"Hacking" the Roku

[BarbaraW]

has anyone tried the playon script for yourtvseries? I put it on today and it has all the AMC series, Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, The Killing, etc. Also every other series you can think of including premium ones. I don't know where this is from, but it is awesome. Found it in on the playonscripts.com site on this page, here is the link PlayOn Scripts :: Categories :: Television :: PlayOn Scripts and PlayOn Plugins

 

[BarbaraW]

Just tried the Mega Channel pack in then playon scripts and it has a live stream of AMC . Just sayin' . Playon does charge for a lifetime fee or yearly or monthly, but I think it's worth it. Got the lifetime for $59.99.

 

[Mike_H]

Been living with my Amazon Prime account so far. HD streaming has been pretty good. Finished off 4 seasons of Sons of Anarchy (paid for season 4), can't wait for it to start up season 5. Started up Lost. Have Damages in queue, as well as Rescue Me.

 

[Mike_H]

Added the plex media server yesterday when I found I wanted to watch some stuff I had on my pc on the big screen.

It worked pretty well. MKV HD videos to the Roku worked, the Plex media server did have the dual core cpu pegged for a while (multithreaded - nice). Didn't see any pauses watching two 1hr episodes of something I downloaded in HD.

Machine has Intel core 2 Duo cpus at 2.4Ghz.

 

[jsattv]

My first post in this forum. Just picked up a Roku 2 XS yesterday at Wallmart. I am in Canada wonder if mkvXstream works in Canada? Also Roku 2 is a great Box but would like it even better if I could access You Tube like WDTV does.

 

[PopcornNMore]

Just received a Roku XS for Christmas and have some questions about adding PlayOn:
1) Is it legal?
2) How is the picture quality?
3) A lifetime membership for only $40 sounds too good to be true. What are the chances of paying the lifetime fee and then having PlayOn be shutdown due to legal reasons?

 

[PopcornNMore]

Too good to be true. This thread just answered question number 2 (http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/289218-PlayOn-Video-Quality?highlight=playon).

 

[dwarren2]

There are a number of private channels that are not in the Roku store. Do a google search for private channels.
Here is a link to a good one
http://www.rokuprivatechannels.com/

 

[Blindowl1234]

Too good to be true. This thread just answered question number 2 (http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/289218-PlayOn-Video-Quality?highlight=playon).

Pocorn, The part on video quality I read. Some is better than others. I did get Playon last week and it will give you the ability to watch the free Hulu stuff without a Pc. Streamfree was another place with additional channels. I'm annoyed by the dead links on many private channels though. I won't go into details but there's a few illegal channels there too. I steer away from that myself.

 

[PopcornNMore]

Playon Questions:
1) If I purchase the $39 lifetime Playon and like it could I later purchase the DVR feature? I don't want to spend $59 for Playon and DVR without knowing how well this will work for our family.
2) Does Playon still come with a 14 day free trial just in case I say "this sucks"?

 

[Teehar]

Playon Questions:
1) If I purchase the $39 lifetime Playon and like it could I later purchase the DVR feature? I don't want to spend $59 for Playon and DVR without knowing how well this will work for our family.
2) Does Playon still come with a 14 day free trial just in case I say "this sucks"?

Pretty sure it does come with a free trial.Thought it used to be 30 days?I tried the free trial and there is no way I'd pay for it.The video quality is subpar and by finding private channels there isn't a whole lot that playon really offers extra.

 

[PopcornNMore]

Yesterday, I tested "Justintv" on the ROKU XS. Result: Impressed with blue GUI, but the video quality was terrible. Video quality looked very good using a computer, but the ROKU just couldn't cut it. Many of the "channels" on "justintv" (plus many others) are available in high quality on Internet TV + using an Optibox receiver.

Last night I installed a 14 day version of the Playon server software onto a new laptop running Windows 8, configured the channels and added several additional plugin channels as well. Since I'm home sick today I'll be testing Playon today to see if it's worth the $39 lifetime fee. I'll post my results.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Playon would be better if it streamed HD video in HD instead of downconverting it all to SD.

 

[Blindowl1234]

Scott, I agree and their SD at times is not that good. Popcorn, there's some ok stuff on some of the scripts for playon but since I got the $39 sub not sure if it was the right move. If they add more and Roku adds more it might be worth it.

 

[PopcornNMore]

I first tried using Playon using a new laptop having Windows 8. Every time the video started playing on ROKU the server app crashed. I believe this is a windows 8 issue, but had no time to troubleshoot. I then used a netbook having Windows XP which worked better, but the CPU is too slow and the Playon server app kept freezing the computer. I'll try again this weekend.

 

[PopcornNMore]

When I was in Target a few days ago I saw new streaming devices from Netgear, Sony and others. It looks like this is going to become very popular this year.

 

[Mike_H]

I'm not sure what all you get with Playon, but I know with the Plex channel, you can stream videos from youtube, vimeo, and various sites. There is also a hulu plug in for plex. And I have't paid a dollar for it, though there are more benefits if you subscribe.

 

[PopcornNMore]

Ok,got Plex media server installed on the pc.Scanned movie,picture,and music folders.Tuned in the Plex channel on the roku,it streams 720p great.You can adjust the stream settings via the roku remote,set it for 4Mbps 720p and Jurassic Park looks awesome!Music files and pictures also work great.It's a free app so if you have no other way to stream your files Plex is definitely worth a try.

I tried Plex today and I have to agree with you.

 

[PopcornNMore]

Currently there are 5,045 Movies and TV that are eligible for Amazon Prime members to get as part of membership (along with free 2 day shipping..etc..). For example, seasons 1 through 4 of Sons of Anarchy are available.

Below you can see a screen shot of all the TV networks that have stuff on Amazon Prime. It's not brand new, but it's not ancient either. CBS has the most, then Fox, ABC, FX, and at the tail, NBC with basically my name is earl, and Alf.

View attachment 79224

It looks like "Amazon Prime" provides all the "PlayOn" channels without needing a server app and a separate computer with probably better quality video.

 

[PopcornNMore]

Playon would be better if it streamed HD video in HD instead of downconverting it all to SD.

Is this a true statement? While home sick today I tested the Playon server app on multiple computers and got much better results. Some channels like "CBS" looked very good and I could swear it was HD.

I had the best results using a more powerful laptop and "wired" the Ethernet connection resulting in 100Mbps compared to a "wireless" 54Mbps connection. I also followed some of the other tips I found on the Playon website to get the best results. Out of all the channels the "WB" and "Batman" plugins worked the best. WB provides MANY full episodes of shows with multiple seasons like "The Flinstones", "Tom & Jerry", "Gilligan's Island", "The Jetsons", "The O.C." and many more. Every show played flawless.