Eliminating the cable bill

BigPopov

BigPopov

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Been tinkering with an old PC on setting up a multimedia system for my primary TV.

I stopped paying for cable a couple months ago, I didn't see the purchase in a $80 monthly charge for someone who really only watched maybe an hour or two a week TV.

Before I go further, here's my current setup;

46" Samsung TV
old Compaq PC (dual core AMD 3600, 3GB RAM)
Bluetooth mouse, on-screen keyboard

I have my HTPC networked to my primary computer's HD, which is what holds all the files (plenty of space). I bought a ATI HD 4350 ($20-$30) because the HTPC couldn't play 1080 without stuttering so I offloaded it to the new video card.

I don't have any problems with movies. Between various movie sites, Netflix streaming, I've got that down. Having a close Redbox is pretty nice too.

What do some of you CAGers do to fulfill your television show gap? This would primarily be for the rare case I want to watch a live/almost live show, or for guests.

I have an antenna for broadcast, and I tried the "Digital TV for PC 2" program which wasn't very good.

Commercials / advertisements don't bother me if there's some easy to use program/website for decent live TV coverage. Any suggestions?

(if someone wants me to go further into setup/specific questions a HTPC ask away)
 
Hulu and netflix streaming for TV shows...and other places for tv shows that aren't on there. as for live coverage, I imagine CNN, BBC, etc. all have streams going on.

I haven't paid for cable in years. There's just no reason to have it anymore (I don't watch sports, so I imagine that simplifies things...but then again there's that MLB channel on the PS3.)
 
Cable just really isn't all that necessary anymore for a lot of people. Even legally you can get pretty much everything online. I wouldn't pay for cable, but it's included in my rent.

For me I watch most things on Hulu with a little Netflix and a few shows on their own channel's website. My computer is near my dinner table so I watch a lot on there. Netflix is easily done on the 360 on the TV. If I could get hulu on a console for free then I'd do that, but I don't think it would be worth it for me to set up an HTPC (and if I was going to I think I'd just buy a mac mini).
 
My love of Sports keeps me from ditching cable/satellite. Tried for a while, but I spend more hitting sports bars to watch my teams play.

There's more sports online now, but a lot of it is pretty poor quality feeds on Justin.tv or channelsurfing.net. ESPN3 is good, but too much stuff is on the networks, TNT etc.

I like the convenience of DVRing shows as well. Streaming online is fine, but I don't like watching on my laptop, and my Sony Rear Projection HDTV doesn't have a computer input (and the lapto has no other video outs as it's thinkpad, and not a multimedia set up).
 
I still have cable because I like sports, and it's just more convenient that Hulu for this, netflix for that, stream this, download that, etc.

Plus even if I did all that, I'd have to teach my wife how to do all that.

And my cable company is also my internet and telephone provider. I call them every year and claim hardship to get another years discount on their 'triple play' services.

But I'm happy for anyone who can lose their cable or satellite tv provider. More savings for you!
 
If it wasnt for my kids I would not have a tv service provider.

I download all my television online and watch via my xbox or ps3. Most shows are up 15-20 minutes after airing and all the commercials are already cut out.
 
[quote name='Puffa469']I still have cable because I like sports, and it's just more convenient that Hulu for this, netflix for that, stream this, download that, etc.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, there's definitely something to be said for the convenience factor--as long as you get a good deal of course.

I've been paying just under $70 after taxes etc. for Digital cable with HD, HBO and HD-DVR paired with 12 mbps internet from comcast.

Moving next week to a place that has "free" internet (included in the condo fees the owner pays--so factored into my rent) so I'll probably go with DirecTV. Flyer I got has a deal for $30 a month for a year of the standard pack with all the HD channels and a DVR.

I'd say I'm good to pay anything under $60 or so for the convenience, especially since I don't have an easy way to hook up a PC to my TV as noted, and I had a hard time getting the streaming through 360 thing to work. I'm not very tech savvy with networking crap.
 
I have a 10 yr old desktop setup as a Dual DVR with Vista MCE (eat ur heart out Tivo). It records anything on tv and automatically cuts out the commercials. If I ever get to it I'll be setting up remote computer and remote scheduling. Other wise I'll d/l the other tv shows I can't get.
 
[quote name='Malik112099']If it wasnt for my kids I would not have a tv service provider.

[/QUOTE]

Funny, one of the reasons I got rid of cable was so I could better monitor what my children would be watching. Plus with no digital convertor/old fashioned TV antenna in my area, all they can watch on TV is snow.

