Electronics Pondering

[JB]

Pondering a WD My Cloud.

From what I have been reading about it, it can act as an expandable memory for DVR, allow your current DVR to have more tuners, and serve as a cloud for all of your media.

Hmm..

If I am correct (which is probably my first wrong assumption), wont that extra tuner only work on OTA signals?
If not, I am assuming (again a bad idea) that it would be splitting the tuners digitally, because manually would degrade signal, right?

 

[War Eagle]

If I am correct (which is probably my first wrong assumption), wont that extra tuner only work on OTA signals?
If not, I am assuming (again a bad idea) that it would be splitting the tuners digitally, because manually would degrade signal, right?

I do believe it is OTA signals.

Havent read a ton about it yet.

 

[tyno]

Easy to load videos and stuff on there and stream?

yessir.
and if wifi or good 4G, streaming movies on S4 even works well.
streaming music is seamless.
auto backup is nice from phone as well.

honestly though, like i said...i'm probably only using less than half it's potential. but even that, is impressive.

 

[jt2929]

Pondering a WD My Cloud.

From what I have been reading about it, it can act as an expandable memory for DVR, allow your current DVR to have more tuners, and serve as a cloud for all of your media.

Hmm..

My Cloud is a solid product. I use mine for storing all of my documents, pictures, videos, and DVDs. it's nice to be able to access that stuff from anywhere and multiple devices. I didn't know you could use it to expand your DVR memory. I'll have to look into that too.

 

[JB]

I do believe it is OTA signals.

Havent read a ton about it yet.

That is where the issue runs for me. Yes, it would increase capacity, but having to add an antenna to the mix and hope to gain signal (we get decent in these parts) would make me go a different direction.

I looked at this forever, but from a different viewpoint. I wanted increased DVR capacity and streaming in the home. The TIVO Roamio does more than just about any DVR on the planet and after initial purchase (we own ours thankfully), we save $31.95 a month not renting boxes. We get 6 tuners and more hard drive space than we could ever use. Plus the ability to add more hard drives any time we want to increase it.

For our home streaming we use the WD Live TV Hub. Its a fantastic device. We have hundreds of movies loaded on it and transfer is a drag and drop. Its a piece of cake really. We also use it as a hub in our home for storing anything we need to transfer between devices.

 

[mikedean441]

I find myself pondering a google chromebook.

I have my laptop for work, but wanting something smaller, lightweight and easy for travel.

Price tag is solid and functionality wise it will do what I need it to do..>Internet/Spreadsheets/Movies

Any reason not to do it? Pondered a tablet for awhile, but want me a real keyboard and USB drives

 

[JB]

I find myself pondering a google chromebook.

I have my laptop for work, but wanting something smaller, lightweight and easy for travel.

Price tag is solid and functionality wise it will do what I need it to do..>Internet/Spreadsheets/Movies

Any reason not to do it? Pondered a tablet for awhile, but want me a real keyboard and USB drives

For what you want, it makes great sense. Outside of media usage, my tablet just sits here and does nothing.

 

[mikedean441]

For what you want, it makes great sense. Outside of media usage, my tablet just sits here and does nothing.

yeah im pretty simple when it comes to that stuff, basic functionality is all I need, and Im just not into tablets anymore

 

[JB]

yeah im pretty simple when it comes to that stuff, basic functionality is all I need, and Im just not into tablets anymore

The world told us we needed them and I find myself asking why that is? My laptop is not too heavy. It moves just fine. Its nice on a plane to have just to have something small on that gigantic tray table they give us, and the battery life is decent, but frankly I just do not use mine unless I am flying anymore.

 

[deuce]

I find myself pondering a google chromebook.

I have my laptop for work, but wanting something smaller, lightweight and easy for travel.

Price tag is solid and functionality wise it will do what I need it to do..>Internet/Spreadsheets/Movies

Any reason not to do it? Pondered a tablet for awhile, but want me a real keyboard and USB drives

The only tablet I would suggest that would handle what you require would be the Surface Pro. While my iPad is fun to goof off on, it's useless when it really comes to office functionality (at least for me).

Of course the Surface Pro is a killer cost-wise.

The Chromebook, especially when paired with Google Docs and the ability to work those files offline, seems like a great option.

 

[mikedean441]

The world told us we needed them and I find myself asking why that is? My laptop is not too heavy. It moves just fine. Its nice on a plane to have just to have something small on that gigantic tray table they give us, and the battery life is decent, but frankly I just do not use mine unless I am flying anymore.

Yeah now that the laptops are smaller and more light weight it just makes more sense.

The only tablet I would suggest that would handle what you require would be the Surface Pro. While my iPad is fun to goof off on, it's useless when it really comes to office functionality (at least for me).

Of course the Surface Pro is a killer cost-wise.

The Chromebook, especially when paired with Google Docs and the ability to work those files offline, seems like a great option.

Exactly seeing that it would be used minimally I'd plan to stay on the lower cost side. Now if I could get work to install office on it I'd be in heaven.

 

[tyno]

good point JB. i OEM'd a tablet for that reason and found out later, this thing is just a toy. it then gathered dust and i sold it for way less than i paid for it unfortunately.

i should have a chromebook and have put off on buying one for so long. i think it still sits on the edge of the "wants" category as of now.

but for what i do, it would be nice.

mike....i give the thumbs up to that purchase.

 

[OITW]

That is where the issue runs for me. Yes, it would increase capacity, but having to add an antenna to the mix and hope to gain signal (we get decent in these parts) would make me go a different direction.

