4K TV Channels

[CALKAT]

I have Direct TV , recently I noticed some shows I watch , mostly travel shows are being shown on the 3 4K channels they have ........ they also show some movies and sports events .

I called to see what the price was for those 3 channels , $99 1 time set up for a new genie ( that would be per TV set up ) and then $10 a month .

Not a huge investment , yet I’m tired of the nickel n dime add on charges .......the price and weather to move to total streaming is another story

Question is how many of you have 4K set up and ......what you think of it and does it really make for better viewing ?

Have a really nice tv TV set up internet connection speed seems so so ( another issue / discussion about ATT/Direct I don’t like )

Thoughts on 4K for those of you that have it ..........Thxs

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I've seen some 4k content and it looks cool. But I've yet to feel that its neccesary. New movies look fine to me in 1080.

 

[Tskware]

I "fired" DirectTV over the dishonest crap they pulled encouraging me to sign up for 4K service, cost me nearly $700 to get out of the deal, and as you say, hardly any content worth watching is on 4K. Switched to MetroNet, very happy with the service.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Spoke to an in-law yesterday who got the Firestick "hacked" with Kodi in like a half hour. That will be my next project, because the "cable cutters" have only gone up in price and will continue to do so.

Im done paying for this stuff if I don't need to. I don't mind service fees, but here we are again paying for 200 channels when we watch like 10 of them. ALl they did was kick the can down the road.

 

[catlanta33]

Spoke to an in-law yesterday who got the Firestick "hacked" with Kodi in like a half hour. That will be my next project, because the "cable cutters" have only gone up in price and will continue to do so.

Im done paying for this stuff if I don't need to. I don't mind service fees, but here we are again paying for 200 channels when we watch like 10 of them. ALl they did was kick the can down the road.

I tried to run Kodi on an android box and it was ****. Maybe there's a thinner client for firestick but it took building a HTPC and running off an SSD to be able to watch something without it constantly crashing.

 

[Tskware]

I tried to run Kodi on an android box and it was ****. Maybe there's a thinner client for firestick but it took building a HTPC and running off an SSD to be able to watch something without it constantly crashing.

Stories like you and LineSkiCat are relating are why I keep swallowing the $200/month for Metronet, it is really reliable, and that price includes high speed Wifi as well as cable TV

 

[catlanta33]

Stories like you and LineSkiCat are relating are why I keep swallowing the $200/month for Metronet, it is really reliable, and that price includes high speed Wifi as well as cable TV

I wouldn't let that dissuade you. Once I actually get the energy to call Comcast, I'll drop them. I'm probably going to spend about the same but want to get gig speed fiber and one of the streaming services for TV. So I would be upgrading internet but also not getting a ton of extra channels I never watch.

Kodi is for bypassing everything and borrowing tv/movies. It's great when it's working but you also have to keep up the repositories since they routinely get shut down before the geeks bring them back elsewhere.

 

[Catman100]

I have the 4k on Directv. Rarely watch it. Only the occasional sporting event.
Definitely a better picture than regular HD, but not much on there until they have a lot more programming.

 

[Mossip]

I keep swallowing the $200/month

You can get YouTubeTV and the highest speed internet in your area for around half that. I'd at least call and pretend you're dropping em' to see what they counter with. $200 a month is insane.

 

[Tskware]

You can get YouTubeTV and the highest speed internet in your area for around half that. I'd at least call and pretend you're dropping em' to see what they counter with. $200 a month is insane.

Got a lot of ish on my plate and switching is a time vampire, I might do so this spring, but if I screw up Netflix, HBO, Amazon etc., or our DVR, my wife will skin me alive. I like my skin better than a few bucks a month, at least at the moment.

 

[Mossip]

Fair enough. As long as you're aware. I have an Amazon element smart TV with all of that on the home screen. No clue how to preserve the DVR, tho.

Sometimes it's worth it just to pay more to stick with what you're used to, so I get it. None of the streaming services have as good of a "guide" / interface as traditional cable or dish services.

 

[nom de plume_rivals392166]

Seems like I read where the new stimulus bill just upped it to a felony for stealing streaming content.

 

[gamecockcat]

We cut the cable several years ago when we were paying $150/mo for land line, high speed internet and enhanced cable (ESPN, basically). Got tired of that ish.

