Satellite/Cable TV alternative

[Binky]

Get a $40 HD antenna and hang it in your attic or on the wall. free TV.

[jimithing]

The thing about going with HULU, Prime, Fire, etc is that you can't get local sports that I'm aware of. If you're watching the cowboys once a week on Sunday it's ok except when they're on ESPN or the NFL network. But you'll almost never get to watch a Rangers or Mavs game. Anyone found a way around this?

[Buick355]

Amazon Prime is an annual fee IIRC. We have it. I got it free for a couple of years for being a student, but now we pay for it. It's good for renting movies. Also free 2day shipping on everything you buy that's Prime eligible.

I've got Netflix/Hulu/Amazon on the PS3 for the downstairs TV, and an Amazon Fire TV stick on the upstairs TV. For $39 the Amazon Fire stick is the way to go.

[BP]

Do you happen to know if you get the live TV content with the Amazon Fire TV? It says it has something like 1000 channels, but that looks a bit like an app like netflix. Might not be live... don't know how all this works just yet.

Fire is a set top box that gives you access to apps like Netflix and Hulu. An Xbox one or any kind of "smart" TV does basically the same thing. There is some live content through these apps as well as through Amazon owned twitch. For big networks though your best bet is an antenna and a DVR of some sort.

You buy the box and subscribe to the services. Movies and shows can be purchased or rented and with prime a lot are also free. Hulu has ad sponsored stuff thats free.

[bcoop]

The thing about going with HULU, Prime, Fire, etc is that you can't get local sports that I'm aware of. If you're watching the cowboys once a week on Sunday it's ok except when they're on ESPN or the NFL network. But you'll almost never get to watch a Rangers or Mavs game. Anyone found a way around this?

On Cowboys games, there is always a local broadcast when it's on NFL Network or ESPN. So the solution there would be an OTA antenna. OTA antenna will also net you the games broadcast locally through Channel 21, KTXA, or whatever it is.

or any kind of "smart" TV does basically the same thing.

Yes/no. I've found "smart TVs" or "smart DVD players" are shit when it comes to streaming. If the app isn't preloaded from mfr, you can't add it. At least, that has been my experience with a Samsung HTIB setup in our bedroom. It has Netflix and Hulu preloaded, but we can't add the Amazon app. So we had to buy a Roku for the bedroom.

What I want is a DVR so I can record the OTA stuff, but the only DVR not tied to a cable/sat provider I'm aware of is Tivo, and they charge a monthly fee to use.

[Gasser64]

Fire is a set top box that gives you access to apps like Netflix and Hulu. An Xbox one or any kind of "smart" TV does basically the same thing. There is some live content through these apps as well as through Amazon owned twitch. For big networks though your best bet is an antenna and a DVR of some sort.

You buy the box and subscribe to the services. Movies and shows can be purchased or rented and with prime a lot are also free. Hulu has ad sponsored stuff thats free.

Thanks. That clears it up. Probably getting one next week. Kick dish to the curb. Which i wouldnt do if they'd lower their prices to be competitive with these new types of things. We're looking at what.. maybe $50-$60 per month VS $140 for a decent dish package

[bcoop]

Thanks. That clears it up. Probably getting one next week. Kick dish to the curb. Which i wouldnt do if they'd lower their prices to be competitive with these new types of things. We're looking at what.. maybe $50-$60 per month VS $140 for a decent dish package

You're trying to compare apples to oranges.

[A_A_G]

So, with Amazon Fire is it a 1 time fee? I can't seem to find a "monthly" rate

If you want to use Amazon Prime on the fire tv/ fire stick, you'll have to pay the $99/year fee through Amazon. If you had an .edu email, you get it for $49/year though.

[Z06killinsbf]

If you want to use Amazon Prime on the fire tv/ fire stick, you'll have to pay the $99/year fee through Amazon. If you had an .edu email, you get it for $49/year though.

Thats good to know since I do in fact have a .edu email... hmm.

