Working towards Nvidia Shield Replacement of my WMC System

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soccerdad

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Working towards Nvidia Shield Replacement of my WMC System

#1

Post by soccerdad » Mon Feb 25, 2019 5:54 pm

Hopefully this will help others that are looking for non-WMC options.

I have finally dumped Spectrum TV services. I will soon dump their internet as well and move to a much cheaper and faster local fiber system for internet. So my cable card is now gone and I have been using WMC7 for OTA only. We tried moving to a streaming only Roku solution and are still testing YouTube TV along with Philo, or Hulu TV DVR. Both are OK, but Hulu is not really stable with the local CBS channel so we are using YTTV for now. But with this, we HATE not being able to fast forward through commercials. So I have to keep a local DVR solution running for the locals. WMC7 works great, but I have to switch back and forth between boxes and the wife doesn't like that. I also have to feed several TVs in the house. Tried Plex and Emby but was not happy with automatic comskip since it doesn't always work well. Also things like fast forward and rewind are not simple.

My goal is to have one box to do most everything. And I also want to stop my windows box since it runs all the time and is huge.

So I purchased an nVidia Shield TV 16gb and added a 256gig stick drive setup externally to it. I messed some with TVheadend installed on the shield, using a HDhomerun extend. I got it working and playing through Kodi. I didn't spend a lot of time on it, but so far it I haven't got it to record or do anything besides live tv. I also tried serverWMC through Kodi to see if I could live with that. But comskip isn't working very well through that interface.

I am now testing Channels DVR. It is working really nice so far. A decent interface, does comskiping with user control like I like it (not auto). And it can be networked through many devices and remoted to from anywhere. Poor Roku interface but you can watch recorded and live TV. The downside is $8 per month or $80 year. But it does have a 21 day guide. And it is really plug and play so the WAF should be good. So now I have it all running just on the nVidia Shield. Channels DVR, YTTV, Netflix, Kodi, Amazon Prime, etc. All the players, quick change between all sources, simple remote, and google home interface with voice control. I would have to pay for guide data anyway, and premium services from Plex or Emby. So I figure $80 a year is not too bad. Even with the extra hardware I purchased, I still am saving huge from what I payed Spectrum.

Anyone else using a Shield as a server? To me it is a great small box that can do most everything I need. I will stay on the quest for other systems, but this one is not too bad.

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#2

Post by boogmeister1 » Mon Feb 25, 2019 7:15 pm

I don't have a Shield device, but wanted to chime in about the other stuff you have running, specifically Channels DVR and Emby.

I bought a Synology DS718+ about 6 months ago and loaded Channels DVR on it. The wife loves it because "it just works" and she can watch TV on any of our TV's, as long as it has a FireTV connected to it.

The only complaint I have is that it's not quite a complete solution. Music, movies, videos and pictures aren't supported on the Channels app. For this reason, I have a lifetime subscription to Emby. It works well for the things that Channels won't support. While TV works, it's still slow and cumbersome.

The way I figure it, $80.00/yr isn't much compared to the amount I save from dumping cable TV. As soon as our contract is up with our cable company, we're dropping it and going completely OTA (which we already use) and a streaming service. I'm hoping Silicondust Premium TV get's their stuff figured out as that would be a great solution to what ails a lot of cable cutters.

Eric

soccerdad

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#3

Post by soccerdad » Mon Feb 25, 2019 10:11 pm

I totally agree with all you said. Since we have google home units and chromecast audio devices all over the house, we just stream music and don't have a recorded collection anymore. Same with movies. Have Kodi on the Shield to handle anything we want since that is the main movie tv. We have Rokus on the rest. We may go to firetv if we find the need. But for us, it works. I realize for many harder core members here, they want more control and large custom libraries. But for recording Madame Secretary and watching without commercials with a high WAF, this works well for us.

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#4

Post by boogmeister1 » Tue Feb 26, 2019 2:31 am

Having used all of the various versions of the FireTV's, I would recommend buying the FireTV Stick 4K. It's the only one that allows for the use of software decoding when using Channels DVR. It's also snappier and more responsive than previous versions.

adam1991

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#5

Post by adam1991 » Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:20 am

Or a gen 2 Fire TV box. Or a Fire TV cube.

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#6

Post by boogmeister1 » Tue Feb 26, 2019 8:33 am

adam1991 wrote: Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:20 am Or a gen 2 Fire TV box. Or a Fire TV cube.
Aren't they the same thing? I was talking about the dollar for performance. I would still buy the 4K stick over the Cube.

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#7

Post by Scallica » Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:07 pm

boogmeister1 wrote: Tue Feb 26, 2019 8:33 am
adam1991 wrote: Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:20 am Or a gen 2 Fire TV box. Or a Fire TV cube.
Aren't they the same thing? I was talking about the dollar for performance. I would still buy the 4K stick over the Cube.
Nope.

https://developer.amazon.com/docs/fire- ... tions.html
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adam1991

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#8

Post by adam1991 » Tue Feb 26, 2019 3:52 pm

boogmeister1 wrote: Tue Feb 26, 2019 8:33 am
adam1991 wrote: Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:20 am Or a gen 2 Fire TV box. Or a Fire TV cube.
Aren't they the same thing? I was talking about the dollar for performance. I would still buy the 4K stick over the Cube.
I would never buy a stick of any kind.

