the time the thing I want to watch is a rental and not covered by Prime. I use Netflix most, Hulu second.

    Of course I also still buy movies on BluRay. I prefer the access to 2D and 3D with lots of options (yes I can shake my entire house with my surround system )


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  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by sancho View Post
    I watch sports and check out movies from the library. The golden age of TV hasn't turned up anything of real interest to me yet. I'm surprised people can find anything worth streaming on Amazon Prime. When I looked, the offerings were really weak in everything except cartoons for my kids.
    Here are some of the TV shows they have that I think are great. Movies are more hit-and-miss, but so is Netflix.

    The Wire
    Sopranos
    Downton Abbey
    American Horror Story
    Justified
    Arrested Developement
    Archer
    Curb Your Enthusiasm
    Flight of the Conchords
    Parks and Recreation
    “To me there is no dishonor in being wrong and learning. There is dishonor in willful ignorance and there is dishonor in disrespect.” James Hatch, former Navy Seal and current Yale student.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by sancho View Post
    Thanks. I've been through the comedies and really liked them too. I've never been able to get into a TV drama. They always seem like soap operas with higher production costs.
    I agree to an extent. It's easy to get hooked, and binge watching is easy to do because of the drama and sometime cliff hangers at the end of episodes. But it's not only higher production costs, they are much better stories, and are (usually) less ludicrous than soap operas.
    “To me there is no dishonor in being wrong and learning. There is dishonor in willful ignorance and there is dishonor in disrespect.” James Hatch, former Navy Seal and current Yale student.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by chrisrenrut View Post
    Here are some of the TV shows they have that I think are great. Movies are more hit-and-miss, but so is Netflix.

    The Wire
    Sopranos
    Downton Abbey
    American Horror Story
    Justified
    Arrested Developement
    Archer
    Curb Your Enthusiasm
    Flight of the Conchords
    Parks and Recreation
    My wife and I have been waiting for the final season to drop on Amazon for free.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Sullyute View Post
    My wife and I have been waiting for the final season to drop on Amazon for free.
    Me too. I had the whole season DVR'd, and then we switched providers and I lost it all.
    “To me there is no dishonor in being wrong and learning. There is dishonor in willful ignorance and there is dishonor in disrespect.” James Hatch, former Navy Seal and current Yale student.

  18. #18
    So what's the best way to watch P12 Network if I have DirecTV but "borrow" someone's login for all of the football and basketball games on the P12 Network? Currently I will plug in my laptop to the TV's HDMI port but that's burdensome. Please also consider that lots of times (especially for mid-week basketball) I am starting after the actual tipoff so I need something (like my laptop) where I can pause it and jump around. Thanks!

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Sullyute View Post
    My wife and I have been waiting for the final season to drop on Amazon for free.
    My three. We just finished season 5 two nights ago. Do we have any idea when season 6 will be on prime (without the extra cost)?

  20. #20
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    The Television Thread: The Best New Ways to Watch

    There were so many responses -- and they were so informative -- that I decided to move them to their own thread.

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  21. #21
    As diehard said the new AppleTV allows for outside app development. My guess is Amazon will play hardball and then relent. Same with slingtv. When that happens AppleTV is the clear winner (in my mind) so if you are going to invest in anything now that is the safest bet.

    For the record I cut the cord a couple of years ago now, more of just a way of sticking it to Comcast and with no real plan to do it for an extended time. I haven't looked back at all.


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  22. #22
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rocker Ute View Post
    As diehard said the new AppleTV allows for outside app development. My guess is Amazon will play hardball and then relent. Same with slingtv. When that happens AppleTV is the clear winner (in my mind) so if you are going to invest in anything now that is the safest bet.

    For the record I cut the cord a couple of years ago now, more of just a way of sticking it to Comcast and with no real plan to do it for an extended time. I haven't looked back at all.


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    How do you get the PAC 12 network?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  23. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by LA Ute View Post
    How do you get the PAC 12 network?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    When I did it I just used my parents log in from comcast in Utah. Then I hooked up my computer to the big screen. It worked fine. I just like having DVR.
    "Be a philosopher. A man can compromise to gain a point. It has become apparent that a man can, within limits, follow his inclinations within the arms of the Church if he does so discreetly." - The Walking Drum

    "And here’s what life comes down to—not how many years you live, but how many of those years are filled with bullshit that doesn’t amount to anything to satisfy the requirements of some dickhead you’ll never get the pleasure of punching in the face." – Adam Carolla

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by LA Ute View Post
    How do you get the PAC 12 network?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    This is the grey area... I have a family member's login and the PAC12 network app. I stream games to my phone and broadcast it to my tv through AppleTV.

