Need some recommendations for internet TV?

[lparsons21]

Bear,

Yeah, convenience has a value though it is hard to figure out an actual dollar value of it. And face it, cable/sat boxes are more convenient than streaming, as much as we are used to them as anything else. But having that consistent UI to deal with is easier than using various streaming apps, each with their own version of UI. Personally I think $10/month would make me not change. Anything over that and change is in the wind...

I won’t have the expense of streaming boxes as I already have a slew of various kinds. My personal preference is the AppleTV, but the others are fine too. One thing on the Roku and YTTV I’ve been reading is some complaints about lip sync issues with DVR/VOD shows.

In your case, make sure you check to see how many concurrent streams you’re allowed with the service you choose. Most have 3, but check first.

Finally, think of the savings annually. That $50/month is $600/year.


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[lparsons21]

Oh yeah, YouTube TV has a free 2 week trial offer now.


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[DaRef]

I changed to Hulu+Live (with the Enhanced DVR and Unlimited Streams options for just under $70/month) about three months ago and haven't looked back. there are some adjustments to be made for sure but none of them are that earth shattering. Concurrent streams may be an issue - YTTV only allows three streams and Hulu+Live by default only two. There is no way to purchase extra streams on YTTV but 'Unlimited' streams on Hulu allows unlimited streams in the home and three mobile outside the home at one time. You can have up to six profiles on each service, I believe. The main difference in programming is that YTTV has AMC channels and no Lifetime but Hulu has Lifetime but no AMC. The spousal unit likes Lifetime so the decision was pretty easy. She is just now learning about all the content available on Hulu so there is never any problem with something to watch.

 

[Zookster]

The main difference in programming is that YTTV has AMC channels and no Lifetime but Hulu has Lifetime but no AMC.

I would think an even bigger difference is Hulu + Live TV carries A&E and History, which YTTV doesn't. With that said, no AMC has always been a dealbreaker for me when it comes to Hulu, though I know regular Hulu carries some of the AMC/BBCA shows on demand.

 

[Radioguy41]

For me Amazon Prime gives me the goodies I want like Acorn and Britbox (plus free Amazon shipping) while yee olde antenna gives me a whopping 80 channels (rescanned last week). As for a house phone, if you have cellular service you might want to look into something called a ZTE Wireless Home Phone Base (if your service offers it). Essentially it's a cellular receiver box that ports your house phone number thru your cellular provider. We saved over $30 a month by switching to it. We've had it a year now and it works like a champ.

 

[Zookster]

For me Amazon Prime gives me the goodies I want like Acorn and Britbox (plus free Amazon shipping) while yee olde antenna gives me a whopping 80 channels (rescanned last week). As for a house phone, if you have cellular service you might want to look into something called a ZTE Wireless Home Phone Base (if your service offers it). Essentially it's a cellular receiver box that ports your house phone number thru your cellular provider. We saved over $30 a month by switching to it. We've had it a year now and it works like a champ.

There's also Ooma, Google Voice, and several other VoIP phone services that cost next to nothing for basic landline phone service. I pay ~$15/mo for Ooma, $5.00 being unavoidable FCC fees and charges, and $10/mo for their premium phone features I need for my home-based business.

 

[Radioguy41]

Yeah, that's what I pay for my ZTE Wireless Home Phone Base, $15 a month.

 

[harshness]

...$5.00 being unavoidable FCC fees and charges...

You have to watch those like a hawk. Many times they'll slip you a weenie in the form of a recovery fee that isn't gubmint mandated. I pay $0.48/month for 911 cost recovery (not to be confused with E911) and a $1.97/month general cost recovery fee (probably not gubmint mandated) for a total of $2.45/month. This is on top of a $48.95 quarterly phone service fee that includes another $7.10 in mysterious fees (E911 -- Oregon tax to improve 911 service, FUSF -- Federal Universal Service Fund, PUC Fee -- Oregon tax, FCC regulatory fee and a RSPF fee - Oregon tax for low income subsidy + support for those who can't use a conventional phone).

The whole wad ends up at $18.76/month.

 

[Bruce]

$35 for Magic Jack + $10 for 911 and other fees, so $45 per year.

The nice thing about it is I can take that number with us when we move from Michigan to Florida in a few months.


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[harshness]

Pretty much any VOIP service is portable (outside of those from cable companies where the hardware resides in their gateway).

Conventional SIP adapters don't demand a USB connection and software running on an always-on computer as the base Magic Jack does. You have to pop for the Magic Jack Plus (~$109) to get a standalone unit. Two port SIP adapters are available for under $37 (but they don't include phone service).

 

[Bruce]

Conventional SIP adapters don't demand a USB connection and software running on an always-on computer as the base Magic Jack does. You have to pop for the Magic Jack Plus (~$109) to get a standalone unit. Two port SIP adapters are available for under $37 (but they don't include phone service).

Ummm no, the stand alone unit cost $49.99 ( for the latest model)which includes the first year ( which is $10 less then I paid a few years ago), you hook it up to your router, the computer does not have to stay on at all.

View attachment 143366

VoIP Phone Service | Internet Home Phone Service Provider | magicJack

Enjoy uncompromised VoIP calling and say goodbye to phone bills with magicJack. Get free unlimited calling to the US & Canada and keep your same number!

www.magicjack.com

 

[harshness]

Ummm no, the stand alone unit cost $49.99 ( for the latest model)which includes the first year ( which is $10 less then I paid a few years ago, you hook it up to your router, the computer does not have to stay on at all.

