MCguidance
Footballguy
If you can live without the DVR capability, it's very simple. Once you want your own DVR, it becomes more complicated IMO.
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We've cut the cable (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter Addai's Adidas
- Start date
matttyl
Footballguy
You can get DVR capability from a simple computer with a TV tuner (either an internal one or an external one like the HDHomeRun mentioned above) and Windows Media Center, which is included with Windows 7. Not sure how to, or even if you can, incorporate the Roku. I have 2 Roku's myself and would love to know if they have any way to talk to a HDHomeRun or any recordings from WMC.
matttyl
Footballguy
culdeus
Footballguy
Just ignore most of it. Honestly, we need to setup a HTPC power user thread and get the HTPC content out of this thread so we can concentrate on set top boxes, antennas, and how we are spending our savings (hookers or blow).
matttyl
Footballguy
Politician Spock
Footballguy
Tivo is incredibly simple. Plug in the antenna, turn it on, let is scan for channels, and VOILA.... a full functioning DVR with a great on screen guide.
The motivation to go the non-Tivo DVR route is either because of Tivo's $15 a month fee, or the cost of the box. The new Roamio Tivos cost $199 for an antenna enabled version.
If the cost of the Tivo box is the motivation to go the non-Tivo route, then the model just prior to the Roamio, the Premier, has the antenna enabled version on sale right now for $49 until January 31st.
If paying $180 year after year after year after year, and on and on and on... is the motivation to go the non-Tivo route, then just get a lifetime subscription on the box for $500.
$50 for a 2 tuner Premier, and $500 for lifetime subscription is $550. If you add up all the hardware costs, plus time and energy it takes to figure out how to do the non-Tivo route, $550 out the door with ZERO ongoing costs ends up looking like a pretty good deal.
Even if you do end up figuring it all out, you'll save only a couple hundred bucks, and the usability of your DVR will be substandard to the Tivo experience (although I'm sure the build your own geeks with argue with that claim).
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Politician Spock
Footballguy
Given the cable companies are not happy with all the streaming that is occuring on the internet connections they are providing for their customers, I expect them to fight back, and they will probably target the biggest of offenders first.culdeus said:
Thus, I only stream the shows I want to watch that I cannot DVR from a free antenna broadcast. I probably watch 80 to 90% from DVR'd antenna content, and the other 10 to 20% is shows like Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, etc, etc... that are never broadcast OTA.
I really have no way of knowing, but I believe it is keeping my internet bandwidth usage off the radar compared to the rest of you cord cutters.
culdeus
Footballguy
BlueDredSo
Footballguy
This is pretty much what I was looking for. Sounds simple enough and although it may be expensive at first the cost savings will add up quickly.Politician Spock said:
I didn't really think the whole DVR-Roku thing through, haha. I guess it wouldn't really make sense since all of that is streaming on demand. Most of the shows I DVR are on the network OTA channels anyway. I'll be paying close attention to this thread in the coming months, but right now Roku + antenna + TiVO seems to be the way to go for simplicity and functionality.
The only other thing I'm worried about now is hooking up multiple TV's. I know the Roku works best when hard-wired into a router. No problem as I can move the router right next to our main TV. It should also work fine with wireless, especially with the powerful FiOS wireless router. The antenna may be a different issue. I've seen these cable guys run wires through my house and it doesn't look fun.
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Politician Spock
Footballguy
Tivo Mini's are the easist ways to do DVR shows to multiple TV's without running cable connected to antenna throughout the house. They can work receive shows from the Tivo box over wireless.
There are two issues with the Mini's for cord cutters though.
First, to watch live TV with a mini, the Tivo has to have four tuners. The only Premier model that works with antenna only has two tuners. So to do Mini's you would have to get the Roamio that works with antennna and comes with 4 tuners.
Second, each Mini is $99, and either $6 per month, or $150 for lifetime service.
