But our cable bill is getting out of hand, and we don’t even have any premium channels. We do have more than just basic, but no HBO, etc. With being able to get most of what I want to watch via the internet, I’ve finally come to terms with dropping our cable subscription.
Currently we are with TWC, getting TV, Internet and Phone with 2 DVRs for $185 a month. I’m not sure yet what the cost of Internet only will be. Maybe someone can guesstimate for me. We are going to drop the phone also along with the alarm monitoring (that’s a separate expense from the cable bill).
Our TV is not wifi enabled, but we can hook a cable up to a computer to watch web content on the TV screen. I’d prefer not to do that unless it will be significantly less expensive than any other options.
What I need: DVR capability for over the air programming. What I want: Netflix and Hulu streaming. What I’m considering before any Dope input: Getting a Tivo and a Roku. We have an older desktop that we could use, but I don’t think it’s going to be capable of running a TV receiver or video card.
So, any suggestions? Keep in mind, we are not tech gurus. Our families think we are, but that’s just because we know how to reboot the computer.
TWC Internet + Phone can be had for $70/mo right now - $50 for internet, $20 for phone. Unless there’s not a deal, in which case I believe it’s either $30 or $40 for phone.
XBMC is the best thing I’ve found for content-without-cable. I rarely use my Roku.
First, the easy way to set it up:
Download and install the version for your computer - OSX, Linux, Windows, iOS, even Raspberry Pi. http://xbmc.org/download/
Start the program. You have to run it once for the next step to work. Look around the interface a bit if you want, or just start it up and shut it down.
Now when you run the main XBMC program, you get a Roku like interface designed to be used on a TV. It has a tremendous amount of content. The problem with other things like this I’ve tried is that you have to go scouring the net looking for places with dribs and drabs of content, and you’ll probably have to sign up for an account on each place. No sign up here, no dribs and drabs, no trying to sell you additional services, just lots and lots of stuff.
XBMC has been around for almost 10 years but this new Wizard is the part that makes it different. No more scouring the web for content, the wizard finds it all for you.
While the interface is designed to be used on a TV with a TV remote, it works just fine on a computer too. If you want real content that you will actually want to watch instead of TV from the 1950s and trash web casts like you get with Roku and the like, give it a try. I really can’t gush enough about this thing.
My link to the XBMC Hub Wizard is to the Windows version. If you use something else you’re going to have to look it up yourownself.
I think the first thing you should do is call the cable company. They will either give you a temporary discount or change you to a lower-level tier that’s cheaper. You may be able to keep TWC at a price that’s acceptable.
Dewey, we’ve tried that once already and got a very small discount. If I go with a lower level tier, I’ll be giving up all of the programming that I can’t get over the air anyway. I think I’m going to be able to save at least $100 a month with some of the ideas here.
Turble, I’m installing those programs now to give them a try. Will I have to hook my computer up to the TV? I like to surf while I’m watching TV, but I suppose I could use my iPad for that if I need to connect my laptop to the TV. I see that there is an iPad remote app that will probably work for keeping me from getting up and going across the room to change stuff on the computer.
I ditched TWC last year. I have Clear wireless which is just as fast IME. I have a digital antenna that I use to catch broadcast TV.
I have a hard drive on my computer that I only use to DVR. I use WMC to DVR, which works for me because I don’t want to DVR a lot of shows (it will only do one at at time).
Using a wireless keyboard and mouse, my TV is large enough that I an surf and watch at the same time in two windows.
It works for me; but I’ve also never been a HUGE tv watcher.
If you want to watch it on TV, then, yeah, you have to hook up something to the TV. There are so many different devices and hardware configurations possible that I really can’t speculate on what you have available. Personally, I just watch on my computer monitor.
My experience with this sort of thing is that the main difficulty is finding content, and you just solved that. You’ll see. Just take a look at 1Channel.
I’ve been using a remote like this to control my PC-connected-to-TV for years. I’ve always had a dedicated machine for this purpose (connected to the tv) but if you want a remote it’s just a matter of plugging in the IR dongle.
