Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

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tgb
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by tgb »

EvilHomer3k wrote:
tgb wrote:
EvilHomer3k wrote:Sling doesn't have a DVR so you are at viewing everything with OnDemand. Each channel sets their own rules for each show. So AMC may let you watch any episode of Walking Dead but not Talking Dead. CNN may let you watch one show on demand but not another. Some shows won't let you watch on mobile or outside of your home network. In short, if you thought Android was fragmented, they have nothing on tv streaming. Each channel has it's own rules and those rules differ by provider, show, device, and location.

PS Vue and Youtube both have a true DVR so you can 'record' shows and don't have to deal with on demand right changing quite so much.
So you're saying a network may allow some episodes 1, 4, and 7 of the current season "on demand" but not 2,3,5, and 6? That's just crazy talk.
Yes it absolutely is. I would suggest downloading the app for the specific station. The rules for their own app are different than the rules for what you can watch on Sling (or PSVue). For instance, I can't watch episode 1-3 of Taboo on FX with On Demand on PSVUE. I CAN watch it on FXNow and signing in with my PSVue Account. It's fucked up. It's stupid. But that's how it is. Most stations, however, the rules are much more straight forward than what you describe. I'd get the app for your Roku as I think that will be the most consistent and least limited.
I'll have to do that. It's just so much more comfortable on the couch in the living room than sitting in front of my desktop. The only time I ever watch something streamed on a tablet or computer is when I'm out of town.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by stessier »

Zaxxon wrote:Any TiVo Bolt users here? I got a promo offer to transfer our current lifetime service to a new Bolt for $99. Given the age of our current unit, I'm considering proactive replacement...
I have no info for you, but was wondering what the offer was. Do you need to pay for a new lifetime subscription? Or is it just $99 for the new Bolt + you have to pay for a new subscription?

The Bolts look cool, but since I'm only OTA right now, I don't see a need for one just yet.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by Zaxxon »

You pay for the Bolt ($200 for the cheapest one) plus $99 for lifetime service on it (Normally something ludicrous like $500). Then your old TiVo gets deactivated.

Considering it because the Bolt brings a lot of advantages over our current one: 4 tuners vs 2, 4K, remote recording, remote streaming skip mode, quick mode, and the option to watch on other TVs via TiVo Minis if we want to. And I can just slap our existing eSATA external drive on it to make the cheapest Bolt have a respectable capacity.

Not sure I'm ready to drop $300 on it just yet, as none of those features are must-haves. But they are tempting, and our current TiVo is 7.5 years old. Gonna die at some point, and $300 all-in isn't terrible compared to the competition.

If any of you want the promo code or full email, lemme know.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by LordMortis »

Zaxxon wrote:You pay for the Bolt ($200 for the cheapest one) plus $99 for lifetime service on it (Normally something ludicrous like $500). Then your old TiVo gets deactivated.

Considering it because the Bolt brings a lot of advantages over our current one: 4 tuners vs 2, 4K, remote recording, remote streaming skip mode, quick mode, and the option to watch on other TVs via TiVo Minis if we want to. And I can just slap our existing eSATA external drive on it to make the cheapest Bolt have a respectable capacity.

Not sure I'm ready to drop $300 on it just yet, as none of those features are must-haves. But they are tempting, and our current TiVo is 7.5 years old. Gonna die at some point, and $300 all-in isn't terrible compared to the competition.

If any of you want the promo code or full email, lemme know.
Heh, I just ordered the $199+$99 Bolt five minutes ago and then I see this thread. My TiVo is a series 2. I think it's 16 years old, maybe? It was basically retired and I had freed myself from most TV watching because of this. But $298 plus tax was the magic marker for me. However, it's going to commit me to another $3.50 a month for a cable card. That's downright annoying.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by Zaxxon »

Bolt will take an antenna if you want to cut the cord. That's what we've done for the past few years--antenna to TiVo for OTA, plus Roku for the rest.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by LordMortis »

Zaxxon wrote:Bolt will take an antenna if you want to cut the cord. That's what we've done for the past few years--antenna to TiVo for OTA, plus Roku for the rest.
That might be part of a plan later when that extra $3.50 a month drives my 80 basic cable and 2 up 2 down Internet back above $100 a month.

