We have our fancy new Samsung TV hooked up to Comcast internet and cable app. However, when I sit down to watch a current or recent show (usually something like Homeland, Picard, Outlander, Better Call Saul, a brit show or three, etc) I often forget how to go about watching it. Some of these shows require purchasing either the show or a subscription to Showtime or CBS All Access. However, it's difficult to remember which app to go to for each show. If I use the Samsung app to search for the specific show, it might come up with five different choices (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Fandango, CBS, etc.). It may be that I have a subscription to one or more of these, or to the show itself on one of these, but it's difficult to keep straight what I've paid for or what channels I'm currently subscribing to. To make it worse, even some of the channels can be subscribed to in different ways (i.e. Showtime can be obtained through Comcast, through Hulu, through Amazon Prime, and who knows what else. A couple of times I've found myself paying to watch something that I previously paid for on a different channel.

Is this just a function of old age, or are there others who get confused. It certainly doesn't help that we're only occasional TV watchers so that between viewings I tend to forget how things work. Any good ideas for keeping all this stuff straight?

Oh, another thing...

Some shows seem to be free to watch via a computer browser but require subscribing to a channel to watch on the TV. For example, our guilty pleasure is CBS's Survivor. I can watch any episode I want for free on the laptop, which can then use the TV as a giant monitor. However, if I try to watch it via the CBS All Access app on the TV I have to pay $6/month (and that still has more commercials than I get through the web browser). This is craziness.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2020 04:57PM by davester.

No...they took a good thing, Netflix, and broke it. They all wanted a piece of the pie and thought they could do better on their own. Anymore, if it isn't on Netflix or Amazon Prime it doesn't exist to me. I really want to watch Picard, but I'll just wait until I can order DVDs off of Netflix I guess. Apparently their was another Star Trek series that was only available online through CBS' portal but I never heard about it or watched it. It still isn't available on Netflix.

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MacResource User Map: [www.zeemaps.com]#

Get a stand alone box like Apple TV or Roku and stick with it. Avoid TV software that is never finished and changes more often than the remote.

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Staunton, Virginia

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Bernie
Get a stand alone box like Apple TV or Roku and stick with it. Avoid TV software that is never finished and changes more often than the remote.

This.

I go for the high latency Netflix DVD/BD setup.

Survivor?

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In tha 360. MRF User Map

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Filliam H. Muffman
Survivor?

How many times have you watched it? I thought not.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

Quote
Bernie
Get a stand alone box like Apple TV or Roku and stick with it. Avoid TV software that is never finished and changes more often than the remote.

Roku powered TVs get updated regularly as well.

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San Antonio, TX (in the old city)


"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Eli Weisel

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

"I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it." - Billy Graham 1981

"Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise" - Barry Goldwater

I feel your pain davester

My LR TV is a LG (webOS) with built in Prime, etc. + tons of other channels but no
PBS (have to go thru Prime or use the ATV4k or <shudder> the webOS Browser).
Meanwhile the BR TV is dumb, use a Firestick 4K and old ATV2.
Two totally different protocols to watch the same channel for each!

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39°36'17"N 75°44'43"W

The search engine that doesn't track you.

Quote
davester

Quote
Filliam H. Muffman
Survivor?

How many times have you watched it? I thought not.

I watched a few episodes in the first five years and couldn't stomach it. People risking their health and lives for entertainment. I am really surprised someone hasn't died. Recent seasons haven't gotten any safer.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map

Another vote for sticking with something like an AppleTV.

Individual streaming channels (apps) are another matter; each seems to want to reinvent the wheel with every release. Netflix might be the champ b'c that's just what we're used to, but it is simple and relatively clean.

Prime Video is one of the worst IMO -- i.e., instead of, say, a single entry for "psych", there's entries for each season. They're cleaning that up a bit but in a list you'll still see "psych season 8, psych season 1, psyche season 4" etc.

Prime also has a big problem with subtitles routinely being off from what's on screen. I've reported it when I find it; sometimes they acknowledge & fix it, sometimes they say something offensive like "can't you turn them off and just sit closer to the TV".

Disney+ is quite nice with its layout.

BritBox is terrible, but mostly for me b'c I need subtitles. You always have to navigate to the show specifically to get to the episode list so you can select the version of the episode that has subtitles burned in (it doesn't use the system's settings for CC/subtitles, no matter what their technicians tell you).

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(BTW, it's spelled < y'all >.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/29/2020 10:45AM by Zoidberg.

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Filliam H. Muffman
People risking their health and lives...

That's pretty funny. Apparently you haven't watched it.

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"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

Quote
davester

Quote
Filliam H. Muffman
People risking their health and lives...

That's pretty funny. Apparently you haven't watched it.

I guess neither have you.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map