Help me ditch my cable once and for all (need antenna/DVR advice)

M

monash65

CAGiversary!
Thought I would get some input from the CAGs. My SO is not going to be employed for much longer, and that's our main source of income, so basically we're being forced to give up non-essential bills. Plus frankly, the cost of our monthly TV service has slowly been spiralling out of control for a while now, so we're totally ready to become cord cutters.

I did some homework already, it looks like we can get pretty much the same programming as now, but much cheaper, if we ditch cable and go with a combination of over-the-air network TV & PBS (via antenna), plus certain cable shows ordered a-la-carte through amazon instant video, together with Netflix instant, and possibly Hulu Plus.

So does anyone here have experience with those slimline indoor antenna boxes that you stick on the wall? Is the quality pretty much the same as outdoor? I've heard that bad weather can screw with the signal, wondering how big of deal that would be... We live in an apartment where outdoor/roof antenna is not an option, so for us it would have to be indoor or nothing. I'm seriously thinking about the Mohu Leaf Ultimate Amplified indoor antenna, wondering if that's a good option.

Also, we're going to have to give back our cable company's DVR, so I'm trying to find out if there's a decent DVR that I can get which would work well with the over-the-air broadcasts, but where I only pay for the DVR hardware once, instead of a subscription... Ideally something not too complicated, where I could just put the antenna coaxial/RF cable into the DVR, then the coaxial cable from the DVR to the TV. I've looked into Tivo, it seems cool but the monthly payments just won't work for our budget, it would be just like when we had monthly DVR "rental" payments added to our bill with cable DVR. Any recommendations for a good basic no-frills DVR that would get the job done?

Obviously with BF sales around the corner, I'm going to be keeping an eye out for potential purchases at lower than usual prices. Any help or input very much appreciated.

 
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I would think that most of the shows that you would be picking up with over the air would be on the services you mentioned.  That way you really would not need a DVR unless you are going to keep some stuff to watch again.  Ive also seen some of this come up at http://www.satelliteguys.us.  Most people that post are decent and will help out.  

 
Um I basically just did everything you talk about a few months back.  So far so good.  I tried numerous antennas and none worked as well as the leaf ultimate.  I get all channels BUT not without sometimes having to rotate the antenna.  It basically sits flat on a shelf and if I spin it like hands on a clock it affects the reception.  So does the weather but I don't think the weather ever prevented channels from coming in, especially if I turn the antenna like above.  So that part works fine.

I also got the cheap Roamio which uses antenna or cable and plug the antenna in that.  It works great.  Yes there's an expense up front but I got the lifetime service and there's some code to save $100 off the cost of that.  It probably still works, just search around for it.  I also have playon service which was like $50 for the lifetime.  With it you can basically find any show you want to watch and it sort of works with tivo.  Using the tivo desktop software you can basically "record" shows on your computer with Playon and then send them to your tivo to watch whenever with the tivo desktop program.

We have netflix and hulu also but those get less use.  Yes they fill gaps well enough:  Hulu has comedy central shows like Colbert or daily show that are nice, but really you might find with Playon you have all you need.

There are two weaknesses to all this you might run into.  Actually both arise from the same source which is live tv.  I miss CNN and have yet to find a decent solution to just "watching CNN" when I want to.  Second is sports although if you have a friend who has cable perhaps you can borrow their WatchESPN ability.  But otherwise you are limited to what's on network tv or what you can find on the net which, while sometimes can be a lot, is often full of lag or blur.

I hope this all helps overall I don't miss cable at all.  Prior monthly bill for cable and internet was almost $200 a month.  Now its just internet which is still $65 a month but no way did I watch $130 worth of TV in a month so I am happy with it as it is now. 