I actually use one morelike this which is about a third of the price but I didn’t happen upon any of them at that price that advertise Windows 7 (mine works on Windows 7).
Cable companies are required to provide you with basic service at no cost. Check with your provider. They gave me two small cable boxes which can receive all the local channels (NBC, ABC, CBS, etc) as well as a pretty good selection of cable stations such as ESPN, Golf channel, HGTV channel, Food TV, PBS… etc. This is at no cost to me and I believe cable companies are required by law to provide this to all their customers. However, you must ask for it. Some companies still pipe this service through existing cable lines for any cable-ready TV. The law came about when analog signal was discontinued and you can google it fairly easily.
In addition… phone service from a cable company is a waste of your hard earned cash. Get Skype! It is free and a camera and microphone combo runs from $10 to $50. With skype you can call other skype users for free unlimited. Anywhere in the world! Calling 800 numbers with skype is also free. If you want to skype a landline, however, you will need to spend some $$ for the skype phone and there is a monthly fee. But it is pennies compared to what the cable companies charge you.
Now you are down to paying for internet only.
Your other option is to get a cable card and possibly a Ceton tuner and connect it all to a Media PC (Win 7 or 8). The cable card (from your provider) is around $2 a month and the Ceton card is $200 to $400 but you will then own it (i.e. no monthly fees). This is a cool idea as the Ceton card can provide cable to multiple TV’s and anything can be recorded on the PC’s hard drive (which you could then archive to a gigundo 3TB drive and save a lot of movies!)
The OP is really getting screwed. I get phone, screaming fast internet and TV including every premium channel except EPIC (or whatever it’s called) a DVR and three set top boxes for what he’s been paying for cable alone. I really do need to dump the phone, and if it weren’t for my wife’s interest in old movies, I’d be dumping the cable TV as well.
Might have to look into Clear for Internet, I wonder if it will work for MMORGS like WoW and Second Life though.
First thing I would do is call TWC and start using phrases like “I heard about U-Verse…” and “DirectTV is so much cheaper…” If their offer doesn’t match what you want, then ask “What can I get for $X a month w/o the phone?”, with X being, of course, the (reasonable) amount you want to pay.
If that doesn’t work, then do the other things mentioned in this thread. But I would first negotiate with them.
Just scanned some of the content. Yah, this might work. evil laugh Thanks for posting! Game of Thrones Season 2 is already there. Now to solve the DVR problem - or do I even still *have *a DVR problem? About half of what I watch is available over the air, but is probably also available on this new program. The thing I like about the DVR is that I don’t have to think about it. I tell it what to record, and when it comes on it’s there. Without it, I’ll have to remember that I want to watch something.
What I’m paying currently includes phone, screaming fast internet and cable with 2 boxes, but no premium channels. I agree I’m getting screwed, but maybe not quite as much as you thought. I want to dump everything but internet. I’m very happy with TWC’s internet service and see no reason to switch at this point.
It does have the ability to download Playlists for future viewing … so yeah, I think your concern now is just what device you want to connect to your TV. Personally, I haven’t messed with that part because everything so far has streamed just fine after a minute or so of buffering.
A jailbroken iPad will work, or any old laptop or old computer set up as a dedicated media center. If you are going to buy something, I might suggest the $35 Raspberry Pi (actually more around $80 or so if you don’t have cables, power supply, SD card, mouse, wireless dongle, etc laying around and have to buy them). It works fine.
Beats the hell out of watching the The Life of Riley and I Married Joan from the 1950s on a Roku, huh?
I’m reading this thread with great interest, since we’re more or less in the same situation - we’re paying $75 per month just for digital cable tv (not HD), and since we got an AppleTV and Netflix, all we watch on regular tv is the local news.
In addition to what we get through Netflix and AppleTV (which is just about all the tv and movies I need), we’d like a local channel and some sports channels. We are looking into a digital antenna in the hopes of doing that. XBMC sounds interesting, too.
There are so many different devices and hardware configurations possible that I really can’t speculate on what you have available. Personally, I just watch on my computer monitor.