Random Tech thread.

Jiggyfly

Banned
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
9,220
The Chromebit turns any old monitor or TV into a computer for $85
The Verge
The Verge
Dieter Bohn




Asus and Google have finally started selling the Chromebit, a candybar-sized Chrome OS computer that retails for a measly 85 bucks. You can plug it into any HDMI port, hook up the power cable and a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, then kaboom: instant computer.

We've become familiar with Chromebooks. On the low end, they offer a cheap and easy way to get a browser and web-based apps without having to hassle with keeping the thing up to date. The Chromebit is the same idea, only smaller. Basically, take a cheap Chromebook and remove the expensive parts: the screen, the battery, the keyboard and trackpad. What you're left with is Asus' cute little stick.


It's compelling, if only because the cheap price compels you to consider new places where you might want a computer. If you have an old monitor lying around, turn it into a secondary computer. Or maybe use that extra HDMI port on your TV so you can relive the 1996 dream of the full web experience on your TV. Or maybe you just want to get a conference room set up for Hangouts conferences. And those hotel room TVs (and the annoying captive-portal hotel Wi-Fi) could become a bit more useful too. Or perhaps Chrome OS is a better option for the classroom than a room full of aging Windows XP boxes.

Dream small

All grand ideas, so long as the Chromebit itself can live up to them. But if you're thinking about impulse-buying this little computer-on-a-stick, here's my advice: Dream small. The Chromebit is not very powerful. It has a Rockchip processor — a relatively new class of chip that can't handle too many tabs or video at super high resolution. Pair that with a relatively paltry 2GB of RAM and you'll find that your new gadget can't run more than a handful of Chrome tabs before things start getting sluggish and reloading.


There's also the fact that the Chromebit's economics really only make sense if you happen to have a display with an HDMI port you want to use and a spare Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. You can buy all the extra bits you need, but the costs can quickly add up. (If I were Google, I'd make a free Android app that could act as a keyboard and trackpad for this thing.)

All those limitations seem somehow less acceptable on a big monitor or TV than they do on a budget Chromebook like the Flip. If you have a big screen that looks like a full Chrome OS computer, you expect it to perform like one too, and the Chromebit doesn't, not really.

Good for basic web tasks, but not much more

Google seems to understand these limitations. In a blog post, it names the Chromebit as a good device for digital kiosks that can be managed remotely. That's actually a smart scenario for a device like this. The Chromebit won't make you happy if you're trying to juggle Netflix and a Google spreadsheet and six tabs of research and cat GIFs — but it can certainly run the latte selection and headline crawl at your local coffee shop.


If you're well aware of what the Chromebit can and (more importantly) can't do, then by all means give it a shot. Since it runs Chrome OS, you won't have to deal with a lot of setup or maintenance — Google handles all of that for you. Many people have found real uses for Chromebooks — it's entirely possible to get 90 percent of what most of use computers for done on them. Worst case scenario: you have a spare computer sitting in your junk drawer, just in case.

It won't run nearly as many apps as a cheap Windows PC, but then again there are precious few Windows PCs this cheap.
 

dallen

Senior Tech
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
8,466
Does it include the granola bar?
 

dallen

Senior Tech
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
8,466
They've actually been making Android versions of these things over in China for years. I bought one a few years back and played with it a little bit. The one I had did actually have an Android app you could run on your phone that emulated a keyboard and mouse. I was thinking about using it for stuff like Netflix, Hulu, etc. Ultimately I went with a Roku instead, but they are neat little machines.


Edit - This is the one I bought if anyone is curious: http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/mini-pcs/mk808-android-mini-pc
 

Carp

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
15,127
So I am looking for another tablet for a Christmas gift...I am getting 1 iPad mini for one of my kids ($199 at WalMart) and I want to get another one for the other kid. He has a Samsung now, but needs a 2nd one. Not trying to go super cheap, but also do not want to throw crazy money for a second tablet.

I was looking at a couple of RCA ones...they had removeable keyboards, which I like as an option...I just don't know how well RCA products hold up. Thoughts? The 10.1 inch tablet is $79 and the 11.6 inch tablet is $129.

Thoughts?
 

Jiggyfly

Banned
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
9,220
So I am looking for another tablet for a Christmas gift...I am getting 1 iPad mini for one of my kids ($199 at WalMart) and I want to get another one for the other kid. He has a Samsung now, but needs a 2nd one. Not trying to go super cheap, but also do not want to throw crazy money for a second tablet.

