Buying a T.V and streaming service. Recommendations.

I have two older Samsung smart TVs, 55" in the living room and 43" in a bedroom. Their selection of streaming channels is quite limited. For example, they support Prime Video but not Prime Video's Freevee. So I'm experimenting with streaming boxes and my first is Google Chromecast. I started with that because it was on one of Google's regular sales. Chromecast basically wants to search every channel you have set to stream for title hits and "similar" recommendations, and the more you use their search the better it gets. That's not the only way to use Chromecast but you get a strong push in that direction. Google's search engine is better than Amazon's and Apple's, but I'm not a fan. If you have children who aren't computer nerds, they might like it.

I downloaded the Roku Channel app into the Chromecast and set it up, which took about 20 minutes. The app searches Roku Channel by title, actor and genre, and it works great for what it does. I searched for "SciFi TV series" and it brought up everything. Some series began with two-episode series introductions, and it brought those up as made-for-DVD movies. I've been watching Babylon 5 with four one-minute commercials back to back in the middle of each episode. Babylon 5 had 43 minute episodes for 15 commercial minutes per hour, so Roku is a step up from what I accepted back in the day.
 
I have Roku streaming devices and I love their system I got into their systems back when they were king of the smart TV realm as had the most compatibility with the various apps. They are still a great options but the competitors have caught up significantly in terms of compatibility and total "channel" offerings so it is mostly a flavor choice at this point.
 
Anybody use DirecTV Stream?

We moved 5 years ago and our current house only had ATT Uverse available, via copper. Earlier this year our neighborhood had fiber installed so we switched to it yesterday. I didn't understand why the upgrade only addressed internet then I found out that Uverse is going away and we would have to get a different streaming service. ATT offers their DirecTV Streaming which sounds like a cable package. Our installer categorized it as a "firestick device". On the surface it sounds reasonable mainly since it includes a cloud-based dvr service. Otherwise we might just cut the cord and use an antenna for local stations.

Back to the original question- we have been Netflix subscribers almost from the beginning of Netflix and we also have Amazon Prime. I've thought about investigating free content available through Tubi.
 
I have used and been happy with the free content from the following sources which all have thier own app on the Roku platform not sure about other device platforms.

Tubi, Plex*, Pluto, Roku Channel, & Freevee for general content
If you have a public library and are a member of it you can see if they offer with Hoopla** or Kanopy services at no additional cost
I enjoy anime sometimes so a specific option for some free anime is RetroCrush

*Plex is more than just free streaming content and that is actually secondary to its primary function. It does have some paid features but it should work for the free streaming content w/o any payments. I use it for the media hosting and have paid for the lifetime membership for added features such as parental controls.
**I have Hoopla through my library but have yet to use it due to the content often being on other services and mine is limited to so many "rentals" per month
 
PirateSeulb said:
I have used and been happy with the free content from the following sources which all have thier own app on the Roku platform not sure about other device platforms.

Tubi, Plex*, Pluto, Roku Channel, & Freevee for general content
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Hulu + LiveTV seems to be one of the best options. I haven't started any serious searching yet though.
 
We have a ~3 year old Samsung.

We get the Samsung TV channels, but in app and guessing 60 or so channels free.

The roku app I added via Samsung menu so we get the roku free tv channels but there is a lot of overlap with Samsung TV.

Walmart+ gives us paramount+ for no additional fee, sometimes we get lucky and something we want to to see is on there.

Amazon prime/prime TV, same deal but different movies. We watch almost zero non-movie series shows.

I ran Kodi on a firestick for a couple of years, but the builds just started being no go, so it wasn't worth doing. I think that mobdro got shut down too, it stopped working for me and that was that.

I spend a lot of my TV time on youtube now, so we tried yt tv. Not for us. I liked the baiting of All NHL Games" then scroll down to extra fine print 'additional charges, so that snake pit costs as much as basic dtv.

We have direct TV and have been customers for years. I am done though.
We pay $80 a month for the "poorhouse" package, and half of the channels are paid advertisements. Done done done.

I contacted antennaguy ( search, he is on yt) and he did a survey and recommended an otr antenna that should bring in a bunch of otr hd channels from Huntsville AL, about 4 miles away as the crow flies.

We live in a rural are and have no local channels so Huntsville or Chattanooga are it for us.

If you live near a larger city, like 20 mile or less, over the air is a good option, and after you buy your antenna and mount, it is free.

The antenna I bought is a televes databoss and it was $150, but if you live closer or in a city, you can buy less expensive units.

I apogize in advance for the wall of text, but this whole tv thing is very topical in my world right now.
 
mqqn said:
If you live near a larger city, like 20 mile or less, over the air is a good option, and after you buy your antenna and mount, it is free.
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Most of what we watch is from major networks and we could do ota but we are addicted to dvr use. I've tried connecting a small antenna to our TV, it didn't work well. I would probably have to mount a better antenna in the attic.
It's been 6 months since there was anything worthwhile on the major networks and new programming won't return for another 3 months so we could have done without cable for that period of time. I haven't looked into what it would cost to set up our own dvr.
 
They aren't that expensive especially compared to monthly fees.
I will probably go with an antennaman recommended model.

