General : The rise and rise of "streaming boxes"

[techguyone]

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

Shame i was hoping to get a live TV HD TV channel streamer plug in for it that i can find Sky/Virgin channels on it.

If you are Android based try the uk tv now app. Google for it.

[harry_hitch]

Originally Posted by buckeye

I've lurked here for quite a while and gleaned a lot of useful information (thank you to all the CF members/contributors) but have never had anything to contribute until reading this thread.
I've been using Kodi in most of its guises since soldering an xecuter chip in my original xbox and installing XBMP.

Firstly when it comes to hardware you get what you pay for, with the possible exception of the Amazon devices which bring their own problems (low memory and storage for a start) be prepared to have buggy firmware, a lack of support and having to throw out your device in 6-12 months time when the manufacturer brings out another device if you buy a cheap Android box.

Next I'd say despite what many people tell you Kodi is not a cord cutters paradise, at best if you want to go down the copyright infringement route it can complement your legitimate services but as I've posted on other forums do not believe you can cancel your cable/satellite and use Kodi exclusively, the addons you are using are made by people making them in their spare time, all will break, quite often the addon author will mend it but at some point they will give up.
A good example of this is the recent most popular addon Genesis, the author has decided to give up on it because its too popular and the fixes he applies last a matter of hours until the streaming sites change things again because their servers are flooded.

You also should know the quality of most streams is not a patch on broadcast or legitimate streaming sites HD, they may say 720P or 1080P which would technically correct because of the resolution used but the bitrates are extremely low with a 720P movie probably coming in with a file size or around 800MB.

I would also urge people not to buy "fully loaded" boxes, an hour or two's reading would glean most people the information to do things for themselves without paying some shysters exhorbitant mark up for spending 10 minutes installing things for you.

And please please do not pay anyone for any Kodi service or addon, even if they start with a legitimate payment service like Paypal sooner or later that payment method will get closed down and you will end up giving criminals access to your card details in the clear without encryption if you continue using the service (do not ever give any card details to these people without a well known 3rd party payment processor).

Now having said all of that my whole home is for want of a better word Kodified, imho there isn't a better piece of software to display and play my local media and to play the legitimate services that I pay for which are compatible.
My TiVo box pretty much only gets switched on for live sports on BT or Sky but my Kodi devices are on all the time, BBC Iplayer is far better through Kodi than Tivo, the radio I want to listen to comes via the TuneIn addon, using Kodi for NBC Sports is like chalk and cheese compared to the browser or app versions, ESPN College Players video is markedly better via Kodi, YouTube doesn't have the best interface but again the video playback is much better, and I get to listen to the ITunes podcasts I want with that addon without sullying my devices with ITunes

Thanks for the heads up on Genesis. I have rarely used it and I don't recall the last time I used it. It has been problematic every time I used it. the last time I tried there were no streams for Star Wars.

[techguyone]

Originally Posted by buckeye

To sum up my feelings on this subject and to use a cliché if something is too good to be true it probably is and also do not think you can cut the cord with Kodi, you will be disappointed at some point.

Quite, however you can get by on freeview + Kodi quite happily. I do, it costs me 50p/month

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by buckeye

do not think you can cut the cord with Kodi, you will be disappointed at some point.

I think most people who cut the cord, shift over to a range of streaming services; most popular being Netflix, Amazon Prime, Now TV and combine these services with a Freeview PVR. They are still paying for content but prefer the content from these services than that offered by a pay TV subscription.

Chad has highlighted a specific sub section of cord cutters, and I do wonder what proportion of ex pay TV people do depend solely on Kodi for there content rather than subscribe to the services listed above.

[OLD BOY]

For me, the Roku streaming stick is a fantastic supplement to Virgin Media TV. It is simple to use and has on it a huge range of streaming services/channels.

These include all the terrestrial on demand services, Netflix, Amazon, Now TV, Cinema Now, You Tube, Sky Store, Vevo, RT, plus so much more that it is really not possible to list.

As long as you have WiFi and HDMI sockets at the rear of your TV, you can be receiving all this in three easy steps that will take only minutes to set up.

Although a lot of content is free, the best stuff is subscription based or pay per view.

