Monday, March 25, 2013

Netflix and Amazon Instant Video

Luckily, my son was a computer tech in his 20s before he got his BS in Nursing so when I wanted to set up all this he was available to be the tech to consult with to make this all work. However, most people might have to hire someone to set this all up.

So, first we got a 52 inch flatscreen. After that we got a Tuner that looks a lot like the tuners we used for years to make cassette, CDs and record players work through the same speaker at different times along with AM and FM radio. Only now the tuner runs to the TV and not just speakers as well. So, at one HDMI   we put regular cable TV combined with a TIVO Elite DVR. At another one HDMI  we put our PS3 for Blue Ray DVDs and any gaming people are interested in. At  another one HDMI  we put our regular DVD player for non- blue ray DVDs. And at another HDMI  we put our Roku which is a puck like disc that we run an ethernet cable into from our router for a clearer picture. I suppose you can also do this wifi if you want to as well. Through  Roku Puck we use Netflix and Amazon Instant Video. This combination has been the easiest for us to understand and to work with. Netflix has a really amazing array of TV and movies that are older than about 2 to 3 months old. If we want to watch something brand new that has come out recently in movies that we missed seeing at the theater because of business or travel we find we can buy those movies from Amazon Instant Video. Also, If you are subscribed to Amazon Prime which is how you get to Amazon Video you also get free shipping of anything you buy through Amazon.com year around which saved about 300 dollars when my son bought parts to build a custom desktop computer for my wife's best friend since childhood.

For example, I realized this week that I could look up amazon instant video on the internet to find out what new movies they had out to buy for 24 hours electronically. We found that my daughter wanted to see "Argo" because she hadn't been with us in Southern California when we saw it when it first came out and were there on business.

So, it cost $5.99 to get an HD version of it to throw up on our flatscreen in the living room for 48 hours. This setup seems to work pretty well for us. Also, our daughter likes to watch when she isn't studying all the time, "Buffy Vampire slayer" old episodes on Netflix and "The 70s Show" old episodes on Netflix to understand her mother and I better because her mother and I even though I am 7 years older were in our twenties during the 70s and my wife also into the early 80s. So this show illustrates more how life was like when we were younger.

So, almost any really new movie you can get it first on Amazon Instant video for anywhere between 2.99 to $20. I find I like this setup a lot. Also, since I didn't like the electrical corona from  the batteries in the wireless earphones we got headphones and wired it up directly to the tuner by putting it under the carpet so I don't have to experience electrical coronas or interference. Then we put a splitter so two people can listen with earphones at the same time in the living room if anyone is trying to sleep in the house so it isn't too loud for them. This combination allows anyone in the house if they can't sleep (my wife or I) to get up and watch anything we want 24 hours a day without bothering anyone else in the house. This is the best system my son and I have come up with yet for a home entertainment system.

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