Shoot your TV!

[roadtrip se]

With all of the political noise out here, I thought I would try and grab folk's attention with a catchy title.

But seriously, I am about to can Comcast HD TV. We watch news on it and enjoy our Netflix subscription the rest of the time. The news can be found in less biased format on the Web, maybe not here but elsewhere, and the cable service is stupid expensive.

So I just ordered the Roku streaming video device to get us more Netflix content, besides the three DVD plan we are on now.

Anybody have any real world experience with this service or others?

[Lenny]

I am jealous of "your" HD Satelite signal. Seems Comcast, Direct TV and a host of others ACTUALLY broadcast their HD signal at a rate of 1080P. (progressive) Most here in Canada sell you an HD signal which is actually 720I (interlaced) :( Be it Satelite, Cable or GPON.

:(

[penbroke]

I have done the Netflix stream to your PC and hooked the laptop up to the LCD TV and it works great with a wired connection. It is a bit cumbersome that way but the wireless is not fast/reliable enough. I have heard that some of the higher end BluRay players can do the streaming bit have not looked into it.

I have been considering the Roku device for this as well and would love to hear how it works out for ya.


Frank

[VetteLT193]

I am jealous of "your" HD Satelite signal. Seems Comcast, Direct TV and a host of others ACTUALLY broadcast their HD signal at a rate of 1080P. (progressive) Most here in Canada sell you an HD signal which is actually 720I (interlaced) :( Be it Satelite, Cable or GPON.

:(

no one that I know of broadcasts in 1080P, except limited offerings from Dish network of BluRay movies.

In the US, the broadcasts are based on the network and the filming.
The Fox umbrella and Disney umbrella are 720P
the rest are pretty much 1080i including the NBC umbrella, CBS umbrella, and Discovery umbrella.

Comcast actually jacks the signal most of the time and converts some of the 720P stuff to 1080i. I have no idea why because it doesn't look as good converting/re-converting. They do leave ESPN alone.

[HOWARD O]

I think my dishnetwork's best is 1080i, but you can order some stuff in 1080p. But golly, it's beautiful.

Ya know, everyone told me that I'd lose signal all the time when it rained, heavy winds, etc. Well, last night we had a t-storm to beat the band. We had a close lightning strike that knocked off everything for a split second. Turns out my next door neighbor suffered some electrical damage. Scared the bejeessees outta me, thought I saw it go through the living room!

Anyway, short of that split second, we haven't lost a signal in 6 months! Must have had a good installer!

[Ghost]

I think my dishnetwork's best is 1080i, but you can order some stuff in 1080p. But golly, it's beautiful.

Ya know, everyone told me that I'd lose signal all the time when it rained, heavy winds, etc. Well, last night we had a t-storm to beat the band. We had a close lightning strike that knocked off everything for a split second. Turns out my next door neighbor suffered some electrical damage. Scared the bejeessees outta me, thought I saw it go through the living room!

Anyway, short of that split second, we haven't lost a signal in 6 months! Must have had a good installer!

Sounds great. I've seen our Comcast go out plenty in rain and thunderstorms.

[zelatore]

The news can be found in less biased format on the Web, maybe not here but elsewhere,

Are you trying to suggest that the board members here are biased?

I knew you were a tree-hugging liberal all along....Why don't you move out here to CA with me and we can have some Tofu and save a whale or something. :wink:

[roadtrip se]

Are you trying to suggest that the board members here are biased?
I knew you were a tree-hugging liberal all along....Why don't you move out here to CA with me and we can have some Tofu and save a whale or something. :wink:

but I'd be up for a little sushi, preferably not whale blubber! See my tag line....:pimp::yes::wink:

Okay, anybody else on video streaming?

Ours streaming device shows up first part of the week and I am pumped to try it.

Last night, I did throw a little "Stop Making Sense" up on the PC monitor and the quality was awesome. Hope it is the same with the ROKU.

[roadtrip se]

It's a winner.

Works great on my cable modem and DSL, at speeds of less than 1.5M.
Of course, the pic quality is better with the more broadband that you have available.

The device was $99 and you can sign up for a package from Netflix at a minimum of $8.99 and get DVDs and unlimited streaming.

I might start watching TV again!

[Marlin275]

Anybody have any real world experience with this service or others?

We have Netflix and it is a great service
this is the killer web application

I can see 12,000 movies On Demand on my 1080 computer screen
or on our TV with just Xbox 360
They were rated #1 by Consumer Reports

[penbroke]

Thanks for the update! I was wondering how you were making out.

Is the device propritary to Netflix or can it stream from other sources?


Frank
My long Cat6 cable should be here today...

[Craig S]

Shoot your TV!

No TV for me.

[mjw930]

I guess I'm the odd man out on this thread. We canceled our Netflix subscription last fall and purchased an Apple TV box and we love it.

Not only do we have instant access to HD movies but I've ripped and stored my entire DVD collection as well as digital movies from the camcorder.

Add to that, syncing to my entire music collection from itunes on multiple systems throughout the house we're able to view or listen to everything through the entertainment center so easily that my wife never has to ask me how to get something to play.

The Netflix streaming really only became viable AFTER we bought the Apple TV and were' so happy with it I have no reason to migrate. I will say that the Netflix library is more extensive than itunes but they are catching up.

[Patti]

We do subscribe to Netflix for movies...we just got a new puter so we've subscribed from Netflix (which we plan on keeping)..we're getting rid of our Sprint PCS card since two computers need a router.....we're going with DMCI next week!

[Trueser]

We do subscribe to Netflix for movies...we just got a new puter so we've subscribed from Netflix (which we plan on keeping)..we're getting rid of our Sprint PCS card since two computers need a router.....we're going with DMCI next week!

Linksys makes a router that takes a G3 card.

[roadtrip se]

I guess I'm the odd man out on this thread. We canceled our Netflix subscription last fall and purchased an Apple TV box and we love it.
Not only do we have instant access to HD movies but I've ripped and stored my entire DVD collection as well as digital movies from the camcorder.
Add to that, syncing to my entire music collection from itunes on multiple systems throughout the house we're able to view or listen to everything through the entertainment center so easily that my wife never has to ask me how to get something to play.
The Netflix streaming really only became viable AFTER we bought the Apple TV and were' so happy with it I have no reason to migrate. I will say that the Netflix library is more extensive than itunes but they are catching up.

ROKU is supposed to be working on other sources of programming, rumored Amazon is next, but with 20K titles, I am okay with waiting.

While I like the concept of Apple TV, I am not a big fan of their pay-by-the-drink subscription model. I am looking at this service as an alternative to cable or satellite, so the cost is very appealing to me. As for HD, the programming is very high resolution, better than most DVDs, and I can always request Blueray DVDs, if I really want the good stuff. Best of both worlds.