We now pay about $50/mo for high speed internet, get local stations over the air with digital antenna ($20 on Amazon), Netflix, Disney+ ($30/mo) and Sling for CFB season. So, most months we save $70/mo and $35/mo during CFB season. I've looked at YouTube TV and Hulu Live, etc. and they're all about 2x what Sling charges so, for now, I'm sticking with what I've got. It's not perfect and I sometimes have the screen freeze but that's maybe once during a game and it's definitely not every game. Within a minute, I can reload and be up and running so, while irritating, it's not the end of the world. Also, Sling comes with 10 hours (I think) of DVR.

 

[Mossip]

What are you paying for Sling? I really hated their interface. Haven't had it in years.

YT has unlimited DVR, but that isn't really a feature I care about...

 

[Tskware]

YT has unlimited DVR, but that isn't really a feature I care about...

Without DVR, I would watch about 20% of live sports that I do currently. No way I am spending four hours watching an NFL playoff game, I watched the KC vs. Cleveland game in half of that or less, and that was letting the TV play without fast forward between plays while the clock was running, e.g., a run inbounds that keeps the game clock running. I could watch an entire game in an hour and a half, easy, if I FF'ed between plays.

 

[Mossip]

Yep. I'm all about tuning in an hour late and ff'ding through the rest. Can't really contain myself when it comes to UK sports, but everything else gets this treatment. I just don't really archive any shows for later was all I was getting at.

 

[gamecockcat]

What are you paying for Sling? I really hated their interface. Haven't had it in years.

YT has unlimited DVR, but that isn't really a feature I care about...

IIRC, Sling is $35/mo with no contracts - start/stop whenever. Interface isn't the best but it works fine for me. I think you can pay either $5 or $10 more per month and get 50 hours of DVR but I rarely use the DVR so I don't pay for more.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

I tried to run Kodi on an android box and it was ****. Maybe there's a thinner client for firestick but it took building a HTPC and running off an SSD to be able to watch something without it constantly crashing.

Fire Sticks are trash is your problem.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

I wouldn't let that dissuade you. Once I actually get the energy to call Comcast, I'll drop them. I'm probably going to spend about the same but want to get gig speed fiber and one of the streaming services for TV. So I would be upgrading internet but also not getting a ton of extra channels I never watch.

Kodi is for bypassing everything and borrowing tv/movies. It's great when it's working but you also have to keep up the repositories since they routinely get shut down before the geeks bring them back elsewhere.

And you have to make sure which add-on you’re using isn’t using Torrents because Comcast will bust you for that.

But there is a way around that. Using the real-debrid service and all the torrenting will be done on their server and you’re just streaming off their server. It also gives you access to a whole lot more streams that are of better quality and download faster. Used to roll with Kodi and other type apps all the time until I got tired of dealing with the constant changes.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

Seems like I read where the new stimulus bill just upped it to a felony for stealing streaming content.

It’s targeting the people hosting the content, not the people watching it.

 

[jtrue28]

YouTubeTV was $35/month when we signed up. It’s now $65. They won’t go much higher because they’re already at cable company prices. Cable companies make their money on leasing you all their damn boxes. Eff that.

We get our 4k content through other avenues. Plex shares, so to speak.

 

[nom de plume_rivals392166]

YouTubeTV was $35/month when we signed up. It’s now $65. They won’t go much higher because they’re already at cable company prices. Cable companies make their money on leasing you all their damn boxes. Eff that.

We get our 4k content through other avenues. Plex shares, so to speak.

I came very close to jumping to YouTubeTV several months ago but I knew they'd just start jacking up the prices like everyone else does.

 

[_ukcat]

There just not enough 4K Programming available to justify the Directv cost. Would love to have it for Sporting Events especially The Masters but until There more Regular 4K Programming available not going to get it.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I tried to run Kodi on an android box and it was ****. Maybe there's a thinner client for firestick but it took building a HTPC and running off an SSD to be able to watch something without it constantly crashing.

Stories like you and LineSkiCat are relating are why I keep swallowing the $200/month for Metronet, it is really reliable, and that price includes high speed Wifi as well as cable TV

Yep, this is EXACTLY what I was asking m in-law about. I know it has all the content you could ever want, but is it 1. easy and intuitive to use 2. does it allow simple live TV where I can "channel surf" and 3. how well does it run on the hardware. He used a 4K firestick and claims it's been fine, he even has his Dad using it, too.

