| Author |
Message |
Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, June 23, 2011 - 5:51 am 
I have a question about bluray players. I intent to cut back on my cable to basic cable, meaning no high def, no DVR, etc., in an effort to save money. To make up for that, I'm planning to get a bluray player so I can stream Netflix, Hulu, and all that. The questions I guess are: is this a reasonable plan? I have cable internet and can watch lots of rpgrams illegally in the internets already (I.e. tennis at Wimbledon)and frankly I play the TV as background noise most of the time. The second question: is it smarter to get built in wifi or wifi ready? If it matters, my modem is right on top my cable box, so I could do an Ethernet connection if necessary. Lastly, does anyone have a bluray recommendation, one that streams Netflix well and is Hulu (or do most of these do Vudu) enabled, and maybe YouTube too?
TIA.
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Mack
Member
07-22-2002
| Thursday, June 23, 2011 - 6:25 am
Many of the more common brands of Blu-ray players (i.e., Samsung, Sony, Toshiba) now have built in wi-fi. I'd stay away from models that say wi-fi ready as that typically means you'll need another piece of equipment to make that work. I've seen, and actually have, a new Sony that works quite well with my wireless Internet and streams all the services you've mentioned. I think it was around $130 and that was like six months ago so it's probably even cheaper. Personally I don't use it as I have satellite but I understand trying to cut back expenses.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Thursday, June 23, 2011 - 11:52 am
We have a sony w/Netflix and we've used Amazon on Demand as well as Youtube with it. We have the built in wi-fi so it is super easy. We cut our satellite to the minimum they'll offer (50 channels or so for $25), so we use all of the above for some of our favorite shows that we can no longer get on TV. It's still cheaper since, for example, I can see an entire season of Top Chef for under $15, and we're saving $35 a MONTH for the small satellite package.
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Nyheat
Member
08-09-2006
| Friday, August 05, 2011 - 11:21 am
Well, I got the computer hooked up to the TV via HDMI cable--woo hoo! It took a while to figure out the audio from the TV; apparently you have to change the setting in the Manage Hardware menu.
The HDMI cable was $30  but working. I'm going to get the Netflix streaming one month free trial and see if it's worth it. Don't think I'll be giving up the cable TV though.
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Bob2112
Member
06-12-2002
| Friday, August 05, 2011 - 1:24 pm
A little too late for Nyheat (maybe you could return the $30 HDMI cable), but www.monoprice.com has every cable any length and color you could ever want for a fraction of the price of any store. I can't even make network cables for as cheap as they sell them. A 6 foot HDMI cable delivered is under $7 (half of that is shipping) and you can add extra stuff without the shipping going up much or not at all.
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Naja
Member
06-28-2003
| Friday, September 02, 2011 - 7:30 pm
OH my goodness. I really need to peek in here more often. I wish I would have found you sooner, Nyheat. I try to get my cables mostly from meritline. You can get a 6 ft hdmi cable for $3.59 free shipping. Sometimes they have sales where they are even less. I got a whole bunch over Christmas for the new gadgets. NO matter what anybody says. I swear a $3 cable works as well as an expensive one.
http://www.meritline.com/newsearch.aspx?SearchTerm=hdmi+cable
eta: shipping is often longer for meritline, but I accept it because of how much I save.
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Roxip
Member
01-29-2004
| Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - 2:34 pm
Anybody have uverse? I am having it hooked up on Friday and hope I am going to love it...making major technological changes (not to mention memorizing a whole new lineup of channels) is so stressful!
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Merrysea
Moderator
08-13-2004
| Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - 6:31 pm
Roxi, I have it and I love it! It's really great to be able to record four shows at a time, especially when there's more than one person in the house. We've also had better luck with the internet; with Comcast we would get a lot of short breaks in service, but we haven't had any since we switched to Uverse over a year ago.
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Roxip
Member
01-29-2004
| Thursday, October 27, 2011 - 7:00 am
We currently have two DVRs in the house (one in my bedroom and one in Shelby's) so we technically can record 4 programs at once, but the feature I am most excited about is being able to watch what I have recorded from any television...right now I have to watch everything in my bedroom and it would be nice to be able to start watching something in one room and move to another...I might actually get some housework done that way (although I see that I might also have to have a television installed in the kitchen). I don't know - 4 televisions for 2 people - is that pushing it a little?
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Merrysea
Moderator
08-13-2004
| Thursday, October 27, 2011 - 9:02 am
That is a nice feature, and it reminded me of another feature that I hadn't even thought of until we used it. I was watching a recording in my room, and my son was watching the same recording in his room; but we had started at different times.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Saturday, November 19, 2011 - 3:13 pm
So....I want to connect my school TV to my projector. It has the 3 video/audio output ports on the back, but when I connected a cable today, I got audio - no video. When I connected the cable to the DVD player, all 3 worked, so I know it's not the cable. The TV is ancient in tech. years (at least 16 years old), so I thought I'd just buy a little one and replace it. It doesn't need to be a big TV since it'll be connected to the projector.
