OT - Cutting Cable

[Trice]

Good timing to resurrect this thread. After four years somehow we're just finishing our promotional period for Mediacom and the bill for pretty routine service is up over $210. Ridiculous.

For people new to this, I might suggest going back and reading the last ~10 pages of this thread. It'll take a modest amount of time but should give you a pretty good view of where things stand today.

I've been kicking around cutting the cord for years but for the first time I'm really serious about it. In the past, services seemed so fragmented and it was enough of a hassle trying to patch together the services to get what you want that it wasn't worth it. No longer. These days it seems like I can move to YouTubeTV and be done with it. I'll be jumping into the trial period ASAP.

 

[Dandy]

It will work on Gen2 and 4K Firesticks but not Gen1.

I'm not home but looking through my Amazon order history it looks like I have the Gen1. Damn.

I don't have a 4K TV. Go with the 4K remote anyway or just get the Gen2?

 

[cycloneG]

I'm not home but looking through my Amazon order history it looks like I have the Gen1. Damn.

I don't have a 4K TV. Go with the 4K remote anyway or just get the Gen2?

The 4K stick will work on the same TV you have the Gen1 on. The 4K stick is light years better in terms of performance.

 

[CY88CE11]

Mostly sports.

I haven't missed an ISU game on YTTV outside of LHN and CyTV games. ESPN+ may affect that though. Also get FSN North if you're a Wild/Timberwolves/Twins fan.

I also streamed all of March Madness/Matness last year on four TVs and a laptop using YTTV and an antenna. Very capable and doable on 100 Mbps.

 

[Dandy]

The 4K stick will work on the same TV you have the Gen1 on. The 4K stick is light years better in terms of performance.

Looks like I can trade in my Gen1 for a 4K and get 20% off. That's kind of cool.

 

[Dandy]

 

[Dandy]

I'll probably wait until Black Friday or Cyber Monday to buy two 4K Fire sticks. If they're on sale plus if you can get the 20% trade in that would be amazing.

 

[Trice]

For the more technically inclined, if you had to choose between a Roku TV (not sure if anyone besides TCL makes true Roku TVs) vs. a regular TV with a separate Roku, what would you do?

My concern with a Roku TV is that hopefully it lasts for many years but at some point Roku would either stop supporting it with software updates or else the hardware just becomes outdated and slow. If the Roku is separate then it's easy enough, and relatively inexpensive, to buy a new Roku.

 

[cycloneG]

For the more technically inclined, if you had to choose between a Roku TV (not sure if anyone besides TCL makes true Roku TVs) vs. a regular TV with a separate Roku, what would you do?

My concern with a Roku TV is that hopefully it lasts for many years but at some point Roku would either stop supporting it with software updates or else the hardware just becomes outdated and slow. If the Roku is separate then it's easy enough, and relatively inexpensive, to buy a new Roku.

Separate is the best way to go, IMHO.

 

[CY88CE11]

Separate is the best way to go, IMHO.

Agreed. The standalone versions are better than the built in, because in general, the processor power in TVs isn't where it needs to be to support the Roku as well as the standalone device. The bigger box Rokus (Premiere/Ultra) are worth the extra startup cost. In my experience, sticks (of all companies, not just Roku) are just not as powerful, and you'll notice fairly significant delay/lag, even in menu navigation after a while.

 

[Dandy]

For the more technically inclined, if you had to choose between a Roku TV (not sure if anyone besides TCL makes true Roku TVs) vs. a regular TV with a separate Roku, what would you do?

My concern with a Roku TV is that hopefully it lasts for many years but at some point Roku would either stop supporting it with software updates or else the hardware just becomes outdated and slow. If the Roku is separate then it's easy enough, and relatively inexpensive, to buy a new Roku.

In my not too tech savvy opinion, keeping them separate allows you to update the Roku hardware if one ever comes available. If it's built in that isn't exactly possible.

 

[Dandy]

So looks like I'll probably start YouTube TV sometime after Black Friday or Cyber Monday when I buy new 4K Fire TV sticks hopefully on sale.

How's the cost of YouTube TV looking? Less than $75-85 per month?

 

[cycloneG]

So looks like I'll probably start YouTube TV sometime after Black Friday or Cyber Monday when I buy new 4K Fire TV sticks hopefully on sale.