My bad. I failed to keep up with the latest offering. It gets harder as technology progresses.

I would suggest that anyone contemplating a Magic Jack system read some of the many online reviews as well as those from review publications. Amazon customers rate the Magicjack Home device very highly while reviews of the service are all over the map.

 

[Bruce]

My bad. I failed to keep up with the latest offering. It gets harder as technology progresses.

I would suggest that anyone contemplating a Magic Jack system read some of the many online reviews as well as those from review publications. Amazon customers rate the Magicjack Home device very highly while reviews of the service are all over the map.

It has been just fine for us, no issues.

I would give it up but my wife demands a landline, at $35 a year not a big deal to keep her happy.

If I was paying what Comcast and the likes charge for a landline, I would fight it a lot harder to give it up.


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[Bear Paws]

Bear,

Yeah, convenience has a value though it is hard to figure out an actual dollar value of it. And face it, cable/sat boxes are more convenient than streaming, as much as we are used to them as anything else. But having that consistent UI to deal with is easier than using various streaming apps, each with their own version of UI. Personally I think $10/month would make me not change. Anything over that and change is in the wind...

I won’t have the expense of streaming boxes as I already have a slew of various kinds. My personal preference is the AppleTV, but the others are fine too. One thing on the Roku and YTTV I’ve been reading is some complaints about lip sync issues with DVR/VOD shows.

In your case, make sure you check to see how many concurrent streams you’re allowed with the service you choose. Most have 3, but check first.

Finally, think of the savings annually. That $50/month is $600/year.


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TNX.

 

[krynn]

i would call your cable company and see what kind of deal they have with the cable company. your HOA fees might already be paying for cable t.v. and you don't even know it and all you would have to do is goto the cable company and pick up the boxes... as the HOA has a bulk account with em.

 

[ncted]

YouTubeTV - good choice overall. Good channel selection IMO. Unlimited DVR is a big plus, but it is a bit different. Their DVR for series shows only allows for recording the series and mixes current recordings and VOD for previous episodes. You can skip ads with the stuff you record, but for the VOD stuff you can’t in almost all cases. It should be one to try a trial with to figure out the idiosyncrasies and see if they are off putting. Cost is $50.

Not sure what you mean by "Their DVR for series shows only allows for recording the series". What else would you use a series DVR for? Are you referring to the lack of a "new episodes only" option?

Also, the VOD behavior is similar to all the other VOD systems I've used in the past, where skipping commercials wasn't allowed. I have seen others complain about mixing of DVR and VOD content, but it seems pretty clear in the interfaces I use that DVR recordings and VOD releases are different things. When both are available, you get prompted to choose the recording or the VOD episode.

I know that different devices apparently have UI differences, so I am curious what you are using and in what ways it is confusing.

I actually found the Hulu UI more confusing in the way it combined recorded shows with on-demand shows when I tried it, and the trick-play for commercial skipping, especially for in-progress recordings seemed to have a hard time generating the thumbnail previews as I FF/RW.

 

[mwdxer1]

Bear,

Yeah, convenience has a value though it is hard to figure out an actual dollar value of it. And face it, cable/sat boxes are more convenient than streaming, as much as we are used to them as anything else. But having that consistent UI to deal with is easier than using various streaming apps, each with their own version of UI. Personally I think $10/month would make me not change. Anything over that and change is in the wind...

I won’t have the expense of streaming boxes as I already have a slew of various kinds. My personal preference is the AppleTV, but the others are fine too. One thing on the Roku and YTTV I’ve been reading is some complaints about lip sync issues with DVR/VOD shows.

In your case, make sure you check to see how many concurrent streams you’re allowed with the service you choose. Most have 3, but check first.

Finally, think of the savings annually. That $50/month is $600/year.



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For Cord Cutters, CordCutters.com is a great source to check out streaming packages. There is a link over there listing all of the major services and what they offer.

 

[lparsons21]

Not sure what you mean by "Their DVR for series shows only allows for recording the series". What else would you use a series DVR for? Are you referring to the lack of a "new episodes only" option?

Also, the VOD behavior is similar to all the other VOD systems I've used in the past, where skipping commercials wasn't allowed. I have seen others complain about mixing of DVR and VOD content, but it seems pretty clear in the interfaces I use that DVR recordings and VOD releases are different things. When both are available, you get prompted to choose the recording or the VOD episode.

I know that different devices apparently have UI differences, so I am curious what you are using and in what ways it is confusing.

I actually found the Hulu UI more confusing in the way it combined recorded shows with on-demand shows when I tried it, and the trick-play for commercial skipping, especially for in-progress recordings seemed to have a hard time generating the thumbnail previews as I FF/RW.

My descriptions were all from my early use, still hold true. And yes, the lack of ‘new episodes only’ is notably missing. As to intermixing recordings and VOD, well I don’t like it much, but can live with it. Once I figured out, or it was pointed out to me, how it all worked it wasn’t such an issue.

As to Hulu, well I never did a trial with it as it missing 2 of my must have channels. I did watch a few videos reviewing it which confirmed that even if it would fit what I want, I’d still hate the UI as I’ve always hated the Hulu UI.


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[harshness]

For Cord Cutters, CordCutters.com is a great source to check out streaming packages. There is a link over there listing all of the major services and what they offer.

Post #13 has a couple of easier ways to identify what services offer what channels. You build a list and it will tell you how to get there (or as close as possible).