Sound Advice: TV streaming devices and men's health tip

Don Lindich, Tribune News Service on Sep 3, 2025

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Q. A friend brought a product called a vSeeBox V3-PLUS to my house so we could watch a game my provider wasn’t televising. He can access nearly every televised sporting event, thousands of movies and more. Is this product unique or are there others on the market? It seems too good to be true, is it legal?

—R.C., Brookfield, Wisconsin

A. I've been asked about vSeeBox quite a bit lately. A vSeeBox itself is not illegal. It is just a type of streaming device like an Onn Streaming Device, Roku Express or Amazon Fire Stick. However if a VSeeBox or other streaming device is modified or has a third-party application installed to watch Netflix, Disney+ or other pay channels or events without subscribing or paying for them, it is piracy and illegal. Sometimes the entities selling illegal boxes get shut down or disappear, and the people who bought them can no longer stream the previously viewable content and are left holding the bag. If that's the case, they got off easy. Pirating cable channels or pay TV can lead to criminal and civil penalties.

You can access lots of free content with legal streaming devices and smart TVs. There are many free channels that offer movies, sports, news and reruns of classic programming, and usually there is a channel guide listing the channels just like the on-screen guide of a cable box. Google TV calls it Freeplay and Samsung calls their version Samsung TV Plus. There are also many legal apps you can install to access free content, which is usually ad-supported. I introduced my father to this with his TCL Google TV and he uses it often to watch classic movies. So, it is indeed possible to get lots of channels and content for free. However, if it goes into the realm of unauthorized viewing without paying for a subscription, it is illegal. I would advise against purchasing or using such a product.

September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month — and my corresponding online shopping tip: Prostate cancer has been in the news a lot lately, with former President Joe Biden's diagnosis of Stage 4 prostate cancer and "Dilbert" cartoonist Scott Adams announcing he has a very aggressive form of prostate cancer, and with it, a short life expectancy. I am much younger but was diagnosed with prostate cancer in October 2023. It was caught very early with a routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test that showed a sudden increase from the prior year, though my value was still at the edge of the normal range. Surgery to remove the gland revealed a small amount of moderately aggressive disease (Gleason 7, 3+4) confined well within the prostate, with clean margins. I have been clear since and my risk of recurrence is very low. Regular PSA testing saved my life, and early detection made my treatment much easier via nerve-sparing robotic surgery without requiring hormone suppression or radiation afterwards. Men over 45, please talk to your doctor about PSA testing and prostate health. Prostate cancer is very treatable and potentially curable when detected early.

This leads to the smart shopping tip. Some of the medication I was prescribed post-op was extremely expensive, even with good insurance. An online support group suggested Mark Cuban's costplusdrugs.com, and it was game-changing. One script was $135 for 15 pills at the pharmacy, using insurance. With costplusdrugs.com it was $6.68 for 30 pills, without using my insurance. If you are paying a lot for certain medications it is worth checking availability on costplusdrugs.com, and a downloadable form makes it easy for your doctor to send in your prescription. Thanks, Mark!

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