Posted on 10/04/2011 6:47:58 AM PDT by Cowman
A friend of mine just got a Visio WiFi TV. He set it up according to instructions and it will stream from the WiFi but only what is listed on the "Widgets." He would like to be able to go to a regular website like HULU or GBTV and stream from there like he can do on his computer.
We looked around on what is available for download but couldn't find a browser anywhere. I can connect my laptop and use the TV like a monitor but that kind of defeats the purpose of having an internet TV.
Please help.
Helpful hint. There are different models of Roku boxes. Some just allow you to watch TV shows and movies on your TV through your wireless router and others allow you to play video games.
We got the kind that does not play video games. They were 79.99 at Radio Shack.
Helpful hint: If you buy one box, you get a 10 dollar off coupon for your next purchase at Radio Shack. So if you need more than one Roku box, buy one one day and then come back the next day for another one.
Try Download.com. They got thousands of downloads.
I just signed up for blockbuster, and will be cancelling netflix dvd rentals.
Blockbuster has the visio tv apps as well as PC players for download.
What I like about Blockbuster over Netflix is Blockbuster has trailers attached to the movie selection boxes.
I think you will end up paying more for blockbuster streaming, but dvd by mail is a little cheaper than netflix.
So, for now, until someone starts seriously competing with Netflix for streaming, it’s still the best for the money.
Go to Best Buy and get the Logitech remote keyboard. It costs about $99.00 and allows you to surf the net to access any site. I find it works very well. They sell it right next to the Google TV stuff.
Is set up as easy as they claim? Thx.
If you desire to browse the web without an additional hardware box, you may be out of luck. Pathetic and crazy, but it’s the state of Internet TVs. I know that Samsung’s line of “Smart TVs” do have a “full” web browser, but my understanding is even they cannot access web-archived episodes of NBC, CBS, or ABC shows. It’s completely nuts, but you can watch such episodes on your laptop or desktop, but not on your TV directly.
There is a battle going on for the future of home TV entertainment. On the one hand you have the old-school cable companies and broadcast TV networks. On the other you have new technologies which render the old models obsolete. The cable companies and broadcast networks are working overtime to protect their outmoded businesses. One of the decisions they’ve made is to block streaming of archived content directly to TVs via the Internet! So, rather than embrace technology, they are fighting against it. I believe in the end they will lose.
P.S. Not being able to watch shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC may not be that great of a loss!
So easy even I was able to set it up. You will need an HDMI cable to go from your Roku box to your TV. You literally just plug the thing into the wall socket, connect the box to your TV and it prompts you through the rest of the setup from there. Pretty slick.
Do you want to watch TV shows and movies on your TV that are available on the internet or do you want to access internet sites like FreeRepublic.com on your TV?
If so, I'm not sure how to do that. The Roku box is strictly for TV shows and movies.
I'd be interested in knowing if I can get the internet on TV myself.
That would be kind of cool.
Isn’t there a version of the Opera web browser available for internet TV? Yes there is. I am not sure how to find it or how to get it downloaded on your system though.
I have the phillips internet t.v., so im hoping something like this will work. Stuck with netflix and vudu right now.
Blocking their product is a bad idea. What happens when 100 million TV’s are streaming online content, do they NOT want to be one of the thousands channels available to those viewers?
Talk about a bad business model.
tech ping
You can use a Wii or PS3 with web browsers. Some of the newer Sony TVs and Blu-ray players have Opera web browser built-in.
I connected a computer to my TV. All of the canned TV/Internet packages lock you out of most of the Internet by design. A simple google search will allow you to find lots of sites with movies and TV shows. You really don’t need cable if you have a broadband connection and a PC connected to your computer.
Roku is amazing, but if you will be using Netflix and want to use subtitles, you have to get the new boxes, not the originals.
This may sound glib but connect a computer to it.
If they don’t offer a web browser, you won’t find one to download and even if they do, it will be a castrated browser, limited in capability.
We frequently stream video to our TV that the owners of content will not allow to stream on anything but a computer or a device we don’t own.
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