So my montly cable bill is ridiculous and I've been looking at these stream boxes (roku, digi stream, sky stream etc), there's a bunch of them from different makes, but I've heard mixed reviews. My primary concern is being able to watch live tv (especially sports). Most of them say you can't but some say you can. The one's where you can, I've heard difference experiences. Some say its hard to find a good feed, some say its choppy, some say it works great. I talked about to a friend about this and he loves it, says he can find anything he wants to watch live in hd but the reviews online seem to be more mixed. Does anyone have any first hand experience with these things?
live sports -- goatdee.net do NOT click on anything that says "sign up". Just wait for the 15 seconds of buffering and click X to get rid of advertisements. Then enjoy, totally free. For movies and TV, I think Netflix and Hulu are both great. Anything else you want can be downloaded.
I'm asking specifically about these devices to watch tv with. It's not just for me but for family. Not everyone is computer savvy.
Gotcha. I don't know a lot about Roku or the others. I'd check youtube -- they usually have some reviews / comparisons. Sorry I couldn't be more help.
I don't have an answer, but I'd also love to be able to cut back on my cable bill. I already subscribe to Netflix and Hulu, and can easily stream them on my PS4. Between them, I'm pretty much covered on most of my shows. For the shows I watch that aren't on either service, I'd rather just download them and watch them on my laptop then be forced to tune in to the TV at a specific time and sit through commercials. I like to be able to watch stuff on my own time, and be able to pause, rewind, etc. If I really want to watch something on the TV (for example, a new episode of The Walking Dead comes out and I wanna watch it on a bigger screen than my laptop), I'd rather just wait till Monday to buy the episode on the PSN Store then watch it live on cable. Literally the only reason I have cable is to watch the NBA and NFL. I dream of a day where I can get rid of my cable service and instead pay $10/month to stream Laker games on my PS4 or phone through an official app that puts out reliable HD quality.
Interestingly, a friend of mind sent me a notification on FB today. He's part of Magic Stick for cable -- very similar to the Magic Jack that provided free phone service via the internet. I'll try to get more info and I'll post here.
I haven't had cable in years don't miss it at, and am a bit of a hobbyist when it comes to cord cutting. The reality is that once you cut cable you can gain access to most forms of entertainment for free or otherwise. The only thing you really sacrifice is live HD sports. Some basics. Legal Ways: Paid services:Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Sling TV(live cable channels that does have sports options) Free services: Crackle, OTA Antenna(news, primetime, and local HD sports) Antenna signals are crystal clear. Shady Ways: Kodi: Kodi is a perfectly legit media organizer. I use it to organize my local digital media, ie movies, musics and its fantastic. BUT you can also install third party addons that let you stream media(HD/HQ) think of it as a netflix of streaming nearly anything, and even live tv including sports(generally not HD). Maybe, just maybe i could give you more info through pm) Equipment: To stream you are going to need some equipment and internet . Obviously if you want broadcast tv, then you will the proper antenna for how far you are away from the towers you are. and you will need a box: PC: You can get anything from a small form factory box running window or Linux, or a super box that has a dvr built in and plays this gen games. can be expensive and paid services aren't as user friendly as their android cousins. Roku: If you don't care about Kodi, or other shady means, nor care about gaming, both new and emulators. Roku is the long standing KING of da stream. Best interface, quick menus, best around. Apple TV: Great if you have apple everything, new one looks promising but expensive. Android Boxes: FORGOT ONE: Nvidea Shield TV: this is the Cadillac of Android TV boxes, gigabit eithernet, 8 core, can nearly play this gen video games. BUT its 200$. Fire TV stick: Cheap and effective, really lacks the power of the big boys, which means more lag, and no games, and you have to work to get third party apps on. I personally hate the interface. I use one in my bedroom and it does what it needs to. Also lacks a ethernet plug which hurts streaming speeds, Fire TV: Big powerful and has a Ethernet port. Can emulate, can stream lots, and plenty of resources as its a popular device. But you have to deal with Amazons crap interface and its harder to get third party apps on board and on your main menu. Nexus Player: Easy to load, great interface, android always updated. Has no ethernet port. I use this in my living room and love it. the only thing that stinks is the lack of the ethernet port. Kodi is on android market Chinese Androind Boxes: some are great, some stink, usually come with Kodi prepacked. Raspberry PI: for about the same price as a android tv you can build a little RPi2 box that will run kodi flawlessly. But may or may not run above paid services. Please do not buy a kodi box, the people that sell them are hustlers who highly inflate prices. I will gladly help or point you in the direction if you are interested in this stuff.
I have a roku and have had any combo of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video and Ballstreams in there. Very easy to use, provides all I need
Roku and other streaming devices have a channel called Sling TV where you can get a few of the paid channels for about $20 a month. Popular ones too like ESPN, TNT, TBS, etc. Only catch is you can only watch on one device at a time. Another words if you have two Rokus, or multiple streaming devices, only one can be using Sling. Might look into it myself once my TV contract is up.
