Do you use Hulu to watch TV?

[MickeS]

I'm curious. Since I found Hulu.com I have found myself using Bittorrent less, and Hulu more. When I canceled cable, I started using Hulu much more. I don't know how the site is doing, but I hope it sticks around.

Do others here use it?

[Peter000]

I'd probably use it more, but I've found it needs slightly more bandwidth than I have, so it stutters way too much.

[appleye1]

Last time I checked it was right after they first started up and there wasn't much there. I just looked again and wow!, what a difference!

I wasn't too impressed with the later stuff they have but then I checked the alphabetical list and they have some golden oldies there. I'll definitely watch some of that stuff this summer.

One question though, do you have any idea how they decide to load out the seasons? It seems like a show might have the first half of season 1, the last half of season 3, and the middle of season 5, for example. I'd want to figure out how that works. There are some shows, like 24 for instance, where watching the first half of the season and then stopping wouldn't be acceptable!

And what is the purpose of the queue and how does that work? I haven't yet found any kind of instructions or a tutorial for anything on the site.
..

[Satchel]

Yes, we watch Hulu when we miss a show...our Mac mini is hooked up to the big TV, so we can watch it big...which is not a great thing....slightly worse than VHS quality, but if we miss recording The Office it's passable.

[jstack]

I'd probably use it more, but I've found it needs slightly more bandwidth than I have, so it stutters way too much.
It runs fine on even slow 1.5 mbps line.

I check out an episode or two of Arrested Development whenever I have 20 minutes to kill.

[DreadPirateRob]

I've used it to pick up a few 30 Rock eps that I missed due to scheduling conflicts. I don't love watching TV on my computer, and the pic quality wasn't that great, but it did beat having to set up a BT download, since it was pretty much on-demand.

[Jesda]

I use it to watch stuff where video quality is less important, like comedies and episodes of Conan.

[Dmon4u]

Whenever I have tried it, the Video has tiny bits of hesitation evenly spaced. There is no truly smooth movement within the picture, ever.

To answer the question:
Comcast - guess you could have figured that !

[gchance]

I've been using Hulu for our Babylon 5 viewings, when I know I won't have the time to watch an episode at home. I can have it running while at work doing things like being on hold with vendors for extended periods. I haven't watched new shows on it though.

Greg

[Neenahboy]

I only use it for shows that don't appear on BT shortly after they air.

I'd probably use it a LOT more if they were to make shows available on the same day they air. Same with the networks' streaming services.

[anom]

I'm not a fan of watching tv on my laptop. When I bt stuff, I transfer it to my Tivo and watch it there.

So, no, not really.

[ThreeSoFar'sBro]

I do, when travelling, especially if there's nothing worth Slinging at the time. Great to pass the time!

[MacThor]

I sometimes get "jerky" video, even with 5mbps download speed. I am running a 4-year old PC with just 1G of RAM (which I expanded from 512M). I don't have the same problems on the laptop. Is it my processor or video processor?

[justapixel]

I looked at it when it first came out too and there wasn't much to ee.

Wow, they have the entire first season of firefly! I've never seen it.

Too bad my laptop has a huge black hole right in the center. :(

[Zevida]

I only used it once, when my stupid generic DVR did not record the season finale of the Office.

I prefer to watch TV on a TV if at all possible.

[pkscout]

I've started to use it to watch the Daily Show and Colbert Report and am experimenting with it for stuff on USA. It is significantly better quality that the analog SD I get from the cable company. It seems like TWC is never going to add USA HD or Sci-Fi HD, so I'm thinking about just cancelling cable all together and watching that kind of stuff on Hulu (I have an OTA antenna for network HD).

[desaun]

I've been using it lately to catch up on old TV shows I missed (usually comedy's) or never watched because I didn't have the time to.

I usually watch at work on my lunch hour. I'm half way through the second season of Arrested Development.

[mattack]

I would use it (or any other web service) to catch up on Jeopardy episodes that my stupid local station keeps preempting.. and an occassional missed episode of other shows... but
I haven't done that yet. I still would probably hook video out of the show to video in of my non-Tivo hard drive/DVD recorder.. (NOT so I could record it 'for keeps', but so I could FF through the commercial(s).. <shhhh>).

[reddice]

It is not always that reliable. I have not watched it in a while but the last time I tried to watch a Simpsons episode I missed it would keep pausing every few minutes. It was very annoying to watch it pausing all the time.

