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Making the Switch -- Cutting off the Cable Company
MagicPrime
FiresideWizardRegistered User regular
FiresideWizardRegistered User regular
So, I think my wife and I are going to try to cancel our cable. We will, of course, be keeping our high-speed internet but TV is gone.
I have a good PC from around 2007-2008 that I am going to be refurbishing to be our new media-center PC on our big-screen HDTV upstairs. We already have a subscription to netflix streaming.
Has anyone else ventured down this path? If so -- how was your experience and are you still without cable?
Questions I have:
If we opt to get an attic hi-gain antenna and hook it up to the existing co-ax cable running throughout our house will that essentially give all our TVs access to that antenna?
We have 2 HDTVs with digital receivers in them, so for those we would just hook the cable directly in?
Our other 2 TVs without digital receivers we would have to get top boxes for them?
I have a good PC from around 2007-2008 that I am going to be refurbishing to be our new media-center PC on our big-screen HDTV upstairs. We already have a subscription to netflix streaming.
Has anyone else ventured down this path? If so -- how was your experience and are you still without cable?
Questions I have:
If we opt to get an attic hi-gain antenna and hook it up to the existing co-ax cable running throughout our house will that essentially give all our TVs access to that antenna?
We have 2 HDTVs with digital receivers in them, so for those we would just hook the cable directly in?
Our other 2 TVs without digital receivers we would have to get top boxes for them?
BNet • magicprime#1430 | PSN/Steam • MagicPrime | Origin • FireSideWizard
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
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I went without cable for years and only have it now to get local channels that simply don't come in well with the antenna. I watch very little network TV. I use my Playstation 3 upstairs as our media center. Between Vudu movies we rent (new release), Netflix streaming, and using Playon.tv to get Hulu, TBS, TNT, and ESPN 3 to the PS3, it was a pretty easy transition. You just have to be willing to wait to see shows (Hulu is a week behind for many shows). I find it forces me to give shows that I would not otherwise bothered to watch and we've found some decent shows that both I and my significant other like.
1) keeping up with current shows will be pretty frustrating. Almost no one gives decent information on what content will be available online, or when it will be available. Also often times they will be dicks about it, like showing the first two episodes a week after the air date, and then postponing the rest of the episodes to a month after the air date. Maybe you'll luck out and all of your shows will be relatively easy to get, but be prepared for some frustration.
On the other hand, if you like to watch a lot of older stuff so that you can watch a whole season in a row, or if you don't really care about consistent scheduling, it works out pretty great for a lot less money.
2) To get the most content it would be best to switch to a more robust controlling device. Like a keyboard and mouse, or some sort of qwerty remote. You can do all sorts of neat things to get regular remote to work with a HTPC, but the bottom line is there will always be some stuff that will just be easier to get to with a browser, using a regular keyboard/mouse. I do a little of both with things like WMC/hulu desktop/netflix controlled by the regular remote (with some help from event ghost), but I also have a wireless keyboard/mouse ready for when I just want to hit up usanetwork.com for some shows.
3) I haven't actually tried the antenna route, but my research seems to indicate that depending on where you live, you may or may not get all the channels that are broadcast.
4) There are lots of programs available to organize your media and improve your online tv experience. The main contenders that I've heard of are Windows Media Center (WMC), Boxee, and Xbox Media Center (XBMC, which ironically doesn't support the xbox anymore). I've been using WMC and I'm pretty happy with it. It can integrate hulu desktop, and netflix; it can play dvd's natively, and integrates with TMT 5 for bluray playback; and it has tv playing/recording functionality built in, if you have a tv tuner card.
From what I've read people have made nice Media PCs with a lot less to work with. A tv tuner card might be a good idea.
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
Satans..... hints.....
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)