Streaming box recommendations

4K AppleTV, hands down, best choice.

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Definitely Apple TV as that is what the developers target first for bug fixes and new features.

Thank you - will take a look,
I am replacing a really sweet Windows Media Center with DRM support (6 cable/2 OTA tuners) with Ceton Extenders. If I can get my library (3000+ non-DRM .wtv files) ported over, this will be as close to the WMC experience as we can get, I think,

You might want to hold off for a bit. It sounds like a new Apple 4K TV box will be released shortly and stock of the current model is running low.

An off the wall possibility or for the short term...

If you really like your setup... You could for the time being maybe run an m3u to HDHR "proxy". That your Windows Media Center would see as just another hdhomerun?

Take the Channels_DVR output m3u list and feed it to "Dispatcharr" that then acts like an hdhomerun for your Media Center System...Your Media Center would then act like normal and tune/record like always. :man_shrugging:

Not saying this would be my long term solution put something to thing about and might be fun to experiment... :slightly_smiling_face:

I'll investigate, but I can no longer record - last month I got a notice from Verizon that that they were ending cable card support - this was the only reason I was willing to put up with a $233/mo. cable bill! Paying a lot less with Xfinity 1G/YouTubeTV (in order to get TCM and a few other channels).
I have 400 so DRM recording on the WMC box- planning to use it for playback. Integrated into channels would be great

Doubt it. They want to wait for the new AI infused Siri. Witch will not be ready until iOS 27 this Sept most likely.
People been saying "leaks" say new Apple TV any day now, for over a year now...

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I only see refurbished models at Amazon, but Costco has both models available on-line only. Since Costco has a 90 return policy for electronics, if the video is right and a new ATV comes out in April or May, it can be returned.

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Same thing happened to me with my first time moving to streaming/Channels setup back in late 2019. Bought Nvidia Shield TV, then like a week later, new model came out. Returned got the new model.

I made a similar move last year when Xfinity turned off my CableCard. I also had the 6 tuner Ceton running on Windows 8.1 with two Xbox 360 extenders. I loved it and would have kept using it if Xfinity had not disabled my CableCard. However, I am much happier now and I am also paying a lot less. The big difference from your setup is that I went with DirecTV.

Currently, I am using two 3rd gen Fire TV Cubes and two 2nd gen 4K Max Fire TV sticks with Channels DVR and they work fine, but I really want to get an ATV box when the new model comes out. The stick form factor is nice if you travel a lot, so you could also get a Fire TV stick now and wait for the new ATV. Just don’t get the Fire TV 4K Select because it is not supported by Channels DVR.

By the way, I was really disappointed when TVE lost ESPN. I’m not sure TVE has a bright future. However, there are still ways to get the lost channels into Channels DVR through some of the user projects found here.

I was going to also make the same comment as @DavidP about TVE. Fewer and Fewer channels allow/support it every month/year so not a long term solution in my opinion.
You may want to take some time reviewing the projects on here (ADBTuner, AndroidHDMI for Channels (ah4c), LinkPi Encoders). As example ADBTuner/ah4c tell standalone devices (firesticks, atvs, onn) to "tune" a channel. The HDMI outputs from these devices are fed into an hdmi encoder like the LinkPi that then streams it as an ip stream that is picked up by the CDvr server to be recorded/streamed to your client devices. This will work with various online services like directv stream, youtube tv, philo.

If you want to get your "recorded" shows out of your current system you could hook one of your current clients up to an encoder and "rerecord" them to drm free format. Or get them a different way and store on your NAS.

I haven't completely walked through this so it is a thought experiment.
If you really love the feel/view of your current system you could...
Use YoutubeTV for your "live" tv service... Install it on various "tuner" firetv sticks fed into encoder(s). Control these "tuners" with ah4c that would tell them what channel to go to and then gets the ip stream from the encoder to pass back. Use Dispatcherr to convert the ah4c proxy to look like an HDHomerun to your current Media Center. With some customization/scripts you might not need CDVR middle man for your setup. But I love CDVR and think it is well worth the $8/month.

No matter what you do one of the huge weak points is none of the encoders support more than stereo output though some people I believe are using maxwell encoding cards to get surround sound.

FYI...My current system uses OTA Hdhomerun for locals, Philo/Spectrum inputs controlled by adbtuner/ah4c/LinkPi and "kineticman/pluto-for-channels" for Pluto channels all fed into the CDvr sytem.

If you are an Android user the Google TV Streamer 4K is a great choice. Any Google TV device will work.

I t was a good 12 year run with WMC (IMHO, the best thing Microsoft created). Losing the ability to record TCM was the hardest thing to lose. Luckily, TVE allowed me to restore that capability, however temporarily, given that the trend line for its continued use, which doesn't appear in its favor. Then there is Paramount takeover of Warners - could be a good thing by adding to the catalog of old movies, but my pessimistic/realist side thinks it won't be. Today, I was reading about how much of a mess the rollout of ATSC 3.0 has been. You might not be able to record OTA at some point.
I also believe that there is a bubble growing in the streaming business - with hundreds of streaming channels, is anyone really making money, given that some streams don't have commercials?Are they cross-licensing each other products and booking that as an asset - just like the dot com internet bubble in the 90's.
So, will we get a run of 12 years of relative stability like I had? I doubt it

I even installed the version of WMC found at the EPG123 website just because I was feeling nostalgic. It works great on Windows 11 with my HDHR OTA tuners and there are even a few tweaks that improve things, such as eliminating the warnings about high resolution on 4K TVs, but there is no support for DRM recordings or extenders.

Regarding Paramount taking over Warner for $110B, I expect that Paramount will be aggressive in trying to monetize the Warner library to help pay down their massive debt load, and it probably won't be good for us.

You might want to get a Google-based streamer now so that you can try out the options mentioned by @ChannelSam. It would certainly tide you over until the new version of ATV comes out, and then you could dedicate the Google streamer to capturing all your YouTube TV channels. In my case, I want to get ATV to gain access to additional features like multiview that the Android/Fire TV apps do not have. I love multiview on my iPad and Mac mini running the iPad app.

Also, it is possible to record DRM'd ATSC 3.0 channels today using a Zapperbox. However, I have one and I am not thrilled with it, but my DRM'd NBC ATSC 3.0 channel does look better in 1080p HDR, and it does have Dolby Atmos audio. But overall, Channels DVR is so much better.

There was a time when I was pondering building a WMC dockerized clone. I really miss that app.

@Martin2K might want to check out your Feral HTPC project once you release the beta. Since he has a Ceton extender he is probably running Windows 7. IIRC, Window 8/8.1 only supported Xbox 360 extenders. Would Feral HTPC run on Windows 7? He probably has the WMC PC connected to an HDTV and he could have it working before getting a streaming box.

You could always use SageTV. :wink:

  1. AppleTV
  2. onn 4k pro box
  3. If you want to use Kodi instead, any box that'll let you install Corelec or Libreelec or OSMC

I would like to second everyone who suggested the Apple TV. I have used Channels on both Apple TV and Android TV and it is significantly better on Apple. And if you want to use Multiview, that is only available on Apple TV Channels.

These folks must just be confused.

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