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Well, I'm learning more and more. I've been checking different broadcast network websites and all the shows are available online in full HD. I've had DirecTV for years, I've just never checked with the networks online before. I can't say if they are doing real time online streaming or if these shows are delayed but for drama series I don't care because I record everything on my DVR anyway. I rarely watch anything in real time.
This is a real eye opener. I just watched part of the pilot for the brand new series The Mob Doctor on Fox. I just went to their website and it was right there. For cable networks I went to the History Channel website and most if not all of those shows are all there too. Discovery however appears to be mostly clips with only a few full episodes of the different series available. That one requires some more research. The one thing I'm not seeing is real time news streaming. CNN has all their shows available in HD but for live TV you have to sign in using your sat/cable account number like TNT. Fox News doesn't seem to have a live TV option but all the individual shows are available with a delay but not in HD, it looks like 480p, pretty good but not HD.
It looks like every network has their own unique take on this so I'm assuming it can all change at any time as well.
The one big thing to get used to is no one easy to navigate guide like all the sat/cable companies have. To watch these shows I will have to find some organized way using bookmarks I guess to get these shows. Win 7 has Microsoft's Media Center that apparently does that or something similar. It also has DVR functions so everything can be recorded directly to a hard drive. I haven't played with that yet but it looks pretty good so far.
I think I'm getting close to pulling the plug here. It's looking like enough of what I watch is available online for free and I can buy the few things I decide I just have to have and if I have to give up some things so be it, there's lots to watch out there.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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JM:
Just fired up Windows Media Centre - seems a strange beast, programmed by a goldfish from Neon that gets high on jelly beans I suspect.
Going without the telly remote seems like going naked. You sre exposed to the whole of the internet and who knows how many channels. IMO The issues are:
1] To decide upon then find what you want to watch. This even includes stuff you have never seen before - how?
2] Axctually getting it to play on your set up.
Cruisng through mind pap on the remote is comforting and jelly forming, going 'wild' is like being suddenly dumped in the middle of some forest - for me anyway...
tooooo many choices which way to go?
There needs to be some selectable customisable channel guide that can cut out the shopping channels as desirerd, tag your favorite subjecdts, highlight the new material if desired, bring everything under one hood, and make it easy to get around many website options - I wonder itf this exists?
If Media Centre is it I am yet to master it...
Last edited by ZeroZero; 09/22/12 09:03 AM.
Win 11 64, Asus Rog Strix z390 mobo, 64 gig RAM, 8700k
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Media Center is unnecessary: Amazon Prime and YouTube. Didn't get Prime for the video but it's a nice perk... I've watched a few movies and old episodes of StarTrek.
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I think you're right. I keep thinking literally, like ok how to I duplicate my DirecTV but really that's not it at all. I'm online a lot anyway, all this is is running a cable from my internet box to my 50" Sony HDTV and then I sit on my couch with my bluetooth keyboard and mouse and surf as normal. Easy to put all the bookmarks for these network websites into one folder and just go from there. I don't think I need any specific internet DVR type software, I can download and record pretty much anything I want now and just open up the files with my media player. Not as braindead foolproof as going to the program guide but really, who cares? I'm sure with practice I can streamline it down.
This past weekend I deliberatly used my internet to duplicate what I normally do on Sat and Sun mornings and it was no problem at all. Mostly news on Sat and the news related Sunday morning talkshows. Those are not available in real time but they are all there just a few hours later. The Romney and Obama appearances on 60 minutes showed up on the CBS website pretty soon after the live broadcast for example so I watched it and never turned my TV on all weekend. If I really wanted to watch the Packers and Steelers and get all upset at the ref's like everybody else I could have gone down to the sportsbar a mile from me and had some wings and a beer and watched it.
The one big cable network I really like is Discovery and I've researched that and no, they don't have much in the way of past full episodes free online and no streaming. They have that locked down pretty good. Something I really want I'll have to pay for through Amazon or whatever.
Now I have to move the pc into the living room to test this for a bit and then figure out how to control it remotely when I've moved it back to the bedroom. I know I can get one of the SmartTV devices but I've found that they're not for regular full internet surfing and if I'm going to do this I want full internet functions using Firefox.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Discovery does have streaming. http://dsc.discovery.com/videosThere are well over 15,000 clips from various shows and several full episodes of "MythBusters", "Auction Kings" and a couple of others. Not as many as PBS with 16 of their most popular shows having full episodes http://video.pbs.orgor History Channel with 14 http://www.history.com/videosOr EWTN that streams 100% of their content as well as archives it. http://www.ewtn.com/multimedia/index.aspDiscovery will catch up. Free Online streaming is not going away.
