Goodbye Dstv

[Lurch the stalker]

Lurch, does the Roku then replace the DVD player ?

 

So you go from the PC, to the Roku and then into the TV ?

 

*have not done much research into the Roku and other such devices, was trying to get the streaming thing going with using what I had rather than spend money*

 

Yes it would.

Basically, I am just suggesting it as an alternative to what you have.

Absolutely nothing wrong with what you have, but, it is like our bicycles, we can always find a new gadget we want

 

For me, the advantage is I can keep my media server out of the lounge. The Roku goes into one of the HDMI ports for display and audio, and one USB port for power so it hardly takes up any room.

Also having the dedicated remote makes it work seamlessly.

I don't know how tech savvy the members of your household are, but my mother lives with me and she picked up the use of the Roku in about half an hour it was so simple.

 

There are other options you could look at like the Apple TV, or Mede8r for example.

The biggest reason I wanted a Roku though was I use Emby for my server  (which works like a dream) and they have a Roku app, and then I got a good deal from a fellow Hubber on one he was not using.

The RedBull Roku app is also awesome, I stream the downhill racing all the time via it.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Only issue I've found now that Netflix is herein SA is that the Netflix icon is not on my Samsung Smart TV but all the DSTV rubbish is there.

 

PS0517.jpg

 

Will it come from Samsung as an update?

Most probably. Check if there's an update for the telly. 

[Cois]

Netflix live in RSA tonight!

 

http://www.fin24.com/Tech/News/breaking-netflix-goes-live-in-south-africa-20160106?isapp=true

signed up this morning.  Will check it out.  Just sad that you can't download a series and watch later.

[Slowbee]

To be honest, at the moment, it is about coming to grips with the technology that is available. One cannot stay in the dark ages - things change so fast that if you dont re-invent yourself, you are unable to interact with the current generation and also future generations of kids.

 

Currently, all I want to do is have all the cartoons that are on my PC, sent to the TV, but I want to be able to use a remote. Also I dont want another gadget in the lounge. Currently the PC is in another room and connects to the DVD player through an ethernet cable.

 

I tried Kodi as a media server - but it did not read alot of my files (perhaps bad conversions from you tube). But WMP did a fine job.

 

The two issues I am wanting to get past now, is one, the PC powers down overnight so in the morning its a bit of a trick to get everything going again, and second, not being able to fast forward while watching a movie/series and skip scenes etc. I presume this has something to do with the DVD player more than anything else.

 

Will do a bit more reading and then over the weekend fiddle around some more.

 

So any advice .......

 

My brief read this AM said that you need some gadget or other to use the roku to stream from a PC to a TV

[Cois]

Most probably. Check if there's an update for the telly. 

I had to change my country to EAU and then back to SA.  But that was on a LG BR Player.

[Cois]

To be honest, at the moment, it is about coming to grips with the technology that is available. One cannot stay in the dark ages - things change so fast that if you dont re-invent yourself, you are unable to interact with the current generation and also future generations of kids.

 

Currently, all I want to do is have all the cartoons that are on my PC, sent to the TV, but I want to be able to use a remote. Also I dont want another gadget in the lounge. Currently the PC is in another room and connects to the DVD player through an ethernet cable.

 

I tried Kodi as a media server - but it did not read alot of my files (perhaps bad conversions from you tube). But WMP did a fine job.

 

The two issues I am wanting to get past now, is one, the PC powers down overnight so in the morning its a bit of a trick to get everything going again, and second, not being able to fast forward while watching a movie/series and skip scenes etc. I presume this has something to do with the DVD player more than anything else.

 

Will do a bit more reading and then over the weekend fiddle around some more.

 

So any advice .......

 

My brief read this AM said that you need some gadget or other to use the roku to stream from a PC to a TV

I have a little NUC that draws little wattage, just need to set format the thing, load a linux distro on it and get on with it.

[Lurch the stalker]

The two issues I am wanting to get past now, is one, the PC powers down overnight so in the morning its a bit of a trick to get everything going again, and second, not being able to fast forward while watching a movie/series and skip scenes etc. I presume this has something to do with the DVD player more than anything else.

 

My brief read this AM said that you need some gadget or other to use the roku to stream from a PC to a TV

 

What operating system are you running on the machine?

The machine's power settings would probably just need to be changed to never sleep (I'd put money on it being that, though not a lot of money, I need bike toys )

 

As for the gadget, that is correct, Roku is hardware.

 

The biggest problem you will have is sifting through all the information of what is available, and listening to the different arguments.