Now if I have 2 TV's I'd have to buy 2 seperate units correct? There's no piggy backing is there?

[A_A_G]

Thats good to know since I do in fact have a .edu email... hmm.

Now if I have 2 TV's I'd have to buy 2 seperate units correct? There's no piggy backing is there?

At the $49/year price, Amazon Prime is a steal imo. You get free 2 day shipping, streaming service, amazon prime music, and amazon photo.

Do you mean two different streaming devices like a roku, apple tv, fire tv/stick? The answer would be yes.

If you mean two different amazon prime accounts so you can stream more than one feed at a time, that is a good question, I've never tried it. Not sure how many streams you can have a one time per account (Netflix is 2 at a time for their cheapest monthly service).

[Chili]

Amazon fire TV seems pretty good. Probably getting that one myself.

We're happy with ours..

[Gasser64]

We're happy with ours..

Do you have to watch everything a year behind? Take netflix for example. Usually all the TV shows run about 1 year behind. At least that's my experience last time I was subscribed to it, which was about a year ago.

Or, are there subscriptions which you can choose, that will update the shows weekly? Perhaps that's what the live stream is for.

[BP]

Do you have to watch everything a year behind? Take netflix for example. Usually all the TV shows run about 1 year behind. At least that's my experience last time I was subscribed to it, which was about a year ago.

Or, are there subscriptions which you can choose, that will update the shows weekly? Perhaps that's what the live stream is for.

Both. You can watch the included content with Prime which in my opinion is very limited compared to Netflix but slightly different or you can buy individual episodes or an entire series a few days after they are broadbast. That's really where it's different, with Netflix you are limited to what they have but with Amazon you can buy whatever you want or watch what they include.

However Netflix has tons of exclusive content now and produces a lot of it themselves. You won't see House of Cards on any other service for a long time.

[bcoop]

Hulu also puts shows up the day after. Selection is limited however, to mostly the major networks. (aBC, Fox, NBc, etc). And there are also a lot more shows to watch on Hulu if you log in on a PC, that aren't available through the streaming devices like Roku.

[Chili]

Do you have to watch everything a year behind? Take netflix for example. Usually all the TV shows run about 1 year behind. At least that's my experience last time I was subscribed to it, which was about a year ago.

Or, are there subscriptions which you can choose, that will update the shows weekly? Perhaps that's what the live stream is for.

Well, we still have Dish, so don't rely on it for stuff currently on TV. It is mainly used for movies and binge watching older shows, especially those I missed when still in production. As mentioned below, one good aspect is that even if it's not available for free on Prime, you can buy virtually any content, and once you do it stays in your cloud. You can rent as well, and to me it works much better than Dish on Demand for that purpose.

Both. You can watch the included content with Prime which in my opinion is very limited compared to Netflix but slightly different or you can buy individual episodes or an entire series a few days after they are broadbast. That's really where it's different, with Netflix you are limited to what they have but with Amazon you can buy whatever you want or watch what they include.

However Netflix has tons of exclusive content now and produces a lot of it themselves. You won't see House of Cards on any other service for a long time.

Which, BTW, you can add the Netflix app to your Amazon TV (along with a bunch of other apps), and the navigation is still better than I am used to with the all-in-one BluRay players / PS3, etc.

Hulu also puts shows up the day after. Selection is limited however, to mostly the major networks. (aBC, Fox, NBc, etc). And there are also a lot more shows to watch on Hulu if you log in on a PC, that aren't available through the streaming devices like Roku.

They have Hulu too.

I will say, that I would probably not get Amazon Prime for the video streaming only. In fact, we had Prime for a couple years before even trying the streaming, mainly for the shopping / shipping benefits. But the Amazon Fire TV is a great little device, and we stream way more than we did before owning this. I am really close to pushing for us to ditch Dish and just use streaming services (and antenna for local TV).

It will be hard to give up the Hopper / DVR stuff with Dish.