We'll see whether I feel like getting an antenna one day. All of the extra costs to cut costs seems counter intuitive. PSVue seems like the best overall solution for me to cut the cord but even that's more expensive than my current solution to get the a la carte package I want.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by Zaxxon »

Yeah, cord-cutting is definitely no panacea.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by Z-Corn »

Here's what I posted a couple months ago in another thread. Long story short, loving the TiVo Bolt:
Did somebody say "TiVo"!? :wub:

I've been waiting for a thread to pop up to talk about my latest TiVo upgrade. Just after Christmas the basic TiVo Bolt was on sale at Amazon for $118. I had to jump on it...

Our previous TiVo is a Series 4, the Bolt is a Series 6 so it was enough of an upgrade to be compelling to me. I immediately replaced the 500 gig hard drive with a 3 terabyte drive which was $150. The newest version of the TiVo OS doesn't require any special preparation of the hard drive to upgrade up to 3 TB. This made the upgrade WAY easier than in the past. It was so easy I felt guilty. I've upgraded every TiVo I've owned and in the past it could take an entire weekend to prep the new drive.

Anyway, most people will have enough capacity with the stock drive. Right now this TiVo is $155. If you need more capacity the 1 TB version is $299 and the 3 TB is $499. The cheaper two have four tuners, the expensive version has six.

I can answer TiVo questions if anybody ever has them!
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by KDH »

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:geek: ... 1 in 8 Homes Now Have Broadband But No Cable
New data from SNL Kagan indicates that one in eight homes now have broadband service without traditional cable. According to the full report, roughly 13% of U.S. homes, or one in eight, subscribes to broadband service but do not subscribe to a traditional multichannel video bundle. There's 15.4 million such homes in the United States as of the end of last year, up 2 million homes from the year before. SNL Kagan notes that 427,000 homes went broadband-only in the fourth quarter, an increase over the 395,000 such homes reported in the same period in 2015.

The report comes on the heels of data indicating that 2016 saw the greatest rate of cord cutting so far on record.

The industry saw a net loss of 1.7 million subscribers in 2016, a notable decline from the 1.1 million subscribers lost by the industry last year. This 1.7% drop, according to MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett, was "the fastest rate of decline on record." And as cable prices continue to skyrocket, alternative live TV streaming options continue to emerge, and retrans feuds continue to leave users without access to the content they're paying for, you can expect the trend to only continue.

"With the results now in from all of the largest operators, it is clear that cord-cutting of legacy distribution services -- that is, without including OTT-delivered virtual MVPD bundles like Sling TV and DirecTV Now (and soon, YouTube TV) -- has at last meaningfully accelerated," Moffett said.
SNL Kagan predicts that broadband-only homes will grow to 22% by 2021. The 2016 tally "should end the debate" about whether cord-cutting is a real phenomenon, concurred SNL Kagan analyst Tony Lenoir in his own research note to investors.
there are some related articles linked at the bottom of the page
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by Lorini »

YouTube TV just launched today in major cities, I'm trying it. No AMC but it's supposed to be coming soon.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by LordMortis »

Got my Bolt up and running, which required a cable card, as assumed. That's an extra $3.50 a month for my 80 basic channels, driving the price of 80 channels and 2 up 2 down to over $100 a month.

Watching 4 channels at a time is really nice but I discovered when I went to set programming the only two shows I want to actively record right now are Rick and Morty and Archer. Maybe that will change now that I have TiVo again. When I let TiVo go before I let a bunch of television go with it that I didn't want to make time to watch and I didn't want to make time to learn how to stream over a 2 up 2 down line.

If I had Amazon Prime or Netflix or Hulu or a host of other things, TiVo would totally rock it as receiver. It has a dashboard for all of these platforms.

Ironically, using TiVo to discover that I don't really care that much about specific TV anymore at the cost of raising my cable bill even further might be the catalyst to cut the cord... and use TiVo as an interface between television and streaming services (of which I am currently subscribed to none...) Maybe it's time to get with the 90 and get me some netflix.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by Jeff V »

Cutting cable completely neuters Tivo. I haven't used mine in a year and a half, but since they don't allow you to cancel subscriptions on line, I got dinged for another year because I never have time to call. :x
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by KDH »

.
:coffee: ... Broadcasters Put New Ad-Skipping Restrictions on YouTube TV

full article: (minus comments)
YouTube last week launched YouTube TV in a handful of markets (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, and Philadelphia), providing access to more than 50 live TV channels for $35 per month. And while Google and YouTube are hoping that the company's new YouTube TV live streaming service makes waves in the streaming space, the inability to skip commercials may annoy some potential customers. If a show is available on-demand, viewers won’t be able to skip ads, even if they recorded the episode on DVR notes the Wall Street Journal.