Another time I watched a episode and it played fine the entire thing through. The problem is that even though it is on demand the dumb flash player would not just buffer the video and download while it is playing. It would play a little and buffer it a bit and play a bit more which causes the pausing when it is not downloading it that fast. When you pause the video to try to make the buffer longer the dumb player stops downloading the video. Windows Media Video streams are more reliable and download while they play but so many sites have or already abandoning Windows Media for bloated slow flash garbage. It is probably for so it would work with those people running a Mac since a Mac does not have Windows Media Player or its plug-ins.

[getreal]

They block Canadians from access, so ... no. :down:

Same goes for the major networks. They'll let us see the advertisements online, but then block the actual show clips. :down: :down:

Same for iTunes. :down: :down: :down:

That just drives us towards bit torrents.

[MikeekiM]

Wow...this is a fantastic service... I wish there was more complete and comprehensive content...

Awesome... :up:

[amtsuchida]

They block Canadians from access, so ... no. :down:

Same goes for the major networks. They'll let us see the advertisements online, but then block the actual show clips. :down: :down:

Same for iTunes. :down: :down: :down:

That just drives us towards bit torrents.

Thanks. You just saved me from testing this out. The network sites won't show me anything because my IP address shows that I am in Japan. I guess this is the same. :(

[Vendikarr]

They block Canadians from access, so ... no. :down:

Same goes for the major networks. They'll let us see the advertisements online, but then block the actual show clips. :down: :down:

Same for iTunes. :down: :down: :down:

That just drives us towards bit torrents.

Here's a site that tells you how you can get around the U.S. only restriction.

http://www.ideas2o.com/web/watch-your-favorite-tv-shows-on-hulu-outside-usa-for-free

[Vendikarr]

I'm not a fan of watching tv on my laptop. When I bt stuff, I transfer it to my Tivo and watch it there.

So, no, not really.

You can always download Hulu using Orbit Downloader (http://www.download.com/Orbit-Downloader/3000-2071_4-10600926.html), convert it using FLV to AVI Converter (http://www.nbxsoft.com/flv-converter.php), then upload it to your TiVo.

[jwjody]

I use it fairly often. I watched the entire first season of Roswell last week. I also watched the last episode of In Plain Sight that I missed this past weekend.

J

[mattpol]

I don't use it.

[mattack]

You can always download Hulu using Orbit Downloader (http://www.download.com/Orbit-Downloader/3000-2071_4-10600926.html), convert it using FLV to AVI Converter (http://www.nbxsoft.com/flv-converter.php), then upload it to your TiVo.

Do you happen to know of an equivalent that works on a Mac?

[tripmac]

I have used it to watch Hell's Kitchen this season. I needed something to break the monotony here in the office and using that as background chatter has helped.

And best of all they have McHale's Navy!:D

[Vendikarr]

Do you happen to know of an equivalent that works on a Mac?

Sorry, no.

[dylanemcgregor]

You can always download Hulu using Orbit Downloader (http://www.download.com/Orbit-Downloader/3000-2071_4-10600926.html), convert it using FLV to AVI Converter (http://www.nbxsoft.com/flv-converter.php), then upload it to your TiVo.

Interesting, I'll have to check that out. I thought pyTiVo converts FLV though, saving a step? I'm able to transfer YouTube videos that I download via pyTiVo with no problems.

[Vendikarr]

Interesting, I'll have to check that out. I thought pyTiVo converts FLV though, saving a step? I'm able to transfer YouTube videos that I download via pyTiVo with no problems.

Yea, you can skip a step, but if a person doesn't have pyTiVo installed, they'll need the second step.

[mwhip]

Well Hulu is just like TV even the commercials are louder than the regular programs.

[MickeS]

Well Hulu is just like TV even the commercials are louder than the regular programs.

Shorter commercial breaks though. I'd say it's more like TiVo, except you can't skip the commercial breaks.

[dylanemcgregor]

Yea, you can skip a step, but if a person doesn't have pyTiVo installed, they'll need the second step.

Cool. I just didn't know if there was something different about the types of files that Orbit output that made them incompatible with pyTiVo. Thanks again for the info, looking to try this out this weekend.

[mwhip]

Shorter commercial breaks though. I'd say it's more like TiVo, except you can't skip the commercial breaks.

