Television - Roku & Similar Devices

Discussion in 'Movies & Entertainment' started by Ken Anderson, Jan 22, 2015.

  1. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    That is a LOT of confusion about what to do, @Diane Lane ! Thankfully, we only have (or need) one television at our house. We have an older model Apple TV connected to it, so we can watch all of those channels that come with the Apple TV, which is similar to a Roku.
    Once we get an antenna, it will work with that TV, so we can get all of the local stations that we are now paying Comcast in order to receive.
    Since I seldom watch television, and we like totally different movies (for the most part); Bobby and I use our iPads instead of the TV.
    We only have it on when he is watching The Five on Fox News, and then when he watches those music/singing contestants programs.
    It is really stupid to pay $100 a month for nothing more than this.
    One of the issues we have is that if we disconnect the cable, then we lose the package deal, so the cost of internet goes up to $70 a month, which is almost as much as we were paying. For everything become the last increase. So, what we are doing right now is checking for cheaper Internet service, and Bobby is reading about the different antennas available ; so we can decide what we will replace the Comcast account with.

    We have talked about updating the Apple TV, since we can no longer receive YouTube with it (due to programming updates); but the new Apple TV has a big increase in price due to all of the new app features they have added to it. Instead, we are maybe going to get the Amazon Fire Stick, which would not only allow us to watch all of the programs that Apple TV has; but also the Amazon movies. Plus, it only cost $30+; so it is MUCH cheaper than a new Apple TV would be.
    However, since we so seldom use the television, this has not been a top priority for us.
     
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  2. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    Yes, if I cut off my television services, my cable bill will go up $20/month, due to 'unbundling' fees. I currently get my home phone services (VOIP) from Basic Talk, because they're cheaper than ATT. If I re-added that, I would avoid the unbundling fee, but the increased phone cost would about equal that fee. That's why I'm going to see what the basic (local channels) television plan costs, since that might be more productive, and would at least gain me the local channels, which I need, living in a hurricane zone. I'd also avoid having to purchase antennas if I went that route. It's all up on the air right now. There are only two options for internet here, ATT & Comcast. Of the two, ATT has proven to be better service for me, although it's been several years since I had Comcast, so perhaps their service has improved. I've considered getting Dish Network for a few channels, but I'm not sure it's worth bothering with, since I've never had them and am not familiar with whether they treat customers the same as the other two. DirecTV would be my only other option, and since they're now owned by ATT, I'm sure they have the same attitude.
     
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  3. Ruby Begonia

    Ruby Begonia Supreme Member
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    I am so glad I am DONE with cable companies... they are all robbers! I stopped Hulu, too, there just wasn't much difference between them, Netflix and Amazon. I also picked up OAN for 4.99 per month.

    PBS which I love, Youtube and many other channels are free.
     
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  4. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    So, do you just pay for internet @Ruby Begonia?

    Mine is all tied together and I don't know what to do about internet?
     
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  5. Ruby Begonia

    Ruby Begonia Supreme Member
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    Chrissy, I have free phone from an old friend who has me on his Friends & Family plan. My company pays my internet cost because its needed for job and I dumped cable. All I pay for is Netflix, Amazon & OAN (news)/// 23.00 a month. I know I am lucky.
     
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  6. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    Okay, and yes you are lucky. But deservingly so. :)

    I have to figure out my internet and a few other things.

    I need a financial planner for my widows benefits, lol.
     
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  7. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Search Results: Found 0 transmitters within 60 miles of 04462

    Be careful of your data usage because it can get very expensive, and some "unlimited data" plans only allow unlimited data when it's accessed through the phone itself, not through the hotspot.

    We are grandfathered into an actual unlimited data plan through Verizon, but they don't offer it anymore, nor have we been able to find another company that offers unlimited data.
     
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  8. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    I seem to connect with at least 10

    image.jpg

    If only I could get TBS that's all I would need.

    Thanks though, it's good to know that I can at least get all the local stations with an antenna.
     
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  9. Bonnie Thomas

    Bonnie Thomas Veteran Member
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    I don't mind getting TV with an antenna.. I've been doing that for a long time. It's free, and I get 45-50 channels at any given time - all the regular networks for sure. I don't feel like I'm missing anything.
    I'm just not a big TV watcher, or a fan of watching movies. I prefer the radio for music, or spending time reading, and I love my outdoor time. Probably in a colder area, I might feel differently.
     
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  10. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Bobby researched antennas , and he found one that reaches a 160 mile radius, and can be fine tuned with an infrared controller.
    I checked the www.antennapoint.com listings for both Birmingham and Nashville, and we can probably also pick up some of the stations from there, and possibly even Memphis, or other areas around us.
    This antenna was only $37, so about $10 more than the one that reaches 80 miles, plus it rotates 360 degrees back and forth for fine-tuning.
    This might work for you as well, @Ken Anderson . You can check any cities that are within that distance from where you are located. I didn't know zip codes, so I just put in city names/states, and let it search that way.

    I asked Robin about using the hotspot on the phone, and she said that she has a lot of data on her plan; but doen't know if it has enough to use it for things like streaming movies; and I do not ever want to add to the cost of the phone that she gives me; so we will look for a different Internet connection alternative.
     
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  11. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    I agree. I'm throwing about $85 out the window just to watch Big Bang Theory on reruns.
     
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  12. Bonnie Thomas

    Bonnie Thomas Veteran Member
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    I fall asleep every night to their reruns on My20.:D ...
     
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    Last edited: Feb 13, 2016
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  13. Chrissy Cross

    Chrissy Cross Supreme Member
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    I don't think I can fall asleep with it playing in the background. :)
     
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  14. Diane Lane

    Diane Lane Veteran Member
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    I checked on the antenna site and most are ~ 30 miles away from here, which is what I expected. We're limited here in this area with regard to internet, just the two providers, and cell phones barely work. Many have trouble even with a cell booster, which is why (besides finances) I cut my cell service and stuck with home phone service. I still haven't gotten onto the ATT site to compare the lower level plans. The link the representative sent me was useless.
     
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  15. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    The new antenna arrived from Amazon tonight, and Bobby connected it to the television , and then just set the antenna on the porch so we could see how well it picked up stations.
    With it just sitting there, we found 28 available stations ! !
    Some of them are ones that we have not heard of before, like "Create"; but they look like something that we would watch.
    One was showing a knitting tutorial, and other one had painting by an artist, and yet another one of the Create channels had something about spraypainting.
    There was a western channel called "Grit", and several that had old shows like "I Love Lucy", and Dick Van Dyke show. We found 2-3 religious channels, one that looked Hispanic, and one called "Bounce" that was maybe a black channel.
    Anyway, we are impressed ! Once Bobby actually puts it up on a higher place, we might get even more channels, and the tuner motor works great.
    By tomorrow , if the rain stops, then he should be able to put the antenna up properly.
    So, now, we can take the cable box back to Comcast and tell them to turn off the tv part. Most of those channels they charge us for, we never even look at ; so now we will have something that covers the channels we do like, and won't ever have to pay for watching them again. There was also several FM music stations that came in.
     
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