Hi guys, so i love watching streams, but when my brother enters in the laptop im sad cause my laptop its the only device where i can watch them x(

So, wich is the cheapest portable device/ what should i buy to watch streams (livestream/ustream/3dtv) witch decent quality and d(hopefully) no lag?

I was thinking on an ipod touch, i tested my cousin's and I watched the EG Master's Cup for a while, it was good

but is there any better?

or i dont know.. and android :3 xD for price, something less than 250$ or 300$

im low on money x(

Thnx for help

selboN

United States2523 Posts

December 20 2010 02:15 GMT

Any netbook will be your best bet. You will run into troubles with many of the apple products because of flash... Netbook will give you a larger screen as well.

Netbook
Here is one I found for 249.99 in a quick 5 second search on best buy's site.

hellokitty[hk]

United States1309 Posts

December 20 2010 02:18 GMT

Itouch = 60% profit margin.

Reason.SC2

Canada1047 Posts

December 20 2010 02:56 GMT

Why don't you buy a used netbook off craigslist or ebay. You'll probably pay the same price (if not less) than an itouch, plus have an extra little laptop sitting around. A quick ebay search revealed some older netbook models (which aren't great but definitely will fit the bill for watching streams and other random stuff such as browsing TL, doing homework, etc) for about 150 bucks.

muse5187

1125 Posts

December 20 2010 03:16 GMT

Netbook or iphone?
http://iphone.livestream.com/

On December 20 2010 11:18 hellokitty[hk] wrote:
Itouch = 60% profit margin.

Itouch? Do you mean Ipod? Profit margin might be even higher xD.

Xaga

United States163 Posts

December 20 2010 03:47 GMT

I'm definitely not an expert, but I can tell you what won't work. I have an Acer (already off to a bad start) Aspire 5532, which my parents bought for me a few months ago for school (I didn't have to buy it, so I can't complain too much). But it's horrible for watching streams on; gets choppy/laggy ever few seconds, freezes a few times a minute... Definitely don't get a cheap laptop.

I don't know how netbooks compare to laptops, but if people are recommending them I'd try those first!

Trumpet

United States1935 Posts

December 20 2010 04:38 GMT

Netbook is fantastic, but it depends on exactly how portable you want it to be.

Netbook is if you want to be able to watch streams any place where you can sit down and get wifi.

Some kind of smartphone might be what you want if you want to watch while waiting in line somewhere and just put it back in your pocket when done.

Personally, I have a netbook (Asus EEEpc) that I love and use mainly for school, and it works great for streams. I've never had any smart phone though, so I have no idea how well those handle it.

crazeman

664 Posts

December 20 2010 05:06 GMT

On December 20 2010 12:47 Xaga wrote:
I'm definitely not an expert, but I can tell you what won't work. I have an Acer (already off to a bad start) Aspire 5532, which my parents bought for me a few months ago for school (I didn't have to buy it, so I can't complain too much). But it's horrible for watching streams on; gets choppy/laggy ever few seconds, freezes a few times a minute... Definitely don't get a cheap laptop.

I don't know how netbooks compare to laptops, but if people are recommending them I'd try those first!

I'm pretty sure all modern day laptops/netbook can at least run flash/streams. Maybe you just need to patch windows or uninstall/format the factory default programs.

The cheapest option would probably a netbook. The cheapest I've seen is $150-200 for one of the refurb asus EEE models. If you're patient and keep an eye out for sales, you can sometimes find a notebook for $300.

jacosajh

2919 Posts

December 20 2010 05:09 GMT

Are you sure there's nothing wrong with your Acer?

Netbooks should have even less capabilities than a full-sized laptop for streaming (less ram, atom processor, etc.) But my Netbook does just fine for just about any stream I've ever had (I just streamed the GSP vs Koshneck fight the other week), and it's about 3 years old. I would imagine your laptop would do fine since it's only more capable.

Are you running a ton of programs in the background? Or attempting to run Windows Aero or any other resource hog application at the same time? If so, that's your problem.

To get back to the OP. Any netbook will do if all you want is to stream. $150 will get you a decent one with about 160GB of HDD space. Just at tip: Get at least a 10 inch. The keyboard will be bigger and more manageable compared to an 8 inch, and obviously, you'll be able to see better on a slightly bigger screen.

Xaga

United States163 Posts

December 20 2010 05:26 GMT

#10

On December 20 2010 14:09 jacosajh wrote:

Show nested quote +

It's weird, my laptop only sucks when I'm trying to watch streams. Most of the time it works fine with movies or anything else. And no, I don't run any other programs while watching streams at all. And now that I think about it, it's probably my fault it's so messed up... But I won't get into that.

Maybe the OP will have better luck than I. =)

Caphe

Vietnam10817 Posts

December 20 2010 05:31 GMT

#11

Some misinformed post in this thread. I want to clear this up a bit.
What ever you buy, depends on what connection speed you have. If you have a very good internet connection and be able to watch HD stream. Don't buy a netbook.

Why? HD stream will require you have a fast processor in order to keep decoding the stream. 20MB internet connection + crappy netbook= unwatchable stream.

If you are not going to watch HD stream(which I think many decent streams on TL is HD) or have crappy internet. A netbook is ok.

The best solution maybe a second hand Cuo2Duo laptop...300 maybe if you can find it :D