I was looking at a couple of RCA ones...they had removeable keyboards, which I like as an option...I just don't know how well RCA products hold up. Thoughts? The 10.1 inch tablet is $79 and the 11.6 inch tablet is $129.

Thoughts?
http://www.product-reviews.net/2015/11/27/rca-viking-pro-10-1-inch-2-in-1-tablet-unboxing-review/



http://www.product-reviews.net/2014/01/03/rca-9-inch-tablet-review-after-launch/
 

Jiggyfly

Banned
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
9,220
10 best smartphones for the 2015 holiday season
We've spent time with most of the latest and greatest smartphones with the others having been revealed in all their glory. Find out which ones Matthew Miller thinks are the best.

Matthew Miller

For pictures and individual reviews click the link.


http://www.zdnet.com/article/10-best-smartphones-for-the-2015-holiday-season/

We've seen a recent rash of smartphone announcements and while we still wait for a couple phones to become available, it looks like we know all the phones that are coming in 2015.
I've been especially blessed this year to get my hands on some fantastic devices and have an arsenal of devices to choose from each day. In this current top 10 list, there are only two phones that I haven't tried yet because they haven't been released and I've spent lots of money on others.

My litmus test for picking the top phone in these lists is figuring out which single phone I would own if I could only have one--I'm thankful I don't have to make that choice. The Android world has changed pretty radically this year as we approach the holiday season. You can find excellent phones in the $400 price range and now that all carriers are moving to non-subsidized purchase options the full (real) price is finally starting to matter to folks.

There are so many great phones that I could honestly could go with any of the top five as my daily driver and be perfectly happy. Ranking these top 10 is subjective and is based on my personal experiences and understanding of the phones. You may end up with the same top ten that I have, but I doubt too many will have the exact same order. If you have another contender for the top ten I would love to hear which phone and why in the comments.

Let's take a look at my current top picks for the 2015 holiday season.

1. APPLE IPHONE 6S PLUS/6S
I'm sure I'll feel the heat by making this top pick, but after a month with the Apple iPhone 6s Plus it is the one device that I keep going back to despite all the other greats I have been testing.


Based purely on the best hardware, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 beats the iPhone 6s Plus. However, Apple has some kind of magic in the 6s Plus with a battery that beats the Note 5 by a couple hours in my daily usage experiences. While the Note 5 has the S Pen, the iPhone 6s Plus has more new impressive features that have me excited about using it every day.

3D Touch, Touch ID, Hey Siri, the improved camera, the awesome front-facing camera flash technique, Proactive, and more all make the iPhone 6s Plus a phone that really isn't missing anything. Apple not only has the most apps, it has the most apps with the best user experiences. The iPhone 6s Plus isn't perfect, but it's as close as you can get.



The iPhone 6s Plus is a big phone and it remains the most expensive smartphone available, priced from $749 to $949. You can save $100 and pick up the smaller iPhone 6s, but you lose out on optical image stabilization and have shorter battery life.


2. SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 5

It's been a couple of years since I owned a Galaxy Note, but after falling in love with the radical design changes in the Galaxy S6 Edge I knew I had to buy the Note 5. I returned my Galaxy S6 Edge because it didn't meet my battery needs so I was thrilled to see the Note 5 with the curved back (much better design than a curved front), new S Pen technology, best smartphone display ever, and more.


The S Pen has always been a focus of the Note line, but in the past I only used it occasionally. With the Note 5, I use the S Pen every day my SIM card is in it. The ability to add notes to the display when the display is off is key to this change in my usage patterns.

As you can see in my full review (9.7 rating) the Note 5 has the highest specifications of any smartphone currently available. Rocking a Samsung Exynos octa-core processor, 4GB of the fastest RAM, 5.7 inch 2560x1440 pixels display, 16 megapixel camera, 3000 mAh battery, and more make it a device to seriously consider.

Samsung Pay is also better than Android Pay and Apple Pay thanks to its use of magnetic secure transmission (MST) technology. The Galaxy Note 5 is priced at $700 for the 32GB model and $780 for the 64GB model.


3. GOOGLE'S HUAWEI NEXUS 6P
Google releases a Nexus device each year, but this year we saw two new Nexus phones. The Nexus 6P is a fantastic device that is brought to use from Huawei. This is the first time Google worked with Huawei on a Nexus and it's also the most premium Nexus device ever.


In addition to high end specifications and a reasonable price, you can use the Nexus 6P with Google Fi wireless service.

