AppleTV anyone?

cwiert

cwiert

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May 7, 2008
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Chester, CT
Boat Info
1998 400 Sedan Bridge
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CAT 3116 - 350HP
[FONT=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Who out there has AppleTV? We have Xfinity for our cable TV and internet/phone, and the $200+ monthly bill needs to stop right now. I'm looking into alternatives and AppleTV seems like it might be a decent option. But I'd like to get some real life experiences with it. My plan would be to keep xfinity for internet ($60/month) and then get something like AppleTV for TV. I guess we'd probably need a Hulu or Netflix subscription as well??? We don't watch a lot of TV, but my kids like the disney channel, so I'd want something for them to watch when we let them.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks.[/FONT]
 
Hey cweirt,

I just recently did exactly this and have been very happy with the lower cable bills. Just got the first bill today and it was $80 vs. the normal $250.

My family already had a Netflix and Hulu account, which we use quite a bit. My suggestion would be to look into t getting a Roku over the AppleTV. The roku won't interface with Apple devices as nicely, but I have found that it has many more options for apps.

I would also suggest to look into Sling.com. This is a streaming service that allows you to stream channels like Disney, AMC, and CNN for $20 a month. With the addition of sling and a decent HD antenna I've mounted to the roof for over the air TV, there is very little we miss.
 
I have an Apple TV and while i do like it, we don't use it for much else other than movies and to access Netflix. With ATV, Roku, or whatever, you will not be able to watch your local 11pm news or normal sitcoms until they are available on the ATV or Roku. Don't get me wrong, i like them both but i could not be with just the ATV and no cable.
 
We have Apple TV, Comcast cable and Internet service. We use the Apple TV for movies and pay with our iTunes account. Movie selection is ok although not nearly as good as our local DVD store which shows no ill effects from all the competition it faces. Also a Bluray player is far better for picture quality and we prefer that media. The Apple is great if you find yourself wanting to watch a movie but do not feel like driving to the local video store. If you buy an Apple get a wireless keyboard with it as it makes selecting movie titles much easier. Netflicks is a good way to go too, although we do not pay for that. We listen to recommendations from friends for good TV series and then buy the entire season on Bluray discs for convenience.
 
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All local channels we get over the air. With a decent antenna we get great quality, even better than the cable because the signal is uncompressed.

Granted, we live within a well populated area so we are with 15 miles of most of the towers we are pulling signal from.

If you are living in a more rural area I'm sure it's more difficult to get a decent signal.

When I mounted the antenna, I used a site like antennapoint.com to determine which way to point. We get about 90 or so local channels, although we really only use about five of them.
 
Here my story......
We got the Internet 50mps plus the super limited basic cable package from xfjnity for $49/mo. This also came with HBO or showtime. I bought a tv antenna to put on roof for $40 plus another $10 for coax cable to run from that to where the cable enters home. I used my homes existing coax wiring for the over the air HD tv. The other cable for xfinity went to the cable modem I owned and then to a higher end wireless router. I bought a few roku boxes to use wirelessly to each tv. I had amazon prime already which offers many kids shows (typical Nick Jr. Type stuff). I do a 3 way trade offering my HBO password for Hulu and Netflix from the others.
The largest benefit is that you need no dvr as everything on Internet is saved and added bonus I can watch all my content on any device PC, iPad, iPhone, heck even at the boat.
It's the initial hardware cost upfront you need to be prepared for. Modem, good wireless router, roku or fire tv boxes, OTA HD antenna
 
I really like the newest Apple TV -- huge improvement over the original one. Most TV's nowadays have built-in HD tuners so you can connect an antenna to the TV and grab your local channels in HD. My main complaint is that most of the apps for the Apple TV (such as Disney, NFL, CBS, NBC, Life Time, etc.) require you to verify that you already pay for these channels via Comcast, DirectTV, Dish, etc. This makes it hard to truly drop cable or satellite. This is a problem with every streaming device not just the Apple TV and it's not Apple's fault -- it's the content providers that require this.

If you're in the Apple ecosystem and you also have an Amazon Prime account, you can airplay content from Amazon Prime TV and music to the Apple TV which is another bonus. Another nice thing is that you can rent or buy any movie or TV show from iTunes and completely ditch purchasing DVDs and renting via Redbox. Once you buy a movie on iTunes it's available on all of your devices.

Overall its a great device and we use ours a lot but its the content providers that make it less than it could be.
 
sbw1 said:
...not nearly as good as our local DVD store which shows no ill effects from all the competition it faces.
Click to expand...

You really still have a video store??? Wow!!!! We don't have an actual video rental store within 100 miles or more. Even Redbox is disappearing in our area.
 
We have both Apple TV and Roku. We default to Roku 99% of the time over apple and for the most part use Netflix. Comcast for Internet and Direct TV for 4 TV's in the house. The other 5 TV's mostly bedrooms and one in the workout room are connected to Roku and an HD outdoor antenna that is in the attic for local network channels. (antenna is nice if Comcast and Direct TV go down because of storms)

Apple TV is only used for the most part to airplay apple devices..
 