True but I watch on my 2nd monitor at work with the volume low but then a commercial comes on and it is so much louder than the program.

[Vendikarr]

Well Hulu is just like TV even the commercials are louder than the regular programs.

When I download them from Hulu, I don't get the commercials.

[dylanemcgregor]

When I download them from Hulu, I don't get the commercials.

Yeah, I actually feel a little bad about that, as this was my way to be "legit", but I figure by going to the site and starting the stream I see at least one ad, and am probably counted for the others.

[reddice]

Last time I tried it was about a month ago with Adblock Plus and Firefox it ends up not playing the commercials at all.

[dansee]

Last time I tried it was about a month ago with Adblock Plus and Firefox it ends up not playing the commercials at all.

Yep. You just get a notice that ad blocking is on when a commercial pops up... at least in my experience.

I've been using hulu a lot, and enjoying it.

[MickeS]

They've changed it a bit as far as Adblock plus goes. It used to show 15 seconds of "this show is supported by advertisers", but now they show 30 seconds - and the ads are only 15 seconds. So I disabled Adblock Plus on Hulu. :)

[dansee]

They've changed it a bit as far as Adblock plus goes. It used to show 15 seconds of "this show is supported by advertisers", but now they show 30 seconds - and the ads are only 15 seconds. So I disabled Adblock Plus on Hulu. :)

Actually, I have too. I really don't mind a couple ads running to get a legit viewing service. Seems like a fair trade, to me. :)

[MickeS]

Actually, I have too. I really don't mind a couple ads running to get a legit viewing service. Seems like a fair trade, to me. :)

Same here. I watched "The Girl Next Door" on hulu today, and seven 15-second breaks in one movie for free is indeed a fair trade. Really good movie by the way, much better than I expected.

[pkscout]

I'm not sure how I'd feel about ads in movies, unless they are really, really well placed so as not to disrupt the flow. I don't mind the ads in the TV shows, as they come during the scene breaks anyway. I'm seriously thinking about talking to the wife about dropping cable and having just OTA w/TiVo and Hulu. The only thing we'd actually lose that we watch is HGTV (we're not much for live sports).

[jwjody]

You can always download Hulu using Orbit Downloader (http://www.download.com/Orbit-Downloader/3000-2071_4-10600926.html), convert it using FLV to AVI Converter (http://www.nbxsoft.com/flv-converter.php), then upload it to your TiVo.

Do you happen to know of an equivalent that works on a Mac?
I haven't been able to find an equivalent for a mac, but I have VMWare so I was able to install OrbitDownloader then put the FLV on my Mac partition and use iSquint to convert to iPod format. Then I can stream it to my TV using my XBox 360.

J

[MickeS]

I'm not sure how I'd feel about ads in movies, unless they are really, really well placed so as not to disrupt the flow. I don't mind the ads in the TV shows, as they come during the scene breaks anyway. I'm seriously thinking about talking to the wife about dropping cable and having just OTA w/TiVo and Hulu. The only thing we'd actually lose that we watch is HGTV (we're not much for live sports).

I think HGTV has some episodes for sale at Amazon Unbox if you really need your fix every once in a while. :)

[MasterOfPuppets]

Signed up, but have never used it.
I always download on BT, convert and watch through Tivo.

[dylanemcgregor]

Probably not the best place to post this, but anyone else here start having trouble downloading from Hulu with Orbit? Everything worked well for me for a couple of days, but now every time I try and select a file I'm getting access denied errors in the log when trying to connect.

Anyone else seen this and know if there is a work around?

[jwjody]

Probably not the best place to post this, but anyone else here start having trouble downloading from Hulu with Orbit? Everything worked well for me for a couple of days, but now every time I try and select a file I'm getting access denied errors in the log when trying to connect.

Anyone else seen this and know if there is a work around?

I used orbit earlier this morning and didn't have a problem.

But the quality was not good. I'd prefer to keep watching on Hulu with better quality and deal with a couple of short commercials.

J

[dylanemcgregor]

OK, good to know that it seems to be just my system and not a global change they made that disabled this.

I really don't mind the commercials and watch the first one that is loading while I set up the download, but I don't want to watch the program from my laptop or mess with hooking it up to the TV each time I want to watch something.

[YCantAngieRead]

No, but I will now. Cool!