The Nexus 6P is the first Android 6.0 Marshmallow smartphone to launch and includes the new fingerprint scanner technology, USB Type-C port, and Now On Tap capability.

The Nexus 6P is priced at $499, $549, and $649 for 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB internal storage capacity. This is $200 to $300 less than Samsung and Apple flagship smartphones.


4. SAMSUNG GALAXY S6/S6 EDGE/S6 EDGE+
Samsung revealed the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge at MWC early this year. I purchased the Galaxy S6 Edge, see my full review, but ended up returning it to T-Mobile at the last possible minute due to battery life that did not meet my needs.


The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are powered by a Samsung Exynos octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB/64GB/128GB internal storage, 16 megapixel camera, 5.1 inch Super AMOLED 2560 x 1440 pixel display, integrated wireless charging, and more. Note that the removable battery, waterproof design, and microSD memory card expansion are all now gone from this successor to the Galaxy S5.

The S6 Edge+ is really just a slightly larger S6 Edge with a 5.7 inch display in lieu of a 5.1 inch panel. The S6 Edge+ also has 4GB of RAM instead of 3GB.

The camera is stunning and the design is excellent. The Galaxy S6 line is priced from $580 to $860 with capacities ranging from 32GB to 128GB.


5. LG G4
I've been rocking a T-Mobile LG G4 since the beginning of May and posted my review (rating of 9.6) later that month. Several months later, and before the launch of the new Nexus phones, the LG G4 remained one of the top Android smartphones and offers some unique features no longer found on most smartphones today.


The LG G4 has one of the best cameras available on a smartphone, has a removable user-replaceable battery, and includes a microSD expansion card slot. It supports rapid charging and with a simple $10 mod to the back cover, did I mention it comes in leather?, you can even get Qi wireless charging support.

You can now pick up the LG G4 on T-Mobile for just $480 and when you compare that to the mid-range sub-$450 pricing of brand new phones it's tough not to choose the more powerful LG G4. The Android 6.0 Marshmallow update is starting to roll out for the LG G4, which is exciting when you consider that Marshmallow lets you extend the internal storage capacity to the microSD card so that all of your installed storage appears and functions the same as internal storage.

You will find a Snapdragon 808 1.8 GHz 64-bit processor, 3GB RAM, 16 megapixel camera with f/1.8 aperture and OIS, front facing 8 megapixel camera, removable 3,000 mAh battery, Quick Charge 2.0 technology, and support for up to 2TB microSD cards.


6. MICROSOFT LUMIA 950/950XL
Microsoft announced the Lumia 950 and 950XL last month with both devices launching sometime in the next month. The Lumia 950 will be the first Microsoft smartphone launching with Windows 10 Mobile. Unfortunately, AT&T is the only US carrier that is going to carry the phone while consumers can purchase either model via the Microsoft website for $549 and $649.


The Lumia 950/950 XL are both loaded up with the highest end specifications, including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 and 810 processor, 5.7 inch 2560x1440 AMOLED display, 20 megapixel Zeiss optics camera, 3340 mAh removable battery, microSD card slot, USB Type-C fast charging, and more.

One of the most interesting features of the Lumia 950 is the support for Microsoft Continuum. Continuum allows you to connect the Lumia 950 to the Microsoft Display Dock. You can also connect a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to this hub and use your Lumia 950 as the heart of a mobile PC. I'm not sure if this is something that anyone is really seeking so it will be interesting to see if Continuum with Windows Mobile is widely adopted.

7. HTC ONE A9
HTC One devices have been known for aluminum unibody construction, front-facing BoomSound stereo speakers, HTC Sense interface, curved backs to fit the palm of your hand, and cameras with mixed performance. In the past, these HTC One products launched at $650 or more.


The new HTC One A9 is a radical depature from the HTC One line with a low launch price of $399.99, mid-level processor, small battery, flat back, rounded edges, front-facing fingerprint scanner, and more. It looks a lot like an iPhone 6, but that's really not a bad thing.

The HTC One A9 feels fantastic in your hand and with a 5 inch display it is one of the most pocketable phones available today. The Snapdragon 617 processor keeps things running smoothly, the battery life is solid, Android Marshmallow is great, the fingerprint scanner is quite and reliable, and the camera is the best we have ever seen from HTC. There's a lot to like in this small smartphone and the price is low enough to make it easy to try. I purchased my own Deep Garnet HTC One A9 and look forward to trying out the US-compatible model soon.