So each additional TV could cost you $250... but that's a lot cheaper than getting multiple DVRs and running antenna to each TV.
matttyl
Footballguy
None_More_Black
Footballguy
Just called Comcast to cancel my cable TV and got the package below for 39.99 a month no contract for 12 months. Seems pretty sweet. Not sure how much is on Streampix, but still a nice deal. May not be available in all areas. Heard the promotion end 1/31/14.
Comcast is testing an offering called Internet Plus, which gives you broadcast TV, video-on-demand, HBO and HBO Go, access to Streampix (Comcast's version of Netflix), and 25Mbps broadband for $40 or $50 a month, depending on what market you're in. It's worth noting that the price goes up to $70 and $80 after a year. The one thing you're missing is live sports on ESPN and TNT, and ESPN a la carte would probably cost at least another $10 a month, were it ever to exist. But with Internet Plus, you still get all the big network TV games without having to deal with an antenna. Regardless, this is still a pretty sweet deal. Especially because winter is coming.
Comcast is testing an offering called Internet Plus, which gives you broadcast TV, video-on-demand, HBO and HBO Go, access to Streampix (Comcast's version of Netflix), and 25Mbps broadband for $40 or $50 a month, depending on what market you're in. It's worth noting that the price goes up to $70 and $80 after a year. The one thing you're missing is live sports on ESPN and TNT, and ESPN a la carte would probably cost at least another $10 a month, were it ever to exist. But with Internet Plus, you still get all the big network TV games without having to deal with an antenna. Regardless, this is still a pretty sweet deal. Especially because winter is coming.
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
Great info, sounds like the cable companies will come up with a way to get some of these customers back. I would be tempted if I could get all that plus say ESPN or some other sports channels like SUN/Fox Sports for Heat games for another $10-$20 a month, I would be interested.
But that said my family has no issues with 45Mbps U-Verse, Leaf, Netflix…this seems to be working for us. I wish I could VR some of the shows during the week I miss plus I could skip the commercials. Surprised people are questioning what you would VR with no cable. Lots of things on ABC/NBC/Fox/PBS and several others we get like MeTV, could record some of these oldies and cut out the commercials and watch them inside of 20 minutes. Seinfeld is on every night at 10 and I never get to see it because we are doing other things, wish I could tape that hour every night and then watch it later like around midnight when there is nothing on TV.
Love the thread, appreciate folks bringing the info.
Zasada
Footballguy
Well, you do have to install drivers on a PC/Mac in order to get it set up, but you have to do that with an internal card as well.
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The Indestructible
Footballguy
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
Helped 2 different families cut the cable in the past 2 weeks, both were guests in my house and watching some of the playoffs on TV and I was asked every time who my cable provider was and I showed them the Leaf HD antenna and they didn't believe me. I knew I was getting a great picture but people are asking to come to my house to watch the Super Bowl, what a frack'n joke.
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
I also think TV manufacturers would be wise to include a Leaf with the TVs. One of them needs to make a partnership so more people know they can still get basic TV without having to sign up for cable.
culdeus
Footballguy
You guys sure had better luck with the leaf than I did.
In the end a DB4 antenna was basically the same cost to me with the same effect. I can see how it could be a PITA to implement in certain situations however.
For MLBtv this year I am going to run a DNS unblocker on my WDLiveTV. I do not want to run it on my roku as that requires doing a DNS unblocker on the router and that exposes all my internet traffic. My traffic on my WDLIVE is of little concern to me.
In the past I did a whole house VPN, but that seems overkill now and I had some periodic issues with it.
I just wish HBOGO would come to a set top box other than appletv. I wonder if I can chromecast HBOGO from my laptop and have decent enough resolution?
In the end a DB4 antenna was basically the same cost to me with the same effect. I can see how it could be a PITA to implement in certain situations however.
For MLBtv this year I am going to run a DNS unblocker on my WDLiveTV. I do not want to run it on my roku as that requires doing a DNS unblocker on the router and that exposes all my internet traffic. My traffic on my WDLIVE is of little concern to me.
In the past I did a whole house VPN, but that seems overkill now and I had some periodic issues with it.
