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I plugged in to see what I would get. The only channel I got was Nick, and even it came in fuzzy. They have a device on my box in the back yard blocking me from getting cable. For $20 a month, they will take it off, but the only channel I would get in addition to what I get for free that was worth anything to me was TBS... but it's not worth $20 per month.
The game controller doesn't function like a TV remote. Put it in the hands of a five year old trying to watch Curious George and you'll notice the difference. Add a wife into the equation who doesn't need the five year old complaining about one more thing, and you'll see how much better life is with the Tivo.I am confused as to what the learning curve is being that my wife was able to figure it out. I simply hit the WMC button and it goes to the recorded tv and live tv buttons, i click on recorded tv and it brings everything up that we have recorded. You can choose to have it bring it up by recording date, series name etc etc. If I use the Harmony 1 remote all we have to do is hit the recorded tv button and it brings it right up.I do have my antenna split to my wife's computer in the kitchen running Windows 8 with Media Center (Microsoft had a limited time promotion to get it for free). She sometimes watches shows on it, and I've even had it record some shows. I even went so far as to install the media center app on my xBox 360 and view the live and recorded shows.Agree for the most part except for the HTPC set up was a breeze. We record everything off of our antenna into windows media center and it works out great. We have 3tb of storage so that is never an issue. I actually record all of the eagles football games, edit out the commercials and then log the seasonThis is why I went with the Tivo connected to an antenna setup.
This is why I ultimately decided against it (and its more like $600 than $1k). With TV, you click the remote and its on. There's never an issue with choppy video, or internet/wireless problems, or a new firmware update that takes 20 minutes to download/update/reboot. The more devices we keep adding (iphones, ipads, laptops, smart TVs, etc) the worse it gets too. I dont even watch much TV at all, but for the small savings, its just not worth the hassle.
I've got a wife and three kids all under the age of 10. The last thing I wanted to do was troubleshoot any issues they experienced. The Tivo setup is no different than a DVR setup you get from cable or satellite, but instead of recording from the cable or satellite source you are paying for, it records from over the air broadcast which is free. Where I live in Ohio we get 17 stations, but I hear in bigger cities people are getting 40 to 50 channels, all for free.
From the user experience it all functions just like one uses cable or satellite. You click the remote and it's on, including the Tivo's Netflix app. I've never had to troubleshoot anything for the wife and kids. I pay $15 per month for the Tivo and $8 a month for Netflix. That's $23 per month compared to $100+ we were paying per month for DirecTV. It saves us $80 per month, which is nearly $1000 per year. We also have Amazon Prime for $79 per year, but we were already paying for that for free shipping.
Easiest $1000 per year I have ever saved. I don't hesitate to buy MLB.TV for $125 per year now. It's totally worth it in my setup, where as when I was paying $100 per month, paying another $100+ for DirecTV's baseball package just didn't seem right.
I did end up buying a Roku so that the kids could watch Netflix on a second TV while we watch the Tivo. That was easier and cheaper than getting a second Tvio and paying another $13 per month. I sometimes watch a baseball game on it when the wife is watching her stuff on the Tivo.
Not a pain in the ### at all. Pretty easy if you ask me.
If I were to go the hole HTPC setup, I can see that being a pain in the ###, and is not worth it at all for me to just reduce my $23 per month setup.
At this point its not even about the $, its about how easy it is. Any shows we do want to watch that are on cable we either wait until they are on netflix or amazon prime or we purchase the season on Amazon. We save about 1,200 a year and OWN the shows we purchase.
it works, but it's a significant learning curve for my kids to use as opposed the ease of the Tivo.
If its about setting recordings etc. Then I will assume your WMC is not set up fully yet. With WMC you can download a TV Guide Grid exactly like TIVO, Directv or Comcast (but better imo) that is good for up to two weeks. Simply click on a show in the guide, hit the record show, series etc and move on. The WMC guide actually provides far more information than the standard guides do through your local provider.
