Android Boxes

[gardengirl]

I am looking at cutting the cable. Does anyone have any feedback on android boxes?
It seems there are lots of different ones. Any recommendations?

[cr125]

We enjoy our jelly bean, took a little getting used to, and the support is very good.
Its nice to watch what I want to watch, when I want to watch

[pmaria]

My personal experience with Android boxes, is don't get your expectations too high. Yes, there is a lot of content available, but not without a bunch of mucking around getting it all set up, finding the right repositories and mods etc. Then when you finally find what you need, the quality often isn't there. My brother in law sets these up for friends and family and sitting down to watch Game of Thrones entailed 30+ mins of searching for a quality feed. Other shows that are available are often several seasons behind, or missing episodes.

Depending what you want to watch its not as simple and just sitting down, turning on the TV and flipping channels, but YMMV.

[Bsuds]

My personal experience with Android boxes, is don't get your expectations too high. Yes, there is a lot of content available, but not without a bunch of mucking around getting it all set up, finding the right repositories and mods etc. Then when you finally find what you need, the quality often isn't there. My brother in law sets these up for friends and family and sitting down to watch Game of Thrones entailed 30+ mins of searching for a quality feed. Other shows that are available are often several seasons behind, or missing episodes.

Depending what you want to watch its not as simple and just sitting down, turning on the TV and flipping channels, but YMMV.

That was pretty much our experience as well. Not user friendly at all.

If someone wants one I would consider selling mine.

[DarkMagna]

I'm a bit of a tech geek and I was sick of paying $180 every single month for cable and Internet.
So I bought myself a blank box and installed all the requisite apps to run. Only once I had fully tested and used it for awhile, did I decide to finally cut the cord.

While it works, I wouldn't say it's anywhere near ready for public consumption. There's a fair bit of configuration to go through before your box is ready (or buy one preconfigured) for prime time and even once it is, be prepared to be underwhelmed.
Let's say you take 10 minutes to find a show you want to watch. Then you can spend twice that long trying to find a reliable link that will stream....and more often than not (thinking 8 out of 10 times) it's not high quality. The concept of HD stream will fade in your memory because most of what you'll find isn't HD (at least, for broadcast network programs - I have more success with movies).
If you think it's going to be similar to your cable experience, it's not. You will not simply turn it on in the morning and have a program playing. Count on spending 10 minutes before you're actually watching anything. And when you're done watching that, count on another ten minutes before you're watching something else.

I fell back to Netflix. For streaming, you'll be challenged to find any offerings that do it better.

Streaming broadcast network stuff (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, et al) will require a lot of patience and willingness to accept lower quality and a whole lot of trying multiple links until you find one that works. I've literally spent up to 20 minutes trying to find a link that works.
I only fire it up now on a cold weekend when I feel like putting a deep dent in the couch and want to catch up on my favorite shows....otherwise, I just use Netflix.

[pmaria]

+1 for Netflix! Its finally getting good now. Lots of quality shows and current movies. Great way to catch up on shows that you never got around to watching when everyone else was, and you missed the hype train. (Looking at you, Breaking Bad!)

[Gixxer]

Download Kodi with the exodus app and your golden. Ive had it going on 2 years and never missed a beat.

[Loed]

Download Kodi with the exodus app and your golden. Ive had it going on 2 years and never missed a beat.

Careful, too many people do this and guess what!? No more money to make new shows...

It's nice stealing things and giving the big FU to networks and their nonsense, but remember to at least buy the blurays of shows/movies you like to show your support otherwise what you enjoy for free now will cease to exist soon enough.

[GordonH]

Download Kodi with the exodus app and your golden. Ive had it going on 2 years and never missed a beat.

Careful, too many people do this and guess what!? No more money to make new shows...

It's nice stealing things and giving the big FU to networks and their nonsense, but remember to at least buy the blurays of shows/movies you like to show your support otherwise what you enjoy for free now will cease to exist soon enough.

Well, as long as cable & satellite companies continue to raise rates... customers will continue to find cheaper alternatives. Just that simple, since many customers don't have bottomless pockets.

[pmaria]

Well, as long as cable & satellite companies continue to raise rates... customers will continue to find cheaper alternatives. Just that simple, since many customers don't have bottomless pockets.

And when the price of TVs goes up at Best Buy, then its probably okay to just steal one from your neighbor?

[Bsuds]

And when the price of TVs goes up at Best Buy, then its probably okay to just steal one from your neighbor?

Only if it's a good one.

[GordonH]

Well, as long as cable & satellite companies continue to raise rates... customers will continue to find cheaper alternatives. Just that simple, since many customers don't have bottomless pockets.

And when the price of TVs goes up at Best Buy, then its probably okay to just steal one from your neighbor?

Those doing that can very well expect a knock on the door by the police at some point. lol

[GordonH]

And when the price of TVs goes up at Best Buy, then its probably okay to just steal one from your neighbor?

Only if it's a good one.

Nothing less then 4k.

[Verum]

Well, as long as cable & satellite companies continue to raise rates... customers will continue to find cheaper alternatives. Just that simple, since many customers don't have bottomless pockets.

And when the price of TVs goes up at Best Buy, then its probably okay to just steal one from your neighbor?

Well, if I look at my neighbour's one and make a perfect copy, leaving theirs untouched is that okay? If you could download your favourite BMW motorrad and not cost anyone anything except the potential lost sale, would you?

I'm not defending breaking intellectual property laws, but the idea of it being theft, or even piracy (you know, like taking people's stuff, raping some of them and killing the lot) is a bit much.

I'd really like to see a company offer something as convenient as Netflix, but with the entire catalogue I want to watch and not the very limited selection that they do have. I gather that Kodi can be made to do so with plugins. I'd pay good money for that if it was legal.

[pmaria]

Well, if I look at my neighbour's one and make a perfect copy, leaving theirs untouched is that okay? If you could download your favourite BMW motorrad and not cost anyone anything except the potential lost sale, would you?

You got me there, if I could download a motorcycle, I wouldn't be sitting here commenting on forums.