FAQ: Following Mariner Games

by Matthew on Apr 4, 2011 10:00 AM PDT in Seattle Mariners Stats

VISUAL OPTIONS

If you live inside the Seattle Market:

Buying local cable or satellite packages is the most obvious answer. Beyond that, it is difficult to watch Mariner games. That's tough news for those of us, author included, who have no desire to pay for cable because Mariner games are all they watch on that spectrum. In that case, you have a few remaining options, none of them particularly fantastic.

You can always watch at a bar or friend's place but that's pretty hard to do consistently. The option I personally went with is buying a slingbox and hooking it up at a place that has a satellite package. This allows me to tap into and watch that TV from anywhere with an internet connection. Unfortunately, it comes with a noticeable 2-3 second delay from all the routing.

If neither of those work for you, there are slightly more illicit options that I will acknowledge the existence of, but not go into too much detail about. That information is readily available with a bit of internet sleuthing. Non-authorized web streams of sporting events are out there. Also, websites determine which market you are in based on your IP address. There are ways (e.g. VPNs, proxy services) to spoof your own IP to make it seem like you are connecting from somewhere else.

If you live outside the Seattle Market:

MLB.tv is a great option. It's pretty wonderful and not that costly when you consider all the benefits it comes with. It's certainly a lot cheaper than cable packages. If you already have cable/satellite, you might also consider MLB Extra Innings which is baseball's equivalent to the NFL's Sunday Ticket. When it is more affordable and more attractive to follow baseball from outside the market you live in than within in, the system has some messed up priorities.

AUDIO OPTIONS

If you live inside the Seattle Market: 710am. Get a radio; it costs like $5.

If you live anywhere: MLB Gameday Audio costs $20 for the entire season and comes with no blackouts. There's also the MLB At Bat mobile application which comes with access to MLB Gameday Audio and some other features and is $15

INTERNET OPTIONS

There's MLB.com where you can load up Gameday for each game. Each of the major players in the internet sports world (ESPN, Yahoo Sports, Sportsline, etc) will have their own version of a gameday as well. I highly suggest that if you are participating in a Lookout Landing game thread that you have at least one of these open in another tab/window. That way, you can avoid having to ask questions like how many pitches so-or-so has thrown.

Seriously, it's annoying. That information is just a mouse click away! If you have further questions or want more detail on something (e.g. "how far was Cust's HR in the third?", "How did Felix's command look?"), feel free to ask, but don't enter the game thread in the 7^th and want to be filled in on how the runs scored.

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The real problem is that AttractFX data is still proprietary

Nor is it updated mid-game. So while SEX+ is great, you don’t really know what you’ve got until the next morning. And while it might be park- and league- independent, it still has trouble accounting for things like catcher defense and beer goggles.

by Ugly Dickshot on Apr 4, 2011 10:36 AM PDT up reply actions 8 recs

See, THIS is how you build on a promising initial joke premise.

Embrace floorlessness.

by esoteric on Apr 4, 2011 12:27 PM PDT up reply actions

How has the MLB.tv feed been so far this season?

I am debating whether or not to purchase it again, as last year I barely used it after May – turns out that crappy baseball is even worse when the team literally cannot score over three and a half runs a game

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 10:14 AM PDT reply actions

Beautiful.

Streams look amazing on my computer and my TV through Roku.

by Eyebrows on Apr 4, 2011 10:15 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions

Also, the pitchfx and box score integration is pretty nifty too.

by Eyebrows on Apr 4, 2011 10:15 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions

That's good to know.

I can save a little money by buying a Roku and MLB.TV vs. buying Extra Innings. Plus, I’ll have a Roku.

by East Bay Ray on Apr 4, 2011 1:12 PM PDT up reply actions

Really good.

I’ve hardly experienced any of the notorious opening week buffering issues of previous years. It’s just a brilliant product.

by EnglishMariner on Apr 4, 2011 10:34 AM PDT up reply actions

Less buggy than usual.

Usually the entire setup take a shit on opening day, but this year (probably because there were no major upgrades) it has worked fine. If you have a PS3 it works remarkably well and gives you a tv quality HD picture.

by Poochie on Apr 4, 2011 10:36 AM PDT up reply actions

I've loved it so far.

Really awesome.

Side note: Even though I live in the Bay Area, sometimes my IP address will randomly show up as in the middle of Texas. That could be good or bad.