[reddice]

Your right about Adblock. I set up an exception. If you have it enable you have to wait 30 seconds before any video would play. I knew eventually they would catch on. I don't mind a quick 15 second ad anyway. Not as annoying as the many ads on regular TV.

[dylanemcgregor]

Probably not the best place to post this, but anyone else here start having trouble downloading from Hulu with Orbit? Everything worked well for me for a couple of days, but now every time I try and select a file I'm getting access denied errors in the log when trying to connect.

Anyone else seen this and know if there is a work around?

Ok, I got this working again for a couple of weeks, but it has now stopped again. I get failed to connect errors with Orbit. Reading a little bit online seems like I'm not totally alone, but figured I'd keep trying as long as it still works for people here. Was loving being able to watch The Daily Show and Colbert again.

[DancnDude]

I just "found" and am working my way through watching a show called Solitary on hulu. It was on Fox Reality but I don't get that station through my cable company. It's an interesting show but I wouldn't have paid per episode to watch. It's perfect as a downloadable show though :up:

[MickeS]

One thing that bugs me is that episodes expire. I had 2 episodes left of BattleStar Galactica, but they expired before I watched them. :(

I'm working my way through Burn Notice, but they still have the entire series so far on hulu. I'm only on Season 1, Episode 5, but I'm watching one episode per evening so I think I'll be OK.

[ebockelman]

Yeah, if you are worried about expiration, you may want to download the shows when they are available.

[dylanemcgregor]

Yeah, if you are worried about expiration, you may want to download the shows when they are available.

Have you still had success downloading from Hulu?

[ebockelman]

Hulu downloads fine for me.

[mattack]

There's still no way to download on a Mac, right?

[DavidTigerFan]

Well I can't get any hulu download to work, every program I've tried has crashed every browser I've used. Any ideas?

[johnperkins21]

I just caught on to this recently, and watched the entire series of Firefly. It was awesome. And now I'm using it to catch up on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I would absolutely use this service more if they had more shows/movies that I'd like to see.

[gchance]

Well I can't get any hulu download to work, every program I've tried has crashed every browser I've used. Any ideas?

My first guess is you need to update Flash Player, since that's the constant.

Greg

[Sirius Black]

I don't use it. If they had the entire season of the shows, I might. But they have only "selected episodes", so I don't see any reason to. There are other ways to get the programming that are just as good. Then, of course, to download the programming requires Windows. Which is downright idiotic on the part of NBC.

[dylanemcgregor]

Then, of course, to download the programming requires Windows. Which is downright idiotic on the part of NBC.

I'm pretty sure they don't want people downloading the shows at all...which might be idiotic (I know that I won't watch if there isn't a way to easily get the shows to TV/TiVo)...but pretty sure this isn't just a bias against Macs.

For those of you who still are able to download without problems are you using Grab ++ or Grab Pro to initiate the download? Which version of Orbit are you using? Which browser?

I can't seem to figure out how to even initiate a download with Grab Pro in IE, and if the Grab Pro addin is enabled in IE, my surfing speed slows to a crawl.

Downloads initiate fine using Grab ++, but I always fail to connect. Thanks for any tips.

[lambertman]

I don't use it. If they had the entire season of the shows, I might. But they have only "selected episodes", so I don't see any reason to.

We must be watching different shows, because there're lots of full seasons on there.

For the record, "Monk" is funnier when you watch it at work.

[kaszeta]

I've used it a few times when something caused my DVR to glitch out, but it's marginal with my bandwidth (satellite internet), and if I used it too much I'd hit bandwidth caps.

[ebockelman]

I'm pretty sure they don't want people downloading the shows at all...which might be idiotic (I know that I won't watch if there isn't a way to easily get the shows to TV/TiVo)...but pretty sure this isn't just a bias against Macs.

For those of you who still are able to download without problems are you using Grab ++ or Grab Pro to initiate the download? Which version of Orbit are you using? Which browser?

I can't seem to figure out how to even initiate a download with Grab Pro in IE, and if the Grab Pro addin is enabled in IE, my surfing speed slows to a crawl.

Downloads initiate fine using Grab ++, but I always fail to connect. Thanks for any tips.

I use Replay Media Catcher and copy the files to my home server which has Tivo Publisher installed. It doesn't get any easier than that.

