Howdy, folks. I think I'm going to finally cut the cord and drop cable.
The thing I know that I'll miss the most is the instant responsiveness of my hardware DVR. For example, I have a Roku Ultra and I always lament how wonky it is to click back 10 or 20 seconds for the joke I just missed when I'm watching Netflix on the Roku vs watching something on my physical DVR.
I've looked at a lot of options, and I think I'm going to go with HDHomerun and Channels Plus. So I'd like to ask the brain trust: What's the best setup for maximum responsiveness on recording playback? e.g.,
- What's the best NAS or other device?
- Does the quality of the hard drive matter?
- Which streamer (Fire TV, Apple TV, etc) has the best responsiveness, best UI and best physical remote for zipping around in a recording?
- What else am I forgetting?
Let's assume that all I care to do is watch my stuff on one actual TV, and I don't care about viewing on my phone or iPad, in or outside the home. Here are my few complications:
- My "one TV" is actually an HDMI splitter, going to my new Samsung in the living room and my old Samsung in the kitchen. The new one is a cheapo but supports 4k, the old one only supports up to 1080p. (We have the kitchen TV because our apartment is very open floor-plan, and we like to watch together, regardless of who's cooking or whatnot.)
- I'm thinking of getting the 4k version of HDHomerun for future-proofing. Good idea or bad? Picture quality isn't a big deal to me, but I'll take better over worse.
I'm too old to want to spend a bunch of time screwing around with this stuff like I used to, and am willing to spend what it takes to get a solid solution. That said, I'd probably be interested in hearing both a top-end and mid-range option.
Thanks!