At midnight last night, we made the cut. Dish Network has been cancelled. Last year we purchased an Apple TV and about two months ago we signed up for Netflix streaming and Hulu Plus.
So instead of a monthly bill of ~$93, we’ve reduced it to ~$16 with the understanding that we’ll only get around 50% of the shows we currently enjoy. What I’ve found is that neither Netflix nor Hulu+ are really good about getting new shows as they’re coming through. Take How I Met Your Mother, or Big Bang Theory, or even Covert Affairs. At best, they’re a season behind. At worst, they’re not offered at all.
But they’re all available on the free service Hulu. The question is how to get them.
I could jailbreak the thing. But I really don’t want to do that.
I’ve heard that there’s a streaming service available if I upgrade my Mac to the OS Lion. I’m just now reading about this and it’s apparently on OK service but not always that great.
When was the last time you allowed your Apple TV to update its firmware? Hulu Plus is on there.
Edit: Oh - you mean the shows that are available on regular Hulu but not Hulu Plus? Yeah, that’s perplexing. Your best option is to jailbreak it, and then run something like TVersity or PlayOn. TVersity is free, PlayOn is not - but PlayOn is an excellent program with a TON of content.
I can think of 2 ways to get the regular Hulu on your TV via Apple TV.
If you have a 2011 model Mac or later and Mountain Lion (10.8) installed, you can use AirPlay mirroring to stream what’s on the desktop to the Apple TV. So, you can load hulu.com in Safari on the Mac, then click on the AirPlay icon in the menubar and soon the synergy of Apple and Hollywood will warmly stream down upon your home enough Cop Rock, Manimal and The Ropers to drive you blind with joy.
If you don’t have the latest software/hardware combo, there is an app called AirParrot (airparrot.com) that will more or less do what AirPlay does, yet it only requires system 10.6.8. I’ve used it to stream Hulu on an older Mac and while the picture quality wasn’t too bad, the frame rate wasn’t that good. But it has fairly robust settings, so maybe you can fool around with it and find a combination that is good enough for you. AirParrot costs 10 bucks, but you can demo it for up to 20 minutes for free.
Does the Apple TV have any sort of web browsing function? My Logitech Revue requires cable service to work at all, even for web browsing, and I think the Vizio Costar is the same.
I tried Roku, had too many problems with their customer service, and it didn’t have browsing either, so no simply going to a site with streaming video and going from there.
If you consider the ability to use AirPlay in 10.8 (or AirParrot on older systems) to mirror your computer screen onto your television screen, then yes it does, but it is not a built-in type thing; you couldn’t use an Apple TV alone to browse the web.
:(. We’d have to work out something with DH’s computer and AirParrot, and he wouldn’t be able to use the computer for anything else during streaming/browsing.
Airplay is fantastic. If your mac is new enough get it.
Here is another idea, get an antenna called “the leaf” ($30 on Amazon.)
I get abc, nbc, cbs, fox and pbs in crystal clear hd with it.
Edit to add - playon is more than just hulu (hulu plus if you have it - but what you get from the computer which is all free hulu + more - it is hulu plus on devices that is crippled) - streams Amazon VOD, Netflix, the network websites (CBS.com,NBC.Com,Fox.com, etc), and some others,
It’s an HDMI dongle that gives your TV an Android-powered media center. The comments don’t seem all that favorable, but do point to a number of similar products on the market or being developed. Looks like a very interesting, emerging technology. I’ve always been interested in adding a HTPC to my TV, but just lack the tech skills to pull it off well. Something this simple could be a great entry. I’ll hold out for something that can either be controlled by an iPhone touchscreen or, better yet, a Harmony remote.
The suggestion for AirPlay is exactly what I’m looking for. Problem is that my home Mac is too old to support all the necessary components even if I upgraded to mountain lion.
Good news is that my iPhone has it and it works. Bad news is that Hulu doesn’t seem to support iPhone streaming. So back to the drawing board.
I’ll look at playon. Or maybe this is the incentive I need to get an iPad.
FYI: PlayOn doesn’t work via the Apple TV, but there is an iPad app for it. (But the latest Apple TV firmware update suggests there will be purchaseable/downloadable apps in the future - so maybe there’s hope.)
After reading that I tried out a wire hanger and was able to pick up both the HBO and Showtime packages … and movies playing at the local theater. Go figure