[dylanemcgregor]

I use Replay Media Catcher and copy the files to my home server which has Tivo Publisher installed. It doesn't get any easier than that.

Thanks. Will try it out when I get home.

[YCantAngieRead]

Okay, hang on. Things "expire"? Can someone explain this to me? What expires and when and how do you know?

I can't find a FAQ anywhere.

ETA: I found the FAQ, but it still doesn't explain what expires when.

[dylanemcgregor]

Okay, hang on. Things "expire"? Can someone explain this to me? What expires and when and how do you know?

I can't find a FAQ anywhere.

ETA: I found the FAQ, but it still doesn't explain what expires when.

I think what this means is that shows that is on the site today might not necessarily be there tomorrow, and as far as I know they don't give you a warning before dropping content. So you have no assurance that when you start watching a season on Hulu, that all the episodes will still be there when you get a few episodes in.

[MickeS]

I think what this means is that shows that is on the site today might not necessarily be there tomorrow, and as far as I know they don't give you a warning before dropping content. So you have no assurance that when you start watching a season on Hulu, that all the episodes will still be there when you get a few episodes in.

They do give a warning actually (it said something next to the video about "Expires in 2 days"). I was just too lazy to bother paying attention. :(

And I don't think it's true for all shows, it's probably individual based on their deals with each of the content owners.

[YCantAngieRead]

I think what this means is that shows that is on the site today might not necessarily be there tomorrow, and as far as I know they don't give you a warning before dropping content. So you have no assurance that when you start watching a season on Hulu, that all the episodes will still be there when you get a few episodes in.

Okay, that makes sense. Thanks.

[dylanemcgregor]

They do give a warning actually (it said something next to the video about "Expires in 2 days"). I was just too lazy to bother paying attention. :(

And I don't think it's true for all shows, it's probably individual based on their deals with each of the content owners.

Gotcha. I don't go there regularly enough to notice that I guess. I tend to jump in once or twice every couple of weeks, and have only occasionally noticed that things that were there at one point were no longer there.

[alpacaboy]

I've been watching Hulu a bit over the last couple days.

Something I think is interesting is to see the markers for the commercials. With some shows, you can see "slow section with lots of exposition where we can't afford to lose you" at the beginning, then at the end, see more frequent breaks spaced closer together as if to say "we're only going to expose a teeny bit of cliffhanger plot at a time."

Not saying it's good, bad, right, wrong. Just interesting to see and compare the spacings of new shows vs old shows and stuff. Even with current shows, I think one episode of Terminator:SCC was broken up a lot at the end, and the one I'm looking at now is actually fairly evenly spaced.

[dd9]

I absolutely love hulu. I first tried it out a little over a year ago and hoped it would grow and it sure has - with plenty of room to go.

When TiVo announced the YouTube partnership, the first thing that came to mind was that I hope they're working on one with hulu as well !

[Mikeyis4dcats]

I've used PlayOn to watch Hulu on my PS3. Helped me catch a few episodes I missed of some shows.

[allietx]

We watch Hulu via laptop hooked up to our TV or via capture if we miss something or decide to watch something that we haven't been recording or on some channel we don't get. Not our first choice, but better than missing it altogether. In the interest of full disclosure I will admit that we received a note from TWC encouraging us to stop using BT and that has motivated us to seek these other alternatives. :)

NewAllie

[alpacaboy]

Who is TWC?

[allietx]

Who is TWC?

Oops, it is Time Warner Cable.

[yokimbo]

I love Hulu.com and wish there was TiVo support for it. I use either my computer or my AppleTV with Boxee to watch Hulu. I'd rather be able to use my TiVo.

[MickeS]

I love Hulu.com and wish there was TiVo support for it. I use either my computer or my AppleTV with Boxee to watch Hulu. I'd rather be able to use my TiVo.

You can, sort of, but it's not a "seamless" solution. I use Replay Media Catcher to save Hulu shows into a folder on my PC, which is shared to the TiVo, where I watch the show.

[Bierboy]

Do you use Hulu to watch TV? No.

[YCantAngieRead]

Well, I made it most of the week without breaking and watching the 30 Rock premier. I ended up watching it today because my TV went out.

[liliana]

Do you happen to know of an equivalent that works on a Mac?
89i

[DouglasPHill]

Not exactly sure what Hulu is but I have been anxiously awaiting sezmi.com. If it works as they are planning, could be really good.