Channel Master Targets Cord-Cutters With ‘Stream+’

[Cheddar_Head]

I'm not sure I understand placing the value of "discussion" over teaching people how to fish.

Perhaps a simple yes with a helpful pointer to your source may have been most appropriate. But YMMV.

 

[harshness]

He asked a question, you didn't answer it.

Instead I gave the poster the resources to answer this and many other similar questions.

Re-hashing things over and over and arriving at precisely the same level of understanding as before isn't productive and it doesn't encourage anyone to seek the truth.

 

[raoul5788]

Instead I gave the poster the resources to answer this and many other similar questions.

Re-hashing things over and over and arriving at precisely the same level of understanding as before isn't productive and it doesn't encourage anyone to seek the truth.

You aren't required to answer anyone's post. If you aren't going to answer the question as asked, you should have skipped over the post and not responded to it at all.

 

[schneid]

Thanks to those who supported my simple question just looking for a simple answer. I did eventually find the answer all on my own. DD+ and DD pass-through.

Anyway, I have read a bit more now about this pig in a poke. I ordered one and they have already charged my card so maybe it's on its way.

Still troubled by:

DVR via MicroSD only. Biggest one I found was 400gb for $250.00. Ouch. Fishing indicates they may be working on a USB solution.

Exploring Plex Cloud. which maybe will do DVR from the hype. Still fishing on that one. Set it up with my OneDrive and synced my photos. Seemed slow on my 400mbs fiber Internet.

No Netflix or Amazon. Fishing indicates not yet but working on it.

Fishing showed a version of this box has been around awhile in Europe and Australia. Hope it's not too OLD tech.

Android TV seems not get a lot of love but may be getting better.

Cutting the cord is HARD. All the required pieces just don't fit semi-seamlessly. Tried a Shield Pro 500gb but is was a mess on arrival. Now hating my FireTV 3 mainly because of adds. Tried Hulu but it just does stereo. Tried PS Vue was really excited until I learned couldn't FF many shows. Bought I Roku Ultra to fill the gab which came yesterday while waiting and fishing some more. Sending it back as Stream+ my be on the way. Like Tivo Vox but equipment cost and subscription is too high. Roamio doesn't do 4k

Been with DirecTV since 1997. Seems like since AT&T bought 'em innovation has stopped. Just wish they would incorporate a built-in streamer and include integrated DirecTV Now access. If they did, i would probably stop fishing.

Here I am with two attic OTA antennas that work, really fast Internet that I can go up to a gig, new AV receiver that does DD+ or Atmos, and 7.1 speakers but fishing for the final ".1". 4K TV penciled in for February Just ain't got NO pole. So, I'll just continue to cut bait.

I'll report back on the Stream+.

 

[navychop]

I’ll reiterate: We will likely see USB EHD support.

And I look forward to your reports.

 

[schneid]

Shipping date is sliding according to CM product page today:

"Special introductory price. Pre-order now. If you have already placed a pre-order, your Stream+ will ship by mid-February. If you are pre-ordering today, your Stream+ will ship by the end of April."

Stream+ Media Player with Internal TV Tuners, Android TV and Google Live Channels DVR, Channel Master CM-7600 (CM7600)

 

[primestar31]

Shipping date is sliding according to CM product page today:

"Special introductory price. Pre-order now. If you have already placed a pre-order, your Stream+ will ship by mid-February. If you are pre-ordering today, your Stream+ will ship by the end of April."

Stream+ Media Player with Internal TV Tuners, Android TV and Google Live Channels DVR, Channel Master CM-7600 (CM7600)

Get used to it if you order from CM. Also get used to at least the first 3 firmware's to barely work, and not do even 3/4's of what they promised from the start.

 

[navychop]

Hmmm. My CM devices all perform as promised.

 

[harshness]

Hmmm. My CM devices all perform as promised.

Does your trouble-free experience include the first three releases of the firmware for the devices you have?

Getting something working after several tries is not the same as delivering something that fully implements the promised feature set with no obvious bugs. Few (if any) new CE products can make that claim initially and some never make it to that point before they are discontinued.

 

[harshness]

I’ll reiterate: We will likely see USB EHD support.

Until that happens, is the device of much use other than an introduction to Android TV?