My problem - as I look at newer, small-screen TVs, NONE of them have an video output. Am I looking for the impossible? I'd appreciate any and all feedback.
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Grumpy
Member
02-08-2004
| Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - 9:09 pm
What are all the possibilities with the projector "connecting" to the TV? Only the 3 audio/video? I have never known a tv NOT to have those out puts as they are common for video games and other things to hook up. The ones I see have at least 2 sets of them. One for easy access and one in the very back. I will look around and see if I find anything.
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Grumpy
Member
02-08-2004
| Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - 9:23 pm
Unless I am misunderstanding what your saying, all the TV's at best buy say they come with A/V output. The red yellow and White cables. They can also be blue and green and maybe another color.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Thursday, November 24, 2011 - 10:13 pm
If you look - it's an INPUT, not out output for the red, yellow, white cables. A DVD player, game system, etc. hooks into the TV so the video is FROM the DVD. However, to have an OUTPUT with more than just red/white for a speaker system has proven to be as rare as an icicle in the desert. I've looked in stores, online, etc. and haven't found one yet that has all three as an output.
For most school stuff, the cable I have will work beautifully since it connects to the DVD player and acts as the TV screen. It's only actual TV channels (for our Channel One news or something we're showing using the channel One equipment) that won't come through.
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Stray_cat
Member
06-21-2006
| Friday, March 09, 2012 - 2:42 pm
I have what will probably seem like a dumb question or questions, I have an old analog TV that I had just setup with a new HDPVR (love it!)... so a friend did the same thing and shortly after her TV died. She went out and purchased a HDTV and said that her HDPVR filled up so fast due to the higher resolution. Now my old TV just started to turn pink and looks like it's on its last legs. If I buy an HDTV can I record on my HDPVR at a lower resolution (to get more space)? Or should I just purchase a non HD TV? I'm not really caring about the HD picture, more about having lots of space on my HDPVR. Hope this makes sense 
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Colordeagua
Member
10-24-2003
| Friday, March 09, 2012 - 4:09 pm
I'm not always so well-versed technologically, but what I think . . . I don't know that you can buy a non-HD TV any longer. I believe you can set the TV to a lower resolution (therefore not HD?) to save disk space on the PVR.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Friday, March 09, 2012 - 5:08 pm
Your PVR is recording at whatever resolution it is recording at and then outputting the result to the TV. The TV being HD won't make the PVR record any differently than it is recording now. 
HD is stunning. You will love it.
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Merrysea
Moderator
08-13-2004
| Friday, March 09, 2012 - 5:27 pm
In our area, different channels broadcast in HD and non-HD. When we have a lot to record, we use the non-HD channels for most shows; but we always use HD for Survivor, TAR, Hawaii Five-0, and other shows where the scenery is stunning.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Friday, March 09, 2012 - 6:07 pm
Ditto what Merry says... if I'm traveling for extended periods, I switch to recording the non-HD channels.
And ditto what Jimmer says... you'll love HD. Even if there are some people who should NEVER be filmed in high def!
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Stray_cat
Member
06-21-2006
| Friday, March 09, 2012 - 8:18 pm
I know they have what's called "HD ready" TVs but read some reviews and most say not to go with that.
Technologically challenged here
Thanks everyone, think I'll just go with the HDTV and select the non-HD channels if I'm doing a lot of recording.
I have heard that Hawaii Five-O is fantastic in HD.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Friday, March 23, 2012 - 6:34 pm
My dvr quit yet again. It is one supplied by the cable company, as were all the rest. So far, I have just taken the old ones into the office and traded them out. None of them have lasted more than a couple of months. It's very aggravating! I lose all the programs I have recorded. It's a long drive, too. As it being a Friday, the office won't be open till Monday. They said they'll send a technician out on Wednesday, so I may wait this time. Have no idea why this keeps happening. Crap!
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 8:01 am
Your DVR shouldn't be quitting that often. So there is likely something wrong somewhere. Either with the quality of the boxes your cable company is using (who is it?) or with your set up. If you set things up yourself, you may want to have them come out and check your setup. Also, you may want to go out and buy good quality connectors and use those instead.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 5:18 pm
I've heard their boxes are very buggy. Pace brand.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 5:39 pm
Never heard of 'em. I'd call your provider and complain. Loudly. They should NEVER crap out that often!
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - 11:55 am
The cable guy came out, hooked everything back up and the box started working perfectly! Go figure!
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