Google has confirmed with the Journal that the restriction is courtesy of the licensing agreements the broadcast industry forced Google to adhere to in order to offer the service.

As a result, if YouTube TV has the on-demand version of a specific program you may be interested in, then the service won’t let viewers watch a recorded version that allows for ad-skipping. Instead, viewers are forced to watch the on-demand episode and all of the ads, even if consumers thought they saved the show on their DVR for ad-skippable viewing.

The restrictions actually appear to be new, and haven't been an issue on other services like Dish's Sling TV. The additional restrictions may reflect the broadband, TV and broadcast industry's collective worry about competition from Google in the streaming video space. The Journal also suggests it's a reflection of many broadcasters' punishing Google for what they believe is the company's failure to do more about piracy.

Either way, the Journal suggests that these types of ad-skipping restrictions may ultimately show up in licensing deals tied to other emerging streaming video services, a move that's certain to annoy many cord cutters.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by hitbyambulance »

LordMortis wrote: We'll see whether I feel like getting an antenna one day. All of the extra costs to cut costs seems counter intuitive.
a UHF antenna is like $10, one-time cost. or free if you fashion a wire coat hanger into a circle loop and affix it to an old coax cable.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

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Jeff V wrote:Cutting cable completely neuters Tivo. I haven't used mine in a year and a half, but since they don't allow you to cancel subscriptions on line, I got dinged for another year because I never have time to call. :x
I have the OTA Tivo. It works pretty well but, unless it is football season, I don't watch much TV. Not sure why I am paying the $15 a month still. Like you said, I just never call to cancel.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by stessier »

Ninyu wrote:
Jeff V wrote:Cutting cable completely neuters Tivo. I haven't used mine in a year and a half, but since they don't allow you to cancel subscriptions on line, I got dinged for another year because I never have time to call. :x
I have the OTA Tivo. It works pretty well but, unless it is football season, I don't watch much TV. Not sure why I am paying the $15 a month still. Like you said, I just never call to cancel.
Give me your info and i will call and cancel for your for the low, low price of 9.99/month. :D
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by Lorini »

KDH wrote:.
:coffee: ... Broadcasters Put New Ad-Skipping Restrictions on YouTube TV

full article: (minus comments)
YouTube last week launched YouTube TV in a handful of markets (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, and Philadelphia), providing access to more than 50 live TV channels for $35 per month. And while Google and YouTube are hoping that the company's new YouTube TV live streaming service makes waves in the streaming space, the inability to skip commercials may annoy some potential customers. If a show is available on-demand, viewers won’t be able to skip ads, even if they recorded the episode on DVR notes the Wall Street Journal.

Google has confirmed with the Journal that the restriction is courtesy of the licensing agreements the broadcast industry forced Google to adhere to in order to offer the service.

As a result, if YouTube TV has the on-demand version of a specific program you may be interested in, then the service won’t let viewers watch a recorded version that allows for ad-skipping. Instead, viewers are forced to watch the on-demand episode and all of the ads, even if consumers thought they saved the show on their DVR for ad-skippable viewing.

The restrictions actually appear to be new, and haven't been an issue on other services like Dish's Sling TV. The additional restrictions may reflect the broadband, TV and broadcast industry's collective worry about competition from Google in the streaming video space. The Journal also suggests it's a reflection of many broadcasters' punishing Google for what they believe is the company's failure to do more about piracy.

Either way, the Journal suggests that these types of ad-skipping restrictions may ultimately show up in licensing deals tied to other emerging streaming video services, a move that's certain to annoy many cord cutters.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

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I just added a bunch of movies to our ultraviolet account and was wondering how that would effect our streaming volume. I hadn't checked our average in about a year and at that time we were at about 250 GB/month. Today it looks like we are averaging 395 GB/month. I think the biggest difference is about 6 months ago I turned on HD streams from Netflix due to finally getting a HD capable TV. Still, I'm glad my ISP doesn't have a data cap...for now.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

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I got an email from Sling today offering "cloud-based DVR" for an additional $5/month. It supposedly offers all the functionality of a conventional DVR, which would be nice because we would no longer have to sit through commercials, and we can go back to watching shows on our schedule, rather than wait for the networks to put them up on demand.