I think people really got scared of ota after the switch to digital in 2009, and I am sure the cable companies are not unhappy with that idea....

Here is a picture of the antenna I assembled yesterday. It is sitting on a queen bed for size reference. 20231114_171936.jpg
 
I'm not sure where the different antennas are in my area but I know a lot of them are in one area. I might or might not need something directional.
 
B bdmicarta



Free, and will show a very conservative view of channel capability for your exact location.

The result for my area shows less channels than I hope to receive with the antenna I am going to use.

Antennaman on youtube has a lot of good info as well.

I have no affiliation , I just found that fellow to be a good source of information.
 
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I haven't followed the entire thread, but some things I have learned and may be helpful. OTA with a good antenna can be very useful (Australia still has a lot more "free to air" than the US or Canada, even though things are spread out, so high gain antennas are common even in suburbs) Even if you are not in a great zone, once the signal is on the co-ax cable it's pretty solid, so don't limit yourself to a single rooftop.
Set reminders and calendar notices to cancel online subs, grab a sub for a couple months to watch a show you are interested in, then dump them and move on, and if all you want is a single show, ask your friend in sweden.
Plex is an interesting service, takes a bit of tech knowledge and knowing some folks, but a great way to get access to a lot of stuff, or if you want a curated selection for kids, a good way to do it for cheap.
Consider what you want to spend your money on, and use your existing skills. I know that for the directly IT people, it's pretty easy, but if you are not a tech person but want to get access to shows on the cheap, there is probably a tech person in your social circle that wants access to something that they cannot fit in their budget, but might be able to repay in kind. Fair and legal left the conversation a long time ago with the big providers, In fairness, don't do anything you are not comfortable with, but they are not hurting for cash to make content.
The main thing is that no service has loyalty to you, so don't have loyalty to them. The market and available services change fast, so if you are not looking at what you are paying for every couple of months, you are possibly missing out. I know it's a lot of work, but sadly, living cheap is a full time job.
 
Crag the Brewer said:
Get a smart tv, or at least a rocu box Idk if I spelled it correctly???

Some streaming channels are FREE.

Tubi is a free streaming channel.
It's Actually the most entertaining for movies. I love it.
I grew up in the 70/80's.....

Most of Tubi movies involve topless Large breasted stewardess getting murdered in some late-night murder mystery of of sorts.
Not many commercials

It's Perfect!


........if you are into That sort of thing.
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Another vote for Roku & using Tubi for movies etc. everything from old westerns to war movies
 
Oh, and a thing I forgot, don't spend money on the "smarts" of the smart TV, the actual display quality will last you far longer than what the apps and internal processor will do, and many of the streaming dongles are really cheap compared to a decently big TV. That just goes for everyone, sure you might need a bit of tech know-how to pick the right one, but even if you need to drop a few bucks for advice you will still be way ahead. Plus, the smarter the TV the more ads you will end up getting anyway, so might as well just get a decent one and use an external device.
 
I got a fancy smart TV but I got it for the picture and I have never setup or used any smart features on it I have a Roku device attached to it that does all the heavy lifting.
 
gadgetgeek said:
Oh, and a thing I forgot, don't spend money on the "smarts" of the smart TV, the actual display quality will last you far longer than what the apps and internal processor will do, and many of the streaming dongles are really cheap compared to a decently big TV. That just goes for everyone, sure you might need a bit of tech know-how to pick the right one, but even if you need to drop a few bucks for advice you will still be way ahead. Plus, the smarter the TV the more ads you will end up getting anyway, so might as well just get a decent one and use an external device.
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I bought an Amazon firestick half off on Black Friday to test with Tubi and such. They must have sold a lot of them because delivery was about 2 weeks out. My daughter uses the Google Chromecast. Reading reviews the 2 devices were either ranked the same or the Chromecast was ranked slightly ahead, but to me the Chromecast remote seemed really weird and hard to use. The firestick on sale was cheap enough that I could buy it for an experiment. Our main TV is a 5 year old smart TV. I haven't checked to see what apps it has besides Netflix and Prime that we use, and I'm curious if you can add apps to it.
 
It's a pain just buying a regular TV these days. You know what works great? Plug your laptop or whatever in to the TV through HDMI or display port. Instant smart TV. You can browse all the streaming services...

Oh but you want a remote, right? Yeah you could probably just buy a bluetooth remote and connect it to your laptop. You know what works even better? A cheap wireless keyboard with a built-in touchpad. You can do way more with it.

Smart TVs are garbage... they invade your privacy, you can't do a whole lot with them. A laptop or a PC is way more versatile and you can customize it and do as much with it as you want. I don't get why people waste money on "smart" devices.
 
Get fancy and there are dedicated programs to run on stand alone devices like raspberry pi and similar. The main thing I would caution is that you should have a good idea of your network security and be willing to play with it a bit. Most people go the simple/expensive route because either they do not know there are alternatives, or they don't have the skills/patience to use some of the more complex systems. Plex is pretty solid, but every once and a while it will crash, and it's not a simple "turn it off and on again" fix, sometimes. Most people just want stuff that works.
 
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