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Streaming Devices: Which are good & any BF deals?

gatorburg

By gatorburg
in 2015

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laddhorn

laddhorn

Posted
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I am considering the Compu-sticks that have been recently released.  They are full-blown windows computers about the size of a USB flash drive that plug into an HDMI port.  They run full windows 8.1 or Windows 10 and cost between $100 and $150.  They will be replacing my media centers as they can be fully hidden.  They also have a USB port and some support extra flash memory (such as SD cards), they contain wifi and bluetooth.  A wireless keyboard/mouse combo will turn any TV into a full computer, allowing me to stream any content without restrictions. 

 

I am also looking into the Kodi sticks, but I think I want more functionality.

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Khobbs1

Khobbs1

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Whats the consensus best Kodi sports (NFL live games) option?

 

in my opinion, i think sports devil on kodi is one of most reliable sources. i've looked at several options and seem to return to sports devil for most of my live sporting events.

 

i have kodi installed on fire tv stick, raspberry pi 2, windows laptop and android phone.  my understanding, is you must root an apple tv to install kodi.  i simply downloaded and installed on windows laptop, my android phone and side loaded to fire tv stick.

 

for the money($19, prime member purchase), i like the fire stick the best.

Edited by Khobbs1
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racerfan

racerfan

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Does any one have Sling TV? Looking for reviews. Looks affordable but we'd have to upgrade our Roku box. Ours is one of the first models they had. I think I remember seeing them on Black Friday for a good price before.

 

https://www.sling.com/new-home-page

we have a sling box and it worked great when my Husband worked and stayed in NYC  He has not used it in a while since he has not been staying in NYC in a while

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kanaida03

kanaida03

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Now that Apple and Amazon have rolled out their 2015 streamers, what do people think? I think Amazon killed Apple in this round.

The new Apple TV is going to be a game changer, not for the fact that they improved the interface, the voice control, or added gaming and AppStore. Rather the current and future content deals they are preparing to deliver.

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racerfan

racerfan

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Sling box and Sling TV are two different things.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

OK I am totally confused.  Just asked hubby and he says we have both.  I guess he did the sling TV I was the one who got him the sling box.  What exactly is Sling TV.  Not going to ask him to explain it could take hours. LOL

 

I would love to totally get rid of Cable but what I am worried about is that our internet will get higher with the extra charges for streaming.  

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shopping4my3son

shopping4my3son

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OK I am totally confused.  Just asked hubby and he says we have both.  I guess he did the sling TV I was the one who got him the sling box.  What exactly is Sling TV.  Not going to ask him to explain it could take hours. LOL

 

I would love to totally get rid of Cable but what I am worried about is that our internet will get higher with the extra charges for streaming.  

https://www.sling.com/new

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Kanyon71

Kanyon71

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I think Apple is playing a lot of catch up right now. They should have added the app store YEARS ago. Going to be some decent features on it but nothing no one else has right now. I will most likely check it out at some point just because I love tech but I will wait until they come to the conclusion that the price is too high just as they did before.

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Pnambic

Pnambic

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...Rather the current and future content deals they are preparing to deliver.

 

+1

 

Content is king.

Content won the VHS vs Betamax war

Content won the BluRay vs HDDVD war (Sony learned their lesson well with the Beta failure)

NFL ticket (content) has kept DirecTV afloat for a decade or more now

Content put Netflix on the map - we'll see where their new content direction takes them...

Content has been the battleground between Prime and Netflix

 

There are just SO many players in content these days, its a tough place to compete.  There are so many content owners/creators out there.  But if ANYONE has the reserves to buy up the content, it IS Apple.

But I just don't understand why Apple hasn't moved on this sooner.  They've had the capability and the technology to do it for a long time - just seems like they don't really have the interest.