 

[Nascarken 91xg]

CHANNEL MASTERS when they sold it too you did they off or tell you ota,ATSC you will
Need a low vhf outdoor tv antenna too receive ATSC and no one makes just a low band vhf,ANTENNAs.you will have too buy a vhf/uhf outdoor tv antenna too receive ATSC,03
And that is what tecks are saying and they are having trouble with it Fcc suggests turn up
The power boy's and I red where the teck said it won't work lol so smart fcc,but dume have
Fun with that thats what they get for selling ota brodcasting and cutting it too close one another

 

[Nascarken 91xg]

Hello everyone ATSC,03 I read where a teck said you will still need that big outdoor tv antenna like
The Winegrud 8200U and IT'S funny how the fcc suggests too buy that vhf/uhf, outdoor tv antenna
And ATSC is giving them a problem the fcc suggests up with the power boy's IT'S just too Funny!!!

 

[harshness]

Not everyone needs a deep fringe antenna, preamps or distribution amps.

Chances are fairly good that many will need a full-range solution somewhere between DTV and Next Gen.

Of course there is also the downside of the repack where many of the broadcast antennas will need to have adjustments made to their coverage patterns such that distant stations may become harder (if not impossible) to get.

 

[Nascarken 91xg]

Thats not going too happen the ANTENNAs will definitely stay the same way it will cost way too much too start over again said a teck and the fcc suggests you buy a vhf/uhf, outdoor tv antenna till this day because no one makes a low vhf tv antenna and no one will azz of yet my be Winegrud will bring back there hi,and low vhf,ANTENNAs that they use too make

 

[harshness]

...the fcc suggests you buy a vhf/uhf, outdoor tv antenna till this day because no one makes a low vhf tv antenna and no one will azz of yet my be Winegrud will bring back there hi,and low vhf,ANTENNAs that they use too make

Please provide a link to where the FCC (or ATSC) made this suggestion. This link needs to be closer to the statement than www.fcc.gov or www.atsc.org.

hint: such a statement was probably never made.

 

[schneid]

How about an SD to MicroSD adapter for DVR Storage? 512gb SD's are available and not "quite" so pricey. Here:

Saiko Systems Ltd. - SD to MicroSD Converter

 

[primestar31]

How about an SD to MicroSD adapter for DVR Storage? 512gb SD's are available and not "quite" so pricey. Here:

Saiko Systems Ltd. - SD to MicroSD Converter

Same issue as with an SSD, they simply won't last long as a drive for a dvr before you won't be able to write to them anymore. Most if not all dvr's buffer even while supposedly turned off, which mean they record whatever channel they are on all the time for at least 1/2 hour buffer time. That's whether you set it to record or not. That means the drive is being used 24/7/365.

 

[schneid]

Same issue as with an SSD, they simply won't last long as a drive for a dvr before you won't be able to write to them anymore. Most if not all dvr's buffer even while supposedly turned off, which mean they record whatever channel they are on all the time for at least 1/2 hour buffer time. That's whether you set it to record or not. That means the drive is being used 24/7/365.

Does that mean the using a MicroSD in the on board slot is equally flawed?

 

[harshness]

Let's not forget that OTA is MPEG2 so a 256GB or 512GB storage device doesn't cover much ground before you have to offload the recordings to real mass storage anyway. Some of the material seems to suggest that the unit may transcode to HEVC, but I'd have to see it in action as doing that on the fly seems pretty optimistic.

I'm not much swayed by navychop's repeated insistence that USB is going to happen soon and that it will be 100% reliable when it does. The only features that are certain are the ones that are working reliably already.

 

[harshness]

Does that mean the using a MicroSD in the on board slot is equally flawed?

Equally flawed as compared to what?

Flash memory has been used for years in security camera setups and the cards haven't worn out. I'd be willing to wager that this unit will become obsolete (by an official transition to Next Gen) before the cards wear out. The flaw is that the medium is just too expensive and will require too-frequent off-loading. The other downside is that if you're using the Stream+ to view digital camera content, you'll have to use some sort of adapter to read the camera's flash card.

Most standalone OTA DVRs that aren't TiVos probably don't implement buffering. We don't know enough about the Stream+ to understand if this is an issue.