Ah, my xbox came with a tv like remote which you can use on the pc as wellThe game controller doesn't function like a TV remote. Put it in the hands of a five year old trying to watch Curious George and you'll notice the difference. Add a wife into the equation who doesn't need the five year old complaining about one more thing, and you'll see how much better life is with the Tivo.I am confused as to what the learning curve is being that my wife was able to figure it out. I simply hit the WMC button and it goes to the recorded tv and live tv buttons, i click on recorded tv and it brings everything up that we have recorded. You can choose to have it bring it up by recording date, series name etc etc. If I use the Harmony 1 remote all we have to do is hit the recorded tv button and it brings it right up.I do have my antenna split to my wife's computer in the kitchen running Windows 8 with Media Center (Microsoft had a limited time promotion to get it for free). She sometimes watches shows on it, and I've even had it record some shows. I even went so far as to install the media center app on my xBox 360 and view the live and recorded shows.Agree for the most part except for the HTPC set up was a breeze. We record everything off of our antenna into windows media center and it works out great. We have 3tb of storage so that is never an issue. I actually record all of the eagles football games, edit out the commercials and then log the seasonThis is why I went with the Tivo connected to an antenna setup.
This is why I ultimately decided against it (and its more like $600 than $1k). With TV, you click the remote and its on. There's never an issue with choppy video, or internet/wireless problems, or a new firmware update that takes 20 minutes to download/update/reboot. The more devices we keep adding (iphones, ipads, laptops, smart TVs, etc) the worse it gets too. I dont even watch much TV at all, but for the small savings, its just not worth the hassle.
I've got a wife and three kids all under the age of 10. The last thing I wanted to do was troubleshoot any issues they experienced. The Tivo setup is no different than a DVR setup you get from cable or satellite, but instead of recording from the cable or satellite source you are paying for, it records from over the air broadcast which is free. Where I live in Ohio we get 17 stations, but I hear in bigger cities people are getting 40 to 50 channels, all for free.
From the user experience it all functions just like one uses cable or satellite. You click the remote and it's on, including the Tivo's Netflix app. I've never had to troubleshoot anything for the wife and kids. I pay $15 per month for the Tivo and $8 a month for Netflix. That's $23 per month compared to $100+ we were paying per month for DirecTV. It saves us $80 per month, which is nearly $1000 per year. We also have Amazon Prime for $79 per year, but we were already paying for that for free shipping.
Easiest $1000 per year I have ever saved. I don't hesitate to buy MLB.TV for $125 per year now. It's totally worth it in my setup, where as when I was paying $100 per month, paying another $100+ for DirecTV's baseball package just didn't seem right.
I did end up buying a Roku so that the kids could watch Netflix on a second TV while we watch the Tivo. That was easier and cheaper than getting a second Tvio and paying another $13 per month. I sometimes watch a baseball game on it when the wife is watching her stuff on the Tivo.
Not a pain in the ### at all. Pretty easy if you ask me.
If I were to go the hole HTPC setup, I can see that being a pain in the ###, and is not worth it at all for me to just reduce my $23 per month setup.
At this point its not even about the $, its about how easy it is. Any shows we do want to watch that are on cable we either wait until they are on netflix or amazon prime or we purchase the season on Amazon. We save about 1,200 a year and OWN the shows we purchase.
it works, but it's a significant learning curve for my kids to use as opposed the ease of the Tivo.
If its about setting recordings etc. Then I will assume your WMC is not set up fully yet. With WMC you can download a TV Guide Grid exactly like TIVO, Directv or Comcast (but better imo) that is good for up to two weeks. Simply click on a show in the guide, hit the record show, series etc and move on. The WMC guide actually provides far more information than the standard guides do through your local provider.
Ordered.Ah, my xbox came with a tv like remote which you can use on the pc as wellThe game controller doesn't function like a TV remote. Put it in the hands of a five year old trying to watch Curious George and you'll notice the difference. Add a wife into the equation who doesn't need the five year old complaining about one more thing, and you'll see how much better life is with the Tivo.I am confused as to what the learning curve is being that my wife was able to figure it out. I simply hit the WMC button and it goes to the recorded tv and live tv buttons, i click on recorded tv and it brings everything up that we have recorded. You can choose to have it bring it up by recording date, series name etc etc. If I use the Harmony 1 remote all we have to do is hit the recorded tv button and it brings it right up.I do have my antenna split to my wife's computer in the kitchen running Windows 8 with Media Center (Microsoft had a limited time promotion to get it for free). She sometimes watches shows on it, and I've even had it record some shows. I even went so far as to install the media center app on my xBox 360 and view the live and recorded shows.Agree for the most part except for the HTPC set up was a breeze. We record everything off of our antenna into windows media center and it works out great. We have 3tb of storage so that is never an issue. I actually record all of the eagles football games, edit out the commercials and then log the seasonThis is why I went with the Tivo connected to an antenna setup.
