Speaking of Streaming Movies....

[brewmaster15]

We finally caved this year and got an Amazon Prime account ,mostly for the shipping discounts and perks. With it came Amazon Prime Movies. I have to say, Not really impressed. Most of what they offer you free under Prime is outdated or just bad movies. I get that they won't offer you free current releases but what I really can't stand is the large numbers of B and C grade videos Amazon offers. It takes for ever to find a decent video to watch because you need to sort through a ton of just really bad movies. Its fine to offer them, but they put them in the main gallery!

Anyone else? I have Hulu as well, which I really like.

al

[White Worm]

I use KODI. Everything new and free. Just HDMI laptop to TV and walla!

[Ryan925]

We finally caved this year and got an Amazon Prime account ,mostly for the shipping discounts and perks. With it came Amazon Prime Movies. I have to say, Not really impressed. Most of what they offer you free under Prime is outdated or just bad movies. I get that they won't offer you free current releases but what I really can't stand is the large numbers of B and C grade videos Amazon offers. It takes for ever to find a decent video to watch because you need to sort through a ton of just really bad movies. Its fine to offer them, but they put them in the main gallery!

Anyone else? I have Hulu as well, which I really like.

al

Get yourself an android box and use kodi as white worm suggested. I watch 1080p movies all the time. Everything is free. Very new movies not even out on blu ray yet plus all the old movies you could ever watch. I actually got our friend Jenene on one as well.

I had a very poor box to start and had many buffering issues. Since then I did a lot of research. The element box is one of the highest rated. I have the ti5 but they have already released a ti8

Never buffering. They release updates often and never any issues. I stream movies a lot! We do movie night with our son on the weekends plus watch movies every chance we get. $0 24/7

[Jenene]

Get yourself an android box and use kodi as white worm suggested. I watch 1080p movies all the time. Everything is free. Very new movies not even out on blu ray yet plus all the old movies you could ever watch. I actually got our friend Jenene on one as well.

I had a very poor box to start and had many buffering issues. Since then I did a lot of research. The element box is one of the highest rated. I have the ti5 but they have already released a ti8

Never buffering. They release updates often and never any issues. I stream movies a lot! We do movie night with our son on the weekends plus watch movies every chance we get. $0 24/7

I need to dig ours out Ryan. It seems my husband has lost interest in the man cave and the new giant tv down there. I should bring it up and try it out. It's a shame it's just sitting down there!

[Clawhammer]

Interesting guidance on KODI, sounds like i have something new to research :)

I have prime for the shipping, anything I can't buy in my 'hood I pick up on Amazon

I like a few of Prime's original series for binge watching. I don't know about you guys, but since the advent of cinema quality episodic TV, I have a hard time getting into movies. You invest a couple hours learning about some new characters and then its over. That random thought being said, check out "Man in the High Castle", "Goliath", and "Alpha House". Its also nice to have another service in addition to Netflix to binge / catch up on good cable series... I recently used it to catch up on "TURN" and "Vikings" which I don't think are available on other streaming services.

Just look at it as an added perk to a great deal on shipping :)

[Ryan925]

Interesting guidance on KODI, sounds like i have something new to research :)

I have prime for the shipping, anything I can't buy in my 'hood I pick up on Amazon

I like a few of Prime's original series for binge watching. I don't know about you guys, but since the advent of cinema quality episodic TV, I have a hard time getting into movies. You invest a couple hours learning about some new characters and then its over. That random thought being said, check out "Man in the High Castle", "Goliath", and "Alpha House". Its also nice to have another service in addition to Netflix to binge / catch up on good cable series... I recently used it to catch up on "TURN" and "Vikings" which I don't think are available on other streaming services.

Just look at it as an added perk to a great deal on shipping :)

Agreed.

A streaming box such as the element does tv shows and sports as well as movies. I typically use mine strictly for movies and use my firestick and Netflix for tv shows. I am really loving the xfinity and Netflix marriage.

Kodi can be put on any device you want. I actually "hacked" my firestick and unsealed kodi on that also.

The reason I prefer something like the element box is because they constantly roll out updates which will trash any dead add ons and replace with whatever is the latest and greatest. If you install kodi yourself you have periodically research the add ons, find what's needs, what's old then find source codes for download, etc, etc

It's well worth it just to buy the box preloaded. Saves you lots of time.

