Community Forums

nomad10th · 06-19-2016, 10:18 PM

Well as we move to the completely digital era, what are you guys that are tech-savvy doing instead of DVDs and Blue Rays? I want to add a nice LED TV to my motorhome bedroom with hopes of being able to wirelessly transmit movies from my laptop that are saved from a hard drive. Something along those lines. What's out there? Thanks

sdennislee · 06-19-2016, 10:57 PM

If you are using an Apple device you can connect wirelessly using Apple TV through Airplay.

With Windows if you have Windows 7 or later you can broadcast wirelessly using; Miracast, Amazon Fire Stick, Amazon FireTV, etc..
The advantage to the Amazon Fire products like Apple TV is you can add apps like Netflix, Hulu, etc..

I use the cheaper Fire Stick as I don't need voice control provided by Fire TV.

I like the old TV shows on Hulu. Rematching McHales Navy on Hulu currently.

wildtoad · 06-20-2016, 04:36 AM

I checking out my Panasonic tv's ability to play movies stored on a USB thumb drive.

timjet · 06-20-2016, 05:15 AM

I have a chromcast device that casts netflix at home via my home WiFi. The problem with any on the road entertainment is WiFi. Most parks don't have the bandwidth for receiving movies. MiFi devices will work but since they use cellular networks, will be expensive for receiving more than one or two movies a month.

Sat TV is probably the most used entertainment media. It is pretty cheap especially if you have a home setup.

On our boat we had DirecTV and a library of DVD's for entertainment. We used our MiFi unit for internet access but not for watching movies.

sdennislee · 06-20-2016, 07:00 AM

You could also look at Smart TVs. A smart TV would allow you to use your laptop without devices like Fire or Miracast.

JohnBoyToo · 06-20-2016, 07:07 AM

Given the limited bandwidth of park wifi's and even though I COULD do it over our jetpack, We choose to do the Redbox rentals...

Cheap, just about everywhere and new enough when we want to stay in on a rainy day or don't want to watch directv from the Sat.

(course there's always movie rentals on the sat that can be done too - not as cheap as a bluray from redbox, but ez enough to do from the recliner!)

Triker56 · 06-20-2016, 07:43 AM

My DirecTV Genie saves a lot of movies that can be seen on any of my MH's 4 LED or LCD TV's and 2 of them are Smart TV's(55"-26"). Movies are downloaded on the FREE weekends of the prime movies.

And I have found some campgrounds do have fast and enough bandwidth to watch movies on my Smart TV's from Amazon Prime after most people have went to bed.

At present campground now.
http://testmy.net/DBwuG8hU4.png

Where I am at now. On Tuesdays the local movie theater has a special early time senior $5 price. On new releases.

RodK · 06-20-2016, 07:56 AM

I have a Western Digital TV box and a 3 terabyte hard drive almost full of movies. Works good for us. I also have mine set up so it can be watched while driving.

SpaceNorman · 06-20-2016, 08:20 AM

Regardless of what the various devices available to watch TV are called - they virtually all come back to one of two underlying technologies. They're either a satellite technology broadcast system (Dish, DirecTV, etc.) - or they rely on having a connection to the internet. Internet connectivity on the road comes via three technologies - WiFi connection from your RV to somebody's wired internet connections (campground WiFi systems fall into this category), your own cellular based internet connection (Jetpacks and hotspots fall into this category) or a satellite service.

Campground WiFi is too unreliable to count on ... it's great if it's working, but don't hold your breath! Cellular based connectivity can work pretty reliably - but, depending on your data plan, it can get stoopid expensive if you're planning on streaming movies and such! (Sure ... there are some cheap plans available out there ... but typically those are from carriers with a limited coverage footprint. If you find one that covers where you plan to be .. you're in luck. If you need a carrier that has wider coverage (like Verizon) ... bring your wallet!!! Satellite connectivity is pretty much a niche market ... expensive hardware, expensive data plans .... but may be your only option in the more remote areas of the country.