I watch shows online via sites like Hulu or through internet downloads. I also work at a public library that allows me to borrow DVDs for free.
 
[quote name='Spacepest']Funny, one of the reasons I got rid of cable was so I could better monitor what my children would be watching. Plus with no digital convertor/old fashioned TV antenna in my area, all they can watch on TV is snow.

I watch shows online via sites like Hulu or through internet downloads. I also work at a public library that allows me to borrow DVDs for free.[/QUOTE]


My kids are still too young to work the remote (Harmony 1) and the only times they watch tv right now we are in the room with them

I just set up netflix for my father in law on the 360 he just bought and I never realized just how much shit you could stream instantly through it. It makes me want to cancel my cable and just pay the $9 a month (or whatever it is) for netflix.
 
Sports are totally the kicker for me. It is basically all I watch on TV. Hopefully this new ESPN/MS partnership will yield good results. If so; I could be getting rid of my cable services.
 
We have Direct, but we barely watch it. My Dad watches Book Reviews and politics on CSPAN and mom watches Food Network and that's it.

When I move out again, I'm just going to use a converter box antenna and netflix. That's all I need.

All I watch is:
60 minutes
The TV News
Survivor

I'm too lazy and stupid to do all that networking crap.
 
Watching hockey (Penguins!) is all I care about, so I just hit up one of the many fine establishments of live streams. Crappy quality, but gets the job done.
 
You could always buy a slingbox and set it up at a friend's/family member's house that has cable. My friend has one he used to watch TV whenever he's stuck at his desk and working on databases.

http://www.slingmedia.com/

Its been relatively convenient and you'll have all the channels they do.
 
I could never get rid of my cable service because of sports. As for TV, I just got to EZTV and DL seasons at a time. It's way more satisfying than having to wait a week or more between episodes. I still watch a good amount with my DVR but I'm trying to move away from that. I'm on episode 18/22 of last season's Bones and I just started it last week. 2 weeks ago we plowed through all of last season's Grey's Anatomy.
 
I currently do not have a cable subscription. I stream television on my PS3 and I download TV shows (seasons and regular tv) and movies. It really is great. I never realized how much money you can save without cable television plus the one show I do watch G4 basically has clips and reviews online so I do not care too much for it on television.

My parents have television so if I want to watch a show I can watch it live. Other than that, I do not have cable/satellite in my room. I actually watch shows anytime I want and the fact is that I can wait usually even if a show I want to watch comes online to download 20 to 30 minutes after it has aired.
 
I don't watch sports at all, but I can't imagine ever getting rid of cable. I can't stand watching TV shows on my computer, and I don't have a way to hook my computer up to a tv anyway. To each their own, I suppose.
 
Unless it's physically in a different room, there's a way to hook it up to the TV.

Almost all TVs have VGA inputs nowadays (you can also get VGA -> HDMI). DVI is HDMI w/ a different end, you can get a converter piece for like $3. Even if you have a really old TV with only VGA or S-Video you can get cheap video cards that support those outputs (but then hooking it up to that TV probably wouldn't be a very good idea)

I just used an old PC myself it worked out great.
 
Yeah, it's easy with a PC, can be trickier with only a laptop. My TV doesn't have a VGA input (even being only 2-3 years old), and my laptop only has VGA out and the video card in it won't work with a VGA to HDMI etc. type cable so I'd have to get a converter box thing that costs more and gets mixed reviews.

Just not worth it to me since I need cable/satellite for sports anyway. But with a home theater PC it's easier since you can just put in a cheap video card with the output type you need as you note.
 
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[quote name='BigPopov']Unless it's physically in a different room, there's a way to hook it up to the TV.

Almost all TVs have VGA inputs nowadays (you can also get VGA -> HDMI). DVI is HDMI w/ a different end, you can get a converter piece for like $3. Even if you have a really old TV with only VGA or S-Video you can get cheap video cards that support those outputs (but then hooking it up to that TV probably wouldn't be a very good idea)

I just used an old PC myself it worked out great.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, my computer is in a different room. Also, I just don't know that it's worth the hassle just to watch hulu on my 27" SD TV (Yeah, that's right, I don't have an HD tv.). Might consider it if I ever get a new TV.
 
Yeah I tried a home setup a couple years ago when I had a SDTV w/ s-video and it wasn't worth the effort for all the things that can go/display wrong, and the low picture quality it produces.
 
