• Welcome to The Audio Annex! If you have any trouble logging in or signing up, please contact 'admin - at - theaudioannex.com'. Enjoy!
  • HTTPS (secure web browser connection) has been enabled - just add "https://" to the start of the URL in your address bar, e.g. "https://theaudioannex.com/forum/"
  • Congratulations! If you're seeing this notice, it means you're connected to the new server. Go ahead and post as usual, enjoy!
  • I've just upgraded the forum software to Xenforo 2.0. Please let me know if you have any problems with it. I'm still working on installing styles... coming soon.

Saving Money is Costing Me Money

AndySTL said:
Ha! Yeah, I've been happy with them. They feel a bit awkward at first but you get used to it. My only real complaint is that the seem overpriced to me. If they were cheaper I would probably buy a couple more. Maybe I'll look for a pair on ebay. Or better yet maybe I'll try one of these.
Click to expand...

My local BestBuy only had the Amazon version of the SideClick. After using it last night I think it’ll meet most of my needs. I agree that $30 seems a bit much for 8 buttons. With 8 buttons it’s not capable of supporting additional inputs like a disc player.

Speaking of which... BestBuy had the Harmony Smart Control system which includes a Hub and a stick remote on sale for $76 which is less than the cost of the Hub alone $80. Amazon’s price was $95.

It was an impulse buy because it was on sale and I’m curious as to how well the Alexa voice controls will work.
 
I skipped work this morning and decided to test the Harmony Smart Control Hub and remote in the living room.

Long story short it took a little while to setup the remote because I had to re-map all the buttons to the Roku commands instead of the default TV commands. But I was pleased to find that the hub’s IR blaster is strong enough to control everything with it being placed in a pretty inconspicuous place. All I need to do now is hide the USB power wire for the hub. I’m also pleased that the remote scrolls much faster then the stock Roku remote. This is among the least expensive physical remotes in the Harmony line but it has the ability to setup the three activities I need in the living room; watch TV (controls Roku) watch a movie (controls a BD player), and play music (Sonos).

FWIW, It took me longer than it should but I was able to get the Alexa skill setup to allow voice commands.

Right now all it does is basic stuff like
“Alexa, turn on/off the TV”
“Alexa, mute/un-mute the TV”
“Alexa, turn up the TV volume by ___”

I haven’t figured out how but supposedly I can command it to turn on specific streaming apps and and switch inputs on the AVR via voice commands too. But honestly I don’t think we’ll be using voice commands for anything other than power on/off and maaaaaybe muting the volume occasionally.

I’m curious how the system would handle having multiple hubs. You can name them in the app but it doesn’t appear that Alexa makes any use of the names.

All said I’m pretty happy so far with the results for less than $80.
 
Echo/Google Home are great for on/off, play, pause, mute and switching inputs. They are not great for controlling volume. Streaming service control is a really mixed bag and I've found it less than useful for everything except music.

We most frequently use voice commands to fire up the system and switch to a given input. For example, "Turn on Shield in the Living Room." The cool thing about this is that the NVidia Shield can control the volume on my receiver via CEC commands over HDMI. That means it can do anything we need other than turn the system on and off.

I am using a Harmony Ultimate One, Harmony Companion and Harmony Hub to control a two zone system.
 
Yeah
I dont have a CEC or ARC option for sound in the living room but the Smart remote and Hub handle everything I need.

I must say that I'm rather impressed with how responsive the Harmony wifi system is turning out to be. I expected occasional lag between entering commands on the remote or app and seeing them executed by the Hub. That's not the case so far.

Because it was on sale I actually bought two Harmony Smart remotes and Hubs, with the idea that I'd put the second in the office or bedroom or maybe even the patio. We'll see.
 
I still have a couple of those old Radio Shack IR repeater pyramids. I put the transmitter inside the cabinet with my Harmony Hub and the receiver in the kitchen with a pair of emitters plugged into it. The Harmony remote sends a command to the Hub. The Hub controls the 2nd zone on my Marantz receiver via an IR blaster in the other half of my BDI cabinet and controls the TV and soundbar in my kitchen via the pyramid and emitter set. I sometimes have issues with the soundbar, but the rest of it works great.
 
Brands do a great job of making sure CEC works between the components they make, but the implementation is uneven with communication between components from different vendors. This can lead to some strange behavior. I had to shut off CEC on one of my components, because it liked to turn off my display at odd times.
 
What's happened in the past two months that it seems almost everyone I know (around my age, say 40-55 years old) are announcing they are "cutting the cord" and getting rid of cable/satellite and going with internet and streaming services only. I realize I was early, but I "cut the cord" several years ago and now I am being told by all these new converts how smart it is and how they have it figured out.

Did some big event just occur with our generation to cause the mass exodus?
 
I don’t think there was a single event. My opinion is that my alternatives have become easier to find and use. The quality of the alternatives have improved along with a simultaneous increase in the available bandwidth at lower costs. As DVRs have become the norm, so has the desire to time-shift content. The most popular streaming services remove the barrier of even having to set-up a recording.

All those factors are reaching a point where there’s practically no reason to NOT cut the cord.
 
I don’t think there was a single event. My opinion is that my alternatives have become easier to find and use. The quality of the alternatives have improved along with a simultaneous increase in the available bandwidth at lower costs. As DVRs have become the norm, so has the desire to time-shift content. The most popular streaming services remove the barrier of even having to set-up a recording.

All those factors are reaching a point where there’s practically no reason to NOT cut the cord.
 
Another thing to consider...
Some people make frequent use of various standalone network apps like TBS, Cartoon Network, ESPN and the like. With a traditional service you get access to those apps and their content by providing your TV account credentials. Those apps are usually not great but useful from time to time. DirectTV Now credentials work for many but not all networks.im unsure about YouTube and Hulu’s live TV services.
 
It just seems that in the past two months the rate of transitioning to this means of acquiring TV content has accelerated at an insane pace.
 
I am keeping my satellite for the unfoseeable future.
I am a dance with the one that bring ya and if it ain't broke don't fix it guy.
And I'm too lazy to figure out what my other options are and how or why they would be beneficial or cost effective.
 
Randy said:
I am keeping my satellite for the unfoseeable future.
I am a dance with the one that bring ya and if it ain't broke don't fix it guy.
And I'm too lazy to figure out what my other options are and how or why they would be beneficial or cost effective.
Click to expand...
I used to have this line of thinking, I LOVED Dish and all their equipment and was with them for roughly 15 years and thought I’d be a customer for life. But between Dish, Verizon internet, the monthly cel bill, something had to give. I’ve cut the cord and saved $100-110/month. At the outset it takes a minute to manage a few different subscriptions but it has been worth it.
 
Flint said:
It just seems that in the past two months the rate of transitioning to this means of acquiring TV content has accelerated at an insane pace.
Click to expand...

Maybe lots of people got streaming devices and services over the holidays and they’re sharing their experiences with others who have been resistant. But this isn’t a new thing. I’ve see pay TV subscribership numbers falling at an exponential rate for the past two years.
 
the main concern i have is news, local news to be exact. and since we are living in the parents place, it wouldve been perfect.

super perfect. there is an antenna in the fireplace (of course since its part of being asian and its convenient for them), we couldve set it up.

but her mom needs her chinese channels.

taiwanese based chinese channels. those that dont really agree with one china kinda thinking.

thats 16 bucks a month.

sixteen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top