help understanding internet tv

hedgewire

Hi there all. I hope someone can shed light on the enigma of internet TV boxes ( what channels can you get for free so on so forth). I've been searching the net and the company's / individuals that sell them say they do this and that but I want know do you really get the channels they market and are they free and easy to work? Are they worth it? Any response would be helpful. Thank you.

watty

They get nothing you can't get on PC/Laptop and in some cases less. You need good Broadband and a huge Broadband cap and quality can be low. You can't get any Pay TV channels, and generally less regular FTA UK & Irish channels than Satellite Dish + Aerial. Quality is always lower than Satellite Dish or Aerial.

A cheap laptop with HDMI to feed TV is more future proof (codecs, services, sites to access).

hedgewire

Thank you for your very helpful and quick reply. I think I'l stay the way I am so. I do use the lap top hooked up and find it grand.
Thanks again.

shortlegs

Hedgewire.

I've recently acquired one of these "Mini-PC"s with a wireless mouse.
What it is an Android Chip which I connect to the HDMI input of my (NOT Smart) HD TV.
There is another cable which I connect to the USB input (of the TV, or any other device such as Saorview/ satellite box, which powers up the chip.

I can now watch Youtube/Player without tying up my laptop - in effect I've made my TV into a kind of Smart TV.

The brand I have is MK 809 III from a company called 4ife. Good Luck.

spank_inferno

Is there an independent version of what UPC provide via their horizon service & what Eircom do with their TV service?

To watch regular live & legal TV stations via IP?

watty

The Horizon service isn't using the Public Internet. It's a dedicated system using their own servers and requires a UPC subscription and UPC cable. Most UPC customers can get it.

The Eircom TV service isn't using the Public Internet. It's a dedicated system using their own servers and requires an Eircom subscription and probably less than 1km from a VDSL cabinet. Very few Eircom customers can get it.

If you can get either Broadband service (much cheaper than the Broadband plus TV) then Saorview + Freesat will give you 92% of what Pay TV subscribers watch and no on going subscription.

UPC also offer Netflix cheaply and at good bitrate. The average Broadband connection in Ireland is barely suitable for Netflix.

Capt'n Midnight

Internet TV's aren't secure from a hacking point of view.

LG TV's were caught phoning home with a list of files on any USB plugged into them.

Laptops are more flexible.