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Nitr0
Aug 17, 2005

IT'S FREE REAL ESTATE
I'm just sick of the people that think this is the second coming of christ. Not to mention everything is so vague and terrible that it's just a free hype build for the company. It's a ufo on a stick! It's coming in 2020! It's gigabit! Latency is 1ms across the ocean! blah blah blah.

More people need to be critical of the martian man because a lot of this information is just fud. When other companies lie and give unrealistic expectations they're chastised, but the big E does it and he's revolutionary.

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Endless Mike
Aug 13, 2003



Starlink is just a make-work scam for SpaceX.

Proteus Jones
Feb 28, 2013



Endless Mike posted:

Starlink is just a make-work scam for SpaceX.

Now now, it can also be a scheme to block astronomers from seeing the shenanigans that will be going on with the Mars colony.

Bizarro Kanyon
Jan 3, 2007

Something Awful, so easy even a spaceman can do it!


Our bedroom Roku 4 got fried this morning by a power surge. It just goes to the loading screen and does that little song forever. Our tv is just fine (Vizio HD tv) but I must now figure out which of the new Roku's would be the best value for us. Unfortunately, I have not had to purchase just a roku for the last 4 years or so. What is the general consensus on the best bang for your buck device.

Our state is about to go on "shelter in place" so it will be used greatly over the next two or 3 weeks.

Warbird
May 23, 2012

America's Favorite Dumbass

I recently noticed that our Sony Android TV had the option to add Sling as a channel source, similar to Google Play Movies & TV and Haystack TV. It's been there for a few months now, but any time I try to add it in I get an error about the feature not being enabled. I've done some looking around, but haven't been able to phrase the query in such a way that google results aren't useless. Does anyone know anything about this?

Edit: Naturally I found this right after posting.

Warbird fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Mar 20, 2020

FCKGW
May 21, 2006

Bizarro Kanyon posted:

Our bedroom Roku 4 got fried this morning by a power surge. It just goes to the loading screen and does that little song forever. Our tv is just fine (Vizio HD tv) but I must now figure out which of the new Roku's would be the best value for us. Unfortunately, I have not had to purchase just a roku for the last 4 years or so. What is the general consensus on the best bang for your buck device.

Our state is about to go on "shelter in place" so it will be used greatly over the next two or 3 weeks.

Roku Streaming Stick+ probably best deal right now around $40. Amazon and Walmart are sold out atm, but Best Buy has it in stock
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/roku-streaming-stick-4k-streaming-media-player-with-voice-remote-with-tv-controls-black/5948005.p?skuId=5948005

Bizarro Kanyon
Jan 3, 2007

Something Awful, so easy even a spaceman can do it!


Thanks for that. I will definitely look to getting one of those.

Another question, I know with youtube tv that you can create a family sharing set up with 5 other family members (but you can only have 3 streams going at a time). My question is, can a person who is a part of the family group use their youtube tv log in to log into individual streaming apps (CNN, HGTV, Food Network, etc) or must they sign in with the family manager's account?

loquacius
Oct 21, 2008

I have a question about Amazon Prime Video and this seemed like an ok place to put it, let me know if otherwise

Basically, I have Prime shipping, but pay no money for it, because my mom got Amazon Prime when it was a brand-new thing, saw she could share the shipping benefits with me, and did it immediately, but she never did likewise with streaming video because she barely knows what that is now let alone several years ago.

I recently decided to look into whether I could have her set it up so that I also get streaming video through her account, but all of my search results are pointing to a feature called "Households," which are intended for people living in the same place, and basically you have access to all of each other's poo poo including credit cards and stuff, which is very much not what I was trying to set up with my mother.

My question is, does the thing my mom set up several years back, where my account is still a separate thing but gets her shipping benefits, not exist anymore, having been replaced entirely with Households? Did I just get grandfathered into a deal which couldn't be done with a fresh new Prime account? Is there a way to get me streaming video that doesn't involve me either paying Amazon a bunch of money or essentially telling them I am married to my mom?

WithoutTheFezOn
Aug 28, 2005
Oh no
The up-to-four people family sharing thing no longer exists.
When they cut it off, existing shares were grandfathered in, and are still active.
The only Prime benefit that was shared is the shipping. You never could have gotten free Prime streaming.

Not sure how you could game it.

Bizarro Kanyon
Jan 3, 2007

Something Awful, so easy even a spaceman can do it!


