Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


leo0787sx

407 posts

Ultimate Geek


#184100 10-Nov-2015 12:55
Send private message

Hey guys,

Just wondered whats the best and cheapest  way to watch streaming services on my TV? Netflix, Neon, Lightbox TVNZ and TV3.

Was thinking Apple TV but the 3rd gen says it only has Netflix so would need 4th gen for the app store, which is about $160 more. Unless I use Airplay, which would cover the rest. Other benefits would be my iTunes music I could play and it comes with a remote.

I've heard a few others thrown around like Chromecast which seems to have Netflix, Lightbox and Neon and is cheaper. I could also use my computer to stream TVNZ and TV3.

The other is Roku but seems to have only American apps.

What do people recommend? :)

Create new topic
Killerkiwi2005
374 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

  #1424397 10-Nov-2015 13:48
Send private message

If you want all the NZ apps a samsung blueray player is the easyist

If your happy with netflix, lightbox, fanpass etc then get a chromecast



jonathan18
7413 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted

  #1424406 10-Nov-2015 14:20
Send private message

Note that you can't Airplay from the NZ TV apps, so these are never likely to be available for viewing via a 3rd generation ATV. We can live in hope that TVNZ and TV3 will release apps for the 4th gen ATV.

Also, Airplay via Lightbox isn't working, and apparently is unlikely to be working until next year.  

It's quite a common question - ie is there one box to rule/deliver them all? - but in all honesty at the moment the answer appears to be "no". I guess a HTPC could be considered such a device, but personally I'd much prefer a single dedicated media box for all services we use - I'd imagine the new ATV may be that very box for us, given it can run Plex (which would replace the Mac Mini running Kodi), and all other key services are or will hopefully be available on it (for us that's Netflix, BBC, Hulu+, TVNZ and TV3).



mclean
581 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

  #1424408 10-Nov-2015 14:26
Send private message

Killerkiwi2005: If you want all the NZ apps a samsung blueray player is the easyist

You need one with Smart Hub capability, like the BD-H6500.



kharris
1209 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted

  #1424427 10-Nov-2015 15:11
Send private message

leo0787sx: Hey guys,

Just wondered whats the best and cheapest  way to watch streaming services on my TV? Netflix, Neon, Lightbox TVNZ and TV3.

Was thinking Apple TV but the 3rd gen says it only has Netflix so would need 4th gen for the app store, which is about $160 more. Unless I use Airplay, which would cover the rest. Other benefits would be my iTunes music I could play and it comes with a remote.

I've heard a few others thrown around like Chromecast which seems to have Netflix, Lightbox and Neon and is cheaper. I could also use my computer to stream TVNZ and TV3.

The other is Roku but seems to have only American apps.

What do people recommend? :)


Playstation has Netflix, Lightbox, and recently TVNZ.  I don't know about Neon and TV3.  As others have mentioned airplay does not work with TVNZ and TV3 (or SkyGo), and it is currently broken for Lightbox - who say they are going to fix it asap but it's been that way for well over a month now.

Note: whoever redesigned the TVNZ app needs a vision test for colour blindness.... the white on green is almost impossible to make out when entering user and password.




Kirk


semigeek
1606 posts

Uber Geek


  #1424431 10-Nov-2015 15:18
Send private message

Killerkiwi2005: If you want all the NZ apps a samsung blueray player is the easyist

If your happy with netflix, lightbox, fanpass etc then get a chromecast


Netflix isn't on my Samsung, a BD-5300. It used to be, then disappeared. 


jonathan18
7413 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted

  #1424455 10-Nov-2015 15:30
Send private message

kharris: Note: whoever redesigned the TVNZ app needs a vision test for colour blindness.... the white on green is almost impossible to make out when entering user and password.


Tell me about it! I raised it with TVNZ over a month ago, but of course haven't heard back from them. While I don't use the app frequently myself, my parents who are in their 80s have a Freeview + recorder: on a 32" TV the app is rendered virtually useless for them thanks to that colour combination. It astounds me that it could be signed off in that form, and it makes me wonder what kind of brainless idiot was in charge of the design.

kharris
1209 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted

  #1424487 10-Nov-2015 16:04
Send private message

jonathan18: It astounds me that it could be signed off in that form, and it makes me wonder what kind of brainless idiot was in charge of the design.


Not to mention the development and then the testing... surely someone saw it and thought it was a bad idea?






Kirk


 
 
 

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.
littleheaven
2130 posts

Uber Geek


  #1424494 10-Nov-2015 16:10
Send private message

At the moment probably the best bet to get everything on one device would be a small windows media box. I have a Minix Neo Z64 which can get all of the above via the browser or Windows store apps. It's around $230 plus shipping and I also got a wireless media keyboard for it (about $50). Alternatives would be a NUC or Gigabyte Brix or similar, but they are a little more expensive. Going up in price the Minix is cheapest, then the Apple TV4 (which has the potential to be the one box, if the apps are developed for those services), then the barebones units like the NUC (which need an OS as well as RAM, HD, etc).

If you have a PS3 already, that will get TVNZ, Lightbox, Netflix, and you can also geo-unblock for some of the UK/AUS channels. I spent last night watching old seasons of Location, Location, Location on UK Channel 4. Lots of ads but no worse than watching normal broadcast telly. Gives me time to go make my cup of tea :o)




Geek girl. Freelance copywriter and editor at Unmistakable.co.nz.


Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.