The Official Cutting out Cable Thread (Internet TV!)

[old_gregg]

Interesting. What's the benefit of hosting the files directly on the PS3? I upgraded my PS3 HDD to a 640 GB internal a while ago, but I have less than 5GB used. I've just been streaming everything.

Also, it looks like media link requires a Mac. Is that true?

storing things on your ps3 makes it so you don't have to use your bandwidth to stream. for me, that's nice because i like to browse or download a torrent while i'm watching/listening to stuff.


and yes, medialink does require a mac. i sometimes assume everyone has one . i do think nullriver makes a pc version, though.

[RobinFinderson]

storing things on your ps3 makes it so you don't have to use your bandwidth to stream. for me, that's nice because i like to browse or download a torrent while i'm watching/listening to stuff.


and yes, medialink does require a mac. i sometimes assume everyone has one . i do think nullriver makes a pc version, though.

I tried medialink, and it seemed to work exactly the same as EyeConnect, except it crapped out after 30 minutes (lame short trial period). EyeConnect has a 30 DAY trial period, which is a lot smarter, imo. I'll use that for thirty days before I decide what to buy. Too bad the PS3MediaServer didn't work (couldn't find the ps3).

[kccougar]

Just out of curiousity, what led to the decision to not own a tv? I'm always interested in stories from people who do things a little different than the rest of society.

When my wife and I got married and set up house in our first apartment, neither one of us owned a TV. We were both full-time students and also both working so we just didn't buy one right away and it didn't seem that big of a deal. A year or so in, we were starting to think about kids and if we would buy one once we had children. At that point, I think we were both comfortable without so we decided that we wouldn't own one.

I'm not a huge "Kill your TV" guy, but I do feel like there are some real advantages. Missing bad sitcoms is pretty high on the list.

[RobinFinderson]

The problem with not having a tv ( or not allowing the kids to play video games) is that the youngsters will either become socially retarded, or they will spend all of their time at he homes of people who DO have tvs and video games.

[Jennerstein]

I'm resurrecting this thread since I'm getting ready to buy a Roku and get rid of DirecTV (no more need for the mtn hahahaha). My wife and I hardly watch live TV, and so our subscription just seems like money down the drain. I only use TV for watching sports, watching Big Bang Theory, watching movies with the wife on date night. Originally, I was waiting around to see if BYU would bring BYUtv to the Xbox 360, then the wife recently okayed a Roku for Christmas. I convinced her that for the cost of a monthly DirecTV payment (depending on which model I buy) we could get a cute little box that would allow us to cut the cord and save money. As a BYU fan, I should have all my bases covered.

Of course, if I do have more disposable income in the future, I would consider going back to DirecTV as I like their service.

Anyway, here's my breakdown:

Current monthly expenditure:
DirectTV $65/month
Netflix $7.99 / month
Xbox Live $50 a year ($4.16 a month)

----

Projected monthly expenditure
Netflix ($7.99 / month)
Xbox Live ($4.16 month)



Hardware:

1. Xbox 360 (already own, about $250)
Pros: AWith proper subscriptions (Xbox Live, Netflix, Hulu, etc) allows me to stream shows. I have a Kinect and the voice commands or gestures with the new Xbox Live update is a lot of fun to use. Definitely cool technology. Oh yeah, it's also a game console.

2. Roku 2 XS ($90 - $100). Lots of sales going on for the holidays. I'll probably do the $89 Costco sale which includes free HDMI cable and allows me to return the box if I decide I hate it. I decided on the Roku 2 XS because I want an ethernet port and the bluetooth remote.
Pros: Allows streaming of BYUTV live and archived games. Other free content available. Will play mp4 video of external drives and SD cards
Cons: Will update this after I test the box out.

Subscriptions:

1. Xbox live subscription (about $35 to $60 per year, about $4.16 a month). Allows me to streams ESPN 3, as long as I have the proper internet provider (Cox, FIOS, etc). Also allows me to access other subscriptions (Netflix and Hulu)

Pros:
With the BYU / ESPN Deal, there is a lot of stuff available. Allows watching of live and archived sports events. For instance, I turned on the Xbox the other day, and found the BYU Oregon and BYU/USU games available in the archive.