You could just ask her for her email and password to log in (or just send her the link and tv code like Roku does). I used my little brother’s prime account for a couple of years before we got our own account (he was weirded out by how my wife apparently watched You’ve Got Mail a poo poo ton)

ClassActionFursuit
Mar 15, 2006

Bizarro Kanyon posted:

You could just ask her for her email and password to log in (or just send her the link and tv code like Roku does). I used my little brother’s prime account for a couple of years before we got our own account (he was weirded out by how my wife apparently watched You’ve Got Mail a poo poo ton)

What is it with You've Got Mail? The dude lies about his identity as the person willfully destroying his love interest's livelihood and wives (at least yours and mine) eat that poo poo up.

Bizarro Kanyon
Jan 3, 2007

Something Awful, so easy even a spaceman can do it!


LastInLine posted:

What is it with You've Got Mail? The dude lies about his identity as the person willfully destroying his love interest's livelihood and wives (at least yours and mine) eat that poo poo up.

‘Tis the power of Tom Hanks.

loquacius
Oct 21, 2008

Bizarro Kanyon posted:

You could just ask her for her email and password to log in (or just send her the link and tv code like Roku does). I used my little brother’s prime account for a couple of years before we got our own account (he was weirded out by how my wife apparently watched You’ve Got Mail a poo poo ton)

This was the obvious choice in retrospect and I just did it

Was even able to pay her back with access to my Disney plus account :toot:

LastInLine posted:

What is it with You've Got Mail? The dude lies about his identity as the person willfully destroying his love interest's livelihood and wives (at least yours and mine) eat that poo poo up.

Romantic comedy characters are universally bad people and they get a pass on it for some reason

Every single person in Love Actually is horrible except the musician guy

otter
Jul 23, 2007

Ask me about my XCOM and controller collection

word.

loquacius posted:

Every single person in Love Actually is horrible except the musician guy

Rowan Atkinson's character was technically an angel, so +1
Also what about the author? He just got screwed over by his brother and his wife.+2

Minidust
Nov 4, 2009

Keep bustin'
Does YouTube TV have a decent track record of updating the app? I feel like there's a number of things that should be trivial to implement that could improve the experience drastically. I wanna like tweet at them and write stern reviews if there's any hope it would amount to something.


e:
vvvvv thx friend I'll have to check that out

Minidust fucked around with this message at 19:14 on Mar 26, 2020

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.


YoutubeTV's team is fairly active on the YoutubeTV subreddit. I don't know how much feedback they actually take, but they are pretty open with sharing info.

vandalism
Aug 4, 2003
My direct tv bill just went from like $90 a month up to $160 in January and I'm just now noticing the auto pay bullshit. I'm about to call them and tell em to suck my g d balls.

ClassActionFursuit
Mar 15, 2006

vandalism posted:

My direct tv bill just went from like $90 a month up to $160 in January and I'm just now noticing the auto pay bullshit. I'm about to call them and tell em to suck my g d balls.

I've never been a big TV watcher but when I cancelled DirecTV for YouTubeTV about half a year ago they'd obviously stopped giving any fucks whatsoever. "Throw your poo poo in a box and take it to a FedEx store" was pretty much the entirety of their retention pitch.

Three Olives
Apr 10, 2005

What if Hitler invented the BMW i3 Subcompact Electric car?

LastInLine posted:

I've never been a big TV watcher but when I cancelled DirecTV for YouTubeTV about half a year ago they'd obviously stopped giving any fucks whatsoever. "Throw your poo poo in a box and take it to a FedEx store" was pretty much the entirety of their retention pitch.

Same with AT&T U-Verse, I really avoiding switching because I didn't want to retrain my husband how to use the TVs and tried to get anything, like anything that would make the cost sane, like really, you are charging extra for HD?

The reply was a resounding go gently caress yourself, BTW, our policy has changed, we are keeping the money for the rest of the month that you don't have service hooked up.

Keyser_Soze
May 5, 2009

Pillbug
Same for DishTV when I cancelled last August. Immediately got transferred to some laid back rep in of all places, Colorado, who was just all "yeah, I totally understand...no problem we will send the mailing boxes for the equipment return."

YTTV+PhiloTV and the OTA antenna/HDHomeRun/ChannelsDVR is still working great for me..........EXCEPT when Xfinity internet went down last month from exactly 12noon Friday to Monday Morning. :argh:

I had to upgrade my Verizon account to Unlimited for a month and watch everything on my iPad once I burned through the stuff the OTA was recording. I knew this would eventually happen so I at least had a backup plan.

Keyser_Soze fucked around with this message at 01:27 on Mar 30, 2020

vandalism
Aug 4, 2003
My problem is I dont have hardwired internet. I have a 4g hotspot through at&t... I wonder how these digital services would work. We stream hulu and it's never had a problem. I'd still want news and stuff. I think we can get the big city news stuff if we had a good enough HD antenna.

