Walton Goggins
Footballguy
watch over the nethttp://www.tbs.com/
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We've cut the cable (6 Viewers)
- Thread starter Addai's Adidas
- Start date
Britney Spears
guest speaker
How about TNT? Aren't they affiliated?
Walton Goggins
Footballguy
Britney Spears
guest speaker
Dang, no NBA. : (
Sweet!
Leeroy Jenkins
Footballguy
How much?It kind of sucks that you have to pay the Xbox live gold fee in addition to full fees for Netflix. There should be a discount or something to do it through xbox.
Bogart
Footballguy
I think Hulu Plus is $8/month everywhere else. I'm sure you will pay that for it on Xbox as well.I'm not a huge fan of the Gold Fee, but in the long run it's worth it. Love the Netflix experience much better on the Xbox than the Wii (haven't used it on a PS3) and while the ESPN app was lagging with content at first, it feels like it is getting better.
GroveDiesel
Footballguy
If you've cut the cable, are you going to be able to watch the draft tonight or are you OOL?
culdeus
Footballguy
ESPN3 should have it?
CrossEyed
Footballguy
ESPN3 availability depends on your ISP.
Joe T
Footballguy
They're doing you a favor.
Bogart
Footballguy
I think it's only going to be ESPN and ESPN radio.
TobiasFunke
Footballguy
Better- Netflix by a mile.More recent- Hulu Plus. For the most part Netflix doesn't have current episodes of shows. Hulu plus has them 24 hours after they air on the networks.
CrossEyed
Footballguy
So Netflix has more older shows, but Hulu gets new ones faster?
Jobber
Footballguy
Yes, but if you intend on using Hulu+ on a television, the selection is poor, at best. The majority of shows on Hulu are "web only" and can be viewed on a computer, but not television.
TobiasFunke
Footballguy
That's been my experience. But the stuff hulu gets within 24 hours is all network stuff, so if you've got an antenna and can watch those prime time shows when they air, you're covered there. Netflix TV selection is amazing and improving all the time. Just in the last few months they've added Sons of Anarchy, Cheers, Dexter (had a few seasons before, now has all of them), 24, and tons of other good stuff. We have both, and any time I'm not watching sports, NBC Thursday nights, or whatever great shows HBO and AMC are airing on Sunday night, I'm watching Netflix TV with the wife. We very rarely watch Hulu Plus.
CrossEyed
Footballguy
Thanks for the info, guys. I plan on watching on my tv, primarily. I guess I'll go ahead and sign up for a Netflix account and check it out. It would be nice to be able to watch the new stuff whenever I want since I'll be losing the DVR once I drop cable. But I guess you can't have everything.
Addai's Adidas
Footballguy
Watching it in NFL.com right now Live!
Michael Irvin is on NFL.com. <_<
hotdogcollars
Footballguy
Might just be losing my mind, but it looks like the Bulls v Hawks game is live on TNT.com right now. Granted its some wacky "mosaic" PIP setup, but it still is live
Mr. Pickles
Footballguy
seeon.tv 
WisWolvrns
Footballguy
Flyin Pigs
Footballguy
Tonight I'll be cancelling the land line phone we have through Comcast. All four of the people in my family (wife and two kids) have cell phones. I'll also be downgrading my cable to basic, which is about 11 bucks a month. Not sure if I'll totally get rid of it down the road, but willing to look into some of the other options in this thread. Keeping the Comcast internet service for now, but looking for cheaper, but comparable speedwise service. With the on demand movies we used to order, but won't anymore, I figure my Comcast bill will be going from an average of 225 down to about 80 with these changes....and more possible down the road.
Dragons
Delusions of Grandeur
My cable company, Optimum Online, is not one of the authorized ESPN3 ISPs. Anyone know a work-around for this?
NutterButter
Footballguy
I just wrote them yesterday asking them for an explanation on why they're not. If I don't get a satisfactory answer, I'll finally be making the switch to Fios.
hotdogcollars
Footballguy
Our journey to the end of cable started today. Just hooked up the roku and am trying to get the wife used to it. It's going to be a major adjustment for sure, and i have no idea how i'll handle live sporting events (NFL, golf majors, Wimbledon). But so far so good, she is out there watching all her fav's and I havent even shown her paid programming on Amazon yet.
