Midpack
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Exactly. That's what I thought Caleb was alleging. Evidently Google and Amazon are?
Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) - 2021 version
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If you are technically savvy, Setting up KODI, with (Tracker?/Trackt?) and Real Debrid will allow you the full experience without commercials for under $5 a month. As my friend says, "38 minutes for an hour show" These two additional inexpensive services create a nice interface for KODI that keeps track of what shows you have watched and the seasons of all your choices.
Plus the cost of your internet.
Yes, it is a questionable from a legal stand for the producer. I have a friend that has used it for 10 years now. I had it set up for a few years, but my technical ability slowed me from making upgrades as time passed. But my friend has about a dozen of his friends using it. It is not that difficult to use, I just lost interest, I watch more Youtube than TV.
Plus the cost of your internet.
Yes, it is a questionable from a legal stand for the producer. I have a friend that has used it for 10 years now. I had it set up for a few years, but my technical ability slowed me from making upgrades as time passed. But my friend has about a dozen of his friends using it. It is not that difficult to use, I just lost interest, I watch more Youtube than TV.
Qs Laptop
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Yes, they are, according to the YouTube video that was posted.
Roku has been fairly conservative with homescreen ads so far. It's on the far right hand side and mostly just promotes video content on various apps. So a lot of people evidently don't even realize it's an ad.
Anyway, it's obvious from the TechHive story (and other sources) that they're about to get more aggressive. I'm not sure what is meant by an "immersive" ad. But my guess would be similar to what Google is already doing... a click-able ad, placed within the 3X3 matrix, which appears to be video content. That's my guess anyway. We'll see how this plays out.
Well the video refers to the ads for the platforms in general.
Also, I've noticed when I've left Roku sitting at the homescreen and it goes to screen saver, one video option moved across the screen slowly at a time. That's not when watching content.
And when pausing while watching some on-demand content, I've had an ad come up for something like dogfood with a picture and a QR code on the screen. That's not during an ad break but happens many times when pausing somewhere in the middle of watching the content.
They are slipping in more ads, and the article referenced indicates it's only going to get worse.
Probably 20 years ago, I used to joke around that sometime in the future, whenever watching something on TV, there will be ads constantly scrolling across the top and bottom of the screen.
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I couldn't give up having a DVR option for my antenna, either. I still use it more than streaming, so I use a PC based DVR with SageTV software, which is becoming obsolete.I’d be fine with using an antenna for local channels, but DW isn’t having it. I have hooked up an antenna and showed her how good it looks, but switching sources/inputs is a no go for her. She would also lose DVR local programming a further no go (TiVo isn’t an option for her). I’ve learned to pick my battles…
ncbill
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So I’m paying $77/mo for Hulu+Live, and people keep saying streaming isn’t a bargain anymore. We get more channels than we need, unlimited cloud DVR, no contract, and we can use any 2 of our 4 TVs simultaneously.
So I checked what Spectrum has to offer for TV at our home. It’s an understatement to call their pricing plans deceptive. The basic plan is $64.99/mo for 12 months, then $84.99. Includes Disney+ (I get Disney+ & ESPN+ included with Hulu). And there’s a $25.75 for local live channels. And $12.50/mo for a box. We’d want two, so that’s another $12.50/mo - I guess we’re out of luck with 2 TVs. And if we want DVR, that’s another $9.99/mo for 12 months, then $19.99. So $125.75/mo+tax for their basic plan, $155.75/mo+tax in year 2.
What a joke…
cheaper if you bundle...our Spectrum phone/internet/TV bundle costs a little over $200 monthly.
includes equipment charges for: one Spectrum cable box ($12.50/month), one CableCard ($6/month) for the Tivo.
tricky part will be if I can get a replacement CableCard end of this year, since my current Scientific Atlanta one will be affected by:
Time warp could cause millions of old 'PowerKEY' set-tops to go on the blink
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Thankfully, there is very little on broadcast TV that my DW cares about. We do like that Sling has the local Fox channel for our area, so if we ever want to watch the news for an important local event, usually weather related, we always have that. I imagine the free streaming local channels for news might have the same thing.
But if she did or ever does want the broadcast channels again, having an OTA DVR would be a must. We're 17-18 miles from the antenna farm, but we get the locals quite well with just about anything connected to the TV's antenna input.
I run an older Nvidia shield with Plex and an HD homerun. With a $200 plex lifetime membership you have an OTA DVR that is really good. I've been running this setup for about 10 years. I have a 2TB drive attached to the shield so I have lots of storage.