Orvin
Sep 9, 2006




FCKGW posted:

Roku Streaming Stick+ probably best deal right now around $40. Amazon and Walmart are sold out atm, but Best Buy has it in stock
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/roku-streaming-stick-4k-streaming-media-player-with-voice-remote-with-tv-controls-black/5948005.p?skuId=5948005

Is this the best streaming stick in general, or just the best Roku device? I have a tv that is used for kids shows, and my PS4 has been dropping internet connection on WiFi. So I am looking for a stick for streaming. I am not opposed to Roku, as I do have a TCL Roku tv elsewhere in the house.

wandler20
Nov 13, 2002

How many Championships?

Orvin posted:

Is this the best streaming stick in general, or just the best Roku device? I have a tv that is used for kids shows, and my PS4 has been dropping internet connection on WiFi. So I am looking for a stick for streaming. I am not opposed to Roku, as I do have a TCL Roku tv elsewhere in the house.

They're really good. I put one in each of my kids rooms and they've been great. If you're used to Roku I'd grab one.

Orvin
Sep 9, 2006




While looking at Roku options, I saw that amazon had a code to get their 4K stick for half off. For $25, I am willing to take a chance on it. The Roku sticks were not going to be stocked until May, and Best Buy was looking to be delivered in a week or two.

The code was listed on the amazon page, but it was: 4KFIRETV
Enter the code at checkout.

Orvin fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Mar 31, 2020

Maneki Neko
Oct 27, 2000

Orvin posted:

While looking at Roku options, I saw that amazon had a code to get their 4K stick for half off. For $25, I am willing to take a chance on it. The Roku sticks were not going to be stocked until May, and Best Buy was looking to be delivered in a week or two.

The code was listed on the amazon page, but it was: 4KFIRETV
Enter the code at checkout.

I really enjoy the 4k fire tv sticks, I replaced a current gen apple tv 4k with one and am way happier.

Three Olives
Apr 10, 2005

What if Hitler invented the BMW i3 Subcompact Electric car?

Orvin posted:

While looking at Roku options, I saw that amazon had a code to get their 4K stick for half off. For $25, I am willing to take a chance on it. The Roku sticks were not going to be stocked until May, and Best Buy was looking to be delivered in a week or two.

The code was listed on the amazon page, but it was: 4KFIRETV
Enter the code at checkout.

Something to keep in mind is that Roku only supports HRD10, the Fire Stick 4k supports Dolby Vision.

This might not be a thing that matters to you but it is something to keep in mind if your TV supports it when you are looking at this price point.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug

Three Olives posted:

Something to keep in mind is that Roku only supports HRD10, the Fire Stick 4k supports Dolby Vision.

This might not be a thing that matters to you but it is something to keep in mind if your TV supports it when you are looking at this price point.


If you have a TV that A) supports Dolby Vision and B) Dolby Vision is actually worthwhile on i.e. one of the LG OLEDs and...not a lot else (the TCLs are the best DV budget option but they already have Roku 4k built in to them), then a cheap-o streaming stick probably isn't a great choice in any case IMHO.

FCKGW
May 21, 2006

I can’t stand Fire sticks and Amazons nonstop ads everywhere and have slowly been turned off Rokus advertising and data collection policies so I’ve just moved on to AppleTV everywhere now.

Anton Chigurh
Mar 18, 2008
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!

FCKGW posted:

I can’t stand Fire sticks and Amazons nonstop ads everywhere and have slowly been turned off Rokus advertising and data collection policies so I’ve just moved on to AppleTV everywhere now.

This guy truly gets it.

otter
Jul 23, 2007

Ask me about my XCOM and controller collection

word.

Maneki Neko posted:

I really enjoy the 4k fire tv sticks, I replaced a current gen apple tv 4k with one and am way happier.

So what you're saying is that you have an Apple TV 4k laying around...

Rastor
Jun 2, 2001

Ixian posted:

If you have a TV that A) supports Dolby Vision and B) Dolby Vision is actually worthwhile on i.e. one of the LG OLEDs and...not a lot else (the TCLs are the best DV budget option but they already have Roku 4k built in to them), then a cheap-o streaming stick probably isn't a great choice in any case IMHO.

The Fire TV Stick 4K gets sold for cheap, but it's not cheap-o. It's powerful hardware, Amazon is just taking a loss to gain market share.

Ixian
Oct 9, 2001

Many machines on Ix....new machines
Pillbug

FCKGW posted:

I can’t stand Fire sticks and Amazons nonstop ads everywhere and have slowly been turned off Rokus advertising and data collection policies so I’ve just moved on to AppleTV everywhere now.