M's fan in the Bay, soon to be LA SanFranPreps

by perfectstrat on Apr 4, 2011 11:04 AM PDT up reply actions

It's been incredibly inconsistent for me

I watched the Opening Night game in ‘HD’ on Saturday morning because the quality was so bad when I tried to watched the archived game on Friday night. I couldn’t go more than 20 seconds without the feed pausing or stopping all-together later on Saturday as I was trying to watch the archived game.

I was able to watch the entire Sunday game (archive again – somehow Hawaii is in the Oakland blackout territory), but the quality was abysmal. However, I just pulled up the live-feed for today’s Braves-Brewers game and it looks fantastic. I’m hoping the earlier problems I had were related to the number of people who watch on Opening Weekend and then drift away as the season goes forward.

by billt721 on Apr 4, 2011 11:06 AM PDT up reply actions

It also might be a problem with your internet connection or computer processor.

M's fan in the Bay, soon to be LA SanFranPreps

by perfectstrat on Apr 4, 2011 11:09 AM PDT up reply actions

Thanks, but no

Watching yesterday’s game, MLB.tv was pulling down ~200KB/s. Just to make sure it wasn’t an issue of my internet connection suddenly dropping to ~2 megabit, I downloaded a file at the same time that I had the MLB.tv stream running. The file download jumped my usage up to 850kb/s without impacting the MLB.tv stream at all. I also stopped the stream a few times and ran various speedtests, all of them coming in at ~6.5 megabit.

The internet connection was fine – it’s all on MLB’s end.

by billt721 on Apr 4, 2011 11:14 AM PDT up reply actions

I was having trouble getting more than a basic picture on Saturday too

by Poochie on Apr 4, 2011 11:16 AM PDT up reply actions

It's amazing on the PS3.

Field Gulls

by Benne on Apr 4, 2011 11:19 AM PDT up reply actions

I'm using it for the first time on my LG Internet TV

And I have been pretty disappointed. The picture quality is great but the stream is much too choppy. I assume this is the buffering issues some of you refer to. I’m hopeful that this well correct itself. I don’t think it is my internet connection because I have a stream faster than the specifications and because I can stream it on my PC no problem. Just doesn’t seem to work on the big screen LG TV! Anybody else using the LG Internet-ready TV option?

by phineasd on Apr 4, 2011 12:06 PM PDT up reply actions

If your PC is smooth and your TV isn't

Using the exact same internet connection, that suggests the problem may very well be with the TV. It simply may not have the processing power necessary (there’s decryption and whatnot in addition to handling the compressed video). Consumer electronics don’t have any excess headroom (if they did, they’d remove it to save money) and what works in the store on a nice simple unencrypted stream may not do so well in the real world.

Hopefully there’s some other option (you might want to see if there’s a firmware update for your TV, or otherwise check with the mfr and AV web forums that you’ll turn up by googling your model), but what you see may be what you get.

by Ugly Dickshot on Apr 4, 2011 12:31 PM PDT up reply actions

It could also be the app that MLB.tv developed for use on the tv

I’d give MLB a few weeks before assuming it’s all on the tv side. With a new app, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve got some problems with the software that will be worked out as the season goes along.

by billt721 on Apr 4, 2011 12:37 PM PDT up reply actions

I'll just add to the chorus here by saying it's been almost flawless.

All the bugs have been worked out. Fast, beautiful resolution, no buffering, and most delightfully of all NO DELAY – so that on any radio/TV broadcast without a “7 second delay” (i.e. to bleep out bad words) you can sync your favorite radio broadcaster with the video image and not feel like you’re in a time warp. It’s fun to listen to Vin Scully’s voice as you watch the Dodgers, for example (and I fucking hate the Dodgers but dude…Vin Scully).

Embrace floorlessness.

by esoteric on Apr 4, 2011 12:30 PM PDT up reply actions

Usage note: I stream to my laptop

Not one of these more complex TV/PS3 setup doohickeys.

Embrace floorlessness.

by esoteric on Apr 4, 2011 12:32 PM PDT up reply actions

It's nice that they synchronize the radio and tv feeds

Trying to watch the M’s game while in Seattle while wanting to listen to Dave call the game was always frustrating as they weren’t synced. The way MLB.tv does it is perfect.

by billt721 on Apr 4, 2011 12:39 PM PDT up reply actions

I think they finally figured it out

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Apr 4, 2011 12:41 PM PDT up reply actions

I forgot about Slingbox.

