Berto Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 Ok so instead of the weekly 'i despise my cable' thread. Lets start one for options. I have been trying to look into internet TV in the last few weeks but really have not had much luck understanding what its really like. Let me elaborate. If I were to try and find a specific show online right now, the only thing I would know how to do is go on youtube, or go to the channel's website and try to find what I want to see and half the time it would be crappy quality. How are services like Hulu and or Google TV? is it as easy as just searching for what you want to see and seeing it in all its HD glory? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 My wife still watches network tv and directv, but myself I've completely switched to watching TV on the net. Of course I don't watch much just star trek and other things of that type that I can find by googling. We are talking about canceling directv after this year and going to google TV or just a media center PC or something. I do intend to go to a store and see what google TV is all about. My big question is can my wife figure it out or we have guests stay with us a lot that might have trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copperhead Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 Boxee will do exactly what Google TV will, except you don't have to buy anything to do it (unless you want to buy a boxee box, but that's up to you). Hulu is pretty good so long as you are wanting to watch something on a network that works with them, and so long as you don't mind only having the latest couple episodes available, unless you subscribe to hulu plus, which i'm thinking about doing. Hulu Plus is suppose to have the latest entire season available or something, and is HD. It's $7 or $8 a month. To fill the in gaps, get Netflix for streaming as much as possible, and get the two DVD at a time package for what you can't stream for $12 or $13 a month. You are now up to $20 a month, and have access to most things current (Hulu) and everything before (Netflix). Certain channels like Spike and Comedy Central only show stuff through their own websites. southparkstudios.com is a great time waster. Throw in WinX DVD ripper for what you get in the mail from netflix to speed up turn around plus a giant hard drive, and you are set for pretty much anything at a much lower price. I spent about $400 on a computer with a triple core AMD processor and a 2TB hard drive, and I can watch netflix while ripping DVD's. My old cable bill was $150, so needless to say it paid for itself in a couple of months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs.cos Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 We just bought a Panasonic Viera with Viera Cast. Currently, it has Pandora, Youtube, netflix, and a few other things we dont use. I love it. I hope that Hulu eventually becomes part of Viera Cast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unfunnyryan Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 I have a HTPC running Boxee. Free software that does it all. Even pulls info from IMDB for movies/tv shows you've downloaded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaSSon Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 Google TV sucks. I'm sure it will get better later, but it sucks for now. The hardware is underpowered and everything that basically isn't YouTube or Netflix has been blocked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractor Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 ah nice, then I won't look much further into google TV. Though I read that they are supposed to be releasing open source for their programs by summer. Don't know what that will change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87GT Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 I've tried Boxee before on a $60 apple tv that was rooted. It was only 720p but if you buy another video card and install it you can get 1080. Boxee was ok at best. Most of the videos wouldn't stream right and skipped. Some didn't play at all. That could be the hardware or it could be the server the video was streaming from. I will say installing XBMC and watching files off the device was almost perfect. You can even install a USB NAS and play files off that. That is my best option to go if you already use newsgroups for your entertainment needs. FYI my modded xbox one running XBMC is the cheapest option if you download a lot. No need for a "media center" if you have extra time for moving files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRed05 Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 My Samsung TV has Samsung apps on it, so it has facebook, yahoo, google maps, youtube, hulu, netflix and whatever else there is available for download. It's not much different than Google TV, but google tv is going to be the the big one. It ties into Android, Android developers are encouraged to develop for google tv as well, and there is already an app from Logitech that lets you use your phone as a google tv remote. Samsung is actually switching from their internet tv over to having GoogleTV pre-installed. If you want to go this route, go google tv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally Pat Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 Netflix, Hulu, and the sites for all the networks are pretty much all you need now. I am considering dumping cable myself, I pay for a DVR that I never watch. Netflix also just introduced an Instant Only plan that is $8 a month, instead of the $10 it was for the Instant + 1 disk. Not to mention the quality online only content on places like Revision3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copperhead Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 and there is already an app from Logitech that lets you use your phone as a google tv remote. Boxee already has that, I've seen stuff to use your phone as a generic mouse but haven't messed with it, and a Boxee box comes with a pretty good looking remote that is a simple remote on one side and keyboard on the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRed05 Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 I've never heard of boxee. This kind of compares them all. http://www.lcdtv.net/news/internet-tv-market-crowding-112210 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rally Pat Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 I've never heard of boxee. This kind of compares them all. http://www.lcdtv.net/news/internet-tv-market-crowding-112210 Not sure if serious.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copperhead Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 http://www.boxee.tv/ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127319&Tpk=boxee%20box A boxee box is very comparable to google tv or that mac thing for ease of use. I might consider one for the bedroom, but I still prefer a full on HTPC for my main tv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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