I also was recently inspired to get rid of cable. My old bill of $120 for cable/internet/phone/DVR/HD has been cut to $40 for just internet and phone. I recently set up an antenna in the attic and I pull in perfect HD signal from the nearby broadcast towers (I'm less than 10 miles from the major 4). I have an HDMI-DVI cable for my laptop if I want to watch Hulu or anything from Comedy Central's website on the big screen. Been watching things on Netflix streaming and through the portable HD hooked up to the 360 as well. So far my gf and I have been managing just fine without cable.
 
I use Netflix + a Tivo HD XL (plus my older Series 2 Tivo, so I actually have three tuners!)

Canceled cable a year ago and I'm happy. (I would have stuck with basic cable had Comcast given me the cable cards for the $3/month they're supposed to, instead of trying to gouge me for $16/month on top of the cable bill...not even sure that's legal. Works out anyway since broadcast is higher quality than cable/satellite.)

I've been interested in a PC with a bunch of tuners. There's actually Tivo software available for Windows, that I guess actually works (although I worry a bit about whether it would be kept updated), for if the Windows DVR software doesn't work well. But for now I'm really happy with my Tivos (plus they use less power than a PC which is nice).

My only real complaint is I would LOVE if Tivo would do dual, user accessible drive bays that can be set for RAID 1, and if one drive dies you could just pull it out and slap another in. Technically people do replace drives all the time on these things, but you have to crack them open and fiddle with the software a bit, plus it's not RAID. My Tivos are what I worry about most in a thunder storm :lol:
 
[quote name='2DMention']Does a DVR have a subscription cost every month? How does that work?[/QUOTE]

Depends on the kind. Cable/satellite companies have HORRIBLE broken ones that they charge you a ridiculous fee for. Some of the software packages you can buy require a subscription for the data (because that's not free). Microsoft pays for the data, so their DVR software on Windows is free after the cost of the hardware and software (I haven't personally used it, though at worst it's a million times better than cable/satellite DVRs). And Tivo you can either pay a monthly fee, or buy lifetime service (which is what I did for both of my Tivos) so that you're just paying up front. They took lifetime away for a while, but thankfully brought it back.
 
[quote name='2DMention']Does a DVR have a subscription cost every month? How does that work?[/QUOTE]

If it's from your cable provider or TiVO, yes. FIOS around here was $5 for a digital adaptor, like $15 for a HD adaptor and $20 a month for a HD DVR. Per month. Per TV. Which really jacks up the price.

If you get a TV tuner on your PC it's free. Windows Media Center has a pretty good built in tuner recording software with Windows. There's more comprehensive PC solutions out there but for ease of setup & use WMC is very good.
 
[quote name='jughead']Sports are totally the kicker for me. It is basically all I watch on TV. Hopefully this new ESPN/MS partnership will yield good results. If so; I could be getting rid of my cable services.[/QUOTE]

If you've got Comcast or one of the other services that will work with the ESPN/MS deal then you can pick up ESPN3 already. If you've got a laptop or desktop hooked to your TV, streaming football/baseball/hockey/basketball/racing all seem to be relatively available if you don't mind subscribing to the service.

For me, I think I'll shell out for Hulu +. Cable has been ditched and I'm missing the newer stuff that Netflix streaming isn't covering (but I don't want to go through the trouble of acquiring using other means).
 
I wish stuff like Hulu let you download rather than stream stuff-I mean DRM it up so it's functionally equivalent from that perspective, but streaming stucks, I don't want to pay 3x for the bandwidth to do it better (where it still sucks) and then I can only watch at home, and I need to be able to watch everywhere.
 
[quote name='2DMention']Does a DVR have a subscription cost every month? How does that work?[/QUOTE]

Yep, as other's mentioned most of them have a fee--be it monthly or a lifetime option.

I just signed up for DirecTV at my new place, it's $7 a month extra for HD-DVR service. At least I got the HD channels free for life for doing auto bill pay ($10 a month extra other wise).

So my bill is $41.99 a month for first year, $70.99 after that. I can live with that since I watch a ton of TV and sports and prefer convenience over saving what's not a lot of money per month to me anyway.

[quote name='furyk']If you've got Comcast or one of the other services that will work with the ESPN/MS deal then you can pick up ESPN3 already. If you've got a laptop or desktop hooked to your TV, streaming football/baseball/hockey/basketball/racing all seem to be relatively available if you don't mind subscribing to the service.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I'm going to miss that soon. Place I moved into has DirecPath internet provided by the condo fees. Works great, but they don't have access to ESPN3 currently.