Is it a subscription service, or are the box (and apps on various devices) one-time purchases? Because one of those things would pay for itself quite quickly.

I have Croix de Candlesticks older than you.
goldengatebeerbars.com

by troymccluresf on Apr 4, 2011 10:16 AM PDT reply actions

It is a one-time purchase

by Matthew on Apr 4, 2011 10:17 AM PDT up reply actions

Schweet.

I have Croix de Candlesticks older than you.
goldengatebeerbars.com

by troymccluresf on Apr 4, 2011 10:19 AM PDT up reply actions

And yes, it pays off quickly. I bought a new HD version off the shelf and it cost me $300.

For that price, I was able to eliminate paying for cable TV which saves me about $50 a month over the package that I actually had and because the TV I hooked it up to has an insane DirecTV package, I’m saving probably close to $100/month.

You can also find slingboxes for cheaper through discount shops, ebay, craigslist and such. I bought mine new because I had $180 in Best Buy gift cards I wanted to get rid of.

by Matthew on Apr 4, 2011 10:20 AM PDT up reply actions

Will it stream to multiple devices at once?

I could set it up at a friend’s house, who has cable, but me and my roommate would both want to use it.

I have Croix de Candlesticks older than you.
goldengatebeerbars.com

by troymccluresf on Apr 4, 2011 10:31 AM PDT up reply actions

Pretty sure it's restricted to one streamer at a time

by Matthew on Apr 4, 2011 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions

You run the risk of cross-splashing if you try to crowd it all at once.

by Eyebrows on Apr 4, 2011 10:35 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions

Total protonic reversal

Don’t cross the streams

by Ugly Dickshot on Apr 4, 2011 10:39 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

How "bad Internet" friendly is a slingbox?

I never thought of doing this until you mentioned it but my parents have high end cable, so i could hook it up to them, but they have terrible charter cable in the boondocks of Kitsap county. Any idea how poor the picture quality would be?

by DarthGreedo on Apr 4, 2011 12:19 PM PDT up reply actions

Can't say for sure, but the quality when I first load it up is usually poor as it loads

and at worst it’s like watching mlb.tv a couple years ago when it would be fuzzy. It’s certainly not attractive, but I’ve found it watchable even when I stream it over wireless. Or course, the slowdown point is at my end, not the upload end so I can’t say how it would differ for you

by Matthew on Apr 4, 2011 12:22 PM PDT up reply actions

slingbox

Does the TV you are hooked up to have to be tuned to the channel you want to watch?

by dfwsports on Apr 4, 2011 10:21 AM PDT via mobile reply actions

Yes to the best of my knowledge.

I hear there is the possibility of a built-in DVR that doesn’t require this, but I can’t confirm

by Matthew on Apr 4, 2011 10:30 AM PDT up reply actions

From the site

The PRO HD model has a “Built-in tuner avoids conflict with viewers at home”

http://www.slingbox.com/go/slingbox-solo-help-me-choose

I have Croix de Candlesticks older than you.
goldengatebeerbars.com

by troymccluresf on Apr 4, 2011 10:34 AM PDT up reply actions

That is the version I have

but I don’t know how or if the built-in tuner works

by Matthew on Apr 4, 2011 10:39 AM PDT up reply actions

From their FAQ:

In most situations, both of you are watching and controlling the same device. However, the Slingbox PRO-HD includes an internal tuner, so for standard cable (coaxial) inputs, you can set up your Slingbox to watch your TV, DVR, or other A/V source while the remote user watches standard cable (or vice versa). Also, many customers connect the Slingbox to a secondary TV source in another room to avoid remote conflicts.

So that’s why it doesn’t work for me because I use component

by Matthew on Apr 4, 2011 10:55 AM PDT up reply actions

How do you coordinate that then?

It sounds a little convoluted. Have the person who owns the DirecTV watch the game when you want to?

by Mariner John on Apr 4, 2011 11:35 AM PDT up reply actions

Personally, I "own" the DirecTV so I never have a problem.

by Matthew on Apr 4, 2011 12:23 PM PDT up reply actions

I haven't had a good experience with MLBtv this year...

Last year was great. However…

They changed the system, so that it doesn’t use the IP address to determine location, but rather the billing address. I have had to call in everyday, and sit on hold for 30+ minutes… I wouldn’t recommend it if your billing address is different than your physical address.

by srj206 on Apr 4, 2011 10:25 AM PDT reply actions

It uses IP address.

