Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

Nice, wasn't sure whether a season 2 would ever be produced so this is certainly good news.

How good of a picture can you get via iPlayer?

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

Remember the days of forking out $120 for everything on Foxtel.

How times change for $97

http://www.news.com.au/technology/home-entertainment/tv/obtaining-all-your-content-legally-through-streaming-services-is-an-expensive-task/news-story/8ccb835c06934691d37aff373754c855

Anyhow, still on Stan, they just signed an agreement with Showtime.

House of Lies. Great stuff. 9 episodes in, in 3 days. Lots of tits and ass too. Better still the wife is hooked.

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

iplayer HD is fine - as is their SD to be honest

They've also gone down the Netflix route of cutting quality instead of buffering when bandwidth quality drops

iplayer on Windows is a very different beast to Roku/Smarthub/Amazon TV etc too

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

Chromecast 2 and Chromecast Audio finally available in Australia - $59

Hardly Normal have them at $58, but I guess there will be deals over the coming weeks.

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

I think you can get 3 for $149 somewhere. Not a big saver though, wouldn't get a headache over it so if I decide to get the new one I'll just fork out the $59.

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

Hadn't heard of SmartyDNS - have been a long-time UnoTelly subscriber. I signed up for the 14 day trial on Smarty and found it lacking. Was getting very poor low bandwidth streams on all the services I tried it on (4oD, BBC, SyFy, Sling.com and HBO Go) all of which work flawlessly on Uno.

Interesting reading about everyone's preferred media solutions. I run a couple of systems - a 2012 Macbook Pro with a ****ed internal screen which is used as a Plex server for torrented content I'm likely to view more than once and (since we're a 99% Apple household) an Apple TV 4 which I got at Xmas to replace my ATV3s.

Have to say that pretty much everything I've read in this thread about the ATV4 device is wide of the mark at best - people who haven't ever used one (pissing around with it in JB Hi-Fi does not count) rehashing the second-hand opinions of other web sites. It's far and away the most seamless and fluid experience of any media solution I've used. I own a Chromecast (not the new version) and a Roku (which comes closest) and have tried the homebrew route with network storage, Windows Media Centre, Kodi/Plex - you name it - ultimately I need a system that the missus can use.

The problem is that it's very difficult to get the full package - a system which has all the streaming services and which just works. Channels come and go on Kodi/Plex - one week they work, the next they don't - and inevitably you have to dick about with zips from GitHub referenced obliquely 15 pages in to a forum thread and only available through the Unsupported App Store. I found Chromecast okay but disliked the work-arounds I had to employ to watch things like ITV Hub and disliked having my phone tied up when watching TV.

The one device I haven't tried is the full box Amazon Fire TV. Would be interested in hearing anyone's experiences with this. I saw that they just launched ITV Hub and 4oD on it, which means that (unlike the Apple TV) you can get all the UK channels on it, plus all the important American streaming services (including sling.com), plus all the good audio services like Spotify and Pandora.

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

I think the main criticism wasn't about the ATV4 being bad but about it bringing nothing new to the table over the ATV3 if you are just streaming Netflix, watching stuff via iTunes, etc.

Personally I don't plan on playing games on it, and the storage doesn't allow me to download films/shows but is somehow reserved for apps it seems.

Is there something I'm missing here?

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

That's interesting as I have tried several DNS redirects and Smarty is the one that has worked best for me. Just goes to show that this is not an exact science

I've tried all the main streaming options apart from ATV and I still reckon that the only way to go in order to get everything that you need/want in one box is a Windows-based HTPC. Chromecast, Roku, WDTV etc are all good products but just lack the ability to have multi-nation services. They are simple to use products though for the technically challenged

The Amazon Fire TV is, in my opinion, the best small box, non-HTPC solution out there and Amazon Prime at USD99 a year is a great option. I like the voice search capability and the user interface is clean and simple. Recommended

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

Well that bites. Unotelly's dynamo (smart DNS) service is now history. They've removed all reference to Netflix (and any other TV/streaming service) from their site, deleted all posts from Facebook, shutdown their Twitter and mothballed their Filmefy site which enabled you to locate any film on the Netflix international servers and stream it. Not sure if it's because of PayPal freezing their account or due to legal pressure from the media companies, but the gravy train has well and truly finished there. Won't be long before they come for the other DNS services ....

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

Unotelly is still active though

I don't see how "they" can shut down VPN companies

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

By cutting off their revenue stream. PayPal pulled the pin first, other payment methods will follow as they have in the past for Torrent and Newsgroup companies.

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

Use Mastercard instead

Unotelly is still workimg

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

Hutch, any reason I should ditch my ATV3 for an ATV4 if I don't care about games or anything else and just want to use it for streaming films/tv shows?

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

I have an Apple TV 4. Plex is a really good reason to upgrade but also VLC. I believe you can store video within the VLC app. However, storage for these things is pointless unless you are able to hook up an external drive.

Probably not a reason to upgrade but the video screensavers are really spectacular and nice to have playing just when listening to music or cleaning the house. They seem to be all drone footage and played back in slow mo.

The remote took some getting used to but now it's quite easy to use. The 'what did he say' siri function is a nice to have, not a big deal.

Still waiting on ABC iView. I believe BBC iPlayer is available but I don't watch much BBC.

It can control your tv and soundbar, something the ATV3 lacked and it is really nice to be able to use a single remote that's got the important buttons instead of a mess of a typical tv remote.

SIRI can be useful but if you own an ATV4 you most likely have an iPhone that has Siri. But, if the remote happens to be in your hand it's easy (albeit painful) to ask 'what was the Man United score?' and get it up on the screen right away.

The remote has really good battery life and can be charged by the lightning port so it's handy if you have a socket nearby.

Re: Streaming video - my experience
 

Thanks, I'm not into Plex or VLC, but I would welcome the possibility of streaming as much UK and even AU content as possible. Is it worth getting the ATV4 for that alone?