I'm gonna probably do it in a week or two, just to see if it's worth it. Because with YoutubeTV and several streaming services, I'm at close to $100 for cable.. and then another $60 for internet, and we're basically back up to cable costs.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

And you have to make sure which add-on you’re using isn’t using Torrents because Comcast will bust you for that.

But there is a way around that. Using the real-debrid service and all the torrenting will be done on their server and you’re just streaming off their server. It also gives you access to a whole lot more streams that are of better quality and download faster. Used to roll with Kodi and other type apps all the time until I got tired of dealing with the constant changes.

That, or just get a VPN, which people should probably be doing anyways. Tons of options out there, and it'll be like $60 for 3 years or something.

I started using SurfShark for torrenting because Spectrum shut down my internet on me. It's no longer "My friends friends friends got a letter to stop pirating..". No, they take action now.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

IIRC, Sling is $35/mo with no contracts - start/stop whenever. Interface isn't the best but it works fine for me. I think you can pay either $5 or $10 more per month and get 50 hours of DVR but I rarely use the DVR so I don't pay for more.

I had the Sling App back in 2015/2016, right as they became one of the first cord-cutting options for live TV. It was solid, price was good.. but the interface needed work. And I still needed an HD antenna to switch to the local networks for primetime, news and sports.

With Youtube TV, they solved that (and maybe Sling has now, too?), so for me, not having to switch to different services, a good menu and some DVR capabilities make YTTV worth the additional 30 bucks a month, IMO.

 

[catlanta33]

And you have to make sure which add-on you’re using isn’t using Torrents because Comcast will bust you for that.

But there is a way around that. Using the real-debrid service and all the torrenting will be done on their server and you’re just streaming off their server. It also gives you access to a whole lot more streams that are of better quality and download faster. Used to roll with Kodi and other type apps all the time until I got tired of dealing with the constant changes.

I don't use Kodi much anymore but when I do, it's always with my VPN on.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

That, or just get a VPN, which people should probably be doing anyways. Tons of options out there, and it'll be like $60 for 3 years or something.

I started using SurfShark for torrenting because Spectrum shut down my internet on me. It's no longer "My friends friends friends got a letter to stop pirating..". No, they take action now.

The cheap VPNs aren’t normally good options for torrenting.

But I still say Real-Debrid is a better option since it expands the sources and quality of the sources. And you can use it to download torrents and stuff from file hosting sites as full speed.

VPN just hides what you’re doing.

 

[catlanta33]

The cheap VPNs aren’t normally good options for torrenting.

I use IPvanish because they allegedly don't report nor log IP data. I think it's 5 bucks a month.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

I had the Sling App back in 2015/2016, right as they became one of the first cord-cutting options for live TV. It was solid, price was good.. but the interface needed work. And I still needed an HD antenna to switch to the local networks for primetime, news and sports.

With Youtube TV, they solved that (and maybe Sling has now, too?), so for me, not having to switch to different services, a good menu and some DVR capabilities make YTTV worth the additional 30 bucks a month, IMO.

YouTube TV is the best streaming “cable” option in the game.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

The cheap VPNs aren’t normally good options for torrenting.

I'd have to look more into that, but it seems all of the software based ones, like NordVPN, are more or less the same (NordVPN breach aside). Always deals to get 3 years for like 50-60 bucks. I'm not familiar with any "expensive" ones, and I imagine at that point, you're probably looking at hardware based VPNs.

SurfShark came recommended by my Senior Network Engineer. He's not the BEST network guy I've worked with, but I trust his judgement.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

I use IPvanish because they allegedly don't report nor log IP data. I think it's 5 bucks a month.

Real-debrid is like $20 for half a year. You can get a shorter subscription length but the shorter you get the more it costs.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

YouTube TV is the best streaming “cable” option in the game.

Agreed. However, the rising costs, and the need for more and more streaming services, is starting to annoy me. For a while it was just Netflix.. Now I need Disney+, AppleTV, whatever NBC's app is for The Office.

I'm not going back to paying $100+/month for cable. Keep it down to $60? Fine. But if the big companies are gonna try and force us back to high cable bills again, I'm at least going to find some alternatives.

 

[jtrue28]

Honestly, the only reason I still subscribe to TV is for sports. I got the lifetime deal for PlexPass last year, which allows me to connect my antenna (HD HomeRun) to Plex and watch/record TV through Plex. If ESPN would just carve our their channels as a standalone service (not the ESPN+ ****), I would get that, and call it a day.