If you like the look and feel of the iPhone 6 or 6s, but want Android Marshmallow inside, then I would seriously consider the HTC One A9 and save yourself a couple hundred dollars too. Don't forget you get free Uh Oh protection with one free replacement, no deductible, with a purchase of the HTC One A9.


8. BLACKBERRY PRIV
Despite the power of BlackBerry Hub and BB10, BlackBerry hasn't been that successful over the last couple of years. This year, BlackBerry is testing the Android waters with the BlackBerry Priv. The leaked pre-order page revealed a launch price of $749 in the US, which will severely limit the appeal of this new smartphone. However, it is unique and offers one of the last remaining hardware QWERTY keyboards in a cool arrangment.

The BlackBerry Priv is an Android smartphone with a 5.43 inch display that slides up to reveal a portrait-oriented QWERTY keyboard. I've moved beyond using a physical keyboard on my phone, as have most people, so I'm not sure there is a need for such a function. However, the design doesn't look to compromise thickness to accommodate the keyboard.

The BlackBerry Priv has high end specifications that include a Snapdragon 808 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and microSD card slot, 18 megapixel camera, rapid and wireless charging support, massive 3,410 mAh battery, and more.

9. GOOGLE'S LG NEXUS 5X
There were two Google Nexus phones launched this year and the second one has a starting price of just $379. The LG Nexus 5X is the successor to the crowd favorite Nexus 5 and offers much of what we see in the Nexus 6P. The Nexus 5X has a smaller 5.2 inch LCD display, slightly lower processor (Snapdragon 808), smaller capacity battery, and less internal storage.
The Nexus 5X is very light with the glass front and plastic back. I love the feel of the matte finish plastic back and think the Nexus 5X feels great in the hand while offering a more pocketable form factor than the Nexus 6P.

The camera is the same as the Nexus 6P with a couple minor software differences. The Nexus 5X has a cool rear fingerprint scanner, Android Marshmallow and the promise of first updates, and more. The higher end model includes 32GB of internal storage and is priced at $429.


10. MOTO X PURE EDITION
Another device that had specifications lower than hoped was the 2013 Moto X. It turns out that device was beloved by many because of its solid performance and compelling small form factor. I still own my custom blue and orange version and honestly haven't found another phone that fits so well into my front pocket.
The newest version of the Moto X still provides a custom Moto Maker option, but is a big phone like all the others. The Moto X Pure Edition launched just before the release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow and is still powered by Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. You can pick one up from $399.99 (16GB internal storage) to $524.99 (64GB with leather or wood back), depending on the capacity and customization options you select.

I'm a bit disappointed that this newest Moto X doesn't come with a fingerprint scanner, has an average camera, and an average battery life. I think the Nexus phones are a better purchase for Android fans looking for a pure Google experience who also want to be assured of getting the latest and greatest updates when available.


Sony recently released the Sony Xperia Z5 (three total variations) and it looks to be an excellent phone. However, this list is based on my experiences with the US market and Sony has little interest in this part of the world so I am not including phones that are hard to get.

I also did not include the OnePlus 2 since you need an invite and availability is limited. It also isn't even a 2015 flagship killer even though the company advertises it as a 2016 flagship killer.

There are also now a host of smartphones priced in the sub-$450 range that are quite appealing. They are very good for the price, but did not quite make the cut here in this list because there are so many amazing phones available today.
 

Jiggyfly

Banned
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
9,220
Cellphone plans are getting cheaper — thanks, Obama! (and T-Mobile)
Updated by Timothy B. Lee on January 7, 2016, 12:30 p.m. ET tim@vox.com

Next time you go shopping for a new cellphone plan, you're likely to find that the options are a lot better than they were a couple of years ago. Prices are lower. You don't have to sign up for one of those annoying two-year contracts. You'll probably get unlimited phone calls and text messages as a standard feature — and a lot more data than before.

If that happens to you, you should thank the Obama administration — specifically, the antitrust watchdogs at the Department of Justice.

Many of the positive developments of the past four years have been driven by T-Mobile, which until recently was the smallest of the nation's four national wireless providers. Back in 2011, AT&T was on the verge of gobbling up T-Mobile, which would have turned the industry's Big Four into the Big Three and eliminated the industry's most unpredictable company.

"Even prior to the merger, T-Mobile was known as being this maverick competitor," says Brent Skorup, a researcher at the Mercatus Center. If the merger had gone through, the industry's maverick would have disappeared.