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I'm only talking Discovery not the others. All those 15K clips are 1-2 minutes. They're just the broadcast intro's to the show. Click on Videos then click on Full Episodes. You've got 3 Mythbusters, 2 Auction Kings, 2 Dirty Jobs and 2 One Car Too Far. That's it. 9 full episodes, all of the other series have zero full episodes available. They want you to go to Amazon, iTunes, etc and buy them. But, even with that I'm thinking it's still worth it to buy a few of those. I'm still thinking about how to physically set this up.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Bob, If you don't yet have a blu-ray player, buy one with smart features built in - web browser, streaming youtube and other stuff. Sony claims you can use a keyboard on a smartphone/iOS device
From B&H Photo's description of the Sony BDP-S590 ($128) "Chances are you may have an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Android-based smartphone, or even a Sony tablet. If so, you're in luck -- in addition to running apps, web browsing, text messaging or whatever else you do with your portable devices -- you can download a remote control app specifically for your BDP-S590. It gives you a full keyboard and movie information search capabilities right from your device. Very cool!"
I haven't tried this. I'd love to have an app for our Samsung Blu-ray, because YouTube searches are a chore on the thing with the remote control. But then again, we paid about $115 3 years ago for ours.
-Scott
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I just have a wireless equipped PC plugged into my 55 inch Visio TV via HDMI. Next to me is a wireless keyboard and mouse, and when I want to browse for youtube or anything I just do it in the TV. Google Chrome is great on a 55 inch screen!!!!
A few more games like last night with that AWFUL call on the last play may see me forgetting about football. My god, get the real refs back!
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I got rid of my land line about 10 years ago, and tv followed shortly thereafter. Youtube and my hobbies keep my spare time pretty full at this point. If it is really important I will hear about it. if it is the end of the world I'll enjoy my last few moments in ignorant bliss.
There are only 3 kinds of musicians: those that can count, and those that can't!
PC AMD A4-5300 APU 3.4 GHz, 8gb RAM, 1T HDD, Windows 10,
Reaper 4.77, BIAB2018, PTPA12, RB2018, Roland VS-880 DAW
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I've done half that:
I pulled the plug in the 1980s. Disconnected the cable, took down the antenna, and haven't looked back. Never bought a digital converter either. Where I live, without a strong antenna you can't get anything anyway.
I don't do the other half:
I'm not interested enough in TV to watch it on the Internet. I'd rather live my life by doing things myself than to live my life vicariously by watching actors pretending to do things.
Disclaimer and full disclosure: I do watch a rented movie every once in a while.
Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Then where do you get your political views from? Medical information? Financial information? There's very informative stuff all over the internet in the form of <gasp> online repeats of news and informational TV shows, don't just lump it all into one or two categories and then dismiss the whole thing. The Discovery Channel is really very good. Don't you ever just surf around Youtube for music related things? NOT commercial music vids like you would see on MTV, no I'm talking about some really first class instructional vids like one I just watched by a professor of music from the University or Arts in Philly I think who transcribed and then dissected Chick Corea's solo from 500 Miles High bar by bar. Check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE33Kz6_DT4&feature=relatedBob
Last edited by jazzmammal; 09/26/12 04:32 PM.
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Those who get their news from TV, radio, and newspapers are misinformed. 90% of all US TV, newspapers, and radio are owned by 7 huge corporations and most of that by Fox, GE and Disney. They don't tell you what is good for you, they spin everything to tell you what is good for them. TV is an advertising media disguised as an entertainment and information media.
I think it was Mark Twain who said, "Those who read the newspapers are misinformed, those who don't are uninformed." Well, we have more than the newspapers now, so you can add TV and Radio to that quote.
What you get from the presstitutes on corporate media is not news but propaganda. (And yes, that is what they call themselves.) The 'news' is manipulated, creatively edited, sliced, diced and sprinkled with bald faced lies to get you to believe what the corporations want you to believe. A recent immigrant to the US from Russia commented that the propaganda here is much better than it was in the old USSR, and because of that, the Americans actually believe it!
I get everything I need from the Internet, and not from watching TV on the net. I look for both sides of everything controversial and gather from as many sources as I can, and make my own opinions. And I've learned a few trustworthy sources on many different subjects, but always read with a cui bono attitude (who benefits). That helps me identify the spin.
Of course there are presstitutes on the Internet as well. But if you did deep enough and do your best to stay away from CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and all the other major players, and also dip into what other countries are saying about us, you can usually sift through most of the propaganda and get at something more reasonable.
Insights and incites by Notes
Last edited by Notes Norton; 09/27/12 06:02 AM.
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