Learn me - streaming TV

I don't want cable, I have internet via Verizon as I need a fax for work, so what are my options and how do I go about setting it up.

I am not a tech guy, note the big ole carb on the challenge Rustang

Buy a Roku box. Done.

http://www.roku.com/

I'm seriously considering ditching cable TV, so this is of interest to me.

Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hulu seems to be the winning combination of content, etc.

the only things I really want to find are Formula 1, WRC and V8Supercars

We're doing AppleTV with Hulu Plus and Netflix. For me, I like the way the AppleTV synchs with my other iDevices.

Thats going to be hard to do, but check on Roku, Boxee, Hulu, Netflix, Google TV, Youtube, Apple and Amazon for content before switching over.

You could possily find a less than legal way of getting the content, but that isn't recomended and requires some tech-knowledge to boot.

We just got a roku and have Netflix and will get an antannae for network tv and football. i may look into Hulu when the new tv shows start. But even with still having Comcast for the Internet we will save a bunch per month. The one thing I am sad about is I'm not sure how I'm going to watch walking dead :/

I have a Mac mini (it's mini, very mini) connected to my tv. I added eyetv to it, that's my PVR software (it's even minier). I can schedule and record shows, export them to my phone, surf the web, transfer them to my other computer and burn them to DVD. I also have Netflix.

For the record, my Roku box went tits up after about 4 months of intermittent use. Battery changes and reset buttons were of no use. Honestly not sure there's enough value to warrant replacing it.

Do you currently have a game console at home? Most of the newer gen stuff (360 ps3 and wii) has the ability to download apps for netflix Hulu and amazon. In our bedroom we have a wii hooked up and that is basically all it is used for anymore.

In the living room we have a smart tv that we use for the same content. We also get crackle (which is free) and access to my vudu account from that. Oh and both get YouTube as well.

Heck new Xbox one will have that capability as well as I am sure the ps4 will.

Cable and sat are streaming services :).

I would check and see the what everything has to offer and if it wet's your appetite otherwise you'll spend countless hours browsing for stuff you'll never watch.

My wife and I went a week with just trying to use netflix, hulu, and torrents. It was fine until I wanted to watch a race live and then season 5 of breaking bad started.

In my experience so far, streaming and subscription services are neither cheap enough nor carry enough content to make me get rid of cable. Too many competing services that carry only one or two things each I want to watch.

Honestly, if I could stream MLB and NFL games I'm sure we would cancel. As it is, we pay about $20 a month for the cable tv.

In your case, an AppleTV or Roku box would stream to your TV from your Verizon box. Services include Amazon, iTunes, Netflix, and Hulu.

bastomatic wrote: In my experience so far, streaming and subscription services are neither cheap enough nor carry enough content to make me get rid of cable. Too many competing services that carry only one or two things each I want to watch.

This. Each service wants like 8 or 9 bux a month for a smattering of mostly useless programming and one or two things that you want to watch. Subscribe to three or four of them and you probably still won't have everything you want. Might as well pay the 60 bucks a month for cable.

Aside from price, is there any content advantage with Roku over Xbox? The sales guy at Best Buy or whatever apparently has my brother convinced that Roku will be "Just like having cable."

Rule number one: never believe anyone at BestBuy. They are either clueless, or trying to make a sale.

I have Roku on one TV which has Crackle (a good movie channel that interjects a few commercials every 30 minutes) and Hulu (a pathetic combination of junk that no one in their right mind would ever watch.) It also has Amazon Prime, but I've been pretty disappointed with that as well.

Another TV has a Wii (netflix) and the bedroom has a Smart Blu-ray player (netflix, other services).

All three TVs have an antenna and I can get 15-20 channels of all the broadcast networks.

curtis73 wrote: I have Roku on one TV which has Crackle (a good movie channel that interjects a few commercials every 30 minutes) and Hulu (a pathetic combination of junk that no one in their right mind would ever watch.) It also has Amazon Prime, but I've been pretty disappointed with that as well. Another TV has a Wii (netflix) and the bedroom has a Smart Blu-ray player (netflix, other services). All three TVs have an antenna and I can get 15-20 channels of all the broadcast networks.

I like Hulu. There's some interesting stuff there if you bother to look. Theres a lot of junk, certainly, but theres enough there to at least look at the free version.

The fracturing of streaming solutions is only going to get worse as time moves on.

bastomatic wrote: Honestly, if I could stream MLB and NFL games I'm sure we would cancel. As it is, we pay about $20 a month for the cable tv.

You can get NFL Sunday Ticket through a PS3. MLB as well I believe.

One of the main things that's keeping us hooked to the Dish Network teat is the lack of any live news available easily via streaming. As soon as that's solved I may be looking even harder at a streaming solution. Although Dish's Sling technology is friggin' sweet. Full access to all of our DVR content and channel content from anywhere we have a decent internet connection.

jg

aussiesmg wrote: the only things I really want to find are Formula 1, WRC and V8Supercars

There is a good private torrent site for that, but it is invite only. Since I don't upload anything, I have a big imbalance between the two, meaning it would likely take a few hundred dollars in donations to get some invites.

aussiesmg wrote: the only things I really want to find are Formula 1, WRC and V8Supercars

There is a good private torrent site for that, but it is invite only. Since I don't upload anything, I have a big imbalance between the two, meaning it would likely take a few hundred dollars in donations to get some invites.

JG Pasterjak wrote:

bastomatic wrote: Honestly, if I could stream MLB and NFL games I'm sure we would cancel. As it is, we pay about $20 a month for the cable tv.

You can get NFL Sunday Ticket through a PS3. MLB as well jg

Don't think so. If I remember right, MLB games in your home market are blacked out if carried locally, ie the DEtroit market can stream all games except Detroit. NFL may have a similar deal in place for its Sunday ticket, but the MLB is deal breaker enough that I haven't checked.

Edit: NFL streaming is through directv, so you have to have TV in addition to streaming it. It costs $60 a month.

z31maniac wrote:

aussiesmg wrote: the only things I really want to find are Formula 1, WRC and V8Supercars

There is a good private torrent site for that, but it is invite only. Since I don't upload anything, I have a big imbalance between the two, meaning it would likely take a few hundred dollars in donations to get some invites.

How does this work, is that a once only deal, can we share the buy in?

I only need one reply though

aussiesmg wrote:

z31maniac wrote:

aussiesmg wrote: the only things I really want to find are Formula 1, WRC and V8Supercars

There is a good private torrent site for that, but it is invite only. Since I don't upload anything, I have a big imbalance between the two, meaning it would likely take a few hundred dollars in donations to get some invites.

How does this work, is that a once only deal, can we share the buy in? I only need one reply though

I'll check when I get home how much would be needed to get an invite and let you know. But yes, it's a one time deal. Once you're in, you're in.

I've been using it for ~4 years now to DL F1, and the occasional MotoGP, WSBK, BTCC, DTM, WRC.

Perfect, please lmk.

The antenna for local channels, is that HD? I recall with the recent digital-only changeover that local HD be available, even with an antenna.