CCL Messageboard

Article off the Sci-Fi Wire at Sci-Fi.com:

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=1&id=62677

All I can say is most of the TV shows I love are old shows no longer on the air, and online, they start when You want, and you decide what episode. Computers = the new idiot box!

Our new DVR is my best friend. I never have to watch live TV anymore, and I love it. Fast forwarding through commercials makes it the greatest invention ever.

amen to that! i'm working when most of my fav shows are on so the DVR comes in quite handy

I agree with that article. As recent as last year, I used to tape (as in VCR) some shows that were on the same time as another or too late for me, but now with OnDemand on Comcast Cable and Hulu online, I watch when I want. I haven't missed anything this year that I wanted to watch.

And I love Fringe on FOX, it tells you when it will be back, no guessing.

Good article. I watch all my stuff from online sources. My cousin has a HD DVR from DirecTV and we watch South Park and Modern Marvels a lot on it. I am also with Tommy, yeah I like Terminator, Fringe, True Blood, and Knight Rider, but aside from that I watch old stuff. Hell as some of you know I am in the middle of Dallas on DVD. I also watch all 5 Star Treks and Buffy/Angel on DVD all the time.

I especially liked the suggestion of changing the Neilson set up, that could really work to the advantage of shows that get pulled.

I pretty much record every show I watch so I can watch it when I want to, and without the commercials.


This is what I'm recording now:
Basilisk (almost over)
Daily Show
Colbert Report
South Park (new eps)
Greek
Reno 9/11 (new eps)
Cities of the Underworld
Bleach
Moribito
The Girls Next Door
Case Closed/Detective Conan
Mythbusters (new eps)
Slayers
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles
Moonphase
School Rumble
Huckabee (mom mentioned it, and I think he's hilarious, but I never watch Fox News so I'd forgotten he had his own little show)

I don't really watch much else except the occasional old movie or History Channel (or Travel Channel...was recording Samantha Brown's stuff until I realized I'd seen most of it already) things that interest me.

Actually, I counted only 7 reasons and some of them were kind of redundant so when you get down to it, it was really only 3: Internet, DVR's and DVD's. Which is not to say the article didn't have a valid point, but it was a bit repetitive.

Besides, we had control before Tivo: the VCR. Tivo just makes it way more easier but the ability was still the same.

If you ask me, the main reason is most of the programming on TV is still reality television and I think people are getting tired of it.

GETTING tired of it? I was sick of it the first time I heard what Survivor was 10 years ago, get that sh!t OFF the air and write actual shows again.

Damn Straight!

Can anyone recommend a multimedia center for the television? Microsoft has been promoting the Mediaroom, and Aopen is supposed to be OK but what is out there for home use today?

Apple TV makes me sick, since you can only watch their proprietary formats... is their an all-in-one box that can handle internet TV, JPGs, MP3s and the like?

My DVR from Dish Network won't read from a currently existing file system, so you can plug in any external HDD but will be formatted to match the Dish OS. Pretty weak, IMO.

TV Tonic, which was pretty good software for Media Center, went bankrupt. Any suggestions are welcome!

http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/



Hands-on Review by Kolbu


3 of my friends have this (and swear by it) and I'll be ordering one when I set up my entertainment system after buying my new house in the spring.

It cost my friends about 250$CDN each (don't quote me on that though) and it took less than a week for delivery to Canada.

I don't watch TV much anymore, only old re-runs of comedies like Frasier and various UK based comedies Im not sure you guys will know of (no I dont mean The Office, I hate it).

TV has so much reality TV crap on it and useless and exploitive shows which are named stuff like "The Freak with 4 arms!" about disfigured Indian people.

I have SKY in my house, infact we have SKY+, my dad watches a load of sport on it quite a lot and my mum is addicted to the sci-fi channel (she rules ) and my sister likes watching MTV in her room (which is where the SKY+ thing comes in) so its not like we get bad value out of our TV service.

Its just I hate TV in general.

If I want news I will go on the internet, and otherwise I only watch comedies on it really of any evening before I go to bed.

This interests me, a young, energetic adult with a disdain for the teley.

Much of our favorite programming within this household comes from the BBC: you mention The Office, which is just laugh out loud funny. Imagine me doing that if you can. Also Torchwood, MI-5 and a plethora of Jane Austen dramas, and the comedies of which there are too many to mention that work for us.

But my point is for a comic book collector to turn away from all the sci-fi and action of today's TV programming, of which I can think of no other era in television history that has had such a selection of quality science-fiction than now... is curious.

Not a criticism... in fact, I can applaud your behavior. I had to check twice just to be sure it was you, CCRob. Not questioning your attention to detail or quality (I watch all of my news on the internet myself - seems more objective this way), but just how you come across with your posts regarding entertainment; hard to see you hating television. Are you sure you are really you?

Ha. Yeah its really me.
Nope, Im not a big telly fan I must admit, old re-runs of stuff like Fraiser I'll happily watch but there is just too much useless stuff on TV for me to give it any of my time.
Even the Sci-Fi shows dont do much for me.

You've done well with Frasier. Your next logical choice would be Cheers for comedy (the show that spawned Frasier Crane). In the same ilk, and traveling back in time you'll find value in Taxi (like characters, same actors in parts and same production crew).

For me, the best comedy of its kind is M*A*S*H, with kudos to The Office (both sides of the pond).

A thoughtful response, thanks. I took the time to read the review and ithas merit, but I will probably only get it if there is nothing better. Here are the shortcomings:

720p video
no m3u playlist support
lackluster audio and JPG viewing
no PDF support
poor browsing based on review

in fact, based on what the reviewer had to say I'm surprised he still recommended it. However, there are a sream of benefits:

Linux based OS which I am proficient
SAMBA support, so should work well with my Windows PC
nice GUI interface
easy upgrade for firmware (and frequent)
HDMI support (with cable!)
Room for customization and hardware configuration, I can re-engineer this a number of ways

...and for $179 USD not bad at all.

But I want the world... any other options out there?

Argosy is another model I came across.

http://www.amazon.com/Argosy-HV358T-00500-500GB-Media-Player/dp/B001LVUCHI/ref=pd_ybh_4?pf_rd_p=280800601&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1501&pf_rd_i=ybh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0JYGGGSJVGA7E25NED7V

any thoughts?

Yeah Cheers and M*A*S*H are classics! Fraiser tops them all in my opinion however (even though its odd to say 'cos Fraiser is a spin off from Cheers like you mentioned), but I prefer it because it just has the most perfect characterisation of anything else Ive ever seen on TV! Plus its so clever in its humour and plot from episode to episode.
It really is great!

Im sure that if my dad and I combined our M*A*S*H DVD box sets together, we'd have the complete back catalouge of every series! We love that show!
My favourite episodes are the ones with Colonel Blake and Trapper! The final episode never fails to bring me to the point of tears. When he writes the message in the rocks..

So great!

Ah, CCRob, you are looking better and better. These are the quintessential episodes to watch... like a fine wine they get better with age. No disprespect to Maj WInchester or Col Potter, fine replacements, but the hilarity with Trapper, Hawkeye and Hotlips are just unbelievable:

Hawkeye: Margaret... you know that shot you gave me for the flu?
Maj Hoolihan: Yes?
Hawkeye: Well it worked, I got it.

makes me want to rush to the DVR and watch them again.

FWIW, a number of folks often compare my personality to Dr. Crane, which sounds about right... but I don't remember giving Kelsey any rites or permission to take my act on the road...