It seems complicated at first but it's really simple. My 5 year old has no problem using it to watch movies
https://www.ezstreambox.com/products/ezstream-ti8-android-tv-box

[Clawhammer]

Ryan, quick question. I have a Samsung "smart tv" with built in wifi. If I go to the "entertainment hub" I can access apps for all the streaming services, I watch Netflix this way all the time. Is this functionality the same thing the Ti8 box provides to non-smart TV's? Are there any advantages of this box over a smart TV? Do you still have to pay for the streaming services?

Thanks in advance for the education!

[RogueDiscus]

I'll probably get laughed at for being way behind, but we use Netfix and I complain all time time about their lousy selection. We probably watch more of BBC's Midsommer Murders than anything else. We do have Prime, too, but not much better. We're not much into the series. Long running stories that never end. We've gotten through the first seasons on a few, but always end up giving up.

[White Worm]

Download KODI on your laptop for free. You can then use HDMI from laptop to TV. Same as having a box. I haven't had any buffering problems but not all movies are 1080p.

[brewmaster15]

Download KODI on your laptop for free. You can then use HDMI from laptop to TV. Same as having a box. I haven't had any buffering problems but not all movies are 1080p.

Mike,
I have tried Kodi and it was a bit difficult to navigate... from withing Kodi, where do you get the movies?

al

[Ryan925]

Ryan, quick question. I have a Samsung "smart tv" with built in wifi. If I go to the "entertainment hub" I can access apps for all the streaming services, I watch Netflix this way all the time. Is this functionality the same thing the Ti8 box provides to non-smart TV's? Are there any advantages of this box over a smart TV? Do you still have to pay for the streaming services?

Thanks in advance for the education!


Mike,
I have tried Kodi and it was a bit difficult to navigate... from withing Kodi, where do you get the movies?

al

Man I just wrote a super long message explaining it and it says it's too short??

[Ryan925]

[QUOTE=Clawhammer;1267882]Ryan, quick question. I have a Samsung "smart tv" with built in wifi. If I go to the "entertainment hub" I can access apps for all the streaming services, I watch Netflix this way all the time. Is this functionality the same thing the Ti8 box provides to non-smart TV's? Are there any advantages of this box over a smart TV? Do you still have to pay for the streaming services?

Using kodi is 100% free. Essentially it would be like you searching on the internet for someone streaming a certain movie and watching it. What the "add-ons" do is take the work out for you it searches all the potential sources and list them by quality.



From within kodi you need "add ons" the add ons list the movies in sort of a Netflix format. When you select a movie it automatically searches all the potential sources and lists them by quality. This is why I prefer a preloaded box. It takes all the work out. You just run an update every so often and that's it.

If you want to format your own kodi a Google search will instruct you.

You need to search Google to see what the best current add ons are.

Currently Elysium is my fav along with exodus and the new genesis. Then you will need to Google how to download each add on. Basically it will give you a source code for a repository. Once you load the repository you will need to find the add on from within the repository and enable it.

Then in kodi you go to video and it will show your loaded add ons

[Ryan925]

Ryan, quick question. I have a Samsung "smart tv" with built in wifi. If I go to the "entertainment hub" I can access apps for all the streaming services, I watch Netflix this way all the time. Is this functionality the same thing the Ti8 box provides to non-smart TV's? Are there any advantages of this box over a smart TV? Do you still have to pay for the streaming services?

Thanks in advance for the education!

You could load kodi onto your smart tv but again you have to do all the work to format it and update it. It does far more than a smart tv. A smart tv will allow you to use paid streaming services. With the use of kodi on an android box you can watch ANYTHING for free.

When movies are too new you will see bootleg camera versions but give it a little time and you will get hd versions of movies shortly after they are out of the theatre most of the time

[Clawhammer]

You could load kodi onto your smart tv but again you have to do all the work to format it and update it. It does far more than a smart tv. A smart tv will allow you to use paid streaming services. With the use of kodi on an android box you can watch ANYTHING for free.

When movies are too new you will see bootleg camera versions but give it a little time and you will get hd versions of movies shortly after they are out of the theatre most of the time

This is very intriguing, thanks for the explanation. Do you still have cable / dish or have you cut the cord? This has the potential to offset my discus water bill!!!

[Ryan925]

This is very intriguing, thanks for the explanation. Do you still have cable / dish or have you cut the cord? This has the potential to offset my discus water bill!!!

So the system is designed to essentially make the cable go away but I prefer to continue to use the cable. I just find it easier with recordings and on demand and what not. For my regular tv stuff I prefer not to have to search but rather just dvr everything.

Which Samsung do you have ? I'm about due for a new tv. I'm rocking about a 7-8 year old LG led but the picture is really nice. Just pisses me off that we paid over $2k for the tv at the time and now similar tv's or under $1k.

