Podcast #1058: Best Budget HDTV and A Streamer's Dream Site

This week we take a look at the Hisense UG6 as the best budget TV (from RTINGS.com) and we take a look at a streamers dream site called “The Streamable”. Plus we read some listener emails and the week’s news.

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Today's Show:

News:

• Ads Are Officially Coming to Netflix
• Disney, Apple and Amazon keep waiting as NFL considers Sunday Ticket offers
• 'Top Gun: Maverick' Soars As Tom Cruise's First Billion-Dollar Movie
• Dolby Vision Now Available On Hisense's L9G TriChroma Laser TV 

Other:

• Join the Neat Exchange - Social Media for Whiskey Drinkers
• Ara's Woodworking
• Join the Flaviar Whisky Club and get a free bottle

Best Budget TV (RTINGS.COM)

The best budget TV we've tested is the Hisense U6G (Full Review) (65” $549.99). It's a great all-around TV that delivers good picture quality and offers performance that rivals some more expensive options, but you won't get some of the same features. For example, it has fewer gaming features than both the Hisense U8G and LG C1 OLED, but if you don't need those features, it's a great choice that'll save you some cash. If you tend to stream a lot of content, you won't have to worry about getting an external streaming device because the built-in Android TV has a ton of apps available to download. Even if you watch content from a cable box, the picture quality is good because it upscales lower-resolution content without any issue.

It's also impressive when watching movies in dark rooms because it displays deep blacks with outstanding black uniformity. Unfortunately, if you want to enhance your movie-watching experience and connect a receiver, the U6G doesn't have eARC support to pass high-quality audio formats. If that's important to you, the Hisense U6GR is similar in performance and supports eARC. However, the U6G delivers the best picture quality for a budget TV and is easier to find.

8.0 Mixed Usage 

8.3 Movies 

7.8 TV Shows 

7.7 Sports 

8.2 Video Games 

8.0 HDR Movies 

8.1 HDR Gaming 

7.9 PC Monitor 

PROS

• Excellent contrast.

• Outstanding black uniformity.

• Decent reflection handling.

• Huge selection of streaming apps.

CONS

• Image degrades when viewed at an angle.

• Ads throughout the smart interface

The Streamable

The Streamable is a website that helps you find the best way to stream anything. If you have wanted to know how to watch a movie or even find out if a movie is available to buy, rent, or stream through a service this website is for you!

The website is full of useful information to anyone who streams their entertainment. There is a tool to help you find the best TV service for what you watch. It's called the “Service Matchmaker”. Here you can enter sporting teams or networks you are interested in and it will give you a list of services that support it. Note - the site makes a commission on any purchases you make through them. 

Ara entered the Los Angeles Dodgers as a criteria and the only option was DirecTV Stream. Looks like he is not changing services soon. If I were a Rams fan Sling TV Orange package comes up as a possibility. However, so does DirecTV stream at a higher monthly cost. Even with the cost, Streamable says it's the better option based on the channels available and other features. But if I were strictly making a financial decision SlingTV is the way to go.

Searching Top Gun Maverick yielded “Top Gun: Maverick is not available to stream with a subscription service.” Nor did it provide any insight as to when it would be available for streaming. But searching for Jurassic World Dominion revealed that it will be available for streaming on Peacock on October 7. A little more than 90 days after it hit the theaters. Not day and date but not six months later either.

The site is pretty comprehensive in that you can search on sports, TV Series, movies, channels, devices, and more. It's really the streamers best friend.

What we’d like to see happen with streamable

Of course this is a pipe dream but why not. We’d like to see streamable integrated with smart TVs and set top boxes. It would also be nice if this integration automatically picked up the services you subscribe to. Displayed search results would be listed by the least expensive way to watch first with clickable links. If none of your services are able to stream a title then it would list options to stream if available, and clicking on them would take you to a one click signup page.  

If you stream “The Streamable” should be your go to site!

Download Episode #1058