I know this because I can still use proxies to watch Mariners games.

by Eyebrows on Apr 4, 2011 10:28 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions

Interesting... Have to give it a try.

It hasn’t worked for me to watch the M’s (I live in the Phoenix Area, so IP Address shouldn’t be a problem)… That was the explanation I got from the customer service people each of the three times I’ve called.

by srj206 on Apr 4, 2011 12:35 PM PDT up reply actions

Despite living in Phoenix, it's possible that your IP address from somewhere else.

Not likely, mind you, but possible. You can find out by using the IP Address utility at the bottom of the mlb mediacenter page.

by billt721 on Apr 4, 2011 12:41 PM PDT up reply actions

I'm not sure this is true.

I’m in Redmond and can watch Mariners games just fine using the account of a friend of mine in Chicago.

Fan: Seattle Mariners, Seattle Sounders FC, Liverpool
Twitter

by c_dowley on Apr 4, 2011 12:51 PM PDT up reply actions

No it always tries to verify location using your IP

Perhaps if your friend is logged in concurrently it has already registered his IP location and uses the same for you.

by Bearskin Rugburn on Apr 4, 2011 12:55 PM PDT up reply actions

Proxy IPs still work.

Although you’ll be lucky to get one that works for the whole season.

by ThundaPC on Apr 4, 2011 10:45 AM PDT up reply actions

Hah! Every game generally involves a 6:50pm scramble to find a working proxy.

by Eyebrows on Apr 4, 2011 10:48 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions

MLB.tv

Can be watched on a PS3 by hooking up your Play Station Network account with your MLB.tv account free of additional charge. I saw somebody inquiring about this the other day, so not everybody might be aware.

by GermanMariner on Apr 4, 2011 10:27 AM PDT reply actions

My friend is a Padres fan…

…and he said this worked beautifully when he lived in London, and now in San Francisco.

I have Croix de Candlesticks older than you.
goldengatebeerbars.com

by troymccluresf on Apr 4, 2011 10:32 AM PDT up reply actions

I haven't even watched a game on my laptop yet. The PS3 is brilliant.

by EnglishMariner on Apr 4, 2011 10:35 AM PDT up reply actions

Same here.

I do get buffering/HD issues when watching a game live sometimes.

by GermanMariner on Apr 4, 2011 10:43 AM PDT up reply actions

I've had that at the start of games, but it cleared quickly enough.

by EnglishMariner on Apr 4, 2011 11:01 AM PDT up reply actions

Hm, maybe this will finally push me to buy a Blu-Ray player and hook it up to the interwebs

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 10:35 AM PDT reply actions

What do you mean?

The PS3?

I have Croix de Candlesticks older than you.
goldengatebeerbars.com

by troymccluresf on Apr 4, 2011 10:37 AM PDT up reply actions

Per the mlb.tv website, the supported devices include Samsung internet enabled Blu-Ray players and TVs

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 10:38 AM PDT up reply actions

I wouldn't buy any non Sony Blu Ray device if I were you.

Since Sony is the rights holder to Blu Ray they are the only brand that is guaranteed to be supported with updates forever. While this may not bother you now, if you want to use it to watch Blu Rays in the future you will will have to buy a new player in about 2 years to watch newer Blu Rays due to the updates stopping.

by Kirk on Apr 4, 2011 10:56 AM PDT up reply actions

Hm

the only real reason I want it is to be able to watch MLB.tv in full HD.

Maybe I should just buy a cheap PS3 instead?

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 10:59 AM PDT up reply actions

(while game threadding on my laptop)

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 10:59 AM PDT up reply actions

I call BS

Other Blu-Ray devices will be just fine in two years, and having a Sony device guarantees nothing. Other device manufacturers have licensing agreements with Sony, and you will be able to update your firmware just fine. This sounds like a line some Best Buy salesman would use to try and up-sell someone to a Sony player.

by MangoLiger on Apr 4, 2011 1:04 PM PDT up reply actions

I'm not a Best Buy salesman but I do work in electronics retail. We have people come in to my store all the time saying they can not watch new Blu Rays due to an update that isn't possible.

It has also happened to people on this website, I believe.

by Kirk on Apr 4, 2011 10:49 PM PDT up reply actions

Also, I don't have any reason to try to upsell the people on LL. And I did some research on this after hearing about it initially and it seems to be mostly true.

by Kirk on Apr 4, 2011 10:50 PM PDT up reply actions

Has anyone been running it through their Blu-Ray player as opposed to a PS3?