Apple won't save you. Set up a Pi-hole on your local network, use one of the IOT/Smart device lists, and block all that poo poo for everything in your house. I haven't seen an ad on my Rokus in years. Blocks tracking scripts too. Disables all that poo poo for smart tvs, Amazon, etc. - anything that connects to your network in your house.

EL BROMANCE
Jun 10, 2006

COWABUNGA DUDES!
🥷🐢😬



Rastor posted:

The Fire TV Stick 4K gets sold for cheap, but it's not cheap-o. It's powerful hardware, Amazon is just taking a loss to gain market share.

Yeah I always recommend fs4k to people when they hit a $25 price point just for plex. You see one internal ad then you’re in your own software and it’s not an issue.

Keyser_Soze
May 5, 2009

Pillbug
I greatly prefer the ATV4K's but I also have a Nvidia Shield for the home office, and it's a great alternative if you hate Apple products. I also keep a Roku Premiere Ultra whatever down at my Ma's house for the guest bedroom and it's my least favorite and slowest of the bunch but I did grow to like its goofy remote with headphone jack.

I have a spare Fire TV HD from 2016 laying around too, I don't miss it.

FCKGW
May 21, 2006

Ixian posted:

Apple won't save you. Set up a Pi-hole on your local network, use one of the IOT/Smart device lists, and block all that poo poo for everything in your house. I haven't seen an ad on my Rokus in years. Blocks tracking scripts too. Disables all that poo poo for smart tvs, Amazon, etc. - anything that connects to your network in your house.

I already do but my point still stands, especially for people who don't want to go down that road.

I don't want to craft technical solutions to problems like this, I'd rather choose a product that doesn't do this in the first place.

Nairbo
Jan 2, 2005
Is the 2019 Shield as great as it seems for upscaling 720 and 1080 content? I’ve been using a 2015 Shield for my main TV in a while but I want either an ATV4K or 2019 Shield primarily for Dolby Vision and maybe to look my stuff on Plex look better

It would be with an LG C8. I’ve primarily been using my 2015 Shield for apps that aren’t on Web OS and using the TV’s interface for Plex and Netflix because the built in apps support DV, i would rather just stick with one app/source and never have to worry about my apps or OS not getting updated. Plus the Shield seems to direct play more stuff than the built in Plex app and the built in app doesn’t seem to do a terribly good job of upscaling.

If the Apple TV 4K upscales well I would consider that too, especially since I have an iPhone (no other Apple products and I have a Samsung phone as well for work). I hated the remote last time I used an Apple TV though and I think I prefer the UI of Android TV

Audio compatibility isn’t a terribly big concern, I’m using a basic 5.1 setup so DD+ and DTS are my only real concerns

Anyway, I guess the tl;dr is wondering if the Shield does a noticeably better job of upscaling than the built in Web OS app for Plex and Netflix. As expected, Reddit threads are all over the place

Nairbo fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Mar 31, 2020

bull3964
Nov 18, 2000

DO YOU HEAR THAT? THAT'S THE SOUND OF ME PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK.


Yes, the AI upscale is noticably better on content less than 4k.

Cornjob
Jun 12, 2007

NOT AN ACTOR
Everytime i tinker with streamers other than my appletv, Im dissapointed. I want to love the FTV4K stick, but i dont.

Context: I have lots of echo’s , and dont use macs, so loving the atv is a big leap for me

HycoCam
Jul 14, 2016

You should have backed Transverse!
Live in an area where most folks I know have DSL at best--and it is slow DSL. With the lockdowns and lack of entertainment options I've been setting up friends with 4TB external drives with enough content to get them through the coming months.

My question is: Is there anything better than the MiBox costing about the same?

I've been using MiBox's as the link between TV and external harddrive. Have used a few other options, like older WD devices, but the Android TV on MiBox is tough to beat. Load up Kodi and it is a great interface with decent response that anyone's mom can figure out. I know the Shield is better, but also 2x the cost. Just wondering if there is something better out there.

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tk
Dec 10, 2003

Nap Ghost

HycoCam posted:

Live in an area where most folks I know have DSL at best--and it is slow DSL. With the lockdowns and lack of entertainment options I've been setting up friends with 4TB external drives with enough content to get them through the coming months.

My question is: Is there anything better than the MiBox costing about the same?

I've been using MiBox's as the link between TV and external harddrive. Have used a few other options, like older WD devices, but the Android TV on MiBox is tough to beat. Load up Kodi and it is a great interface with decent response that anyone's mom can figure out. I know the Shield is better, but also 2x the cost. Just wondering if there is something better out there.

Honestly, even if there is something better out there, I would recommend sticking with what works and what you’ve already been giving to people. Presumably you’re also tech support for these things, and the fewer configurations you have to support the better for your sanity.

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