On Tue, 3 Dec 2013 23:37:43 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:
A newer TV gets the analog and digital chanels off the cable. Then I have
one of the boxes hooked to the main TV.. If my wife could operate things, I
would go to something like Netflix.
For Netflix, there are a variety of options. Computer, game box,
media player, tablet computers, and built into the TV. For your wife,
I suggest you try one of the Roku media players:
http://www.roku.com/products/compare
I have an older Roku 2 XS box and use it for Netflix. The remote
control has only a few buttons, so it's fairly easy to learn. The
difficult part is searching for shows to watch. I like to do that on
a computah, where I can type in the name of the program on a real
keyboard. You can plug in a keyboard into the Roku box, but that
might add too much complexity. When I find something worth watching,
I add it to my "favorites" list, which appears at the top of the
screen when selecting shows on Netflix. What's really nice about
Netflix is the total lack of commercials.
Last week, one of my customers bought an Xbox One gizmo at Costco.
Nifty system which can be voice controlled. All he has to do is say
"Xbox show Netflix" and it's up. However, within Netflix, he has to
use the included remote control. With the cable box, he can go
directly to his favorite channel. "Xbox show TCM" will bring up
Turner Classic Movies. If your wife can handle voice commands, it
might be an (expensive) option.
Marginally related RF drivel: One of my friends is avid DX'er. He
has all his media and computer gizmos interconnected via Wi-Fi because
Wi-Fi creates less RFI than ethernet. Then, he asks me to figure out
why his wi-fi is so slow. None of the computers caused problems, but
running Netflix in full 1080p was what was killing his wireless. My
solution was to sell him a dual band wireless router, and reserve the
5GHz band for video.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558