I’ve streamed it on my laptop in the past, but my laptop can’t quite handle the full HD

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 10:37 AM PDT up reply actions

Had it known it was coming to LG Blu Ray players I would have bought an LG Blu Ray player :-/

by Poochie on Apr 4, 2011 10:38 AM PDT up reply actions

Motherfuckers better bring this to xbox soon

by Poochie on Apr 4, 2011 10:41 AM PDT up reply actions 2 recs

There is currently a HUGE issue with LG players.

Apparently they worked last year, but some coding was changed and now there are thousands of LG owners who can’t watch including myself. All I get is 3-5 seconds of beautiful HD feed then error message.

by hcoguy on Apr 4, 2011 11:06 AM PDT up reply actions

Just so everyone knows

here are a list of supported devices

link

by Poochie on Apr 4, 2011 10:42 AM PDT up reply actions

And here is that list for Samsung and LG in a bit more detail

Samsung

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 10:48 AM PDT up reply actions

I'm cheap...but I love MLB Gameday Audio. Have had it for 10 years and it works great.

by Kyleo84 on Apr 4, 2011 10:37 AM PDT reply actions

Thank you for this. The constant questions were getting annoying.

There’s no way to legally watch or listen to the game for free on the internet.

by Poochie on Apr 4, 2011 10:39 AM PDT reply actions 2 recs

"Get a radio; it costs like $5."

If that. I actually got one free with my car.

by Ugly Dickshot on Apr 4, 2011 10:43 AM PDT reply actions

Which cost more than $5

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 10:44 AM PDT up reply actions 5 recs

He stole it. Ugly Dickshot likes to play Grand Theft Auto but he can't afford video games.

by Eyebrows on Apr 4, 2011 10:46 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions 6 recs

He ran over like ten people last night but he got his car painted so it's okay.

by Eyebrows on Apr 4, 2011 10:47 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions 7 recs

Indeed

It’s almost like I was kidding.

(Though I do like the idea of stealing cars and running over people just to avoid paying for MLB.TV)

by Ugly Dickshot on Apr 4, 2011 11:31 AM PDT up reply actions

So that's where my car radio went

Determined, Jonesing Commentor

by Corco on Apr 4, 2011 12:42 PM PDT up reply actions

I can't stress that last point enough.

The information is out there and just as easy to get as it is to post here. Come on, let’s put some effort into this, people!

by ThundaPC on Apr 4, 2011 10:51 AM PDT reply actions

Your rec trolling has worked on me

by Dewey N on Apr 4, 2011 10:53 AM PDT up reply actions

It may be just me...

but a lot of the time going with Gameday and the radio is a pretty great way to follow the game, allowing you to tune out occasionally and get other stuff done yet not miss any action.

by VivaAyala on Apr 4, 2011 10:52 AM PDT reply actions

AtBat on the iPhone through wifi is also incredible.

I was sceptical at first, but the picture quality is immense. I’ve also found that it’s pretty cool for watching the game whilst taking a dump, or listening to the game in the bath.

by EnglishMariner on Apr 4, 2011 11:03 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs

TMI

by Ugly Dickshot on Apr 4, 2011 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions

I just decided to bite the bullet and get it this year and I instantly regret not buying this app last year too. This is freakin' amazing.

It’s 2011 and I just watched Willie Bloomquist hit a game-tying single on my phone. Didn’t see that one coming back in 2000.

by sanford_and_son on Apr 5, 2011 3:58 PM PDT up reply actions

About those illicit ways

I tried using the new links at atdhe.ws and found i needed to download an application to stream. The application was a PC format. Is there a mac equivalent for this application?

by BQueezy on Apr 4, 2011 11:10 AM PDT reply actions

I'm not an expert here, but for some reason, I think downloading executables from sites like that would be a terrible idea

by d0nkey on Apr 4, 2011 12:14 PM PDT up reply actions

The program he is refering to is safe

Might be the worst quality stream I’ve ever seen tho.

by LeftArrow2 on Apr 4, 2011 12:47 PM PDT up reply actions

Well, I'm pretty sure it's safe

by LeftArrow2 on Apr 4, 2011 12:51 PM PDT up reply actions

What, vShare?