But then the Obama administration intervened to block the merger. With a merger off the table, T-Mobile decided to become a thorn in the side of its larger rivals, cutting prices and offering more attractive service plans. The result, says Mark Cooper, a researcher at the Consumer Federation of America, has been an "outbreak of competition" that's resulted in tens of billions of dollars in consumer savings.

The Justice Department forced T-Mobile to stay independent

In 2011, T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom, wanted to get out of the American market. T-Mobile was struggling, and the German telecommunications giant didn't want to make the big investments that would have been required to make T-Mobile a viable competitor in the long run.

Also, AT&T made T-Mobile a no-lose offer. In addition to offering a generous $39 billion sale price, AT&T also promised to give T-Mobile a $3 billion breakup fee — and more than a billion dollars' worth of spectrum — if regulators blocked the deal. Either way, T-Mobile would come out ahead.

AT&T was willing to offer such a big breakup fee because it was confident the Obama administration would approve the deal. Regulators had recently approved several other massive deals, including Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal in early 2011.

And AT&T brought a lot of pressure to bear on Obama administration officials. Left-leaning groups from the AFL-CIO to the NAACP — and even the LGBTQ rights group GLAAD — endorsed the merger. And of course AT&T dispatched its considerable lobbying muscle to get the deal approved.

But the Justice Department said no. In August 2011, the agency filed suit to block the merger, prompting AT&T to abandon the deal in December.

And regulators have continued to hold the line against wireless industry consolidation since then. After AT&T abandoned its bid for T-Mobile, Sprint made overtures, hoping that regulators would be more likely to approve the merger of the two smallest wireless companies. But once again, regulators signaled that they would oppose any deal that reduced competition from four companies to three.

T-Mobile's "uncarrier" strategy has shaken up the wireless market

After the AT&T deal fell through, T-Mobile needed a new strategy. It was still the nation's smallest wireless provider, which meant that it enjoyed fewer economies of scale and smaller profits than its larger rivals.

The failure of the deal also meant that the company had an extra $3 billion in cash and additional spectrum that would allow it to improve service. So the company did something that — at least in the stodgy world of telecommunications services — seemed radical: It got serious about competing with its larger rivals.

"At some point you realize that if you don't change something, you might go out of business," says John Bergmayer, a policy analyst at Public Knowledge who opposed the merger.

So T-Mobile and its new CEO, John Legere, started changing a lot of things. In 2013, the company dropped the much-hated two-year contracts that had become an industry standard. It introduced a new price structure that offered unlimited phone calls and text messages as a standard feature.

The new features came with a new slogan and a new, more combative sales pitch. "Carriers are really nice to you ... once every 23 months," Legere said in a 2013 speech announcing the changes, which he dubbed the "uncarrier" strategy. He denounced two-year contracts as "the biggest crock of shit I've ever heard in my entire life. Do you have any idea how much you're paying?"

In 2014, T-Mobile added more goodies, including more generous data caps and unlimited international texting. It boosted its data caps once again in 2015.

One of T-Mobile's most significant "uncarrier" moves — and its most controversial — is known as "Binge On." It allows customers the option to stream unlimited amounts of video content without the data counting against their data caps. However, to avoid overwhelming its network, T-Mobile simultaneously downgrades the speed of video streams, leading to lower picture quality.

That worries network neutrality purists like Bergmayer, who warn that carriers shouldn't be in the business of favoring some content over others. Network neutrality skeptics like Skorup, on the other hand, see it as an example of beneficial innovation that could be hampered by overly strict network neutrality rules. Either way, the program represents a significant experiment in managing high-bandwidth mobile apps.

How T-Mobile changed the wireless industry

With T-Mobile abandoning unpopular industry practices and cutting prices, other wireless providers were forced to follow suit. Verizon announced it was phasing out contracts in August, and Sprint announced a few days later that it would do the same. As 2016 began, AT&T became the last major wireless carrier to abandon the practice.

And the other three major carriers have been forced to offer major price cuts to limit T-Mobile's gains.

Still, T-Mobile has seen big gains in market share. The company has attracted nearly 20 million new customers since the start of 2013.

T-Mobile's strategy has worked so well because in recent years wireless companies had gotten a bit greedy. Thanks to rapid technological progress, the cost of delivering a minute of phone service or a megabyte of data kept falling, but wireless companies dragged their feet on passing along those savings to customers through either lower prices or higher data limits.

