Proposal - swap your access to NowTV for my access to US cable TV?

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  1. #1

    Proposal - swap your access to NowTV for my access to US cable TV?

    I have just upgraded my Slingbox in the US to HD at a excellent price (about HK$1200 . That Slingbox is now connected to cable TV with over 100 channels in the Los Angeles area and it also allows me to provide guest access. So now I also have an old Slingbox that is sitting around unused.

    My issue is that I terminated my NowTV subscription some time ago and have used Netflix and Hulu with free terrestrial TV since, but there are few things that I do miss on NowTV (Premier League, HBO, etc). I'm tryiing to see if there is possible interest in hosting my spare Slingbox (dedicated tuner so that I don't change your stations while you are watching) with NowTV or iCable in exchange for guest access to my US Slingbox. That Sling is in zip code 91755 and is connected to Charter Cable and has a few free on-demand stations. It also sits in a closet with a dedicated tuner so you would have full access unless I am using it). If you've looked around then you know the cost to rent a full Slingbox for LA or NYC is steep, so accessing my Slingbox even as a guest for the cost of a tuner rental might be attractive to someone (I have no idea what NowTV charges for an extra tuner).

    (note, I am not interested in renting access to my sling and nor is this an ad to sell my access or spare Slingbox...I am only interested in a swap of TV access)


  2. #2

    Join Date
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    Are you nuts? First, I have never figured out who to hook up a Slingbox to a now TV box…..secondly, every time you would watch it, you would be controlling the channels…..


  3. #3

    Join Date
    May 2012
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    Perhaps if you had another cable box in the US connected to a second slingbox it would be more appealing.

    Connecting it up can't really be that hard its just a couple of cables.


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    Just to let you know... Now tv doesn't have premier league football


  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by packy_crusher:
    Are you nuts? First, I have never figured out who to hook up a Slingbox to a now TV box…..secondly, every time you would watch it, you would be controlling the channels…..
    Uh, yeah...that's why I posted "...dedicated tuner so that I don't change your stations while you are watching..."

    Swapping crappy Hong Kong TV for less crappy US TV is not a bad tradeoff IMHO...sorry it doesn't work for you.



    Quote Originally Posted by justjoe86:
    Just to let you know... Now tv doesn't have premier league football
    Ah, OK...thanks....well now the only reason for NowTV is for HBO and Showtime
    Last edited by SirFlopALot; 05-06-2012 at 11:45 AM.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by moonos:
    Perhaps if you had another cable box in the US connected to a second slingbox it would be more appealing.

    Connecting it up can't really be that hard its just a couple of cables.
    Slingbox rentals in the US with dedicated cable boxes rent for US$80-120/month with a New York zip code. Of course it would be appealing to you if I had another cable box - that's a no-brainer - but then again for the additional cost to set it up that way, I would not be interested in a straight swap with you for NowTV. As posted earlier, I gave up NowTV almost 2 years ago because frankly I don't think it was worth the HK$350-400/mo I was paying. For me to rent a spare cable box in the US would cost at least US$20-25. So spending ~HK$200 for a US cable box to get NowTV which I think is worth far less than HK$350 doesn't seem like a productive use of time and effort frankly.

    I would consider to set mine up that way and charge accordingly but that's not why I am posting here so that would be a separate discussion. What I am asking is if someone here is interested in hosting my slingbox using either with their sole tuner or using an extra tuner...what would be the cost of an extra tuner...HK$150/mo? So for HK$150/mo you'd get decent access to US television...I would have thought that might be appealing...especially when Netflix and Hulu are ~HK$110-160/month and you have to do a bit of fiddling to get it to work on your TV instead of just your laptop. Even though the access to my Sling in the US would be as a guest and I could override if I want to use it, the reality is that I watch the Sling less than 3 hours a week as I get most of my US television fix through Roku/Hulu/Netflix.
    Last edited by SirFlopALot; 05-06-2012 at 11:54 AM.

  7. #7

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    netflix is $8/month... that's only $61.6HKD.....even if i include the cost of my VPN, it's still only $101.4


  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by carang:
    netflix is $8/month... that's only $61.6HKD.....even if i include the cost of my VPN, it's still only $101.4
    I use StrongVPN -their cheapest package for PT2P/LT2P access is US$55/yr so HK$36/mo. Netflix is US$7.99/mo so HK$62...so total would be only ~HK$98/mo...even less than the HK$110/mo I posted or your figure of HK$101/mo. The HK$160/mo figure in my post is the approximate cost for both Netflix and Hulu Plus (US$7.99/mo) as although Netflix is OK for movies, it's not good for current TV as you know...you really need both to replicate cable TV.

    I have seen your posts on your overall positive experience with Netflix and as you know, getting access is a bit more involved than just paying HK$100/mo as there are other things involved to get set up, even ignoring the cost of a Roku or AppleTV box. If it were so easy and straightforward, there would be many more of us watching Netflix and Hulu+
    Last edited by SirFlopALot; 05-06-2012 at 12:21 PM.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by SirFlopALot:
    Uh, yeah...that's why I posted "...dedicated tuner so that I don't change your stations while you are watching..."

    Swapping crappy Hong Kong TV for less crappy US TV is not a bad tradeoff IMHO...sorry it doesn't work for you.


    Ah, OK...thanks....well now the only reason for NowTV is for HBO and Showtime

    I have one in LA with a high speed cable connection. But it kind of works like shit in Hk with my crappy 6mbps PCCW internet. It works great in other places I have been. Oh, and if you figure out how to connect a Slingbox to Now TV, let me know, because it seems impossible and i would love to watch it when I am in crappy TV land, i mean China…..