You can get a Raspberry Pi to run Windows, and it's cheap. But do you want that for your Windows Media Center or gaming machine? No.

Dollar for dollar performance, absolutely the stick sucks. It's made to hit a price point and do a very narrow range of activities.

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#9

Post by Scallica » Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:15 pm

adam1991 wrote: Tue Feb 26, 2019 3:52 pm Dollar for dollar performance, absolutely the stick sucks. It's made to hit a price point and do a very narrow range of activities.
Yep, the sticks are junk. I have two 2nd Gen Fire TV boxes and they work fine.
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boogmeister1

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#10

Post by boogmeister1 » Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:40 pm

I agree... if I were running WMC, however, that wasn't what was discussed. We were talking specifically about running Channels DVR in conjunction with a NAS. In this case, a computer is not a user friendly option.

I happen to disagree with the premise that all of the sticks are junk. The latest 4K version has been working great for it's intended use.

Unless you have first hand experience with the latest 4K stick and have examples of them not working correctly, for their intended use, please refrain from bad-mouthing something just because you "think" it's a terrible device.

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#11

Post by soccerdad » Wed Feb 27, 2019 1:31 am

Lol. My roku streaming stick+ works fine for what I use it for. It isn't super fast loading apps, but not painfully slow either. But for this, the channels app is just beta and only does very basic playback only. The nVidia shield on the other hand is peppy and pretty cool. At $179 (+$50 for 256gig memory) its way more than a stick or cube, but it is my full server now. I have my own recordings and comskip that works well. So far this is a decent solution for me.

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#12

Post by adam1991 » Wed Feb 27, 2019 12:49 pm

boogmeister1 wrote: Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:40 pm I agree... if I were running WMC, however, that wasn't what was discussed. We were talking specifically about running Channels DVR in conjunction with a NAS.
Understood. However, the sticks have zero headroom compared to the boxes, and are not very future-proof.

Like I said, the sticks are meant to hit a price point.

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#13

Post by boogmeister1 » Wed Feb 27, 2019 9:03 pm

adam1991 wrote: Wed Feb 27, 2019 12:49 pm
boogmeister1 wrote: Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:40 pm I agree... if I were running WMC, however, that wasn't what was discussed. We were talking specifically about running Channels DVR in conjunction with a NAS.
Understood. However, the sticks have zero headroom compared to the boxes, and are not very future-proof.

Like I said, the sticks are meant to hit a price point.

How far into the future is "future Proof" to you? As soon as Amazon decides to do a software upgrade that's not compatible with your Gen2's hardware, your boxes are no longer future proof. I have two first gen FireTV sticks that I use while traveling in my RV and they work for what I need. I've had those for almost five years... longer than the computer I'm typing this on! So, something is only future proof as long as it's useful to you.

I'm not going to comment on your "price point" argument. That's going down a rabbit hole.

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#14

Post by soccerdad » Wed Feb 27, 2019 10:30 pm

Now back to our regularly scheduled discussion.... Anyone else try a Shield TV?

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#15

Post by adam1991 » Wed Feb 27, 2019 11:16 pm

boogmeister1 wrote: Wed Feb 27, 2019 9:03 pm
adam1991 wrote: Wed Feb 27, 2019 12:49 pm
boogmeister1 wrote: Tue Feb 26, 2019 10:40 pm I agree... if I were running WMC, however, that wasn't what was discussed. We were talking specifically about running Channels DVR in conjunction with a NAS.
Understood. However, the sticks have zero headroom compared to the boxes, and are not very future-proof.

Like I said, the sticks are meant to hit a price point.

How far into the future is "future Proof" to you? As soon as Amazon decides to do a software upgrade that's not compatible with your Gen2's hardware, your boxes are no longer future proof. I have two first gen FireTV sticks that I use while traveling in my RV and they work for what I need. I've had those for almost five years... longer than the computer I'm typing this on! So, something is only future proof as long as it's useful to you.

I'm not going to comment on your "price point" argument. That's going down a rabbit hole.
That doesn't at all change that the sticks were meant to hit a price point.

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#16

Post by boogmeister1 » Thu Feb 28, 2019 4:51 am

adam1991 wrote: Wed Feb 27, 2019 11:16 pm
boogmeister1 wrote: Wed Feb 27, 2019 9:03 pm
adam1991 wrote: Wed Feb 27, 2019 12:49 pm

Understood. However, the sticks have zero headroom compared to the boxes, and are not very future-proof.

Like I said, the sticks are meant to hit a price point.

How far into the future is "future Proof" to you? As soon as Amazon decides to do a software upgrade that's not compatible with your Gen2's hardware, your boxes are no longer future proof. I have two first gen FireTV sticks that I use while traveling in my RV and they work for what I need. I've had those for almost five years... longer than the computer I'm typing this on! So, something is only future proof as long as it's useful to you.

I'm not going to comment on your "price point" argument. That's going down a rabbit hole.
That doesn't at all change that the sticks were meant to hit a price point.
Ok, you think what you will and I'll have my thoughts.

Have a wonderful night!

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#17

Post by boogmeister1 » Thu Feb 28, 2019 4:55 am

soccerdad wrote: Wed Feb 27, 2019 10:30 pm Now back to our regularly scheduled discussion.... Anyone else try a Shield TV?
Have you been to the Channels support forum? There are quite a few users over there that love their Shield TV's. It's a great resource and the developers are very active on the forum.

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