Addai's Adidas
Footballguy
Wife and I were talking today. We will never go back, and I haven't even installed the rooftop antenna yet. Even if the money starts coming in again, we won't go back.
goldenchild
Footballguy
Can you send a fax with it as you could with a normal land line?
hotdogcollars
Footballguy
things are not going well. The wife is not happy with the setup, says she spends "more time searching for shows and figuring out what to watch than actually watching it". I've gone through the whole subscribing thing, but to no avail.Also, i've noticed that basically every show i watch is not available through Hulu. Things like Through the Wormhole, Wonders of The Universe, Deadliest Catch, and anything on Food network. Add to that the lack of sports programming and i'm not happy either.Obviously i havent started purchasing episodes or seasons from Amazon, etc. But even then i don't get most Food Network, TDC, TLC, and Science channel stuff.Maybe i'll just go down a tier or two in my cable package and get rid of their digital phone service. Sucks...i really, REALLY hate paying comcast $170/month for this crap
goldenchild
Footballguy
There are a few reviews that have stated that antenna is only for UHF channels. Do you have any issues with getting VHF channels?Also, those same reviews mentioned that they just ordered another antenna for the VHF stations. How do you hook up 2 antennas to the TV? Splitter?
Jobber
Footballguy
Many of the shows we used to watch on DirecTV are not present on Netflix or Hulu. It was an adjustment, but after a few months, we've all but forgotten about those other shows. More and more people are cutting the cable. At some point, CBS, ABC, etc will have no choice but to address their loss of viewership.
Flying Elvis
Footballguy
Love the topic, and plan to pick up reading on page 4 when I have a bit more time. So far, thanks for the tips on lots of products!My plan is to cut the DTV cord when my contract expires in September. Mrs. Elvis and I discussed and decided we simply watch too much tv. While we agree DVR is the most outstanding invention ever, it just makes matters worse b/c we can cram more programs into the same amount of time, rather than freeing up that 20% commercial time on something less couch-potato-ey. The money savings will be nice, as well. My only concern is the pair of MNF games the Pats have b/c she works and I can't just walk up the street to the sports bar w/my son sleeping at home. Getting her to take the night off or getting a baby sitter is still way cheaper than the $112/month I ship out to DTV, though. lolWe've had magicjack for a few years now and love it. Cox high-speed cable (only game in town until recently when Verizon came in-state) makes the line perfectly clear, so I assume the main 'call quality' complaints are provider/speed based issues. We made this move b/c Cox consistently nickle and dimed me into oblivion and my 'basic, no-frills' phone line with caller ID and no long distance (which included half the towns in my state - RI, which is ~50 square miles to begin with 
) climbed from $12 to $32 per month over 3 years. Cell phones made that a ridiculous price to pay for a line that went largely unused.Also, just a note to those asking about lower cost internet: call your ISP and ask about it. Cox never advertised it or mentioned it but they offered 3 tiers of web speed at different prices. They basically play the averages and know that most won't even ask, instead just accepting the top tier at $60 per month for way more up/down speed than they could ever possible use. (Aside: Cox still may not list everything they offer. When I moved from a town in RI that had a competing provider I was forced to pay $29 per month rather than the $19 per month I had been paying. It is possible that they simply screwed up and never corrected my account, though, as I dropped cable first but kept phone/web and then later dropped phone, too. So I'm not sure if there's truly a $19/mo. option of if it was a glitch that kept me at that price for a few years. They do list 3 tiers now, but that is fairly new.)
) climbed from $12 to $32 per month over 3 years. Cell phones made that a ridiculous price to pay for a line that went largely unused.Also, just a note to those asking about lower cost internet: call your ISP and ask about it. Cox never advertised it or mentioned it but they offered 3 tiers of web speed at different prices. They basically play the averages and know that most won't even ask, instead just accepting the top tier at $60 per month for way more up/down speed than they could ever possible use. (Aside: Cox still may not list everything they offer. When I moved from a town in RI that had a competing provider I was forced to pay $29 per month rather than the $19 per month I had been paying. It is possible that they simply screwed up and never corrected my account, though, as I dropped cable first but kept phone/web and then later dropped phone, too. So I'm not sure if there's truly a $19/mo. option of if it was a glitch that kept me at that price for a few years. They do list 3 tiers now, but that is fairly new.)
Flyin Pigs
Footballguy
Could y'all check my math on this - I can get an antenna and something along the lines of Roku. I can hook them both up to the same TV and get local OTA programming as well as whatever I subscribe to via Roku (likely Netflix and Amazon on Demand).Can I DVR through the Roku? I don't think I can - I'd have to get another device to DVR OTA programming, correct?
