Apple TV

[Tank]

wife and daughter picked one up for me for Christmas. we got it hooked up this afternoon, which took a little more doing than anticipated, but it's working. we got the 4K model.

how do you use yours, i mean besides watching netflix and hulu? i have directv and wouldn't mind kicking them to the curb to save some money, if that's possible. @nate, i remember you saying something about buying MLB or the NHL network and stuff like that. 

[JAHV76]

You mentioned Netflix which has some very good series like Narcos and Ozark. We also use it for syncing iPad and IPhone devices with the TV to watch videos. You can also watch YouTube videos as well. 

[gotbeer]

The biggest issue you will have with MLB and NHL networks is the stupid blackouts of local teams.  But there are plenty of streaming services that would probably fit your needs.  I think one of them talked a lot on here was Playstation Vue.  The newer one that looks interesting is Youtube TV.  For $35 a month, you get your sports channels and some other channels like AMC, Sy Fy, Fx.  Also, getting a digital antenna so you get all the local channels is a way to go.  You get a clearer picture, and about 130 channels in the LA area.  Of course 120 of those channels are useless, but at least it's free.

[red321]

you can also play music from your phone through airplay to the apple tv. Our best speakers are hooked up to the receiver, so when we want better sound than computer speakers we use airplay to pipe the music through the apple tv.

 

If you have an iPhone you can also download the apple remote app (same thing for apple watch), which makes controlling the apple tv much easier than the remote they give you.

[Tank]

4 minutes ago, red321 said:

you can also play music from your phone through airplay to the apple tv. Our best speakers are hooked up to the receiver, so when we want better sound than computer speakers we use airplay to pipe the music through the apple tv.

 

If you have an iPhone you can also download the apple remote app (same thing for apple watch), which makes controlling the apple tv much easier than the remote they give you.

good idea about the music. we're looking forward to using it as well as the photo app.

[Tank]

5 hours ago, gotbeer said:

The biggest issue you will have with MLB and NHL networks is the stupid blackouts of local teams.  But there are plenty of streaming services that would probably fit your needs.  I think one of them talked a lot on here was Playstation Vue.  The newer one that looks interesting is Youtube TV.  For $35 a month, you get your sports channels and some other channels like AMC, Sy Fy, Fx.  Also, getting a digital antenna so you get all the local channels is a way to go.  You get a clearer picture, and about 130 channels in the LA area.  Of course 120 of those channels are useless, but at least it's free.

while i like the idea of a playstation vue, i'm not sure i want to invest that much money in a gaming system i'm not likely to use. i'll have to kick this idea around a while.

i'm interested in the youtube tv channel. my daughter hooked us up with her roommates' hulu account info, so we watched some stuff from it last night plus played around with youtube a bit just to see what it was like. and yes, because my daughter had the remote, we watched a couple of one direction videos. 

[Brandon]

you don't need a playstation unit, you can use your apple tv.

[nate]

11 hours ago, Tank said:

wife and daughter picked one up for me for Christmas. we got it hooked up this afternoon, which took a little more doing than anticipated, but it's working. we got the 4K model.

how do you use yours, i mean besides watching netflix and hulu? i have directv and wouldn't mind kicking them to the curb to save some money, if that's possible. @nate, i remember you saying something about buying MLB or the NHL network and stuff like that. 

Youtube TV and then you can do mlb.tv and nhl.tv yearly sub.  You download the apps for your apple tv.

There are three major online tv streamers right now, Youtube, Sling and PS Vue.  All 3 have something the other one doesn't so it is a matter of choosing the one you like the most.  Youtube is the only one with the four local major network channels.  It doesn't have NHL Network so you wouldn't get those games when the Kings play there.  I don't remember if the other two have them.  Best thing to do is compare the channels on all 3 and figure out if any of them work for you.

I am also not sure if Sling has an app for Apple TV.  I know Youtube and PS Vue do.