ESPN3 is great, but still not enough for a sports buff. You get all/most of the stuff on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU/ABC, as well as most of the games that ESPN has on their pay per view college football and basketball packages. Which was my main use as it saved me buying the pay per view packages to catch my college teams football and basketball games since I live out of the area now.

But ESPN3 on it's own isn't enough for a sports buff as you miss out on stuff from Fox Sports, TBS, TNT, etc., and the other networks (though you could probably get the networks over the air).
 
This is a great thread- lots of great ideas. Does anyone know anything about fancast.com - it's a good site that I watch sometimes, but I wonder if I did not have Comcast would I still be able to access it? Anyways I have been toying with the idea of getting only local channels on cable which is like $13 a month , and somehow watching internet streaming content for all other viewing - from Hulu, Fancast, etc// - Is that what a slingbox is for? I have so much to learn!
The only reason I'm hesitant is that right now we have free Showtime and HBO is only $1 - for all our 5 TVs it is less than $60 a month, I guess that is decent , but I still hate paying it! PLus I have 5 TVs (3 kids) - I'd have to get a PC for each one??
 
Slingbox is for streaming stuff you already have-a DVD player, a Tivo, whatever, to another location, I don't think it does any good for what you need.

Sounds like you're getting a decent deal on your cable (by cable standards that is LOL), so yeah, maybe you want to preserve that.

With a Windows PC set up as a Windows Media Center DVR, you can send content to other PCs, or use the Xbox as a media extender (at least with a high enough bit rate, you'd want Ethernet or power line networking, etc.). So like you could get a high end PC, throw in 5 tuners or whatever to cover taping enough shows at once, a big, fast hard drive, and then stream stuff to Xboxes in other rooms, I guess.

Haven't used Microsoft's DVR software to compare it to Tivo's software, but at least it has to be much better than cable/satellite DVRs (plus you own it).

To get digital/HD content from Comcast though you'd have to use Cable Cards. Tivo's HD and Premiere units use them, and there's a new adapter for them on PCs for media center too. In THEORY Comcast gives you the first one free, and additional ones like $3/month or something, but in my case they were trying to charge $16/month (which may not even be legal), and in most places they have to "install" them for you, even though "installing" on a Tivo means sticking the card in the back of the unit...like 5 seconds...and then reading a number on the screen over the phone, or punching it in to a web site...but Comcast tries to make it all as painful as possible by sending out their people, presumably to discourage you from using Tivo or Windows and renting their shitty box every month.
 
i dunno if anyone mentioned it but sidereel.com is a good free online place to watch tv shows. they even have hbo shows i go there if i dont want to bother dling anything.
 
I use a laptop that I have dedicated as my Playon server and also use Netflix. I use my ps3 for my one tv, and use a WD TV Live for my bedroom tv, it's worked out pretty well so far. Only problem is that the laptop I'm using is pretty old, so it sometimes struggles with Playon.
 
[quote name='J7.']For those who dl tv shows, how do you do this without infecting your computer?[/QUOTE]

go to a place you can trust and do virus scans on what you dl.
 
[quote name='J7.']For those who dl tv shows, how do you do this without infecting your computer?[/QUOTE]
WHAT? There's plenty of sites to download TV shows, movies, etc., without getting "infected".
 
A couple of common scams to look for in downloads;

1 - "Go to this site to get the password." NEVER LEGIT

2 - The size of the file is less than 1MB. Lots of people fall for this. It's a virus.

3 - "You need this codec." No you don't, it's a virus. VLC Media Player or Media Player Classic should play the files out of the box, if you want a codec pack, download CCC (Combined Community Codec pack.) It will have all of the codecs you will ever need.

And of course, a good anti virus. AVG or Avira free editions work perfectly fine if you don't want to pay for one or yours is currently expired.
 
We have only the ultrabasic cable, adds something like 8 bucks a month [since you get a discount on cable broadband as well] just so we get the networks and the weather channel.
Between Netflix, Netflix streaming on 2 PCs, the 360, and the Wii, games, legal streaming websites, and DVDs, I don't really miss cable/satellite, and don't feel the need to go to the underground sources. My wife misses a little bit, but mostly for cooking and HGTV shows, which I get really sick of. My boy catches new cartoons at his grandmother's house, and we go old school at home [Pink Panther, inspector Gadget, Dungeons and Dragons, etc].
Admittedly I don't care about sport or very many new shows, and most of the good recent ones were either on cable channels [which we didnt get anyway] or the networks [which we could see within a few days anyway].
I definitely liked seeing the cable bill drop 60 bucks or so.
 
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