    On a side note, the need for networks is diminishing, kind of like major music labels. I can see a future where you don't buy access to a channel but pay for content directly. At least hand it to tv networks, they haven't been quite as arrogant or stupid as the newspaper and music industries despite still being obstructionists.

    I also can't believe the tech for contextual ads for tv hasn't been developed yet (think Google ads). Then when you watch TV ads relevant to you get a GIGANTIC market of businesses who previously couldn't afford to advertise on TV and people don't mind ads so much. This has to be coming down the pipeline.


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  25. #25

    The Television Thread: The Best New Ways to Watch

    I'm in a crappy TV situation at the moment. We're currently building a home and had a buyer fall into our la early in the process for our old house. That left us having to find a place to rent for six months. The guy that we're renting from is a real piece of work and is adamant that the Direct dish does not need a companion Dish dish. We've been "off the grid" since April. The only issue I have has been live sports. Every channel has it's own app with varying function and reliability. ESPN is the clear winner. Seems that any game on ESPN can be streamed on demand whenever. Fox is the most annoying. Not only does the app seem to freeze up regularly when I send the stream from my phone to my Apple TV, but there doesn't seem to be any kind of archive to watch a game later. The PAC-12 Network app is lacking on archived games as well, but there's enough replay across the various regional channels that I haven't had a problem finding a replay, although not always at what's most convenient to my schedule. Which with a three and one year old, can be tough to predict.


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    Last edited by Dwight Schr-Ute; 10-30-2015 at 09:29 AM.

  26. #26
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rocker Ute View Post
    This is the grey area... I have a family member's login and the PAC12 network app. I stream games to my phone and broadcast it to my tv through AppleTV.

    On a side note, the need for networks is diminishing, kind of like major music labels. I can see a future where you don't buy access to a channel but pay for content directly. At least hand it to tv networks, they haven't been quite as arrogant or stupid as the newspaper and music industries despite still being obstructionists.

    I also can't believe the tech for contextual ads for tv hasn't been developed yet (think Google ads). Then when you watch TV ads relevant to you get a GIGANTIC market of businesses who previously couldn't afford to advertise on TV and people don't mind ads so much. This has to be coming down the pipeline.


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    What about ESPN, Fox Sports, etc.? As you can see, I am seriously considering cutting the cable cord (even though I have Dish)!

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  27. #27
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    Relevant to our discussion:

    ESPN Tightens Its Belt as Pressure on It Mounts

    http://www.wsj.com/articles/espn-tig...1=196184&alg=y

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  28. #28
    It seems like many people have done what we do.... Pay for nothing and use a friend's login

    For us, we have a tuner in the computer that is hooked to the projector. We use Windows Media Center (which they sadly don't make anymore) as a DVR for shows we can get on the antenna. There are plenty of options for live sports (mostly using someone elses login), but we've also found that using the money we would have put toward cable to go eat and watch at a restaurant works nicely. The best part about this is that we don't waste a lot of time mindlessly watching shows. All the shows we care about we get off the antenna (nova, modern family), or buy the dvds (arrested development, parks and recreation, planet earth).

  29. #29
    Administrator U-Ute's Avatar
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    Sony’s PlayStation Vue picks up ESPN, Disney, and ABC in huge content deal


    Sony's PlayStation Vue internet TV service just got way more compelling. Vue already offers more channels than Sling TV — and you'd hope it would considering it's far more expensive. But today, that content selection is getting a big boost; ESPN has announced that it's reached a deal with Sony that'll bring ESPN, the Disney Channel, ABC, and ABC Family to the service. Suddenly, Vue is looking like a real cable replacement.
    All Disney owned channels, including local channels.

  30. #30
    How much is Vue? Slingtv plus the Sports Pack is around $30 iirc. Bundled TV packages that include everything aren't much more than that. The nice thing about Sling and Vue and XBMC is the savings on equipment rental. I pay $25+ per month for the cable modem plus two Xfinity X1 HD receivers. :banghead:

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