Yeah, it’s safe. The quality is debatable, but it’s safe.

Fan: Seattle Mariners, Seattle Sounders FC, Liverpool
Twitter

by c_dowley on Apr 4, 2011 12:57 PM PDT up reply actions

I just downloaded it this morning.

The quality is incredibly shitty, but it’s better than nothing.

Field Gulls

by Benne on Apr 4, 2011 1:44 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Question seconded

by Bearskin Rugburn on Apr 4, 2011 12:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Apple TV

Just a thought for those of you thinking about buying a device to stream MLB tv to your tv. An apple tv will set you back $99 and will stream MLB tv, in addition to tons of other media.

This is the setup I use, and it worked great for the Oakland series.

I go to law school. Therefore, I have no life.

by andrewgolfsalot on Apr 4, 2011 11:11 AM PDT via mobile reply actions

Boxee is another option for viewing mlb.tv

The only reason I wanted to mention boxee is because you can download boxee for free and through the end of april you can get 1 free mlb game per day from mlb.tv. You just need to link a free mlb account to boxee and the picture is quite good on a 50 plasma. The only bad part is you don’t get to pick what the free game of the day is.

by jbpalm on Apr 4, 2011 11:12 AM PDT reply actions

Is mlb.tv premium worth the extra $20?

I leaning heavily towards going for mlb tv.

by the other side on Apr 4, 2011 11:16 AM PDT reply actions

I think so because you can choose home/away broadcast and use the split screen feature

by Poochie on Apr 4, 2011 11:18 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Split screen is pretty great

by Dewey N on Apr 4, 2011 11:20 AM PDT up reply actions

Totally

by Poochie on Apr 4, 2011 2:12 PM PDT up reply actions

Probably.

Alternate broadcasts definitely come in handy.

by ThundaPC on Apr 4, 2011 11:18 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

If always hearing the Seattle announcers is important to you then it's probably worth the money

That and dvr-like stream controls that allow you to rewind (10 seconds or so I think), and PIP functionality are tghe main upgrades with premium.

by pdb on Apr 4, 2011 11:19 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

I used the MLB Extra innings

And they had the Oakland broadcast most of the weekend.

This was a lot of fun when Oakland committed 5 errors in a game against Felix. The announcers kept talking about how they wish it was the first inning or how everything had gone downhill ever since that.

I can imagine it won’t always be so fun, but when it works – it’s really nice.

by BennyGStein on Apr 4, 2011 11:23 AM PDT up reply actions

Always hearing the Seattle announcers

Was very important to me last year. In the post-Dave era, worth a lot less. I was listening to Ron Fairly on the radio yesterday and my god he is terrible.

by phineasd on Apr 4, 2011 4:31 PM PDT up reply actions

Yes

Being able to choose home/away is great. Plus, many feeds also now have a ‘ballpark’ feed, which is just the audio from the park, no announcers. I kinda like it. Being able to have a second game going in the corner and the ability to instantly switch the audio from one to the other is pretty cool as well.

by billt721 on Apr 4, 2011 11:20 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

I was lucky enough to get the holiday premium promotion, so I got Premium for $100.

It’s definitely been worth it so far. You have so many more options that really come in handy.

M's fan in the Bay, soon to be LA SanFranPreps

by perfectstrat on Apr 4, 2011 11:22 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

I'd say yes.

by Eyeball Kid on Apr 4, 2011 11:23 AM PDT up reply actions

Thank you everyone for the responses.

by the other side on Apr 4, 2011 11:57 AM PDT up reply actions

If you get a business account for DirectTV you can have up to 30 access cards to the account

The company I work for has one and we each got an access card when we bought the package. It costs about $20 a month and we have literally every non-PPV channel, including HD. The only expense was that we each had to buy a receiver and dish (but I actually got these for free from my parents who got rid of the bill when all of my siblings left for college).

Larry Bernandez.

by awilson11 on Apr 4, 2011 11:25 AM PDT reply actions

My girlfriend has an iTouch. Is it worth buying the app that allows me to watch mlbtv on it? I think its ~$15.

by Edgar for Pres on Apr 4, 2011 11:44 AM PDT reply actions

You will have to buy mlb.tv on top of it

and you can only watch in wifi hotspots so why would you get the app? I have the app, by the way, but only for audio because I often work during gametime and it allows me to listen while Im doing whatever I am doing.

by Bearskin Rugburn on Apr 4, 2011 11:51 AM PDT up reply actions

I already have mlb.tv. so that isn't an issue.