[ten ocho recon scout]

I got an apple tv for christmas a few years back, still in the box. I dont have an iphone, does that matter?

My contract with direct tv runs out next month, and id like to get rid of it. I already pay for amazon prime and netflix. Is it cheaper if i just pay for hbo, showtime etc through amazon, then stream it?

And if anyone has the hbo app (or other ones), how do you rate it? Is it basically the exact same programming, or is some missing?

[Tank]

2 hours ago, Brandon said:

you don't need a playstation unit, you can use your apple tv.

so how do you do that, through an app? and what's the price for PS Vue?

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I got an apple tv for christmas a few years back, still in the box. I dont have an iphone, does that matter?

My contract with direct tv runs out next month, and id like to get rid of it. I already pay for amazon prime and netflix. Is it cheaper if i just pay for hbo, showtime etc through amazon, then stream it?

And if anyone has the hbo app (or other ones), how do you rate it? Is it basically the exact same programming, or is some missing?

it'll be cheaper to run it through amazon. i think each app is only $12-$15 a month.

hbo go is dope. it's basically the same interface as netflix and whatever is on regular hbo will be there in on demand format. you can also access the entire library of hbo shows, so all their shows from sopranos to even viceland or whatever the new show is called will be there to be accessed.

[Brandon]

49 minutes ago, Tank said:

so how do you do that, through an app? and what's the price for PS Vue?

yes, through the app. my sister does it through roku premier (essentially apple tv, they are identical). there are a few different pricing tiers. all of them come with hbo for free, so i just picked the top tier plus showtime and it's $75 a month. i may even chop it down a bit because i notice i literally only watch sports on it and occasionally on demand a movie or show.

it's worth a look. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, Brandon said:

it'll be cheaper to run it through amazon. i think each app is only $12-$15 a month.

hbo go is dope. it's basically the same interface as netflix and whatever is on regular hbo will be there in on demand format. you can also access the entire library of hbo shows, so all their shows from sopranos to even viceland or whatever the new show is called will be there to be accessed.

Is it pretty much the same for movies? Like the library is large? I really only watch the movie channels, only change the tv away from them during baseball. So if i go to the movie channel apps, is it pretty much the case where I wont even notice i dont have cable anymore?

Or to put it another way, besides the on demand movies, is it almost like streaming whatever is on hbo?

[Chimi]

14 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Is it pretty much the same for movies? Like the library is large? I really only watch the movie channels, only change the tv away from them during baseball. So if i go to the movie channel apps, is it pretty much the case where I wont even notice i dont have cable anymore?

Or to put it another way, besides the on demand movies, is it almost like streaming whatever is on hbo?

HBO Now is HBO for people without cable.  It has everything that HBO offers.  The only difference is instead of buying HBO from a cable company, you buy it from HBO.  

[Brandon]

33 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Is it pretty much the same for movies? Like the library is large? I really only watch the movie channels, only change the tv away from them during baseball. So if i go to the movie channel apps, is it pretty much the case where I wont even notice i dont have cable anymore?

Or to put it another way, besides the on demand movies, is it almost like streaming whatever is on hbo?

yes, because whatever hbo is showing is what's on hbo go, as well. so the library is the same, shows are all the same, and when "regular" hbo updates so does hbo go.

it's basically the same hbo you have now, just with a library you get to select from opposed to watching it live and dvr'ing something or waiting for the show to appear and play.

one of the cool things is for shows you may follow, say game of thrones, you get it at the same time the east coast viewers do.

not only are you not missing out on anything, it's just better because you get to watch whatever you want when you want opposed to cable or streaming where you are at the mercy of their daily schedule.

[ten ocho recon scout]

I nees to seriously get on it. I need to upgrade my internet at home, whenever i try to stream anything it struggles. But that sounds perfect. Bonus points that i can watch from my phone, too. Can you download shows from it to a tablet?

I need to get off my ass and stop procrastinating.

