Advice about television options

07-27-2013 | self

[Rio]

Cable is 20th Century technology. Don’t bother. As others have said, streaming is the way to go these days. You get the content that you want on YOUR schedule.

[davandbar]

Ditto everything TomGuy said, plus: spend a one-time $50 charge on the Roku private channel called PlayOn http://www.playon.tv/

Along with the standard channels that PlayOn comes with, you can also add several private channels/scripts (most are free) and you will have all the programming you will ever need. http://www.playonscripts.com/

Here are the private channels I use most:
1channel (free) tv shows and movies
ProjectFreeTV (free) tv shows and movies
Superusvox (one-time $5) live cable tv
Vipbox (free) live sports

Playon only works in standard definition. You need a Roku player (or other streaming device) to send it to your tv and you need a newer computer and medium-speed internet. I have had it over a year, it’s the best deal out there!

[Utilizer]

I have been considering the Roku quite recently, but still have some questions concerning what is available through it; for instance, local channels? And what about certain cable channels, such as FoxNews, USA, Spike and others? I have ATT Broadband, and they will not allow an internet-only connection so I cannot get basic-only telephone service (you MUST have the Advanced Service option) or disconnect the phone service (I have a separate Cellphone service), so other than SatTV or Cable, the internet is pretty much my best option for the few channels I am interested in viewing.

As far as I can determine, the Roku is basically a media-streaming device, which I can put together from a spare older computer without much difficulty, so is it more than that somehow?

[Gay State Conservative]

I get something like 300 channels and watch about 10 of them.I wish that cable offered pay-per-channel...even if it meant no lowering of my bill.

[GeronL]

The problem is that with cable-satellite services we pay monthly fees to channels we absolutely detest like MSNBC and CNN. I wonder where I can find the $$ we pay for what channels.

[GeronL]

here is a chart from 2010, I don't know if it accurate

[GeronL]

11 cents for Current and Bridges-TV are just travesties.

[Intolerant in NJ]

Somewhere you should try to get hold of as many of the three C-Span channels as you can - especially C-Span2, which carries interesting and informative interviews with authors and discussions of their writings every weekend and often during the week - in addition you will have access to primary source - that is, live real-time coverage - of many of the vital stories that otherwise you’ll see no or only highly censored coverage of on other channels. Lately, for instance, we’ve seen gavel-to-gavel coverage of the IRS scandal hearings, including this week’s attempt to destroy the IG by the ‘rats - always engrossing......

[ottbmare]

Now do any of you have suggestions about what kind of (little) TV to get? I don’t have any money but I anticipate getting a generous gift from my brother any day now, and I was going to buy a new TV with it. But the vast selection at Best Buy and other retailers is so confusing I just walked out of the store. Felt like a Russian immigrant in a US food store for the first time.

[trebb]

Just about any package has a bunch of drivel for each decent station. I do a lot of surfing to try to find a decent event to view and often, even with a couple hundred channels and HBO, can't find anything decent or that hasn't been shown 100 times in the last month.

BTW - if you still have an analog antenna hooked up, and your TV is digital, you can pick up the digital broadcasts anyhow. I still have mine and use if for when satellite is out due to heavy storms and it picks up more channels now than before the change. Or...you can upgrade to a digital antenna and you might find less need for the cable type service.

[IronJack]

This "conservative sharia" attitude is an over-reaction.

Sharia imposes its requirements on others. I'm not FORCING anyone to eschew the sludge pump that is modern electronic entertainment. The poster asked for advice, so I gave mine.

If you find the crud that spews from the media today to be entertaining, fine. I find that it smells up my house and causes brain rot in individuals who pursue it regularly. But to each his own.

The big screen television is simply a bigger pipeline by which garbage merchants augur ever more vile filth into your life.