This is why I ultimately decided against it (and its more like $600 than $1k). With TV, you click the remote and its on. There's never an issue with choppy video, or internet/wireless problems, or a new firmware update that takes 20 minutes to download/update/reboot. The more devices we keep adding (iphones, ipads, laptops, smart TVs, etc) the worse it gets too. I dont even watch much TV at all, but for the small savings, its just not worth the hassle.
I've got a wife and three kids all under the age of 10. The last thing I wanted to do was troubleshoot any issues they experienced. The Tivo setup is no different than a DVR setup you get from cable or satellite, but instead of recording from the cable or satellite source you are paying for, it records from over the air broadcast which is free. Where I live in Ohio we get 17 stations, but I hear in bigger cities people are getting 40 to 50 channels, all for free.
From the user experience it all functions just like one uses cable or satellite. You click the remote and it's on, including the Tivo's Netflix app. I've never had to troubleshoot anything for the wife and kids. I pay $15 per month for the Tivo and $8 a month for Netflix. That's $23 per month compared to $100+ we were paying per month for DirecTV. It saves us $80 per month, which is nearly $1000 per year. We also have Amazon Prime for $79 per year, but we were already paying for that for free shipping.
Easiest $1000 per year I have ever saved. I don't hesitate to buy MLB.TV for $125 per year now. It's totally worth it in my setup, where as when I was paying $100 per month, paying another $100+ for DirecTV's baseball package just didn't seem right.
I did end up buying a Roku so that the kids could watch Netflix on a second TV while we watch the Tivo. That was easier and cheaper than getting a second Tvio and paying another $13 per month. I sometimes watch a baseball game on it when the wife is watching her stuff on the Tivo.
Not a pain in the ### at all. Pretty easy if you ask me.
If I were to go the hole HTPC setup, I can see that being a pain in the ###, and is not worth it at all for me to just reduce my $23 per month setup.
At this point its not even about the $, its about how easy it is. Any shows we do want to watch that are on cable we either wait until they are on netflix or amazon prime or we purchase the season on Amazon. We save about 1,200 a year and OWN the shows we purchase.
it works, but it's a significant learning curve for my kids to use as opposed the ease of the Tivo.
If its about setting recordings etc. Then I will assume your WMC is not set up fully yet. With WMC you can download a TV Guide Grid exactly like TIVO, Directv or Comcast (but better imo) that is good for up to two weeks. Simply click on a show in the guide, hit the record show, series etc and move on. The WMC guide actually provides far more information than the standard guides do through your local provider.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=xbox%20windows%20media%20center%20remote
There are also codes available for Harmony universal remotes.Ordered.Ah, my xbox came with a tv like remote which you can use on the pc as wellThe game controller doesn't function like a TV remote. Put it in the hands of a five year old trying to watch Curious George and you'll notice the difference. Add a wife into the equation who doesn't need the five year old complaining about one more thing, and you'll see how much better life is with the Tivo.I am confused as to what the learning curve is being that my wife was able to figure it out. I simply hit the WMC button and it goes to the recorded tv and live tv buttons, i click on recorded tv and it brings everything up that we have recorded. You can choose to have it bring it up by recording date, series name etc etc. If I use the Harmony 1 remote all we have to do is hit the recorded tv button and it brings it right up.I do have my antenna split to my wife's computer in the kitchen running Windows 8 with Media Center (Microsoft had a limited time promotion to get it for free). She sometimes watches shows on it, and I've even had it record some shows. I even went so far as to install the media center app on my xBox 360 and view the live and recorded shows.Agree for the most part except for the HTPC set up was a breeze. We record everything off of our antenna into windows media center and it works out great. We have 3tb of storage so that is never an issue. I actually record all of the eagles football games, edit out the commercials and then log the seasonThis is why I went with the Tivo connected to an antenna setup.
This is why I ultimately decided against it (and its more like $600 than $1k). With TV, you click the remote and its on. There's never an issue with choppy video, or internet/wireless problems, or a new firmware update that takes 20 minutes to download/update/reboot. The more devices we keep adding (iphones, ipads, laptops, smart TVs, etc) the worse it gets too. I dont even watch much TV at all, but for the small savings, its just not worth the hassle.