[Chimi]

12 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I nees to seriously get on it. I need to upgrade my internet at home, whenever i try to stream anything it struggles. But that sounds perfect. Bonus points that i can watch from my phone, too. Can you download shows from it to a tablet?

I need to get off my ass and stop procrastinating.

Yes, you can download the HBO Now app on any device.  You cannot download shows for offline viewing however.  So you'd still need an internet connection.

[ten ocho recon scout]

55 minutes ago, Chimi said:

Yes, you can download the HBO Now app on any device.  You cannot download shows for offline viewing however.  So you'd still need an internet connection.

Dirtbags. I like to doenload movies for when I fly. 

Off topic, anyone know of a good program to transfer old dvds on to a computer in a small enough file to fit on a tablet? I have all these old movies that i dont really watch anyway. But id like to have them available if i ever travel. Only thing i can think of is to biy them off of amazon prime, but i dont really want to re buy them all over again.

[Jobu]

15 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Dirtbags. I like to doenload movies for when I fly. 

Off topic, anyone know of a good program to transfer old dvds on to a computer in a small enough file to fit on a tablet? I have all these old movies that i dont really watch anyway. But id like to have them available if i ever travel. Only thing i can think of is to biy them off of amazon prime, but i dont really want to re buy them all over again.

Handbrake. It's a bit technical but can do everything, and it's free. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

Ill check that out, thanks for the tip. Aside from the apple tv, i also bought myself a firestick or whatever about two years ago that i never opened. Is one better than the other?

[Jobu]

34 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Ill check that out, thanks for the tip. Aside from the apple tv, i also bought myself a firestick or whatever about two years ago that i never opened. Is one better than the other?

Apple TV is going to be a smoother experience, and if you're into iTunes shit, it's the only way. Fire TV Stick presents Amazon video real nice and runs all the major apps (except they are fighting with Google at the moment so no YouTube). 

Big advantage of the Fire Stick is that you can load Kodi on to it, and that's the gateway to all the "free cable" grey market stuff. Others here are more knowledgeable on that. 

[Tank]

we've been listening to music off of my computer this afternoon/evening. kind of nice, especially since i didn't have to do anything - it just showed up. the only things that i don't like are that it won't show my playlists and it only seems to list music i've purchased from iTunes, ignoring any CDs i've downloaded. any ways around that?

[Brandon]

3 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I nees to seriously get on it. I need to upgrade my internet at home, whenever i try to stream anything it struggles. But that sounds perfect. Bonus points that i can watch from my phone, too. Can you download shows from it to a tablet?

I need to get off my ass and stop procrastinating.

yes, that's exactly what I did on my last flight to Kansas City. I downloaded a full season of deadwood and watched it on my flights and at the airport. it downloads the same way as Netflix where you hit the button and save it. obviously there is no internet connection in the air, so this came in handy.

I watched narcos and deadwood on the flights just by downloading at home the night before.

for what you're looking to do this is a must.

[Brandon]

by the way, there is a difference between hbo go and hbo now....the later is just streaming only and is trash. att gave me directv now for free for awhile to try and it came with hbo for free, but I found out it was just hbo now which is just live streaming. I think they were working on dvr capabilities, but if it's the same price as regular hbo go just get that and watch and download at your own pace.

they say they are the same thing, but they aren't. they preach it as hbo now is the stand alone product like it's own app and for hbo go you need to already have hbo service (thus hbo go is free). I have playstation cue and hbo is free for me. I just type in my credentials into the hbo go app and have full access and can download shows to my tablet to take to work, flights, or just random spots.

I can stream at home, on my phone, on my tablet, on my work computer. it's pretty badass. most tablets are wifi only, but I used my phone as a hotspot before and ran streaming no problem as my iPad and iPhone synced with no issue automatically.

[ten ocho recon scout]

3 hours ago, calscuf said:

How many things do you have unopened in boxes at your place?

Just those two.

And condoms.

But those are just for show.

And maybe earthquakes.