Has anyone tried it and verified that it works?
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

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CNET has some info on it. Looks like it will skip commercials, but you can't record from every channel.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

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stessier wrote:CNET has some info on it. Looks like it will skip commercials, but you can't record from every channel.
Thanks. I'll check it out.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by gilraen »

Hulu jumps into the fray with a live TV beta, starting at $40 for about 50 channels.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by stessier »

That is interesting. $40 is still too much for me, but the fact that it includes Live TV as well as the streaming options is interesting. You can also pay $15 to get 3 additional streams outside of the house - might allow you to share with family which could lower the cost by half at least. Only 50 hours of DVR with no commercial skipping, but can go to 200 hours with commercial skipping allowed for another $15. You could also get both add-ons for a discounted $20 total. Again, not worth it for me, by YMMV. At least there are people thinking about ways to break the current system.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by coopasonic »

I would be happy with just Netflix for both me and the kids, but I don't think my wife would go for it. I wouldn't miss much of anything, but I don't watch much of anything anyway. There is literally no "must watch" TV for me anymore.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by Zaxxon »

stessier wrote:That is interesting. $40 is still too much for me, but the fact that it includes Live TV as well as the streaming options is interesting. You can also pay $15 to get 3 additional streams outside of the house - might allow you to share with family which could lower the cost by half at least. Only 50 hours of DVR with no commercial skipping, but can go to 200 hours with commercial skipping allowed for another $15. You could also get both add-ons for a discounted $20 total. Again, not worth it for me, by YMMV. At least there are people thinking about ways to break the current system.
One of the biggest advantages of this and Sling before it to a lesser extent is that it's non-contract/non-PITA to manage. I can add a month when there's something I want, then kill it in about 30 seconds when I'm done. No hassles.

If only this was actually truly live for the local stations across the country. So far it looks very hit-or-miss to me. For example, in Chicago you get ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox all live. In Denver we get CBS only. In the part of Tennessee I looked up, you get bupkus. I imagine they have a bunch of contracts to finesse but didn't want to hold up the launch.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

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Netflix is all I really watch - except for the NFL. The rest is just to make the kids/wife happy. They aren't complaining with our current OTA/Netflix/Amazon Prime setup, but once in a while they mention they miss some of their old shows so it makes me check on the current slate of offerings.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by Jeff V »

Zaxxon wrote:
stessier wrote:That is interesting. $40 is still too much for me, but the fact that it includes Live TV as well as the streaming options is interesting. You can also pay $15 to get 3 additional streams outside of the house - might allow you to share with family which could lower the cost by half at least. Only 50 hours of DVR with no commercial skipping, but can go to 200 hours with commercial skipping allowed for another $15. You could also get both add-ons for a discounted $20 total. Again, not worth it for me, by YMMV. At least there are people thinking about ways to break the current system.
One of the biggest advantages of this and Sling before it to a lesser extent is that it's non-contract/non-PITA to manage. I can add a month when there's something I want, then kill it in about 30 seconds when I'm done. No hassles.

If only this was actually truly live for the local stations across the country. So far it looks very hit-or-miss to me. For example, in Chicago you get ABC/CBS/NBC/Fox all live. In Denver we get CBS only. In the part of Tennessee I looked up, you get bupkus. I imagine they have a bunch of contracts to finesse but didn't want to hold up the launch.
When I had Sling, it only had NBC and Fox, but maybe I needed to subscribe to multiple packages to get the others?
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by Isgrimnur »

CBS went with Hulu. ABC used to be on Sling, but doesn't appear in current offerings. Apparently they want you to be in a select city and use the app:
The WATCH ABC Live Stream for your local station is determined by your physical location. You must access the WATCH ABC Live Stream within each available station's local viewing area. Although it's currently available in select U.S. cities, we are working to make it available to all of our viewers. If your TV provider isn't currently participating, go to GETWATCHABC.comto ask for it!

WATCH ABC is brought to you by your local ABC station and participating TV providers at no additional cost.

