THSCC Forums

I've got a ROKU for the bedroom, but the main TV will have a PS3 for this reason.

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Stacy King
Midlife Crisis Participant

This is a pretty good idea, just make sure it's something you can play with in a store beforehand if you think you're REALLY going to use it. In my experience, a lot of the built in stuff can just be wonky in terms of the interface to switch between things and such. And make sure you feel good about non-computer types being able to use it if you have any regular in-law use or the like, too. They still tend to make this shit overly complicated.

The built in apps on my Samsung TV are hella cool, but we almost always use the AppleTV just because it's brain dead easy. *shrug*

We're getting to an interesting time in this whole TV thing. So many high quality shows only available on the really odd cable networks (Mad Men, etc) means the quality is going down on the "major" networks. So many options on how to get this kind of programming off-the-air, too. But yet we still have the sports thing driving a lot of choices...gonna be interesting to see how different things are in ten years.


--Donnie

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My Blog

DTV just royally pissed me off, so I'm now looking for alternatives. I've heard TWC's DVR sucks horribly, and I'm not sure I can (or want to) get used to it. Was thinking of cancelling DTV and simply using Hulu on the BD player, but you can't get MotoGP and a few other things we like on there. Mostly, we need network TV, a few cable channels like Discovery, and Speed for MotoGP. I can live without everything else easily. I can't live without DVR since we can't really be at the TV for the shows we like most often. I wonder if maybe it's time to build a HTPC that can do DVR with either OTA HD and/or Hulu...then the last question would be how to replace Speed (without illegally downloading torrents)....

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

(BTW I scored a promo deal w/TWC for phone that my wife needs for IBM/work - they reimburse anyway - and their new 30M/5M service for under $100/mo combined, and ideally I'd love to can DTV which I'm paying $82/mo for right now for 2 HD DVRs)

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Brian

2010 K1300GT
2001 E39 M5
2003 540iT Sport

Brian,

We still use VHS tape . . . obviously not DVR convenient or as flexible but it works (assuming no HD, etc.) at no extra cost.

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

I can attest from trying to use my parents system that TWC dvr is terrible (at least from a user interface standpoint)... though it's not as bad as (but very similar to) SuddenLink Cable here in the east. To be honest, I never really liked DTV's either. On the other hand, I think Direct TV's DVR is outstanding (and it's the #1 thing that will make it EXTREMELY difficult to make this overall switch.) Their dual-tuner HD DVR's have lots of space, and you can add an external hard drive to store even more content on them.

FWIW

-Stacy

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Stacy King
Midlife Crisis Participant

What is "VHS"?

Oh wait, Google to the rescue!

(Joking - I'm not that young!!!!)

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Brian

2010 K1300GT
2001 E39 M5
2003 540iT Sport

I figured some low tech levity would be appreciated.

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

Mike,
What's your long term review so far?
Have you changed any of the configuration?
Any regrets on VOIP phone?

I'm very interested in the phone conversion. I have ATT land line but I want to keep my number.
What's the order of events to get through phone transfer
Buy Voip phone establish Google number
Buy T-mobile card (Just any T-mobile LD card?)
Request number port T-Mobile - does this trigger cancellation of ATT landline
Request number port from Google

Thanks for all you can share

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"Ruttin' is racing"

Chris Suich
Apex, NC
AutoX 2012 Nissan Leaf (Quietly changing the world)
AutoX 2003 Mini Cooper S (on sabbatical)
RallyX 1993 Nissan Sentra - "Le Tigre"
FunX 1970 Camaro LT1 ('95)

No regrets and I'm 99% happy. The OBI110 with GV is what I'd call 99% reliable. Once in a while someone will tell me that I'm breaking up, and occasionally it cuts out for 2-3 seconds while someone else is talking. Getting the QoS settings right on my router helped a LOT but it's still not perfect. Also one complaint is that there is a 2-hour time limit on calls, the line goes dead at 2:00 on the dot.

However, keep in mind that I am a business user of this line, and I probably spend on average 4 hours a day on it, and have done up to 10 hours a day. So I'd call it a success, and I'm willing to live with the glitches for $400 a year in savings.

You got the list right. Do some searches to see if the T-mo switcheroo is still valid. Or maybe Google allows landline porting? Not sure.

- Buy Voip phone establish Google number - yep, get an Obi110 or Obi100
- Buy T-mobile card (Just any T-mobile LD card?) - Yes their cheapest prepaid is like $20. You MAY actually need a phone to plug the SIM into to actually activate the card, not sure. I have a phone you can borrow for a few days if needed (any ATT/Tmo phone will work)
- Request number port T-Mobile - does this trigger cancellation of ATT landline - Yes, you can request this while buying the card at a Tmo store.
- Request number port from Google - right, there's a button to do this right in Google Voice web app.

The t-mo number port took longer than I expected (maybe a week) and took a few calls to move it along. The google number port was (as always with Google services) painless and quick.

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

The city of Wilson has their own internet, cable, and phone service called Green Light. (greenlightnc.com). I have their $59.95 internet only option which is, GET THIS, 20meg UP AND DOWN! They install fiber optic right up to the house. We can watch Netflix, Hulu, or Network webshows from three different devices at the same time with no problems at all. (Ipad2, Laptop, or the Wii fed 52" HDTV). The majority of networks allow play back of their shows after the initial broadcast. I miss a few channels (speed, HGTV, and BBC) but there is plenty to watch.

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02 2.5 RS, 02 Honda Insight CVT, 04 PT GT 5spd, 71 340 Dart

It must be weird to be normal...

Damn rural socialists providing better service at a better price than the honest, hardworking folks at Time Warner. No wonder the NC state legislator keeps introducing bills to get rid of the commies.

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"Build a man a fire and he'll stay warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll stay warm the rest of his life."
'93 Subaru Legacy DIRTBOMB
'98 BMW M3
2013 Rallyx Co-VP

Funny. Personally I'm not a fan of government competing with private business, even if it is TWC.
FWIW - TWC does offer a 30/5 service for $49.95 a month.

Frank

For 3.5Mb/s up and 24 Mb/s down Time Warner is charging me $347/month! I'd be happy to show you my bill if you don't believe it. So much for competition.

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"Build a man a fire and he'll stay warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll stay warm the rest of his life."
'93 Subaru Legacy DIRTBOMB
'98 BMW M3
2013 Rallyx Co-VP

So I doubt we're comparing apples-apples here ... but lots of folks pay TWC more than they need to.

Frank

Probably not apples-to-apples, no, as I'm a business customer who needs any problems fixed in a two-hour window. Its supply and demand, and TW is the only provider to this address. I've talked to small, private networking firms, and they wanted $5K up front just to run cable, and $1K/month after that!

My point is without competition TW will charge whatever they can, and they're actively working the legislature to make sure they don't get any.

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"Build a man a fire and he'll stay warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll stay warm the rest of his life."
'93 Subaru Legacy DIRTBOMB
'98 BMW M3
2013 Rallyx Co-VP