 
Thanks for the input, guys.

qcjoe said:
I would think that most of the shows that you would be picking up with over the air would be on the services you mentioned. That way you really would not need a DVR unless you are going to keep some stuff to watch again. Ive also seen some of this come up at http://www.satelliteguys.us. Most people that post are decent and will help out.
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We've discussed it and we do need a DVR to catch the network TV that we want to watch when we're out. It's not that we want to keep much, but here's some stuff (like daytime shows) that doesn't even show up on Hulu or any other service, so basically the DVR is needed if we're going to be away when it's on. Oh, and thanks for the link, will check that out.

 
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crax said:
Um I basically just did everything you talk about a few months back. So far so good. I tried numerous antennas and none worked as well as the leaf ultimate. I get all channels BUT not without sometimes having to rotate the antenna. It basically sits flat on a shelf and if I spin it like hands on a clock it affects the reception. So does the weather but I don't think the weather ever prevented channels from coming in, especially if I turn the antenna like above. So that part works fine.

I also got the cheap Roamio which uses antenna or cable and plug the antenna in that. It works great. Yes there's an expense up front but I got the lifetime service and there's some code to save $100 off the cost of that. It probably still works, just search around for it. I also have playon service which was like $50 for the lifetime. With it you can basically find any show you want to watch and it sort of works with tivo. Using the tivo desktop software you can basically "record" shows on your computer with Playon and then send them to your tivo to watch whenever with the tivo desktop program.

We have netflix and hulu also but those get less use. Yes they fill gaps well enough: Hulu has comedy central shows like Colbert or daily show that are nice, but really you might find with Playon you have all you need.

There are two weaknesses to all this you might run into. Actually both arise from the same source which is live tv. I miss CNN and have yet to find a decent solution to just "watching CNN" when I want to. Second is sports although if you have a friend who has cable perhaps you can borrow their WatchESPN ability. But otherwise you are limited to what's on network tv or what you can find on the net which, while sometimes can be a lot, is often full of lag or blur.

I hope this all helps overall I don't miss cable at all. Prior monthly bill for cable and internet was almost $200 a month. Now its just internet which is still $65 a month but no way did I watch $130 worth of TV in a month so I am happy with it as it is now.
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Thanks for your reply, I really appreciate it. Sounds from the responses that the Leaf Ultimate would be a good choice.

I looked into the Roamio, sounds neat. The basic one is $150 on Amazon right now (down from $200), not sure how long it'll last, do you think that's a good deal? I couldn't find the 100 off lifetime service that you mentioned though, I think maybe that was a temporary offer. Do you know if you buy lifetime service plan that you can keep it if you keep the Roamio but move physical address (i.e. the lifetime service stays with the machine)?

Never heard of Playon actually, will look into it.

As for CNN and sports, nobody at our place is that much into sports, and even though we did watch a lot of CNN in the past, personally I think the channel has gone downhill in the last few years. Just my opinion though, and I do understand the need to have a 24 hr news channel on in the background instead of waiting for the national news on network. But we can definitely live without CNN at this point.

Again, thanks for your help, like I said I already did some math and even if I buy a few of the shows that we do watch from amazon a-la-carte (individual shows on TLC and FX and some of the other basic cable channels), it will still work out a hell of a lot cheaper than keeping full basic cable service. The way I look at it, we're like those people who have expensive cellphone plans but they barely use them, so it's better for them to go pay-as-you-go, and we only order the few shows that we do watch religiously. The fact is, there's a ton of crap on cable that we have no interest in, and we're done paying upwards of $100 per month for stuff that we don't watch, plus you can add to that all the other fees and random crap that they hit us with every month. Right now, we're just waiting a few months more to ride out our 2 yr contract, so that we don't have to pay an early termination fee.

 
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Also, can anyone recommend a good solid standalone DVR that would work well with HD antenna free over-the-air TV programming WITHOUT needing any kind of monthly payment, subscription etc, i.e. a DVR where you only pay once for the hardware and that's it?

