Television, drug of the nation

Did you watch this weeks?

Equally great TV

I think it detects when it's not connected to a device and puts itself into standby. If I switch to an app on my TV when watching the fire HD it basically stops whatever I was doing so I have to restart the TV programme or film.

It could just be the splitter isn't providing enough of what it needs to detect connectivity.

Cheers.

I am using the supplied power block. But do also want to get a powered USB thing as I've got the following which could all go into one and free up space;

1. Chromecast
   
2. Chromecast Audio
   
3. RPi
   
4. Firestick
   

HDMI is notoriously annoying for shit like this, things not being recognised as different HDMI versions are passed along or insufficient power and the like.

Neet do decent HDMI switches. Go for a powered one as drawing power from HDMI can sometimes cause issues.

For power I have something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Charger-Adapter-Charging-Station-AiPower/dp/B076LFTXCN/ (although the 10 port version)

Cheers.

The Neet stuff seems a bit more than I was thinking. I was looking at this one as it's powered and has over 1k reviews.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CJ5TDZG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_LGqVFbH4M1YV6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

The Neet stuff is about the same price
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Neet%C2%AE-4K-HDMI-Switch-IR-black/dp/B00V6GFY1W/ref=sr_1_3

Saying that I can't remember where I got the Neet recommendation from, I'm sure other stuff is decent. I spent ages looking into all this shit when I was struggling to get a linux HTPC working properly and ended up cloning EDIDs and things.

from my experience make sure all the cables and splitter devices are explicitly HDMI 2.0 compatible and powered.

Yes. It may seem obvious but cables are a good thing to check. I couldn't get a Chromecast to be recognised by the same splitter you are using - it was the cable that was causing the issue so try swapping the cables between devices to see if that's the cause?

Now it's all set up, after plugging it in directly, it works. Although you have to press the button which isn't something I usually have to do. But that might be the Chromecast dominating the landing screen.

Yeah mine is the same. You have to physically switch the input from Chromecast (to NowTV in my case on a very old tv)

Finally managed to carve out the time to set the Firestick up properly, more or less. Not that hard, but I haven't had a decent stretch of time alone.

Installed Kodi with The Crew ad-on. Not super intuitive, but once you know how to navigate it's easy. Plus Kodi seems to keep the last used menu up regardless of which other Firestick apps you navigate to, which is handy.

Nord now have an app, so adding that as a VPN was super simple. My DNS is per device so at some point I will look into setting NextDNS up with it.

Got to say, at <£30 on Prime Day its probably the best value media purchase I can think of. Even the remote is nice and neat, plus it controls the TV.

Did you realise this has your name & postcode on it?

I want to be able to record TV to watch later. What's the best option? Buy a recorder box, buy a TV that allows recording onto some external media or something else? I don't want to give BT, Sky or Jeff Bezos any of my money in the process.

My Samsung telly has a usb in the back which allows recording of telly. It’s got a hdd in there right now. I think it’s a common feature.

Can you series record onto that?
Also how many things can you record at once whilst also watching something?
Thanks @Ramsaye

No!

Thanks a lot for pointing that out. Not getting a lot of sleep at the moment.

No worries - babies sap your sanity.

I missed a trick by not just knocking on your door and mentioning it...

What's a reasonable soundbar to get?

I'm looking at the budget end, as this will be a temporary thing until we put together something with a receiver, sub-woofer, satellite speakers and such.

If your telly is only single tuner, just records what you are watching. Series record depends on your telly guide software, mine just records one program at at time but storage is huge so no idea on how much it would take. I’m not using it at the moment due to me and the telly being in different countries and finding catch-up services on vpn easier than remoting into my home network.

want to be able to record TV to watch later. What's the best option?

Betamax

Now we're at my tech level.

Witcher second season is being filmed as we speak in Surrey.

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How is anyone mean’t to tell from that picture? Its just a fire extinguisher in the woods. Also, if them trees go up that thing will be hard pressed to make a dent in the blaze. All seems a tad absurd to me.

Or is everyone social distancing to such an extent that none quite make it into shot?

Here you go grumpy gill.

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Could be filming anything, the new adventures of the lone fire extinguisher, episode 4, lost in the woods.