Local news, national news, Sunday morning news shows, and NFL football are my most common uses for broadcast TV, but sometimes I'll watch a bit of a talk show, a different sport, an unplanned viewing of some older show, or some special on PBS. I'm actually not into any current broadcast television series.
I could live with 15 Mbps. I don't have a 4K TV. There's a company here that offers 10 Mbps and 15 Mbps fiber for $40 and $50 monthly, but they don't serve my neighborhood, and for $56, I'm getting 75 Mbps (tests nearly 90 Mbps) through Comcast. I wish I at least had the option if that gap gets larger with Comcast's yearly price increases.
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Midpack
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Nope. Those prices were based on internet in the bundle too. Just showed TV price only since we’d have internet regardless of TV source.
I'm finally cutting the cord. Long overdue. I now have an option of fiber for Internet from AT&T. This is really good because my current Internet goes out on me too often. I need Internet that I can rely on for my Zoom meetings and other things.
So, the options are $55 per month for 300, $65 for 500, and $85 per month for 1 gig. I can lock in the price forever, so that's something I want to keep in mind when choosing the speed. Also, if I choose the 500, I get a $150 Visa card. If I choose the 1 gig, I get a $300 Visa card. Which should I choose?
So, then the question is what the best options are for tv shows. I do like getting the main networks and news channels, but I don't need anything else. I rarely watch the other cable news shows other than sometimes watching the Food Network and HGTV. I want something that's very user friendly, minimal number of remotes, and makes it easy to change channels. So, what would people recommend?
Also, I'm finally getting a new tv. Mine is very old and not smart and doesn't work with a universal remote. So, I'm buying a new tv. I assume that almost any tv being sold today will be fine for any streaming service. Am I wrong? Is there a particular kind of tv I should get?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
So, the options are $55 per month for 300, $65 for 500, and $85 per month for 1 gig. I can lock in the price forever, so that's something I want to keep in mind when choosing the speed. Also, if I choose the 500, I get a $150 Visa card. If I choose the 1 gig, I get a $300 Visa card. Which should I choose?
So, then the question is what the best options are for tv shows. I do like getting the main networks and news channels, but I don't need anything else. I rarely watch the other cable news shows other than sometimes watching the Food Network and HGTV. I want something that's very user friendly, minimal number of remotes, and makes it easy to change channels. So, what would people recommend?
Also, I'm finally getting a new tv. Mine is very old and not smart and doesn't work with a universal remote. So, I'm buying a new tv. I assume that almost any tv being sold today will be fine for any streaming service. Am I wrong? Is there a particular kind of tv I should get?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
I pay $55/mo for 15mb DSL in very rural Montana (no antenna TV available) and we can stream 2 HD devices at the same time with no issues. At our snow bird site in AZ, I put up an outside antenna and I pull in 78 channels. I also use a ROKU for streaming Netflix, Hulu, Paramount and Peacock. A new smart TV will most likely have all those apps available on the TV. If you are within about 30 miles straight line from a major city, I would try an outside antenna and see what you get.
Thanks. I live in an apartment, so that's probably not a great option for me.
How did you get that offer? I would love to lock in for $65/mo for the 500 Gbps service. We've been on 1 GB fiber with AT&T for five years. I have never seen this option.
New customer and auto-pay. Do you think that 500 gbps is the best option?
Some of those $15 window antennas work quite well for OTA TV depending on location and how obstructed you are.
RetiredAndLovingIt
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I pay $44.95 for my Frontier Fios 500 which includes the ONT and an Eero Mesh WiFi Router.
The downside was the Eero only had one port for an ethernet connection so I bought an unmanned switch on Amazon for $25 to handle my hardwired connections to my OBIHAI phone box, my office PC and my Ring Alarm. I also setup my new WIFI network with the same name and password as the old one and all my devices moved over to the new router automatically.
So far it's been great, no regrets.
Trooper
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I think you mean 500 Mbps, but 300 would be more than adequate for your requirements
Your new TV will support streaming, but if you want to make it future-proof AND have a decent interface, then hook up a Roku to an HDMI port. The Roku connects to your WiFi network.
$55/mo for 300 internet. You will recoup the $150 in 15 months. Philo ($25/mo) has Food Network, HGTV, BBC News and about 70 other live non-sports channels. If you don't need to watch the shows live, Discovery+ has Food Network and HGTV on-demand for $5/mo (ads) or $9 ad-free.
Check your location on Rabbitears.info to see if you can get the broadcast networks with an indoor antenna. If the entire row is highlighted in yellow or pink, it is VHF. Some cheap flat antennas do not get VHF well but the old style rabbit ears do, if you are in range. Feel free to post follow-up questions based on the results. Don't use the TV Fool website as it hasn't been updated in years.