I just wish HBOGO would come to a set top box other than appletv. I wonder if I can chromecast HBOGO from my laptop and have decent enough resolution?
seahawk 17
Footballguy
I am on week two of no cable. Bought the Roku 2 and a RCA HD indoor antenna. Works great.
17seconds
root of all aliai
I think I just had the final straw with Cox. They raised their rates across the board. I'm now paying $175/mo for internet + cable on 1 TV with HD and DVR, no premium channels. What a ####### ripoff.
The internet (which is great at 28Mbps) is $65 of that. I can't believe the $110 for TV.
First step will be to get a Leaf Ultimate. NBC HD is 50mi from me so hopefully it works.
The internet (which is great at 28Mbps) is $65 of that. I can't believe the $110 for TV.
First step will be to get a Leaf Ultimate. NBC HD is 50mi from me so hopefully it works.
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Tick
Footballguy
Mister CIA
Footballguy
There's a downside to residing in MS, but man I am looking forward to this happening in my hood within the next few months:
http://www.cspire.com/fiberhome/
Without any packaged deals (cell phone, TV) it will run me $80 per month. I think it drops to $70 month with a phone plan.
http://www.cspire.com/fiberhome/
Without any packaged deals (cell phone, TV) it will run me $80 per month. I think it drops to $70 month with a phone plan.
seahawk 17
Footballguy
I don't want to sound weird, but telling the cable company to pound sand, and then get free TV...has been so liberating.
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MCguidance
Footballguy
After a few weeks of no cable, I will NEVER go back. I've not missed ESPN at all, which is what I thought I'd miss most. Liberating. Plus the better half loves it.
17seconds
root of all aliai
bigmarc27
Footballguy
The first two weeks is the toughest - after that you don't miss it.
We're on year 3 now and have no desire to go back. Whenever we're in hotels, it actually makes us realize how much crap is on TV and wish we had access to netflix. I admittedly "cheat" a bit and use a family password to stream ESPN through my XBOx and Apple TV but I only use it for games (haven't watched sports center in 5 years).
culdeus
Footballguy
Politician Spock
Footballguy
With a clear line of sight over that 50 miles, it could. You'll probably find that only a few specific places on your wall work in getting the NBC signal, whereas the rest of the wall may not get it at all.
If there are mountains between you and NBC, you'll probably need a directional antenna in your attic or on your roof.
Politician Spock
Footballguy
bigmarc27
Footballguy
Explain because what I use is an ATT Uverse pw. They have their account, I login to ESPN go or whatever it's called through the Apple TV and it's done.
culdeus
Footballguy
If you have uverse pw on a non uverse provider then you are fine. What isn't fine is being on a uverse isp header and not having the local certs to make it work.
Can you watch live sportscenter? That will tell you if you are full rights. They have different tiers of access btw so some people think they are all set when in fact they can just get replays and highlights.
Cut the Comcast cable last year, but kept the internet through them (cancelled the phone through them long time ago). A few weeks they offerred me a deal...for two bucks less, I could get increased internet speed, an abbreviated cable line up that inculdes HBO and a few other decent channels (missing a few good ones like spike, espn, etc) and some thing that is like their version of netflix...it kind of blows but whatever. They said the price was good for a year and then the 2nd year it would bump up 20 bucks for the next year. Can cancel anytime with no penalty. It actually ended up 8 bucks more than I had before cause I had to get the HD box. Worth it IMO, for me, just for True Dec, GoT. I'll see if I want to keep after year 1 and then after year 2 if I gets that far. No problem cutting the cable again if it come to it though. I know I won't miss it.
Rick James
Footballguy
17seconds
root of all aliai
17seconds
root of all aliai
I'm in a valley area so it's not good. I will, however, be able to put the antenna on a window about 9ft high. There's a long window to the right of the TV with blinds that we never open.
EDIT: hmmm.. the antenna sites tell me 50 miles but when I use the lat/long of my address and the broadcast tower and do a straight line distance calc it comes up 35 miles.
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Politician Spock
Footballguy
Is the window aimed at the NBC tower? If not, a wall that is will work better. And higher up is better as you already know.