Live Stream is currently available in the following areas: Philadelphia, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Raleigh-Durham, Houston, and Fresno. You must be located within each available station's local viewing area and must verify your participating TV provider account for access to the WATCH ABC Live Stream in your area. It's included with your TV subscription services. Program substitutions may apply.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by Fireball »

I think the new Hulu bundle is going to be my cord-cutting moment. I've been holding out for an Apple Live TV service (which I'll probably switch to when it finally comes), but the Hulu package is very attractive. The only thing I wish I'd have that I won't is BBC News and my Nationals baseball — but I expect MLB to figure a way to let cord cutters watch their shows through an expensive MLB at Bat option some day soon.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

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stessier wrote:Netflix is all I really watch - except for the NFL. The rest is just to make the kids/wife happy. They aren't complaining with our current OTA/Netflix/Amazon Prime setup, but once in a while they mention they miss some of their old shows so it makes me check on the current slate of offerings.
The NFL I watch via an antenna. So the only thing I'd be looking for from a live TV add on is just NESN / the Red Sox. This refers to including "local channels", but I'm assuming for the moment that NESN wouldn't be included in the Boston area (though it appears to be on Playstation Vue, FWIW).
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by Isgrimnur »

YouTube TV
[W]e are glad to report that YouTube TV now includes seven more cable networks in the base plan.

The biggest additions to YouTube TV’s basic $35 package include AMC and BBC America, so folks can now watch The Walking Dead and Orphan Black while commuting. Other additions include Sundance TV, We TV, and IFC, the latter of which is owned by AMC. Spanish-speakers are not left in the dust – NBC Universal increased its offerings on YouTube TV by adding Telemundo and Universo.

The newest additions push the number of available channels for YouTube TV’s basic package to 46, though Showtime and Fox Soccer Plus continue to be $11 and $15 add-ons, respectively. The basic package also includes YouTube Red Originals.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by tgb »

My boss called me today all excited about the prospect of getting a Raspberry Pi. This is the first I'd ever heard of it, and once he told me what it was, I warned him to be careful as it sounded like all those other questionable "Android boxes" that download gray-market streams. He seems to think this is different because they sell it at Fry's, but researching it online I don't see how.

Is he right? Is this actually legit?
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

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It's just a teensy computer. What's he going to use it for?
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by gilraen »

tgb wrote:My boss called me today all excited about the prospect of getting a Raspberry Pi. This is the first I'd ever heard of it, and once he told me what it was, I warned him to be careful as it sounded like all those other questionable "Android boxes" that download gray-market streams. He seems to think this is different because they sell it at Fry's, but researching it online I don't see how.

Is he right? Is this actually legit?
No more or less legit than Kodi...because that's what it's really using to stream.
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naednek
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by naednek »

raspberry pi is just a cpu/mobo, you can do the same things your warning about with a intel or amd and apple processor. It's just a cheap device that is used for all types of things.
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RunningMn9
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by RunningMn9 »

Yeah, a raspberry up is just a computer. You have to load software on it. If you load software to do legal things, hooray. If you load software to do illegal things, I doubt "but they sell it at Fry's!!" will make a solid defense.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by hitbyambulance »

i have several single-board computers (as they're called), including a Raspberry Pi Zero and a Raspberry Pi 3. the RPi 3 is my Minecraft server + Python/C programming playground (i SSH into it for that purpose) - it's a neat little Linux PC for $30.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by Z-Corn »

I've been playing around with RetroPie the past couple months on my Raspberry Pi 3. I have kodi installed but haven't even looked at it yet...
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by stessier »

Plex Pass will now let you stream Live OTA TV.

I'm a little confused, but I think if it detects an antenna, it will let you record and live stream any OTA channel in your area. I'm not exactly sure how it detects your antenna though. Time shifting is not yet enabled, although it is supposed to be coming soon.

Given a lifetime pass is $119 right now, this would seem to be a very cost effective option if your OTA is only so-so or, if like LordMortis, your DVR is on death's door but you have a decent computer.
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Re: Thinking of ditching cable tv, thoughts

Post by rshetts2 »

For those who have a Plex Pass and are interested in the Silicon Dust Homerun HD tuner, they have a Plex perk coupon for 30%. These things never go on sale so now's a great time to grab one at a discount. My cheap tuner box died so I was looking for a good alternative. Ive been watching the price on the HomeRun HD for months and had to jump when I saw this deal.
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