How's the cost of YouTube TV looking? Less than $75-85 per month?

$50 per month

 

[FOREVERTRUE]

In my not too tech savvy opinion, keeping them separate allows you to update the Roku hardware if one ever comes available. If it's built in that isn't exactly possible.

True but technically you could put a roku stick on the TCL tv. We have had no problem with a the TCL tv that we have.

 

[jdcyclone19]

For the more technically inclined, if you had to choose between a Roku TV (not sure if anyone besides TCL makes true Roku TVs) vs. a regular TV with a separate Roku, what would you do?

My concern with a Roku TV is that hopefully it lasts for many years but at some point Roku would either stop supporting it with software updates or else the hardware just becomes outdated and slow. If the Roku is separate then it's easy enough, and relatively inexpensive, to buy a new Roku.

I'm in the agreement that a separate device is usually the way to go because they're easier to update over time.

However, I have a TCL Roku TV. I've never had any issues and performance is not really any different than my Roku 4K stick. If you don't want to buy a separate device, and just want to use it to stream, a TCL roku tv is a good compromise.

 

[Trice]

I'm in the agreement that a separate device is usually the way to go because they're easier to update over time.

However, I have a TCL Roku TV. I've never had any issues and performance is not really any different than my Roku 4K stick. If you don't want to buy a separate device, and just want to use it to stream, a TCL roku tv is a good compromise.

Thanks for all your posts in this thread, they've saved me a ton of research. Same for everyone else.

 

[Acylum]

Posting this again for anybody thinking about cutting:
https://www.cnet.com/google-amp/new...v-vs-hulu-and-more-live-tv-channels-compared/
Scroll down about halfway for the comparison spreadsheet.

 

[JY07]

I'd generally agree with the sentiment of having the streaming software separate, but not in this case: the TVs are so cheap I wouldn't actively go out of the way to avoid them; we have one and haven't had any issues with it.

Like someone else mentioned, if you're concerned it would become outdated, you can always just treat it like a normal TV and plug a new box into one of the inputs.

 

[BryceC]

Quick question, I think I'm finally at the point where I'm going to cut the cord, simply because of Disney +. However, I need to get either a Roku or an Apple TV (no support from Amazon Fire for Disney +) and two of them. What I'm having trouble figuring out is which one to buy because there are about 5 million options. Questions:

1. I've looked up like what the best streamers are:

https://www.cnet.com/topics/media-streamers/best-media-streamers/

I'm thinking Roku Streaming Stick Plus, because I'd like a small streamer stick. I like the interface of Roku. My question would be, I know it comes with a remote but has anybody used the Roku app on iOS or Android? I'm tired of remotes and want to power everything from there.

2. My wife likes Apple, and would be partial to an Apple TV, is there enough difference between the two to justify what would be a much greater expense? I can't imagine it is but I dunno.

3. Thinking of doing the YTTV/Disney +/ESPN +, I'm assuming all of these are easily loaded on Roku?

 

[cyfanatic]

Quick question, I think I'm finally at the point where I'm going to cut the cord, simply because of Disney +. However, I need to get either a Roku or an Apple TV (no support from Amazon Fire for Disney +) and two of them. What I'm having trouble figuring out is which one to buy because there are about 5 million options. Questions:

1. I've looked up like what the best streamers are:

https://www.cnet.com/topics/media-streamers/best-media-streamers/

I'm thinking Roku Streaming Stick Plus, because I'd like a small streamer stick. I like the interface of Roku. My question would be, I know it comes with a remote but has anybody used the Roku app on iOS or Android? I'm tired of remotes and want to power everything from there.

2. My wife likes Apple, and would be partial to an Apple TV, is there enough difference between the two to justify what would be a much greater expense? I can't imagine it is but I dunno.

3. Thinking of doing the YTTV/Disney +/ESPN +, I'm assuming all of these are easily loaded on Roku?

1. The Roku remotes I have control my TVs as well...so one remote! They don't do everything the remote that came with the TV does...but they don't need to! Power, volume and all the needs of using Roku.

2. Never used Apple TV stuff so can't help.

3. Roku is as easy to use as anything "electronic"! Setting up, maintaining and using Roku is very simple!