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culdeus
Footballguy
Meh, not really. I can do it on mlb.tv if I was so inclined. Never felt the need to otherwise.
17seconds
root of all aliai
Window faces east, NBC is S/SE - probably 70deg off axis of the window. There's another window that faces it more but we do open the blinds on that one.Politician Spock said:
Best option would be to run the coax all the way upstairs - I could put it on a high window facing it but that would be quite a task.
Al Czervik
Footballguy
Just finished reading through all 18 pages of this thread. Unfortunately, I think this is going to cost me more money in the near term. Thinking about adding a Roku and getting Amazon Prime + Netflix. Need Amazon Prime as my daughter can not do without Nickelodeon shows (plus we buy enough from Amazon that the free shipping will be nice). Netflix will then cover the Disney shows.
Hopefully after a while, I can see if usage patterns change and consider cutting cable (though my biggest problem with that right now is sports like everyone else... in particular my local Fox Sports Detroit).
Time to set a SlickDeals alert for Roku.
Hopefully after a while, I can see if usage patterns change and consider cutting cable (though my biggest problem with that right now is sports like everyone else... in particular my local Fox Sports Detroit).
Time to set a SlickDeals alert for Roku.
culdeus
Footballguy
Are you willing to do a DNS unblock at a rate of about $5/month for fox sports? That's the easy way. To do this with roku is possible, but not nearly as easy as WDLIVE systems.
Al Czervik
Footballguy
culdeus
Footballguy
For Roku make sure you don't activate it until you read the step by steps. Roku has some special handling criteria.
unblock . us is the most well known unblocker. There are many others.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
My current set up:
DirecTV (HD DVR in my living room, HD receivers in the other two), Samsung BluRay HTIB with Netflix et al apps, Roku, Chromecaster, Amazon Prime account, Netflix account
I have issues on a couple of different fronts:
1. The problem with the Blu Ray is that it has zero HDMI inputs (one output). So I have to run the Roku directly to the TV, which means I get no sound thru HT system; only sound I DO get is plugging headphones into the Roku remote. I haven't done anything with the Chromecast other than set it up yet, but that also has to plug directly into the TV because again no HDMI ports on the BR. I've been looking at replacing the BR with something that will accept all of my devices so I can have my sound play through my HT speakers, play BR discs, and also accept an OTA TV antenna. The problem is I'm having a hell of a time trying to find such a device, probably because I don't know what I'm doing. It seems, in my futile searches, I'm looking at EITHER a BR player or an audio receiver - not a combined unit like I have now.
TL;DR - I want a BR/HT player with multiple HDMI ports.
Is there such an animal? Can I get a link to start looking?
If I found one that wouldn't accept an antenna cable, do I need a digital set top box?
2. I live in the Shenandoah Valley in VA, about 80 miles west of DC with 2 mountain ridges in between. I bought a Leaf ($50 or so) antenna just for the hell of it to see what I could pick up. When I plugged in and scanned I got 5 channels - all local PBS and one that I think was a home shopping channel. At this point, I was just holding the Leaf in my hand and trying different directions. I was able to pick up one of the DC channels, but the color was going in & out and there was snowy reception. This was in my office - southeast corner of my house. I then tried the same in my bedroom (NE corner). I got all of the same channels as before but the DC came in a little better (stayed color but still snowy), plus one other DC. I'm not sure where to go from here. Buying an expensive rooftop antenna without know if it'll work very well seems kind of dumb, but how will I know if it'll work - or work better than the Leaf - if I don't take the plunge? I've gone to that website that you plug in your zip and it tells you what channels you're supposed to get, but it didn't turn out to be very accurate - probably because of the mountains.
TL;DR - I live far away from a major city and don't know how to go about determining what type of OTA antenna would work best without expensive trial and error.
Anyone here have a similar issue? I think it's the terrain more than the distance that's the problem.
