More media discussion

[DigiCorn]

I friggin' hate Comcast, but lately they have been delivering average speeds at peak hours in the neighborhood of 70+mpbs

I dropped Dirctv all the way down to the basic channels, and run my computer 24/7 with Roku and PlayON and it's "channels," which supplant the channels I used to pay for. Now I'm using Sickbeard with usenet and SABnzbd to get the shows not available on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon. I figure I'm saving close to $70/mo; too bad I've been spending over $100/mo on beer.

[Farabomb]

I'm liking Roku's new interface. Easier to navigate.

[Joe]

I friggin' hate Comcast, but lately they have been delivering average speeds at peak hours in the neighborhood of 70+mpbs

I dropped Dirctv all the way down to the basic channels, and run my computer 24/7 with Roku and PlayON and it's "channels," which supplant the channels I used to pay for. Now I'm using Sickbeard with usenet and SABnzbd to get the shows not available on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon. I figure I'm saving close to $70/mo; too bad I've been spending over $100/mo on beer.

Can you explain how you got that to work? I've seen it for XBMC but from reading over the directions you need a PHD in computer science and have to sacrifice some live chickens to set it up. Right now I can stream or download about any TV show from IceFilms but it is all a manual process but I hear you can setup Sickbeard to do everything automatically.

[Joe]

I'm liking Roku's new interface. Easier to navigate.

Did they update the interface on your old device or did you get the new Roku. My old one still has the old interface though I know they said it should update older devices.

[Joe]

I'm liking Roku's new interface. Easier to navigate.

Did they update the interface on your old device or did you get the new Roku. My old one still has the old interface though I know they said it should update older devices.

Nevermind. Looked at my Roku and now I have the new interface. I like it.

[Farabomb]

On my old device. After I got the android on a stick I figured I didn't really need to get a new roku. Mine did it automatically but maybe check tonight and force an update.

lol, Yea, that.

[DigiCorn]

I'm liking Roku's new interface. Easier to navigate.

Did they update the interface on your old device or did you get the new Roku. My old one still has the old interface though I know they said it should update older devices.

I have the 2XS and the LT and both upgraded to the new interface.

I friggin' hate Comcast, but lately they have been delivering average speeds at peak hours in the neighborhood of 70+mpbs

I dropped Dirctv all the way down to the basic channels, and run my computer 24/7 with Roku and PlayON and it's "channels," which supplant the channels I used to pay for. Now I'm using Sickbeard with usenet and SABnzbd to get the shows not available on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon. I figure I'm saving close to $70/mo; too bad I've been spending over $100/mo on beer.

Can you explain how you got that to work? I've seen it for XBMC but from reading over the directions you need a PHD in computer science and have to sacrifice some live chickens to set it up. Right now I can stream or download about any TV show from IceFilms but it is all a manual process but I hear you can setup Sickbeard to do everything automatically.

Still trying to make it flawless. I struggle with it every time I want a new show. You have to have usenet... I'm using usenetserver.com. I think what happens is that it filters through usenet before it gets to you, making it safer (and harder to track) than torrents.

Anyway it helps also if you have accounts with different NZB providers. Sickbeard constantly searches those providers for NZBs and then downloads them to a predetermined folder on your system. When running, it searches constantly, so if someone uploads something new today, Sickbeard will find it and then (if properly configured) alert you when the NZB is downloaded through a variety of means (XBMC, Twitter, Plex, etc.).

Then, you have to have SABnzbd configured to watch that Sickbeard folder for new NZBs. When SABnzbd finds new ones, it uses the NZB to locate the files and download them to another predetermined folder on your system. All these programs use APIs to "talk" to one another. The API is I think like a unique identifier or serial number.

In theory it seems simple, but in reality finding the settings and configuring them properly is another nightmare. I changed a number on my SABnzbd last night, and now it won't run, so I have to uninstall and reinstall.

[Joe]

Sounds like I'll stick with IceFilms. :laugh:

[Farabomb]

How does this icefilms work? I took a look but I don't want to dl anything on the work computer. Does it work on the android on a stick?

[Joe]

How does this icefilms work? I took a look but I don't want to dl anything on the work computer. Does it work on the android on a stick?

I only use it via XBMC but you can use it from their home page (which is quite ugly) using a web browser (I think).

With XBMC you install it as an add-on, set your download folder and you are good to go. They have a lot of TV shows and Movies. Usually shows that air in prime time are available by the next morning and sometimes by 10:00 - 11:00 pm and many are HD.

And yes there is a version of XBMC for Android and the IceFilms addon works with it. The only problem that I've seen with it is that you can't set the download folder to a network share address. Well, you can but it will fail and tell you that you haven't set the download folder yet. On the Windows version you can add the network share and map it to a drive letter and set it to that and it works but you can't do that on an Android device. At least I don't think you can so you would have to have the download location on your android device. Like a USB drive you connect to the Android device. I haven't really messed with it much on the Androd device as I usually use IceFilms on XBMC on the Windows PC. Then I just have Android XBMC play it from my NAS share wirelessly.

[Farabomb]

I'll give it a try on both android and PC. There is a external USB on the android as well as a 32g card in it so I'll see if it wants to play nice. I know I've been having issues when I try to use utorrent.

I have a fellow geek friend moving in for a while so he'll motivate me to play around with all the tech I have.

[Joe]

I'll give it a try on both android and PC. There is a external USB on the android as well as a 32g card in it so I'll see if it wants to play nice. I know I've been having issues when I try to use utorrent.

I have a fellow geek friend moving in for a while so he'll motivate me to play around with all the tech I have.

If you are going to install XBMC checkout the site http://www.xbmchub.com. They have a wizard you can run that will automatically install all of the most popular add-ons for XBMC. Takes a lot of the mundane work out of setting it up. Lots of great info there.

How-To Instantly Configure XBMC with the XBMC HUB Wizard Beta Addon

[Farabomb]

Hmm This is relevant to my interests. He's actually looking to build a HTPC so we will be looking into this.

Thanks.

[DigiCorn]

I would probably consider XBMC because I have heard so many good things about it, but since there's no Roku channel for XBMC and there is for Plex and PlayON, I use those instead. Plex has had a noticeable lag between video and audio, and while it's adjustable on tablet/phone, it's not on Roku, so I'm pretty much just into PlayON right now. It just works... and works well, so I don't know why the Roku community is so down on it; it's totally taboo on their forums.

[Joe]

Plex is a resource hog. They have another media server that is free called MyMedia but it still requires a PC to run the media server and feed the Roku but I've read that it is pretty good.