Live HD TV is coming to the Boxee Box, thanks to the new live TV dongle. How does it work, and is it worth $50? Check out our video review:
| Previously on Cord Cutters: |
|---|
| Netgear’s NeoTV reviewed |
| The Cord Cutters holiday gift guide |
| Channel Master — a DVR for cord cutting |
| A first look at Google TV 2.0 |
| A first look at the WD TV with Spotify |
| Browse the show archive for a complete list of episodes, and subscribe to the Cord Cutters podcast RSS feed so you don’t miss any future episode. |
Show notes for this episode:
- Boxee’s Live TV dongle costs $50 and comes with a small HD TV antenna. It can be connected to better antennas or to your cable TV connection.
- Boxee specifically markets the product as a cord cutting solution, and the company’s website even includes a calculator telling you how much money you’d save if you cut the cord.
- GigaOM first broke the story about Boxee’s live TV tuner in early November.
- Check out our previous episode about over-the-air HD TV.
Please share your thoughts about Boxee Live TV in the comments, get in touch with us on Twitter (@cordcutters), Facebook or Google+ or email us at cordcutters @ gigaom.com.
Thanks for the video review!
There is no such thing as an “HD” antenna.
Am I missing something? You need an antenna to receive free TV. I get that. But the box? It strikes me as high-tech snake oil.
I canceled my cable last year, spent around $70 on a TERK antenna, followed instructions posted on a forum to connect it to my 42″ HD television, visited antennaweb.org to learn how my local channels transmit, and have since been watching TV for free. Is it cable? No, but the quality is just as mediocre. To plan my viewing — or not to view — I use the customized TV listings at zap2it.com.
I will explain this in detail to anyone who wants to give me $20. That’s a savings over Boxee and includes freedom from one more piece of useless technology — two, counting the dongle.
Oh, So your set-up also plays local files, has netflix, spotify, collects video shared from your friends on facebook/twitter. Boxee does a lot of things, Live TV is just the latest add on and it does that in a superb experience (no need to get of the couch to search for progrma’s schedule).
Hi Josh,
The functions you mention are irrelevant to the benefit most people seek, freedom from bloated cable bills. Besides, those add-on functions are already available on my laptap, which sits beside me on the couch.
Boxee may be worth the money to some people, but if I buy technology I want it to do more than duplicate and consolidate functions performed by technology I already own.
I’d say the Boxee is for those people who would like to turn their TV into a smart TV and get free cable along with it. It’s very useful if people want the features of the smart TVs without paying the price. In fact I think the Boxee is better than most smart TVs in terms of functionality. With this new feature people who didn’t have cable and relied on their programs being online can now get that with the Boxee. Of course if you prefer connecting your laptop and using normal antennas, then that works as well.
But why ask $20 for information anyone can get from their local electronics store? To get free cable all you really need is an antenna that can accept digital signals and connect it to your TV.
I’ll tell you what I tell my dad who says texting a waste time and money when you already have email service. Your right…
Then we all laugh at him.
Yep, I agree to the previous comments here. Another example of unneeded technology. One can simply connect the antenna to TV if all u want is basic OTA channels.
They should rather modify the boxee box itself to accept the antenna input & price it at $99.
And while at it, they might redesign the box itself. That’ odd shaped box is an eye shore.
It seems odd that this doesn’t include DVR capabilities.
$9 antenna from meritline does the job. Need more for 50 bucks. Will Google Revue recognize this and allow me to record
Boxiee organizes and finds cool stuff from the net u might otherwise miss. The tv fxn is an added benefit that is simple to use and organizes wo effort so I can stay in coach potato mode.
Boxee in my opinion is new technology. I can’t think of any other device that plays ANYTHING thrown it’s way. The added comfort of not having to plug a laptop in or charge a laptop battery is a plus. Or make sure your windows anti-virus is updated, blue screen of death issues, etc.. No way you can compare watching tv etc on your laptop to your tv…in my own opinion. As far as why the tv portion is not built in, or why no DVR capabilities….. chalk that up to patents. Ever heard of Tivo? If boxee added all of the services to it’s device, I’m sure they would get 1 big bill from Tivo patent lawyers. Funny how Tivo has been around forever, but boxee does everything so much better…and for less money. Just my 2 cents.
Rich