DirecTV (HD DVR in my living room, HD receivers in the other two), Samsung BluRay HTIB with Netflix et al apps, Roku, Chromecaster, Amazon Prime account, Netflix account
I have issues on a couple of different fronts:
1. The problem with the Blu Ray is that it has zero HDMI inputs (one output). So I have to run the Roku directly to the TV, which means I get no sound thru HT system; only sound I DO get is plugging headphones into the Roku remote. I haven't done anything with the Chromecast other than set it up yet, but that also has to plug directly into the TV because again no HDMI ports on the BR. I've been looking at replacing the BR with something that will accept all of my devices so I can have my sound play through my HT speakers, play BR discs, and also accept an OTA TV antenna. The problem is I'm having a hell of a time trying to find such a device, probably because I don't know what I'm doing. It seems, in my futile searches, I'm looking at EITHER a BR player or an audio receiver - not a combined unit like I have now.
TL;DR - I want a BR/HT player with multiple HDMI ports.
Is there such an animal? Can I get a link to start looking?
If I found one that wouldn't accept an antenna cable, do I need a digital set top box?
2. I live in the Shenandoah Valley in VA, about 80 miles west of DC with 2 mountain ridges in between. I bought a Leaf ($50 or so) antenna just for the hell of it to see what I could pick up. When I plugged in and scanned I got 5 channels - all local PBS and one that I think was a home shopping channel. At this point, I was just holding the Leaf in my hand and trying different directions. I was able to pick up one of the DC channels, but the color was going in & out and there was snowy reception. This was in my office - southeast corner of my house. I then tried the same in my bedroom (NE corner). I got all of the same channels as before but the DC came in a little better (stayed color but still snowy), plus one other DC. I'm not sure where to go from here. Buying an expensive rooftop antenna without know if it'll work very well seems kind of dumb, but how will I know if it'll work - or work better than the Leaf - if I don't take the plunge? I've gone to that website that you plug in your zip and it tells you what channels you're supposed to get, but it didn't turn out to be very accurate - probably because of the mountains.
TL;DR - I live far away from a major city and don't know how to go about determining what type of OTA antenna would work best without expensive trial and error.
Anyone here have a similar issue? I think it's the terrain more than the distance that's the problem.
Zasada
Footballguy
What you really want is a home theatre receiver. It will give you much more flexibility in the future to add/remove devices. It will also give you the ability to add a 5.1 or 7.1 speaker setup, which is a HUGE improvement over your TV speakers.
That said, you don't have to do any of that now except get more HDMI inputs. And it doesn't have to be expensive:
Onkyo TX-SR313 5.1 Receiver with 4 HDMI inputs for $199
If you're willing to watch Slickdeals for a few weeks you'll probably find a better model for a similar price. But the above is a great entry into the home theatre market.
A combo BD/Receiver is just going to keep you tied to both in the future. What if you want to upgrade the BD player in the future? Or the receiver? Better to go modular and scalable.
My two cents.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
Thanks. So keep my existing Blue Ray and add a receiver? Then all I need to do is switch my existing HT speakers from the Blu Ray to the receiver and run the Blu Ray (& everything else - Roku, etc..) through the receiver - right?
culdeus
Footballguy
For your OTA question.
Doesn't look good
http://www.antennaweb.org/Stations.aspx?Address=&City=Shenandoah&State=VA&ZIP=22849&Housing=S&Accuracy=4&Height=6&Obstructed=False&StationList=&Lat=38.5376951&Lon=-78.6341996
edit,
just to show you what a mine looks like
http://www.antennaweb.org/Stations.aspx?Address=&City=Richardson&State=TX&ZIP=&Housing=S&Accuracy=4&Height=6&Obstructed=False&StationList=&Lat=32.9481789&Lon=-96.7297205
Doesn't look good
http://www.antennaweb.org/Stations.aspx?Address=&City=Shenandoah&State=VA&ZIP=22849&Housing=S&Accuracy=4&Height=6&Obstructed=False&StationList=&Lat=38.5376951&Lon=-78.6341996
edit,
just to show you what a mine looks like
http://www.antennaweb.org/Stations.aspx?Address=&City=Richardson&State=TX&ZIP=&Housing=S&Accuracy=4&Height=6&Obstructed=False&StationList=&Lat=32.9481789&Lon=-96.7297205
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