I haven't watched a dvd/blue ray in years if you have a smart tv the app is already there we use Apple TV on the boat for streaming video from phones etc to the salon tv. At home we use Amazon prime and Netflix for movies the app is on the tv's.
 
Jailbroken firestick gives you energy movie tv show sports channel including live and much more.
 
Tonka Boater said:
You really still have a video store??? Wow!!!! We don't have an actual video rental store within 100 miles or more. Even Redbox is disappearing in our area.
Click to expand...

Yep. Google "Family Video". Their web site claims they are the largest in the US. Maybe thats because they are the only ones left. Anyway, the one we use is 15 minutes away and has a great selection of Blurays. Two others in our market as well. I'm going to miss them when they go away.
 
We have DishNetwork at home and Apple TV for the boat. My work phone has unlimited data and we can stream anything from home as long as I have a signal. Also use the phone as a hotspot for the Apple TV and apps. Works very well for us.

Bennett
 
I've three Roku boxes in the house and love them. I started using them 3 or 4 years ago, and they always work flawlessly. I have Amazon Prime because I buy a lot of stuff from them and love the two day shipping, and we got a Netflix account when my daughter went away to school so she could use it there.
Once I figure out the best king of antenna to use around here for over the air reception, I'm going to cut the cord.
 
JVM225 said:
I've three Roku boxes in the house and love them. I started using them 3 or 4 years ago, and they always work flawlessly. I have Amazon Prime because I buy a lot of stuff from them and love the two day shipping, and we got a Netflix account when my daughter went away to school so she could use it there.
Once I figure out the best king of antenna to use around here for over the air reception, I'm going to cut the cord.
Click to expand...

You should use this site to assist you
Antennaeweb.org it will tell you what stations OTA signals are a available in your area and how far and heading they are located. This way you know how powerful of an antennae you need. Also helped me figure out heading to point it to using compass on my phone. This helped me from going up and down ladder to adjust it.
 
We have all kinds of stuff, and are just waiting to bring it all together. We have Apple TV at the house and on the boat, DirectTV on the boat, Optimum tv and cable at the house. We use Tivo instead of renting the cable boxes, we stream the Tivo anywhere there is a net connection and can watch it on the boat. We typically record the local news and have it auto delete in two days to save space on the external hard drives on the Tivos. We can use Netflix through and on the Tivo, iPads and iPhones and it works well.

I have yet to pony up for the newest Apple TV I typically wait for a few "first updates" to come out before making the jump on new tech.

So I don't know that I have helped you any but that's my .03 cents lol. Oh I also have no premium channels, and my bill phone net and cable is typically $180 @ 50 mg, tivo is no charge as I by them with a lifetime subscription, direct tv is "seasonally shut down" but is $25 a month when running, Netflix is the usual $7-8.00 a month but I have 5 family members on it so its easily written off.
 
cwiert,

Do it....cut the cable. Ours was that way as well, with triple play (phone, internet, TV). Every year my price was jacked up from Comcast, and I had to make 'the' call to get my pricing back in line - they'd screw up and I'd have call again. It was like clock work. Finally I cut the cord and haven't looked back. Aside from missing the Discovery Channel programs I used to watch, I enjoy the $120 per month savings....


You'll have plenty of options from smart tv's and dvd players with smart capabilities as well as Apple TV. I believe you can stream Disney from one of the streaming carriers like Hulu....

Ollie
 
Things are definitely getting better for the consumer. My example is that I have been paying $150 a month for a "triple play" fios offering with Verizon for the past 5 years. Most of the channels we never use so it is a perceived waste of money.

I bought the latest version of Apple TV which is excellent. I have also used Roku but really like the integration with my other Apple devices. I put in an Over the Air antenna which worked well although I missed the channel guide. Before I cut the cord, I went back to Verizon and found a new set of offerings.

I was able to upgrade my internet to 50mbs from 25mbs, select what channels I wanted and keep the phone for $99 a month. Since I was going to keep the internet, $99 a month for TV/Internet and phone fit the budget. I can still cut the cord in the future but the savings would only be about $20-25 per month since the internet service makes up the bulk of the service and value.

In my opinion, the broadband service providers do themselves a disservice by pushing channels that no one uses on their customers. Most of the complaints they receive are related to their TV service....no wonder when you set yourself up as mandating content no one wants. Ala cart wins from now on.

Unfortunately, Apple was unable to get NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox to go along with their local channel model. Allegedly, the broadcasters could not force their affiliate stations to get with the Apple program even though everyone wins. That too will change.

John
 
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bbwhitejr said:
We have DishNetwork at home and Apple TV for the boat. My work phone has unlimited data and we can stream anything from home as long as I have a signal. Also use the phone as a hotspot for the Apple TV and apps. Works very well for us.

Bennett
Click to expand...

I realize that the original poster is looking to cut the cord but I have Dish Network too along with the Sling box which is great for streaming TV to my iPad or iPhone. I office from home and have a TV in my home office with an Apple TV but it's not connected to Dish Network. With the Apple TV I can airplay my Dish Network from my iPhone to my Apple TV without the need for an extra Dish Network box. Same thing for Amazon Prime Video. Very slick...
 
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