 
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monash65 said:
Also, can anyone recommend a good solid standalone DVR that would work well with HD antenna free over-the-air TV programming WITHOUT needing any kind of monthly payment, subscription etc, i.e. a DVR where you only pay once for the hardware and that's it?
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One option is one of the Magnavox DVD w/HDD recorders that are easily available through walmart.com. They can only record one channel at a time, don't have a guide and are SD only. They start around $238 for the 320gb model. Or you can go with Windows Media Center. You'll need to get a pc tuner card of some sort (I have a Silicon Dust HDHR3 2-tuner model) to get the channels. AVS Forum has plenty of information on these devices. There are some other (much cheaper) devices that have strong followings on the AVS Forums too. But for me, you get what yopu pay for with recording devices.

I also bought some used Tivo's w/lifetime, and they work great. I recently went back to cable and Tivo's w/cable cards are a very good option.

 
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Yeah I like the Tivo a lot.  Doubt I could live without the guide, it really makes things easier.  I bought the Roamio right when it came out for $200 and thought it was worth it so yeah - $150 is a no brainer.  I searched and it looked like the code for lifetime service is still going on.  I'll put a link below.  It says it is for people who already bought a tivo plan before but I tell you I never had Tivo before the Roamio and the code worked.  I am pretty sure lifetime service for them means lifetime of the device so yes you can pack it up and move. And yes it is nice it works antenna or cable card.  I'm not swearing off cable forever (probably) but it is nice to have that option.  Also renting a DVR from the cable company gets pricey.  Cox "contour" they sell where I live approaches $30 a month easy just for equipment. 

That said maybe check out Playon before you pay money for any DVR.  Technically it can "record" any video from the internet or from services like hulu, netflix, hbo, etc and then stream it to a device like a PS3 or Roku or whatever.  If you don't mind the technical aspects of doing that you might not need a DVR at all.  Check it out I am pretty sure most open air network material is on there no problem as are many cable shows as well.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=9907635

 
If you look on eBay you can get 12 month Hulu and Netflix codes for fairly cheap. I got 12 month codes for both services for less than 35 bucks. 

I have regular Leaf antennas and they seem to pick up most channels. PBS is the only thing I struggle to pick up consistently. It is also the furthest channel from me too (probably 20 miles away, whereas all others are 5-10).

I don't know where you live, but if you live somewhere with Aereo that might solve some of your problems.

https://www.aereo.com

 
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I have 2 RCA antennae that were bought at BestBuy on the cheap (I think about $20 each) and both started working great once the digital converters came out. PBS gave me some problems early on, but the station apparently boosted their power or something as it has been good lately. Although I don't know if they do HD. I did buy them about 5-6 years ago.
 
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Thanks to all, esp crax (the Tivo code will really help out if I go for that service) and mogamer. I'll check out the Magnavox, although I won't lie, I was hoping I could get a basic DVR that would just record single on the air shows once in while for $100- $150. I guess I was asking for too much though.

And I'll definitely try Playon before committing to a new DVR. Another option that I found out I could try is a preowned Tivo with lifetime pass on eBay, so I'll look into that if it works out significantly cheaper.

 
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If you don't want to pick up a cable company/satellite DVR, you're looking at three options primarily:

1) Tivo Roamio (not the Plus or Pro, as they don't have over-the-air (OTA) tuner capabilities)

2) Build your own with Windows 7 (any version) or Windows 8/8.1 Pro with Media Center upgrade, PC, TV tuner card, drives, etc.

3) Build your own with Linux and MythTV, PC, TV tuner card, drives, etc.

Easiest option would be the Tivo + Lifetime service, which does carry a good resale on the secondary market if you decide you don't like the Tivo.    The Roamio is the best Tivo to date, so I think it's a very good option.

Windows Media Center is the next best option, though watching it on another TV requires an extender of some type, be it a Windows PC or Xbox 360.  If you're going to watch it only on one TV then there's no extended needed.  More work to roll your own with WMC, though there's no monthly fee like you have with a Tivo.

MythTV is another option, though more work above a WMC box because it's Linux and a bit more work to get up and running.

 
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