I've got a wife and three kids all under the age of 10. The last thing I wanted to do was troubleshoot any issues they experienced. The Tivo setup is no different than a DVR setup you get from cable or satellite, but instead of recording from the cable or satellite source you are paying for, it records from over the air broadcast which is free. Where I live in Ohio we get 17 stations, but I hear in bigger cities people are getting 40 to 50 channels, all for free.
From the user experience it all functions just like one uses cable or satellite. You click the remote and it's on, including the Tivo's Netflix app. I've never had to troubleshoot anything for the wife and kids. I pay $15 per month for the Tivo and $8 a month for Netflix. That's $23 per month compared to $100+ we were paying per month for DirecTV. It saves us $80 per month, which is nearly $1000 per year. We also have Amazon Prime for $79 per year, but we were already paying for that for free shipping.
Easiest $1000 per year I have ever saved. I don't hesitate to buy MLB.TV for $125 per year now. It's totally worth it in my setup, where as when I was paying $100 per month, paying another $100+ for DirecTV's baseball package just didn't seem right.
I did end up buying a Roku so that the kids could watch Netflix on a second TV while we watch the Tivo. That was easier and cheaper than getting a second Tvio and paying another $13 per month. I sometimes watch a baseball game on it when the wife is watching her stuff on the Tivo.
Not a pain in the ### at all. Pretty easy if you ask me.
If I were to go the hole HTPC setup, I can see that being a pain in the ###, and is not worth it at all for me to just reduce my $23 per month setup.
At this point its not even about the $, its about how easy it is. Any shows we do want to watch that are on cable we either wait until they are on netflix or amazon prime or we purchase the season on Amazon. We save about 1,200 a year and OWN the shows we purchase.
it works, but it's a significant learning curve for my kids to use as opposed the ease of the Tivo.
If its about setting recordings etc. Then I will assume your WMC is not set up fully yet. With WMC you can download a TV Guide Grid exactly like TIVO, Directv or Comcast (but better imo) that is good for up to two weeks. Simply click on a show in the guide, hit the record show, series etc and move on. The WMC guide actually provides far more information than the standard guides do through your local provider.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=xbox%20windows%20media%20center%20remote
Same as me. Used an antenna until I realized that my cable had antenna-equivalent channels even though I only subscribed to the internet. Score!
The problem for some folks though is after a while they see all the stations they are missing on cable and then with just one simple phone call they turn all of them on. One of the reasons I went with a wireless internet was so I don't feel tempted with cable or DSL lines in my house. I had Comcast originally 3 or 4 years ago and it was $29 for 6 months of internet, then it was like $39 and they always threw an a bunch of basic internet channels and a few HD ones for the local feeds. But then eventually it climbed up to $60+ for the high speed internet alone plus fed tax an surcharges which do not pop up on most wireless internet bills because you are not going thru the cable or phone lines so my bill is $49.99 a month, I get unlimited and unthrottled access plus my wi-fi spot throws out the signal 100 feet so I use it in the house and then when I leave the house I bring the spot with me and I am still using my Android and no data plan so I can stay on it as much as I want. Could do the same with an iPhone, tablet, whatever.
how does one do this? I have comcast internet only and I'd like to have another option.
Where do you live? Wireless is a lot easier in bigger cities/metro areas or within 20-25 miles maybe of a big metro area. 4G towers send the signal.
Just plug your cable directly into your TV and have it scan for digital channels. Assuming your cable isn't encrypted (some are, some aren't) it should pick-up most channels that you have available over the air.
I thought you needed a box even for basic now because they're digital. I assume this wont work for Verizon or other fiber optic. Also, is that hd?Zasada said:
If you have a TV with a digital tuner (pretty much any TV made in the last few years) then you don't need a box. I bought my TV 5 years ago and it works.