I looked at this forever, but from a different viewpoint. I wanted increased DVR capacity and streaming in the home. The TIVO Roamio does more than just about any DVR on the planet and after initial purchase (we own ours thankfully), we save $31.95 a month not renting boxes. We get 6 tuners and more hard drive space than we could ever use. Plus the ability to add more hard drives any time we want to increase it.

For our home streaming we use the WD Live TV Hub. Its a fantastic device. We have hundreds of movies loaded on it and transfer is a drag and drop. Its a piece of cake really. We also use it as a hub in our home for storing anything we need to transfer between devices.

With the Tivo, is it a multi room DVR on one box?

 

[JB]

With the Tivo, is it a multi room DVR on one box?

You add "Minis" and it will go to every set in the house. We have two of them and they work great. We can watch our DVR from any room, record from any room, etc.

 

[OITW]

You add "Minis" and it will go to every set in the house. We have two of them and they work great. We can watch our DVR from any room, record from any room, etc.

That's, awesome. I'm definitely adding this to ponder. I looked at the Tivo site, and it mentioned subscription fees, is this mandatory if I get the cable card?

 

[JB]

That's, awesome. I'm definitely adding this to ponder. I looked at the Tivo site, and it mentioned subscription fees, is this mandatory if I get the cable card?

Yes. The only way around it is lifetime service.
The cablecard is required for your cable service.

However if you are renting boxes from your cable company (like we were), the subscription service is quite a bit cheaper in most cases. We are saving just over $30 a month and we own are gear.

 

[OITW]

Yes. The only way around it is lifetime service.
The cablecard is required for your cable service.

However if you are renting boxes from your cable company (like we were), the subscription service is quite a bit cheaper in most cases. We are saving just over $30 a month and we own are gear.

Thanks for answering the questions JB, I definitely think I'm going to go with this. I ran the numbers and it's a pretty good savings over the long haul, seems like the way to go.

 

[GolferGal]

Ugh, I have been fighting it for a while, but I think I am soon going to lose the battle. My laptop sounds like a helicopter is about to take off, the fan never stops running anymore. Now things are just continuing to move slower and slower. I REALLY don't want to buy a new computer, but this one is almost 3 years old, which is amazing for me since I usually go through a computer a year. It still has amazing specs, and I HATE windows 8, so I'm not thrilled about dealing with that, but I think it's just a matter of time now. This does not make me happy.

 

[War Eagle]

Ugh, I have been fighting it for a while, but I think I am soon going to lose the battle. My laptop sounds like a helicopter is about to take off, the fan never stops running anymore. Now things are just continuing to move slower and slower. I REALLY don't want to buy a new computer, but this one is almost 3 years old, which is amazing for me since I usually go through a computer a year. It still has amazing specs, and I HATE windows 8, so I'm not thrilled about dealing with that, but I think it's just a matter of time now. This does not make me happy.

Windows 8 is miserable, but the latest updates make it at least useable. I have gotten used to it now, but the learning curve was awful.

 

[JB]

Its funny I dont have any issues with Windows 8.
I dont use the live tiles and have not even seen them in months.

 

[OhioMatt]

Its funny I dont have any issues with Windows 8.
I dont use the live tiles and have not even seen them in months.

I don't have any issues either. The only times I see the tiles is when I do a restart and only long enough to click on the "Desktop" tile. After that it basically functions like Windows 7.

 

[GolferGal]

Windows 8 is miserable, but the latest updates make it at least useable. I have gotten used to it now, but the learning curve was awful.

I don't deal with change well, and I tried using it with the surface and it drove me crazy. I am sure I will learn over time, like you said, but that learning curve is going to suck!

The big question now is which computer do I get? The one I have now is an HP, and it has lasted me the longest of any other computer I have purchased over the last 6 years. The keyboard is a BIG deal to me. I am still searching for the same keyboard I had with my Toshiba about 5 years ago, I loved that keyboard.

 

[War Eagle]

Its funny I dont have any issues with Windows 8.
I dont use the live tiles and have not even seen them in months.

My only issue was that when opening files and pictures, etc at first they opened in the "Metro" screen.

My biggest issue with Win 8 right now is that I have all of my employees that dont know how to use it and we upgraded all of our machines, so its constantly reminding them to use the shortcut keys.

 

[Erky]

This may not be universal, but as of a few years ago, it was VERY hard to get the cable cards to work properly in the TiVO boxes, particularly if you had the box that took multiple cards. It would eventually work, but very few technicians from the cable company (it was Comcast when I was doing this) had the magic touch. It was a long and frustrating process. It wasn't exactly an issue with TiVo. It was an issue with the cards. I think they went through 5 or so for each one that they got to work.

Yes. The only way around it is lifetime service.
The cablecard is required for your cable service.

However if you are renting boxes from your cable company (like we were), the subscription service is quite a bit cheaper in most cases. We are saving just over $30 a month and we own are gear.

 

[GolferGal]

This may not be universal, but as of a few years ago, it was VERY hard to get the cable cards to work properly in the TiVO boxes, particularly if you had the box that took multiple cards. It would eventually work, but very few technicians from the cable company (it was Comcast when I was doing this) had the magic touch. It was a long and frustrating process. It wasn't exactly an issue with TiVo. It was an issue with the cards. I think they went through 5 or so for each one that they got to work.

Comcast is useless with cable cards, they don't have any technicians who have knowledge or experience with them. They were a nightmare. We are now Brighthouse, and ironically, their regular techs are terrible, 3rd party company people who don't know what they are doing half the time. However, they have real cable card techs, actual Brighthouse employees, not 3rd party people, who know all about cable cards.