PDA

View Full Version : Boxee Live TV - First impressions



vtxrider
January 7th, 2012, 03:25 PM
OK, I have a Hauppauge 95Q HD TV tuner just laying around so I thought I would give it a try, turns out it works just fine with 1.5.
So the first thing I noticed is that it takes a long time to scan my basic cable channels, about 30 minutes or so. It did find all of them, digital and SD, this includes all of the one we don't want like HSN, QVC, both CSPAN's, and about 15 Spanish channels. So the first things I noticed are:
cons:
1. no way to delete unwanted channels from the guide (in my case about 25)
2. no way to assign favorite channels.
3. overly long scan time
4. EPG awkward to use, may be I just need to get used to it, but having to scan a click at a time past all of those unwanted channels is a pain.
5. No way to direct enter the channel number you want.
6. No DVR functionality, hope it is coming.

Pros:
1. Channel switch time is a little faster than my TV
2. HD channels are perfect, even the SD are pretty good
3. Sharing and seeing how many others of your peeps are on is cool.
4. Being able to go from a movie to HDTV news with a click is nice.

I don't think I will use this a lot, but I don't watch much live TV with the exception of News and Sports. This will be good for the ease of changing from a Movie to the News at night. I might find myself using it more if they incorporate a favorites menu and allow the deletion of unwanted channels from the lineup, even the cheapest TV have those functions. The WinTV software that comes with the 95Q also has them.
I will admit that for their first foray into TV this is a very good start on the part of team Boxee, now they just need to fine tune it a bit.

darcilicious
January 7th, 2012, 03:37 PM
1. no way to delete unwanted channels from the guide (in my case about 25)Yes, it's possible, just not obvious :p

While watching TV, press the left-arrow twice and then select Edit.

darcilicious
January 7th, 2012, 03:46 PM
See also: http://jira.boxee.tv/browse/BOXEE-11755 which should be included in the final v1.5 release.

vtxrider
January 7th, 2012, 03:50 PM
Yes, it's possible, just not obvious :p

While watching TV, press the left-arrow twice and then select Edit.

Thanks darcilicious, that will improve the experience a lot. Does a 'Help' or 'setup' file come with the purchased dongle? if not they need to post a how to file for the LiveTV users. The link you posted is broken at the moment.

darcilicious
January 7th, 2012, 03:54 PM
Does a 'Help' or 'setup' file come with the purchased dongle? No idea as they haven't started shipping them yet as far as I know...


The link you posted is broken at the moment. Yeah, there are odd DNS issues with boxee.tv this afternoon (at least, that's why I'm experiencing). The link is valid, try again in a few...

jebise
January 7th, 2012, 07:44 PM
I see you are you are using this with cable, do you get any channels when used with an antenna like rabbit ears?

I will be dumping cable as soon as my contract end and was thinking of putting up an OTA dish to get the free OTA channels, but thats another project and hopefully will work with Boxee.

vtxrider
January 7th, 2012, 07:57 PM
I see you are you are using this with cable, do you get any channels when used with an antenna like rabbit ears?

I will be dumping cable as soon as my contract end and was thinking of putting up an OTA dish to get the free OTA channels, but thats another project and hopefully will work with Boxee.

I tried it with an antenna and it gets all of the local stuff in HD, but not the other stuff that is on cable only. You need a good outside antenna.

jebise
January 7th, 2012, 08:15 PM
yeah I'm just to dam lazy to install an outdoor antenna, Need to find a installer around here. But this seems like a good idea to have the TV set to one input and also get EPG data.

darcilicious
January 7th, 2012, 08:29 PM
You need a good outside antenna. That depends on a number of factors. If you're close to broadcast towers with few obstacles an indoor antenna can work fine.

vtxrider
January 7th, 2012, 08:31 PM
yeah I'm just to dam lazy to install an outdoor antenna, Need to find a installer around here. But this seems like a good idea to have the TV set to one input and also get EPG data.

Yes, and on that note it is a true EPG as I get data for all channels except the TVguide channel (go figure) but it does only go 48 hours into the future. If they get a DVR function working they will have to get the EPG at least up to a week of data.

asdre
January 17th, 2012, 12:41 PM
Does the release 15 Jan V1.5 show the Live Tv icon? Or is being held back until after Betas are tested?

darcilicious
January 17th, 2012, 12:41 PM
Does the release 15 Jan V1.5 show the Live Tv icon? Yes, but only shows when the (supported) tuner is plugged into the USB port.

LeoBauberger
January 17th, 2012, 12:47 PM
Yes, but only shows when the (supported) tuner is plugged into the USB port.

Darcilicious, how can I know what are the supported tuners?
Besides, i live in Brasil, do you know if it will work wich a available tuner here?

darcilicious
January 17th, 2012, 12:50 PM
Currently, the only tuner that's been reported to work is the Hauppauge 950Q USB Tuner.

Live TV on the Boxee Box will only work in the US and Canada. There has been no announcement as to when or if other countries will be supported.