For example, my setup works very well for me, but I am sure somebody will tell you my setup is the worst idea on the planet and come with a very different answer.

 

At the end of the day, no matter what solution you choose, you need something that is simple to configure, simple to use, and simple to admin.

With having kids I am sure you would want something they can get working quickly by themselves without you having to spend an hour every time they want to watch something.

[Stretch]

Slowbee the roku is almost the size of a cellphone..it is insignificant. I am setup the same as lurch. PC in another room..roku connected to the tv via hdmi and to the network via ethernet (could be wireless too..i just happen to have an ethernet cable there). I connect to the PC via plex which is great

 

as for netflix..i am just gonna carry on using the UK version cos I still watch BBC through the iplayer and sky news ...so I am going to keep my current netflix subscription. Same price anyway. just an extra $4 for getflix

 

Local netflix doesnt have orange is the new black and house of cards which are both netflix series ...which is odd...which means DSTV is still interfering somehow

Edited January 7, 2016 by Stretch

[Frosty]

Interesting... Picked a random (Netflix) movie to test the connection speed with hardly any buffering.

 

Hardest part of saying goodbye to DSTV will be KykF***enNet that the wife is glued to worse than I am to the sport channels.

Edited January 7, 2016 by geraldm24

[EmptyB]

The sport on DSTV has got me by the balls...

 

If I get rid of DSTV, there goes all my sport!?

[Lexx]

The sport on DSTV has got me by the balls...

 

If I get rid of DSTV, there goes all my sport!?

Not at all. I got rid of DSTV and I still stream all my sport via Supersport website. Jut log into their site via Facebook, and voila.

I did that with the world cup and currie cup as well..

[Lurch the stalker]

Local netflix doesnt have orange is the new black and house of cards which are both netflix series ...which is odd...which means DSTV is still interfering somehow

DSTV holds the local license for the majority of the 'missing' content.

There was an article on News24 (that I of course can't find now) yesterday explaining it.

[Slowbee]

Lurch, busy with teething problems now on the setup. I mainly want to play daughters, cartoons and movies, as well as one or two series the wife and I watch occasionally.

 

I am using i3 machine (8meg ram), with windows 10. The PC is in another room (office), to the lounge linked to the blue ray player via ethernet. (the pc doubles as my daughters educational game player, she is 6). The blue ray remote allows me access to the PC via windows media player/centre.

 

Tried the "never sleep" function, but will see what happens over the weeked as been to busy to give it a try. Currently though the main issue is not being able to fast forward or skip scenes whilst within a movie.

 

As an aside, I tried kodi, but struggled to get it to play some of my Mp4 files, which is apparently due to "bad" download versions (I did not even know such things existed). Over the weekend, I will fiddle some more.

[Lurch the stalker]

DSTV holds the local license for the majority of the 'missing' content.

There was an article on News24 (that I of course can't find now) yesterday explaining it.

Found it: http://www.fin24.com/Tech/News/netflix-explains-missing-content-for-sa-service-20160107

[Lurch the stalker]

Lurch, busy with teething problems now on the setup. I mainly want to play daughters, cartoons and movies, as well as one or two series the wife and I watch occasionally.

 

I am using i3 machine (8meg ram), with windows 10. The PC is in another room (office), to the lounge linked to the blue ray player via ethernet. (the pc doubles as my daughters educational game player, she is 6). The blue ray remote allows me access to the PC via windows media player/centre.

 

Tried the "never sleep" function, but will see what happens over the weeked as been to busy to give it a try. Currently though the main issue is not being able to fast forward or skip scenes whilst within a movie.

 

As an aside, I tried kodi, but struggled to get it to play some of my Mp4 files, which is apparently due to "bad" download versions (I did not even know such things existed). Over the weekend, I will fiddle some more.

Depending on your internet connection and whether or not it is capped you might be able to just stream the content that you want that doesn't work.

 

A 'bad' download is the kind of video that won't play, or plays but you can't skip through the file, or the audio doesn't sync up with the video, or anything else like that. (Of course I don't think that is your problem with the remote, that does sound to me more like the remote not being recognised)

[Stretch]

Interesting... Picked a random (Netflix) movie to test the connection speed with hardly any buffering.

 

Hardest part of saying goodbye to DSTV will be KykF***enNet that the wife is glued to worse than I am to the sport channels.

Then just go for showmax.... Only problem with that is that there is no roku app at the moment so you have to have a smart TV. I am sure kyknet is on there.. Not sure what the rest of the content is like