You and I have the exact same setup. I've got a Roku 3 and catch the locals over cable. This works for me to watch football on Sundays and the occasional Twins or Wild game. Once in a while I'll watch the news as well. It's been over two years since we cut the cable. We don't miss it too much.peaces said:
I'm about 35 miles north of BostonMinistry of Pain said:
Who's the provider?Ministry of Pain said:
I'm not rolling in doe but I can say that saving a few grand a year isn't worth the inconvenience. And I watch maybe 5 hours of TV a week (maybe about 15 hours a week during football season).Totally disagree. I cut my Comcast bill form $200 a month plus a $50 data plan we had for the phones...now I have a Leaf antenna and the Clear Wireless for $50 a month and we are saving about $2k a year. We are using some of that to go see 1st run movies at the theaters but we like not watching as much TV and then maybe we'll catch up on some shows when they come out on video. Also cuts way back on ads. Even DVR you gotta fast forward thru them.
This is why I ultimately decided against it (and its more like $600 than $1k). With TV, you click the remote and its on. There's never an issue with choppy video, or internet/wireless problems, or a new firmware update that takes 20 minutes to download/update/reboot. The more devices we keep adding (iphones, ipads, laptops, smart TVs, etc) the worse it gets too. I dont even watch much TV at all, but for the small savings, its just not worth the hassle.
I understand and if I were a rich man or just had it to blow I might have some form of cable/dish but honestly we have cut back our TV watching and are planning on doing a lot of other activities coming up.
http://www.clear.com/coverage You can play around with it. Like I said, big metro areas are ideal for this, as you move out in the suburbs, not as good but there are some parts like Lowell and other spots that have service North of Boston.
Are you saying If I have cable and Internet through xfinity I could possibly call and cancel the cable and I may still get cable because they may not be able to cut one while I still have Internet through them? Im sure that it may not be ethical to do this but I think I could find a way to sleep at night. If this were true I would think it would be happening alot and the companies would have found a fix or maybe I am just misunderstanding your post.peaces said:
How so?
so do you have to have a splitter or anything for the cable that goes into your Hi Speed Internet modem??? Is there any degradation of Internet speeds by doing this??
I upgraded to the MajicJack plus this winter after using the MajicJack for two years. It's way better, no Pc required, and absolutely NO glitches.
I'm with you. There is no way around ESPN. I'll have to get cable for the next 4-5 months then hopefully cancel again.
I use the ESPN streaming app on the XBox. I can't watch live sports with it, but pretty much all their news gets streamed to it, and I can set a filter to only get sports and teams I care about.Joe T said:
Just need a friend or family member.Joe T said:
You need a friend or family member with credentials for a watch espn package. Right now those are pretty rare.
As long as they have an account with a provider it should be easy. I am the only person in group that has cut the cord so I have numerous options.
The provider has to have watch access. That's like six of them. Comcast and uverse are the only big hitters right now IMO. Dtv says they don't want it yet.
I hear you. I didn't pony up for three nice flatties to watch crap quality on. That being said- when does it end? My cable bill just went up 25 ####### percent to $208!
If its a free service, its going to be terrible. You need to find something that actually costs a small amount per month. The streaming providers have costs of their own to provide a quality stream. You won't be able to tell the difference if its a good provider. I hook my laptop up to my 55 incher with hdmi if its something I really want to watch on the tv like a ufc event or a dolphins game.
I buy Breaking Bad from Amazon.com. The latest episode is available the day after it airs. It's only $3 to watch it in HD. This final season is only going to cost me $24. That's 2% of a $1200 per year cable/satellite service fee. There'd have to be 50 Breaking Bad type shows to justify getting them through cable/satellite.ETA, an antenna gives you better HD resolution for football than cable or satellite do. They don't have to compress it.
There was for me on Comcast. I downgraded to digital economy and through the cable box they have the ability to limit channels. If you hook up the small black adaptor instead of the box you will still get digital starter channels which includes espn. They can't filter for economy through the adaptor box just basic and starter. (because economy has more channels then basic you wind up getting starter for free because they can't block them) This only works if you started with a digital cable package and downgrade. Have had all the digital starter channels for over a year with no problems but ymmv.Joe T said:
I was using indoor leaf antennas at both of my TVs after cutting the cable and it was just OK with some modulation on NBC...was really more frustrating than it was enjoyable.
My cable bill for 3 boxes just jumped to $208. THATS awful.Sounds awful.And I can't get OTA in my area...
How far are you away from broadcast towers?My cable bill for 3 boxes just jumped to $208. THATS awful.Sounds awful.And I can't get OTA in my area...