If you are a little apprehensive or completely bamboozled by all the technical information in this thread, I would highly recommend the Roku stick. I wouldn't be without it now.

[smallclone]

Roku /Now tv gets about 5% of the content that Kodi can.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by smallclone

Roku /Now tv gets about 5% of the content that Kodi can.

Don't you think that Kodi is for more technical minded people, though? I thought the Kodi was best for the pirated stuff that we are not supposed to have access to. Most people would not wish to do that.

If you want to view stuff legitimately, what advantages does the Kodi provide? The Roku has so much content that, combined with VM's offerings, there should be more than enough for everybody. How easy is the Kodi to set up for non techies?

PS - Just had a quick look at the supporting information and it appears that the Kodi is more of a video player than a streaming service. I don't think this is for me at all.

[techguyone]

Kodi isn't especially non techie friendly & does require a degree of housekeeping, that said it's not terribly complicated either, but it's not like a freeview box or similar plug n play device.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by techguyone

Kodi isn't especially non techie friendly & does require a degree of housekeeping, that said it's not terribly complicated either, but it's not like a freeview box or similar plug n play device.

Yes, I can see how some would find this a pretty good device for their purposes, but I think the average punter looking for additional content would not go down this route.

A simple plug and play streaming stick is uncomplicated and no housekeeping is required - it's all there as soon as you are connected.

[smallclone]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

If you want to view stuff legitimately, what advantages does the Kodi provide?

Most have already been mentioned (better versions of iplayer, youtube, spotify, news apps, sports apps etc). But it is also so customizable that you can have whatever you want on your front page. So with all your movie collection readily available in whatever awesome visual interface you want it, it really is a zillion times better than roku.

That's just the legal stuff too.

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

If you want to view stuff legitimately, what advantages does the Kodi provide? .

For the content sources that you view, and considering the equipment you already have, Kodi would be of no advantage to yourself IMHO.

It is the same situation for me, except that I rip the DVD's that I buy, to make it easier to view them in both the lounge or the bedroom. Kodi is a very good 'front end' for viewing these on my Amazon Fire TV or PC.

If you use your DVD/Bluray player to watch discs, then I can't see any advantage for you adding Kodi to your setup.

[buckeye]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Don't you think that Kodi is for more technical minded people, though? I thought the Kodi was best for the pirated stuff that we are not supposed to have access to. Most people would not wish to do that.

If you want to view stuff legitimately, what advantages does the Kodi provide? The Roku has so much content that, combined with VM's offerings, there should be more than enough for everybody. How easy is the Kodi to set up for non techies?

PS - Just had a quick look at the supporting information and it appears that the Kodi is more of a video player than a streaming service. I don't think this is for me at all.

I think for many people who wish to have a wide range of legitimate content a box like the Roku you suggested would be the way to go.
Kodi is unlikely to have services like Netflix supported natively within it in the foreseeable future if ever.
Without wishing to get too technical it cannot handle streams containing DRM so unless the media companies work with the team at Kodi and create binary addons for it (which seems unlikely) many legitimate services will not be on the platform.

As I said previously those legitimateservices that are on it provide in my opinion a much greater visual experience over their browser or app based counterparts but are reliant on someone developing and maintaining the addon in their spare time,
a good example of this is Amazon Prime, this worked very well on Kodi until a couple of months ago when Amazon changed things on their website, the person who wrote this addon seems to have given up on it so now there's no Amazon Prime on Kodi.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by buckeye

I think for many people who wish to have a wide range of legitimate content a box like the Roku you suggested would be the way to go.
Kodi is unlikely to have services like Netflix supported natively within it in the foreseeable future if ever.
Without wishing to get too technical it cannot handle streams containing DRM so unless the media companies work with the team at Kodi and create binary addons for it (which seems unlikely) many legitimate services will not be on the platform.

As I said previously those legitimateservices that are on it provide in my opinion a much greater visual experience over their browser or app based counterparts but are reliant on someone developing and maintaining the addon in their spare time,
a good example of this is Amazon Prime, this worked very well on Kodi until a couple of months ago when Amazon changed things on their website, the person who wrote this addon seems to have given up on it so now there's no Amazon Prime on Kodi.

Yes, I couldn't be doing with that, I'm afraid. Kodi is clearly designed for the enthusiast!