I would probably also use it while i work. Is the quality good enough to justify spending $15 on it? I would assume the audio is good but is the video acceptable too?

by Edgar for Pres on Apr 4, 2011 1:05 PM PDT up reply actions

MLB app

It’s quite good. Video quality in wifi area is impressive. Worth the cost, IMO.

by phineasd on Apr 4, 2011 4:32 PM PDT up reply actions

I dunno I have an old iPhone and it has trouble processing the data

half the time I cant load the video highlights. Otherwise, yes the app is fine. Runs stably, doesnt sap too much juice and… well the rest remains to be seen I guess. You will have to get a new download next season of course.

by Bearskin Rugburn on Apr 4, 2011 4:42 PM PDT up reply actions

You have to get a new one each year? That's kind of annoying.

by Edgar for Pres on Apr 4, 2011 5:12 PM PDT up reply actions

So, wait...

I can get AtBat for my phone with Gameday audio and a whole bunch of other features for less than just Gameday audio on my computer?

Rooting for lovable losers since 1984.

by seattlecougar on Apr 4, 2011 12:26 PM PDT reply actions

Yes

by Matthew on Apr 4, 2011 12:36 PM PDT up reply actions

It is not a whole bunch of features and the gameday feature is much diminished

which is understandable, given the far smaller display and need for larger click areas. But the audio streams are good, and at least you have the ability to browse other games while listening to a single feed.

by Bearskin Rugburn on Apr 4, 2011 12:43 PM PDT up reply actions

Satellite radio - Sirius/XM

Of course, the plus of having greater range and clarity than AM radio, is outweighed by the negative of not being able to listen to games online. You need the specific hardware in addition to the subscription. The subscription only lets you listen to the main MLB channel, which usually just has assorted talking heads and the audio from the MLB TV channel.

And of course, there are some truly awful announcers from other teams. (Sirius/XM only carries the home feed for any given game; the only time they provide both the home and away announcers is in the postseason.) But then, it just makes you appreciate what we had in Dave, and what we have with Rick, that much more… tolerating the Yankee home broadcast for 15 minutes will do that for you…

by Chris_FB on Apr 4, 2011 12:27 PM PDT reply actions

Or the fucking White Sox

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 12:29 PM PDT up reply actions

Even hearing their broadcasters on highlights on MLB Network was awful.

I can’t imagine a whole game of Hawk Harrelson.

by Mariner John on Apr 4, 2011 1:24 PM PDT up reply actions

XM

Baseball is the reasonI initially bought my XM….but the away games generally suck. So many teams have horrible announcers, making games nearly unlistenable (if that is a word). Yankees and White Sox are definitely bad.

by nwbb on Apr 4, 2011 12:58 PM PDT up reply actions

This may be the wrong place, but I think it should be OK

My computer has been handling MLB.tv just fine, in HD and fullscreen and all that jazz. However, when I hook it up to my TV using a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI converter, I get really choppy picture on all but the second lowest of settings.

The good news is MLB.tv has improved enough that this setting is palatable, but full HD would obviously be even better. Anyone have this problem at all, and/or any possible fixes? The MLB.tv support forum hasn’t been particularly useful.

by Robert Lintott on Apr 4, 2011 12:38 PM PDT reply actions

A quick search turned up a few possible causes.

1) TVs with 3:2 pulldown enabled by default could be the culprit.
2) Also could be an issue with the video card attempting to power a full-HD display as well as the standard computer display at the same time. You could try removing the computer monitor (this is more difficult for a laptop, where you’d probably have to find a way to wake it while the lid remained closed) and see if it worked better just powering one monitor.

by billt721 on Apr 4, 2011 12:51 PM PDT up reply actions

Well thanks! I must have been searching the wrong terms or something. Though I had come across idea #1

I spent about two hours yesterday browsing the Internet trying to find something that works. I had looked into solution 1 and nothing came of it, but I hadn’t thought of issue two. I’ll see if there’s some way to get the lappy to stop powering its monitor.

by Robert Lintott on Apr 4, 2011 12:54 PM PDT up reply actions

I have MLB.tv and want to get a boxee or roku box so I can watch on my tv.

