tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31355553.post3302736502187857877..comments2023-11-02T08:11:51.042-04:00Comments on Hill Rat: Hulu? Who Knew?Hill Rathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08778134491399419096noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31355553.post-18578069882490168922011-01-07T11:38:58.747-05:002011-01-07T11:38:58.747-05:00i dont think so the laptop has the horse power whi...i dont think so the laptop has the horse power which is need but i think is should have the elephant power to run the stuff. lolzzzAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31355553.post-23971060405161076772008-07-30T09:17:00.000-04:002008-07-30T09:17:00.000-04:00I think it pretty much depends on the horsepower o...I think it pretty much depends on the horsepower of the laptop and what kinda output you've got. Standard VGA is going to look pretty poopy compared to DVI or HDMI, but it doesn't really make that much difference if you've got a smaller screen. And if you've got all the codecs to handle .mov, .avi, .mkv, and the rest of the file formats, you're probably better off saving the money and just opting for as much hard drive space as you can afford. The advantage of the dedicated movie server like the Cornholer or AppleTV (both around $200) is that it does all the streaming/decoding work, leaving your laptop free to do laptop stuff. I'm routing my video to a projector in the basement and a 120" screen, so I need as good a resolution as I can get. Anything less than DVD quality and it's too damn pixely. Watching standard def Tivo is like looking through scratched plexiglass covered with vaseline.<BR/><BR/>And I wouldn't hold my breath for FIOS. 7 years and as many email accounts later, I'm still on their "Tell me when FIOS is available" sucker list.monkeyroticahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09598351715992134492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31355553.post-75893058699187172902008-07-29T22:10:00.000-04:002008-07-29T22:10:00.000-04:00Fucking Comcast! I swear to G-d Almighty the day ...Fucking Comcast! I swear to G-d Almighty the day FioS is available on the Hill I am 86-ing those bologna smokers.<BR/><BR/>I haven't really messed with the Torrents much because by the time they blew up I had TiVo and a kid and my time to watch nonsense had been severely curtailed. I suspect that I'll finally get on the Torrent tip while I'm out here, but until my HD TiVo goes belly up I can't see myself making the switch. <BR/><BR/>We did fool around with connecting WifeRat's new laptop directly to our flat screen via HDMI cable with pretty good results. Price aside, what's the advantage of Cornholehour if you have a laptop that can easily connect to your TV?Hill Rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08778134491399419096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31355553.post-32661100859767494582008-07-29T13:38:00.000-04:002008-07-29T13:38:00.000-04:00I think they've pegged TiVO as "tired" because a l...I think they've pegged TiVO as "tired" because a lot of it's functionality can be created using a media server and an HD antenna. Gradually, TiVO's been whittling away at its own advantage, plugging ads in during fast forwards and nonsense like that. Yeah, the interface for non-TiVO DVRs are crap, but it does 90% of what most people want. I'm still stuck with a Version 1 DirectTiVO and have no interest in upgrading to HD <A HREF="http://gizmodo.com/374193/comcast-compressing-hdtv-signals-to-fit-three-shows-into-two-shows-bandwidth" REL="nofollow">(which isn't even that HD anymore)</A> feature sets that try and feed me more ads and popups. I spend most of my evenings ripping my DVD collection to a 1TB drive so I don't have to mess with sticky fingers all over the kids' Disney movies.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, since I'm getting most of my programming via torrents, when my TiVo finally tanks, I'm going to eBay it and opt for either a <A HREF="http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/" REL="nofollow">Popcornhour</A> streamer or <A HREF="http://www.applecorellc.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=27" REL="nofollow">a hacked AppleTV</A>. I looked at <A HREF="http://www.mythtv.org/" REL="nofollow">Mythtv</A> and <A HREF="http://www.snapstream.com/products/beyondtv/" REL="nofollow">Beyondtv</A> and the software just isn't at the level of polish of TiVo's to make it worth the swithc.monkeyroticahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09598351715992134492noreply@blogger.com