I have people that comment on the picture all the time but there is a secret. Best thing I ever did was have best buy calibrate the tv in home. Most people don't even realize that's an option. The guy hooks up his computer and spends an hour setting all of the settings to match the light in the room.

It's deceiving when you look at all the tv's on the wall together at best buy. Your eye is always drawn to the brightest but that's not the best picture quality. Having the tv calibrated makes the picture look incredibly realistic

[Clawhammer]

Well, I have one question, will I be able to watch the new season of Game of Thrones?!?! (Starting this weekend people!)

Thanks for all the info Ryan, I definitely learned something and now have some reading to do. My Samsung TV model is UN65MU8000FXZA and I love it.

I wonder if there are any youtube videos that can explain how to professionally calibrate a tv?

[Ryan925]

Well, I have one question, will I be able to watch the new season of Game of Thrones?!?! (Starting this weekend people!)

Thanks for all the info Ryan, I definitely learned something and now have some reading to do. My Samsung TV model is UN65MU8000FXZA and I love it.

I wonder if there are any youtube videos that can explain how to professionally calibrate a tv?

The guy had special equipment. He hung like a little camera looking thing on the screen and had a laptop connected.

[White Worm]

Mike,
I have tried Kodi and it was a bit difficult to navigate... from withing Kodi, where do you get the movies?

al

I just googled how to load KODI and then researched how to load the channel addons. Once you get it loaded, its not hard to use. Exodus seems to be pretty good. https://seo-michael.co.uk/how-to-install-exodus-for-kodi/

[Ryan925]

I just googled how to load KODI and then researched how to load the channel addons. Once you get it loaded, its not hard to use. Exodus seems to be pretty good. https://seo-michael.co.uk/how-to-install-exodus-for-kodi/

Exodus is really good. With my last update there is a new one called Elysium that has been great. Great selection of really new movies and lots of 1080. Also there is a rebooted version of genesis as well

[White Worm]

Exodus is really good. With my last update there is a new one called Elysium that has been great. Great selection of really new movies and lots of 1080. Also there is a rebooted version of genesis as well
I haven't watched any movies in the last few weeks but I will have to load those 2 and give them a try. The only delay sometimes is waiting for the 1080p versions to come out. We had a bunch of REDBOX credits to use up first.

[Ryan925]

I haven't watched any movies in the last few weeks but I will have to load those 2 and give them a try. The only delay sometimes is waiting for the 1080p versions to come out. We had a bunch of REDBOX credits to use up first.

As long as it's hd for me I'm good doesn't have to be 1080. 720 works well enough but refuse to watch anything in sd is rather just wait lol

[Dalfan039]

Just for people's information, The current laws in the US do not make streaming illegal, only sharing materials to people who do not have a license to own, this could be a receipt of purchase for the DVD. Over the last few years Laws making Streaming illegal have been introduced but have been found to be unconstitutional because of riders that representatives and senators have tried to add on. KEEP AN EYE ON THESE LAWS, when someone finally writes a law that does not have so many riders it will be passed and streaming will be illegal, there are other ways around this, however, i will not discuss them on an open forum =). if you are interested please PM me and i will supply an email or my cell number for texting. My degree is in Information Security so i do know a few things about this sort of thing haha =)

[White Worm]

As long as it's hd for me I'm good doesn't have to be 1080. 720 works well enough but refuse to watch anything in sd is rather just wait lol

Completely agree.

[Demosthenes]

I have this nice little scam where I use a Slingbox to stream my parents' cable. They pay a small mortgage to Verizon every month to feed their premium channel addiction. I just kick in $12 for them to keep an extra cable box that sits in a corner plugged into my Slingbox. Now I can watch their crazy expensive cable anywhere with an internet connection. I realize this is probably somewhat illegal, but I'm happy to take my chances. In order to get a cable package that has both Comedy Central and the BBC, I'd have to pay something like $120 per month. Screw that.

[brewmaster15]

Just a cautionary note all, If you are doing something and its illegal, best to keep it to yourself. The forum rules don't allow posting it .

Al

[Demosthenes]

Just a cautionary note all, If you are doing something and its illegal, best to keep it to yourself. The forum rules don't allow posting it .

Al

Duly noted ;) I was just being facetious. I don't think what I'm doing is any more illegal than say, sharing your Netflix password. I however would not be surprised if it were a violation of the user agreement, since I'm not technically listed on the contract as a paid subscriber.