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len_mullen

len_mullen

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Content won the VHS vs Betamax war

Content won the BluRay vs HDDVD war (Sony learned their lesson well with the Beta failure)

 

Lore has it that Sony lost the beta/vhs war because it would not license the tech to the adult entertainment industry.  JVC accommodated and the rest, as they say, is history.  Sony was less rigid (sorry) when blu-ray came (sorry again) out, but their policy continues to prohibit manufacture of adult BDs.

 

BD won because the PS3 came with and the XBOX did not come with HDDV.  The PS3 was a reasonably priced BD player that also played games.

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Khobbs1

Khobbs1

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Interested in more info on Amazon Firestick & Kodi...  Anyone have experience?

I have kodi on firestick, raspberry pi 2, windows laptop and phone.  i like the firestick the best.  apple tv must be rooted to install kodi. the firestick seems to work best with "normal" remotes, it has better integration with native apps.  for sources i use phoenix and sports devil.

 

i did side load kodi to the firestick, but it was pretty painless.

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Pnambic

Pnambic

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Lore has it that Sony lost the beta/vhs war because it would not license the tech to the adult entertainment industry.  JVC accommodated and the rest, as they say, is history.  Sony was less rigid (sorry) when blu-ray came (sorry again) out, but their policy continues to prohibit manufacture of adult BDs.

 

BD won because the PS3 came with and the XBOX did not come with HDDV.  The PS3 was a reasonably priced BD player that also played games.

 

I've heard that same lore.  HAHAHA  I wonder if it's true. 

But I think what broke HDDVD is that in the intervening years between Beta and BluRay, Sony accumulated one of if not the largest libraries of movie media (Sony Pictures).  And they flatly refused to release any of it on HDDVD.  Once they convinced Disney and Warner Brothers to do the same, game over.

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Khobbs1

Khobbs1

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Interested in more info on Amazon Firestick & Kodi...  Anyone have experience?

 

i have used firestick and kodi, i side loaded kodi, pretty simple, here's a link to a youtube video for on installing kodi on firestick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-ZmAlfKUvI

 

I have used kodi on several different devices, but i seem to like the amazon fire stick the best.

 

I would like to cut the cord, but local live news, i.e. fox19, cbs, abc, etc. doesn't seem to be available in my area, ota is weak signal.  for me, navigating between channels is not the easiest thing to do.  for example, i have a remote that uses the "previous channel" and i haven't found a "good" method to do this with streaming devices.

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Spotted1

Spotted1

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Does any one have Sling TV? Looking for reviews. Looks affordable but we'd have to upgrade our Roku box. Ours is one of the first models they had. I think I remember seeing them on Black Friday for a good price before.

 

https://www.sling.com/new-home-page

I use SlingTV and love it.  We were paying $130 a month for basic cable through our local co-op.  After getting a letter that they were raising our bill $13 more a month for local channels I got a little fed up with it. We haven an xbox one, and there's a SlingTV App. We signed up for the 30 day free trial (though these days its been knocked down to a 14 day trial) for Basic SlingTV lineup, HBO, and Kids Extra. The total was ~$45 a month. After the trial we dropped HBO and just kept kids extra. Our current bill for SlingTV is ~$26 a month after tax. It has all the channels we watch regularly (HGTV, Food Network, AMC, CNN, Disney Jr)  streaming live with On Demand content to boot.  We got an inexpensive antenna ($30) so we can pick up local channels and the CW.  

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rockpzazz

rockpzazz

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I'm hoping to find a good deal on a Roku this year,  I have gotten a few gift cards built up through Amazon and hope it covers most of it.  I've also built up some cash through Walmart's Savings Catcher so whichever I can find a better deal on I'd like to get. 

 

I hear the 2105 models of the Roku 1 and 3 are the same just with voice on 3 and a headphone jack, is that true? 

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len_mullen

len_mullen

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In 2015, Roku replaced the Roku 2 with a 2014 Roku 3 with an IR remote and the Roku 3 with a 2014 Roku 3 with a voice remote.  