For news, there are free apps you add to the smart TV (or streaming device) like Pluto TV, NewsOn, Haystack News, Zeam or Sling Freestream that carry 24 hour news streams from ABC, NBC, CBS, etc.
Qs Laptop
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Given you relatively light internet usage, at least for now, you would be OK with the 300 Mbps speed.
It sounds like you'll be watching 1080p definition TV and won't be watching much 4K high definition TV like Netflix, HBO Max or Apple TV. You want a simple remote and easy to use streaming system. You probably will be using an antenna for over-the-air content. Therefore, I recommend a TCL brand TV with the Roku streaming system built in. Roku is the simplest, easiest system out there for streaming and the remote is very simple. Also, with Roku system built into the TV itself, changing to your over-the-air antenna can be done easily with the Roku remote.
Something like this:
https://www.tcl.com/us/en/products/...65-class-4k-uhd-hdr-led-smart-roku-tv-65s450r
You could also go with a HiSense brand, like this one:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hisense-...V-HDR-R6-Series-65R6E4/771452270?athbdg=L1103
The size is important. Get the biggest TV for your viewing area. For example if you sit between 6 and 8 feet away you should be looking at a 65" TV, at a minimum. If you sit 8 to 10 feet away you would enjoy a 75" TV. NO ONE has ever said "I got too big a TV." LOL.
Yeah, HD streaming doesn't take that much bandwidth.
4K may take up to 25 Mbps per stream, but a little extra is good to help prevent buffering and for other internet activity that may be occurring at the same time. I have 75 Mbps (actually consistently tests near 90 Mbps), which has been more than enough for downloading plus streaming HD. I don't have a 4K TV, but I'm confident my bandwidth could deliver a good 4K stream.
I'm just under 50 miles from the major broadcast network station antennas, but I had to put up a large VHF antenna in my attic. Yeah, they are all VHF channels, which is not typical, but they are all handled by just two local broadcast networks. The only UHF I get is a much closer PBS station, which I can get with the same antenna.
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Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the options and am not very tech-savvy. So, I really appreciate the information.
There are obstruction and reception issues. I've talked to people in my apartment complex who have tried over the air with little success. So, I'm not going to do the over the air tv. I don't want a hundred channels, sports channels, etc. I want the basic networks. It would be nice to have access to the classic 24-hour news channels, though that's probably not essential. I don't need live Food Network or HGTV and would be fine watching it streaming. I get some of that stuff on my current streaming already. If I want more, it sounds like Discovery is a good option.
I forgot to mention it, but I do stream a lot already. I have or have had subscriptions - I tend to rotate based on what I am interested in - from Apple TV+, Max, Hulu, Netflix, and Prime. I use a Fire TV stick for that. It's a pain to go from regular tv to streaming on the old tv I have. I need three different remotes.
I am planning to get a 4k tv. They are relatively inexpensive right now, and it seems worth it, especially given how long I keep my tvs. I probably will move my current 30 inch, 13 year-old, non-smart tv to the bedroom.
I do want to be able to use one remote for everything if that is possible. I want it to be very user friendly. Is that only possible with Roku or can I do that with Fire TV?
I currently have problems with my wi-fi and have unstable Internet connections. It's a problem on Zoom and on Skype. Even when I'm just trying to stream audiobooks, I sometimes get problems. It's really annoying. So, if it costs me ten dollars more per month to avoid that, it's worth it to me.
As for size, 65 inches sounds very big for my little apartment living room, especially because I'm sometimes pretty close to my tv. (I do my physical therapy on the floor right in front of the tv.) But, maybe that just seems big because my current tv is so much smaller. I was thinking more like a 50 inch.
Qs Laptop
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If you are going to have a cable box tuner then you could use only one remote if you have Roku built into the TV. If you use a Roku device you plug into an HDMI port on a non-Roku TV, you will need to use your TV's remote to switch between the cable box and the Roku menu. I believe it is the same with a Fire stick--if you have a cable tuner box you will need to use your TV's remote to switch between cable and the Fire stick menu.
Then go for the 500 Mbps service. I'd rather have a bit of internet speed overkill than not. Plus 500 Mbps is a bit more futureproof.
Measure the distance you will be viewing from. Again, if you are going to be viewing the TV from 6 to 8 feet away a 65" would be ideal. I would at minimum get a 55" TV. If you're 9-12 feet away get a 75" or 77" TV. When I was shopping I got a couple large pieces of scrap cardboard and cut it to the size of a 65" and 77" screen, and set it in the spot where my TV would be located. I could instantly see I should get a 77" screen.
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