Ordered one and just set it up today. Not impressed at all. Could be that the terrain where my house is located sucks but out of 17 channels available I only can get 9. No NBC, Fox or CBS.

I'm pulling the trigger this month. There are many new options available since 2013.

Ideally, I'd like to have the Chromecast for apps and sign up for mlb.tv for Royals games. But I am sure they are blacked out in Springfield.

Fish, what's the latest and greatest?

MLB.tv is a waste of time if you are anywhere close to the team you want to watch. Here is the blackout map.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...kout_Areas.png

I know it is. Hard to understand the logic in it being blacked out for Springfield, MO when Springfield, MO does not have FSKC.

Where is the best sight to stream movies on a mobile? I'll pay occaisionally going to the theater, but I'd like to stream some from my phone to my chrome cast.

Google Play.

Or are you talking free pirated stuff?

Which is why you would use one of the available options for Chrome that make it look like you are somewhere else.

There's quite a few good solutions right now. Depends on how much you want to spend.

<$50:

FireTV Stick: $39.
Specs: Dual core, 1GB RAM, 8GB HD, dual-band dual antenna wifi(No Ethernet), Bluetooth, remote included.
Capabilities: Plex, XBMC, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, HBO Go, Showtime, Pandora, WatchESPN(requires cable subscription for full viewing), Youtube, Crackle, etc.

It's better than Chromecast in many ways. Mainly because it's a stand alone device and doesn't require you to "Cast" video from another device. It's got a nice little remote. It does everything Chromecast does, and much more.

Cons: Not quite beefy enough to serve as a main home theater setup, but super for a bedroom/extra room setup. Wifi only. Has its own power adapter.

~$100:

Fire TV: $99.
Specs: Quad core, 2GB RAM, 8GB HD, dual-band dual antenna wifi, Ethernet, USB(No support for external hard drives unless rooted), Bluetooth, remote included.
Capabilities: Plex, XBMC, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, MLB.tv, NBA, NHL, HBO Go, Showtime, Pandora, WatchESPN(requires cable subscription for full viewing), Youtube, Crackle, etc. Optional game controller for Android games.

Cons: No support for USB external drives without root. Root is only possible on units that come with older firmware, so root is not guaranteed. Limited hard drive space if you install many Android games(~5GB usable free space). Sideloaded apps require several navigation clicks to open without some tweaking.

Pros: With root, this device really shines. Very dependable. Very powerful. This is the device I use for all my home theater needs. But wouldn't satisfy me without root, since I depend on external USB capabilities. Requires some tweaking, but if you're capable of the necessary tweaking this can be an amazing device.


Nexus Player: $99.

Specs: Quad core, 1GB RAM, 8GB HD, dual-band dual antenna wifi, USB support for external hard drives, Bluetooth, remote included.
Capabilities: Plex, XBMC, Netflix, Hulu Plus, MLB.tv, NBA, NHL, HBO Go, Showtime, Pandora, WatchESPN(requires cable subscription for full viewing), Youtube, Crackle, etc. Optional game controller for Android games.

Cons: Only 1GB RAM. No Ethernet. Limited hard drive space if you install many Android games(~5GB usable free space), but does allow USB external devices with a microUSB->USB cable. Wifi only is a deal breaker for me though.

Pros: Very open Android environment. Easy to configure and customize.

~$150:

Minix Neo X8-H: $150

Specs: Quad core Amlogic S802-H with 8 core Mali-450 GPU, 2GB RAM, 16GB hard drive, SD card slot, USB, microUSB, dual-band dual antenna wifi(2.4Ghz + 5Ghz), Ethernet, Bluetooth, remote included with 6-axis gyro "Airmouse" capability. True Dolby and DTS.

Capabilities: Plex, XBMC, Netflix, Hulu Plus, MLB.tv, NBA, NHL, HBO Go, Showtime, Pandora, WatchESPN(requires cable subscription for full viewing), Youtube, Crackle, etc. Optional game controller for Android games. 4K2K UHD decoding.

Cons: Fairly new device.

Pros: Incredible specs for the price. Vanilla Android 4.4 OS provides the ultimate customization opportunity. No manufacturer BS restrictions. Capable of decoding nearly any video format. Guaranteed capable of root access. full USB access. This is the device I'd get if I were buying right now.


Ouya: $150.

Specs: Quad core Tegra3, 1GB RAM, 8GB hard drive, USB, microUSB, dual-band dual antenna wifi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, gamepad remote included.

Capabilities: Plex, XBMC, Netflix, Hulu Plus, MLB.tv(via browser and Flash), NBA, NHL, HBO Go, Showtime, Pandora, WatchESPN(requires cable subscription for full viewing), Youtube, Crackle, etc. Game controller as a remote.

Cons: The game controller is your remote for everything. Limited apps. Wifi performance isn't great. Personally I'm not a fan, but many people use it for their home theater setup.

Pros: Gaming centric device. Open environment, no root required. Very easy to configure and use. Just works.


> $200:

Intel NUC: $200-500.

There are many different "Kits" you can get, ranging from barebones to fully loaded.

Specs: Beast Mode. The NUC is a full-functional PC in a 4X4X2 form factor. Most come with no RAM or HD, and you would buy your choice of SO-DIMM RAM and 2.5" hard drive. Most are Core i3 3217U CPUs. Will run Windows. Or OpenELEC, etc.

Cons: Cost.

Pros: Everything else.

I'm really not a fan of the Rokus. They're incredibly limited in what you can do. The lack of XBMC is an absolute dealbreaker. When you see what XBMC is capable of on one of the listed devices above, you'll never consider a Roku. It's good for people with zero technical capabilities, but you'll never be completely satisfied with just using Roku for cord cutting. Chromecast works well and is very reliable. But it depends on having another device to cast from. Which is just unnecessary when you have other devices that do the same thing in addition to the many other capabilities of a stand alone device. Apple TV is too old and too restricted for anything other than iTunes rentals and Netflix.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have questions.

FYI... There are options to get around the MLB.tv blackout rule on just about any device.

Requiring a root on the device?

No. If you wanted to, you could even make a small DNS change on your router, and avoid the blackout restriction without doing anything to your device(s).

How long do you generally have to wait for current TV shows to come out?

Gotcha, easy enough.

What do you do if you want to catch a live sporting event (on the bigscreen) on say, Fox Sports Midwest? No app for it...do you cast it?

Depends on the show and what time zone you are located in. 0-12 hours in most cases.

My family's setup is very basic. We have three Rokus (2 boxes and one stick), Netflix, and a small OTA antenna. I'll re-evaluate paying for TV again when we get Google Fiber in the spring.