Can anyone suggest a routing setup that would allow me to tunnel the one device to a vpn and leave the rest of my devices alone, and allow me to turn the tunneling on/off easily. Some sort of DD-WRT setup perhaps?

by doublemazaa on Apr 4, 2011 1:08 PM PDT reply actions

Can anyone offer a suggestion between Roku, Blu-Ray or PS3?

essentially, I am looking for something cost-efficient. I don’t really watch that many DVDs or movies, and I don’t play many video games (outside of XBL).

Is a Roku the best choice? Is it worth getting the best model?

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 1:27 PM PDT reply actions

I would go blu-ray, really

You said you don’t watch that many DVD’s, but it’s never a bad thing to have the option to do so. My Samsung blu-ray streams Netflix, Pandora, YouTube and a couple other movie services – but no hulu, which is mildly annoying. And it was cheap – I think ours cost about $95 on sale.

by pdb on Apr 4, 2011 1:38 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, this is basically where I am

the cost difference isn’t huge, so it comes down to portability versus the ability to watch Blu-Rays

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 2:22 PM PDT up reply actions

I love my Roku

And I think it’s the cheapest of those. I have the less expensive one and am perfectly happy, but I’m more forgiving of that kind of thing than others. If you decide you want the better model, then you’re probably better off finding a streaming blu ray on sale as pdb suggests.

by GoddardTP on Apr 4, 2011 1:40 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, I'm torn right between right now

the thing about Roku that I like is that it’s very portable, and does Netflix as well.

Have you found the size/portability to be a significant plus? This seems to really be the biggest draw for me, because it means I can do things like bring it to hotels and stream MLB.tv and the like there.

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 1:56 PM PDT up reply actions

As long as said hotels have media inputs.

A lot of places will gimp their TVs so you can’t hook up outside equipment and have to use their pay per view or whatever.

by Eyebrows on Apr 4, 2011 2:01 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

I can't speak for the blu ray players

But I love my roku. Syncing with your various media accounts is really easy, and the interface is very good.

by Eyebrows on Apr 4, 2011 2:00 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

Which model do you have?

Do you think it’s worth it to get the top of the line model, or do you think that the one lower streaming 1080p one should be fine?

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 2:03 PM PDT up reply actions

I got mine when it was just the Roku. They split it out into different models later.

Pretty sure mine has the HD resolution, but not the N wireless.

by Eyebrows on Apr 4, 2011 2:04 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

Mine might only be 720p, but that's fine since my tv is 720p.

by Eyebrows on Apr 4, 2011 2:05 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

Looking at the features of the models, I can say that I've not really had any issues with my wireless.

My picture is always great, and I’m running on G wireless, not N which seems to be standard in all the models. Top of the line just seems to have more connectivity and longer range. But maybe you want the component video out in case hotel TVs don’t have HDMI?

by Eyebrows on Apr 4, 2011 2:09 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

Yeah, could be a consideration, but the hotels I'm likely to be staying at will likely have HDMI in their TVs

(Northrop doesn’t skimp on hotels for business travel, and I rarely stay in hotels otherwise)

by seattlebruin on Apr 4, 2011 2:48 PM PDT up reply actions

Roku video quality is poor though my Roku is old.

Also, since most TVs now are sold with a built in wi fi card I think it is a poor investment

by Bearskin Rugburn on Apr 4, 2011 4:43 PM PDT up reply actions

I don't know where you're shopping

But I bought a new flat screen for my mother over the holidays, and almost none of the under-$1200 TVs had WiFi “built in” (a couple had it as an optional add-on, and I think there was one LG that included that piece as part of a promotion, but that was it).

by Ugly Dickshot on Apr 4, 2011 4:56 PM PDT up reply actions

I'd go Roku personally.

by Kirk on Apr 4, 2011 10:53 PM PDT up reply actions

I'm not sure what the price difference is nowadays,

but when I bought a PS3, it was clearly the best options for a Blu-ray player, even if you didn’t care for the whole video gaming thing. Between MLB.tv, Netflix, Blu-ray and video games, the PS3 is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. I highly recommend it. And having a constant wireless Internet connection means your Blu-ray player always has the latest firmware. And I say this as someone who initially vowed that he would never spend his money on the big, stupid, overpriced PlayStation 3.

But yeah, as I said, I haven’t checked prices in years. A straight Blu-ray player or Roku might be your best option now if that’s all you’re looking for.

But MLB: The Show is easily worth the extra hundred or so bucks, if you ask me. :)

by Teej on Apr 5, 2011 12:12 AM PDT up reply actions