 

Rumor has it a Roku 4 has passed through the FCC, so that should cause the others to be discounted.  Also, you can get Roku discounts if you subscribe to Sling TV. 

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len_mullen

len_mullen

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The Roku 4 was announced yesterday, so we know everything we need to know about streaming for the 2015 season.  I thought the recent launches were incremental -- no new products, nothing unexpected. 4k came faster than I expected. Prices jumped unexpectedly. What do you think about what is going on with the television 'set top box' arena?

 
Amazon Fire TV
FTV added 4k, Alexa support, and a hardware upgrade. Amazon abandoned optical out but added an sd card slot. In its first year, FTV's app count has surpassed Rokus. At $99.99, FTV is the least expensive streamer -- and game console. Kind of unrelated, but not really, Amazon put Prime on sale for $67 last month. 
 
Apple TV
Apple added Siri, an interesting remote, and an app store. Their new streamer sells for $149 and $199 -- ideal for price insensitive Apple enthusiasts, but more expensive than any other streamer.
 
Channel Master DVR+
Channel Master launched their Linear TV this summer and added an enhanced remote. The DVR+ is now two years old. 
 
Google Chromecast
AC wireless, better buffering, and some kind of audio feature which requires one Chromecast per speaker.
 
Mohu Channels
What ever happened to...
 
Roku
Roku added 4k, optical out, a remote finder, beefed up hardware, captive portal support, and AC wireless. And jacked the price 30%. This summer Roku added voice search.
 
Simple TV DVR
Simple TV DVR, we knew you well. After a difficult two tuner product launch, and a database crash, our friends at Real Simple Software have gone into hiding. The hardware is rarely seen in the wild. 
 
Tablo DVR
Tablo picked up the ball that Simple dropped, releasing two and four tuner DVRs to much fanfare. Their community and support are solid, but the product suffers a lot of the problems that doomed the Simple TV DVR. Regardless, Tablo updated their Roku app.
 
TiVo
TiVo announced their Bolt product. The Bolt supposedly targets new TiVo customers. It supports 4k and curated commercial skip. The price with 'All In' (aka Lifetime) will approach $1k! As far as I am concerned, the bigger news has been the $300 TiVo with Lifetime (still available on Amazon.com). TiVo added a Plex client this summer.
 
Did I miss anything? Are there any other players out there?
 
Assuming 4k is the theme this Christmas, people will be choosing among FTV, Roku, and Bolt. I don't think the Bolt is competitive, so most will be choosing between FTV and Roku. Objectively, Roku is going to have to work hard to overcome Amazon's advantages. Both products are available as part of Sling TV bundles (though I do not think Sling is a big deal right now), but Amazon will likely offer a Prime bundle and still offers more and better gaming options than any other under $100 device. FTV is significantly less expensive. Of course, all of the 4k sets will have 4k apps, right? And the Xbox and PS4 already support 4k streaming.
 
Who is going to buy a streaming product this fall, is it an upgrade or an addition, and what is the driver behind the sale?
Edited by len_mullen
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Bopeep

Bopeep

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Posted

Same here I love my fire sticks I have two and if they go on sale for Black Friday on amazon I will most likely buy a third.

I'm really hoping they go on sale. I plan to get one for my grandbabies' room, and another as a gift for my son. I love having the one in my living room.

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Khobbs1

Khobbs1

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I'm really hoping they go on sale. I plan to get one for my grandbabies' room, and another as a gift for my son. I love having the one in my living room.

 

same here, i have fire stick and works pretty well.  i'm thinking of getting another fire stick, if they are on sale.

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len_mullen

len_mullen

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Ok silly question and maybe I just have to read through the entire thread... Do they sell the fire stick with the annual membership for instant video included? And can you buy multiple fire sticks to connect to one account?

 

Prime is not included with any Fire TV device.  You can have many tablets, FTVs, and kindles associated with a single amazon account.

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