That said - our approach is pretty simple. Wineguard Traveller for DirecTV on the roof, connected to a HD DVR. Being that we're already paying for DirecTV at home - the incremental cost to us was a $199 one time charge for the HD DVR plus a $7 per month charge for having an extra DVR on the account. We get everything we get at home except the local channels. We either watch DirecTV in "real time" ... or we watch something we've recorded on the DVR. (To that end - we try to keep the DVR pretty full of programming we're interested in ... recorded whenever we do have good satellite reception. We just have to remember to keep whatever is on the DVR as "fresh" as we can - so that there's something new to watch even when we're parked somewhere that we can't get an "unobstructed view" with the satellite.

We also have a cellular internet connectivity (via a Cradlepoint router provisioned on the Verizon cellular network - along with a Weboost Drive 4G-X signal booster). We have yet to find ourselves without internet connectivity with this setup - but can/do incur some pretty hefty data plan charges if we're not careful about how we use it. We typically go thru 15GB-20GB per month for 3 cell phones and the router connection (which I use to work my day gig from the road along with any personal browsing we do). We minimize watching even short video clips while browsing to the extent possible - and NEVER stream movies like Netflix, etc.

sdennislee · 06-20-2016, 10:24 AM

If as the OP states he wants to wirelessly transmit movies from is hard drive to his TV then no internet is needed. Simply broadcast from laptop to TV.

Connect FireTV, AppleTV, Miracast etc... to the TV. Buy a cheap wireless router, create a network within the RV, make sure laptop and TV device are connected to that network, then broadcast to the TV from the laptop's hard drive.

easy peasy

dexters · 06-20-2016, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdennislee

If you are using an Apple device you can connect wirelessly using Apple TV through Airplay.

With Windows if you have Windows 7 or later you can broadcast wirelessly using; Miracast, Amazon Fire Stick, Amazon FireTV, etc..
The advantage to the Amazon Fire products like Apple TV is you can add apps like Netflix, Hulu, etc..

I use the cheaper Fire Stick as I don't need voice control provided by Fire TV.

I like the old TV shows on Hulu. Rematching McHales Navy on Hulu currently.

Let me see if I understand the routing of the information.

I connect to the internet via my computer.

I use a Windows program to turn my computer in to wifi hot spot.
How to Turn Your Windows PC Into a Wi-Fi Hotspot

I then connect e.g. Amazon Fire TV to my computer.

I can then view services like Amazon Fire TV or Sling TV.

Or I can watch a movie that is recorded on my hard drive.

Is that all correct? I'm looking into options to Dish/Direct TV. Sling TV looks good.

sdennislee · 06-20-2016, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dexters

Let me see if I understand the routing of the information.

I connect to the internet via my computer.

I use a Windows program to turn my computer in to wifi hot spot.
How to Turn Your Windows PC Into a Wi-Fi Hotspot

I then connect e.g. Amazon Fire TV to my computer.

I can then view services like Amazon Fire TV or Sling TV.

Or I can watch a movie that is recorded on my hard drive.

Is that all correct? I'm looking into options to Dish/Direct TV. Sling TV looks good.

Yes that would work but if you do not have reliable internet just connect both the laptop and TV device (Fire Stick, Miracast, Chrome Cast, etc..) to your router in your MH and you can broadcast from laptop to TV without any connection to the internet.

FireStick is cheaper than FireTv, FireTV includes voice controlled remote, Fire Stick doesn't. Fire Stic is a better option than Miracast as it has far more options and both allow you to broadcast from laptop to TV.

dexters · 06-20-2016, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdennislee

Yes that would work but if you do not have reliable internet just connect both the laptop and TV device (Fire Stick, Miracast, Chrome Cast, etc..) to your router in your MH and you can broadcast from laptop to TV without any connection to the internet.

FireStick is cheaper than FireTv, FireTV includes voice controlled remote, Fire Stick doesn't. Fire Stic is a better option than Miracast as it has far more options and both allow you to broadcast from laptop to TV.

For me the issue is the router. I don't have one.
Thanks