Some parts of wireless plans had ludicrous markups. For example, until recently wireless providers were charging as much as 20 cents per text message — or $20 per month for unlimited text messages. These prices were orders of magnitude higher than the actual cost of delivering text messages. Yet as long as all four companies were offering similar plans, there wasn't much customers could do about it.

But that left a big opening for one company to defect from this arrangement and offer plans that were priced closer to the actual cost of service. T-Mobile did just that in 2013, and the industry has been locked in a price war ever since.

"Once competition breaks out, it's really hard to get it back in the bottle," the Consumer Federation's Cooper says.

And Cooper says that evidence from other industries suggests having a fourth company in the market makes a big difference. "The evidence is quite clear that losing the fourth competitor has a tremendous impact on price," he says. So if you're enjoying cheaper cell service, the Obama administration's antitrust regulators deserve a lot of the credit.
 

Jiggyfly

Banned
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
9,220
Samsung's new dongle gives your car an LTE connection
By Dan Seifert
13 hours ago

View photo
.
Samsung is getting into the connected car business, but instead of building connectivity into new cars, it's providing a way for owners of older cars to add LTE connectivity to their vehicles. The Samsung Connect Auto dongle plugs into a car's OBD II diagnostic port (most cars built in the last two decades have this port) and lets drivers monitor their vehicle's performance as well as locate it. It also acts as a Wi-Fi hotspot for connecting to the internet with other devices while in the vehicle.

The Connect Auto device runs on Samsung's Tizen OS and will be available in the second quarter this year. Samsung says AT&T will be the first carrier to offer it in the US and it will have LTE speeds when connected to the network. Pricing for the Connect Auto and its service was not announced. Verizon has its own connected car dongle called the Hum, which provides many similar location and diagnostic services. It does not have LTE capabilities, however.
 

BipolarFuk

Demoted
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
11,464
So after going without power for 24+ hours my wife is pressuring me into having a home standby generator installed.

Worth it? Anyone have one?
 

Rev

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
19,327
So after going without power for 24+ hours my wife is pressuring me into having a home standby generator installed.

Worth it? Anyone have one?
My in-laws had one and loved it. Don't know anything other than that because they were 13 hours away. They had one installed after a series of storms rolled through and guess the security of having power was nice.
 

Jiggyfly

Banned
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
9,220
So after going without power for 24+ hours my wife is pressuring me into having a home standby generator installed.

Worth it? Anyone have one?
Depending on the cost I would have one.

Seems they should not be that expensive these days.
 

BipolarFuk

Demoted
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
11,464
Depending on the cost I would have one.

Seems they should not be that expensive these days.
The one I'm looking at is around $3800. Installation will probably cost around the same. Need an electrician, need it plumbed to natural gas, who knows what else.
 

Cowboysrock55

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
52,453
The one I'm looking at is around $3800. Installation will probably cost around the same. Need an electrician, need it plumbed to natural gas, who knows what else.
Sounds like a huge pain in the ass to me but I guess if you live somewhere that long outages are common it might be worth it. Personally I can't remember the last time my home went 24 hours without power.
 

Newt

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
1,148
Has anyone started using TV services like SlingTV, DirecTVNow, or PlaystationVue? We are moving in a few weeks and I have been thinking about ditching DirecTV for a while now. Leaning towards PlaystationVue, but I will have to have an HD antenna to get local channels. Any suggestions or experience?
 

Cowboysrock55

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
52,453
Has anyone started using TV services like SlingTV, DirecTVNow, or PlaystationVue? We are moving in a few weeks and I have been thinking about ditching DirecTV for a while now. Leaning towards PlaystationVue, but I will have to have an HD antenna to get local channels. Any suggestions or experience?

I think you may be able to get a free trial of PlaystationVue. I tried the trial once and it was way to choppy for my taste. Could just be the internet connection or something like that. But I'd try it if I were you. I loved everything they were offering otherwise.
 

Newt

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
1,148
I think you may be able to get a free trial of PlaystationVue. I tried the trial once and it was way to choppy for my taste. Could just be the internet connection or something like that. But I'd try it if I were you. I loved everything they were offering otherwise.
Yeah I can get a 5 or 7 day free trial, my concern was local channels, I didn't want to have to install an antenna but will if the other service is good enough to get rid of the satellite. Our internet speeds are pretty good, we will have 100mb at the new house so the only issue there would be having a modem that will keep up, I think.
 
Top Bottom