What do you do about multiple TV's? I'd have to get an antenna and a Roku for each, correct? (Maybe just get an outdoor or attic antenna and connect where my cable comes in? Then can connect to each wall jack?)
Can I connect the TV's for DVR'ing? ie: if I record OTA programming in one room, what would I have to do to watch it on another TV?
Is this where the Home Theater PC's that you guys talk about come in?
Thank in advance.
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hotdogcollars
Footballguy
i'm by no means an expert on this, but i think all the features you're asking about would require an HTPC and a nice home network. Basically a central HTPC that records and stores programming, and then devices at each TV location to access that central HTPC. Way over my head in terms of networking, but i'm interested to hear if you work this out
Dragons
Delusions of Grandeur
This is correct, you either need an HTPC (with a tuner card) or a Tivo.The HTPC would connect directly to one TV and network to other "extenders" to deliver content to them. Those extenders would act similar to Roku boxes. They pass along the signal from the HTPC to the TV in the other room. The HTPC world gives you a few more options (mainly DVR capabilities), but it's not a perfect solution either. For example, if you use Windows Media Center to act as your DVR software, the best "extender" is an Xbox 360. You can watch live TV and access any recorded program with ease, but you need an Xbox Gold subscription to access Netflix (and I think Hulu). There are other DVR software, including stuff built for Linux, but they require a lot more technical savvy to get them working. The most promising 3rd party software, SageTV, was just bought by Google and it's unclear how they'll utilize it.I built an HTPC a couple months ago and will be adding an Xbox in a few weeks. I'll be more knowledgeable about the extender side of things then, but I think I have the HTPC side down fairly well.Another huge advantage to the HTPC is that I have burned my movie collection to the hard drive and can access anything with a few remote control clicks. I also have my pictures and mp3's stored there, so I can play music or watch pictures scroll on the TV as a screensaver.
hotdogcollars
Footballguy
Awesome! So, it can work. I think i could figure out the hardware and software aspects, but definitely not the networking components. How do get all the components "talking" to each other? All i've tried to do was set up a printer on the network so all the PCs in the house could use it. And i managed to screw that up royally.
Dragons
Delusions of Grandeur
When I get the Xbox setup on the network, I will be able to answer this better, but I believe it's fairly straightforward. First of all, make sure you're running Windows 7 on the HTPC. Then you'll assign folders where different media types are stored. You may then have to share those folders to the network (browse to them in Windows Explorer and right click). At this point, anything on your network will be able to see and utilize most of those files (except any files where DRM disallows it).To then set up the Xbox, there are instructions within the settings. You basically need to get a code from the Xbox and put it into Windows Media Center. Using Xbox as an extender allows you to share the tuner to watch live TV, gives you full access to any recorded tv (it bypasses DRM), and allows you to share the program guide (and set and delete recordings).
NutterButter
Footballguy
What tv tuner card are you using? Does it handle HD? The HTPC is definitely the way to go.
Dragons
Delusions of Grandeur
I'm using this tuner card. It can record digital HD broadcasts, either OTA or the basic cable channels on a cable feed.
BINGBING
Footballguy
I'm getting UHF and VHF just fine. The picture is crazy clear.
goldenchild
Footballguy
Sweet! I should be getting my antenna in the mail today
Also, I just got my free phone service set up last night thanks to this thread, an obi110, and google voice.Roku boxes were set up a few days ago as well. Once I figure out the antenna setup, I'll be left with a $29.99/month comcast bill for internet only (25mbps download speed
) for 6 months and then it jumps up to $45/month and stays there... at least it's not the $180/month that I was paying for their triple play service. to this thread.
goldenchild
Footballguy
Onoe last question for you, BingBing...Can you share your procedure with installing and hooking up your antenna? There are a couple of directv dishes mounted on the roof at my house (from previous renters)... I was planning to mount the antenna outside where one of the dishes are/were... and then use the coax cables that are are up there (and they are already run down into the bedrooms).Sweet! I should be getting my antenna in the mail today
Roku boxes were set up a few days ago as well. Once I figure out the antenna setup, I'll be left with a $29.99/month comcast bill for internet only (25mbps download speed
Is it as simple as mounting the antenna and plugging the other end into my TVs? I've got two TVs that will need the signal so, I'm planning to use a splitter.
Is that all there is to it?
TIA.