Cons:
I will lose ability to watch NFL games and other stuff not broadcasted by ESPN. Since I don't watch my football on Sundays, I think I'll survive.


2. Netflix streaming ($7.99 / month)
Pros: Tons of content
Cons: No content from current seasons of TV.

Optional stuff I might get later:

1. OTA HD channel. I'll probably try setting up a HD Antenna so I can get live network TV. I might not even mount the antenna as I am lazy, the only show I catch is Big Bang Theory, and I live in an apartment complex so I do not know how easily it would be to mount an antenna on the roof. In any case, I can access Big Bang Theory online via cbs.com (no HD though).

2. Hulu Plus: Don't watch enough TV that I feel I need to use Hulu to watch the current seasonal programming. If they had Big Bang Theory I might subscribe.

[Uncle Ted]

What about for cable news? My wife is an ultra conservative that has to have her fox news. One would think after being in the TV news business she would know better. If there was a cable/sat provider that had a plan for all the sports channels (for me) and fox news for my wife then I would be all over it.

[NorthwestUteFan]

I did much the same thing as Jennerstein.

I dumped Directv ($65/mo) and Qwest (phone, $54/mo), and Qwest DSL ($28/mo).
I added Comcast cable internet (smoking fast, $60/mo incl modem), Ooma (telephone, $3.74/mo), and added Comcast basic cable ($17.95/mo, but adds a $15/mo discount so basic cable costs $2.95/mo).
I already had Netflix, so that didn't change.

Total savings: $80.31/mo. That is nearly $1k/year, and I honestly don't feel as though I have missed anything.

I finally have a super strong wifi signal throughout my house thanks to a wifi extender. I can also connect my phone to the wifi down at the end of the street, ~200 feet away from my yard. I gots coverage now, baby!

I have a Roku and like it. The kids stream Netflix to the Wii downstairs, and the Roku is in on the TV in my bedroom.

To make things easier, I recommend buying the Roku with the USB port. I wish I had done this, as setting up my main computer to stream is kind of a hassle. With the USB server you can simply rip your movies to .mp4 format, store them on a thumbdrive, plug into the Roku, and play.

Another hassle with Roku is the only formats it will support are .mp4 and one other I can't remember (.m4v?). It won't play .avi, DivX, etc. So any downloaded content must be converted to .mp4 before it will play (I use Handbrake). I will neither confirm nor deny having downloaded any torrents for my favorite shows...

I use the Roku-supported 'MyMedia' channel to play shows from my HD. They have to ripped to .mp4, but the quality is very good.

Amazon Prime has nearly every movie, TV show, documentary, etc available for download. But it is a pay service. Most movies are $1.99 - $3.99, or $3.99 - $4.99 for Blueray, for a 24 hour 'rental'. TV show episodes are $0.99 - $1.99/show.

I tried HuluPlus and was underwhelmed. Hopefully the content has improved. The online content available at Hulu was far greater than the HuluPlus content available to stream to they Roku. Hopefully it has changed.

As Falafel said above PlayonTV maybe the way to go because it allows interfaces standard Hulu (and many other options) directly with into the Roku. The PlayonTV stream to the Wii wasn't very good (nowhere near as good as Netflix), but the quality on Roku was great.

Does PlayonTV feature an ESPN3 channel? I need to find that, or could continue to watch games on the laptop.

Roku is open source, so there are literally thousands of 'private channels' with content, in addition to the few dozen available directly from Roku.

Internet TV is the next paradigm in programming. Content providers are slowly learning this fact. MLB and NHL have packages you can buy to stream every game. BYUtv had most of the games this season as well. Hopefully the NFL, NBA, and NCAA divisions will get on board soon. I believe Big Ten network does this now.

Disney Channel and HBO are starting new Roku channels, but I believe you have to be a subscriber to get HBO. I wish I could just pay $10/mo for HBO, but because I have basic cable I would need to upgrade to digital cable to get it, which is another $35/mo. Not remotely worth it, I would rather pay directly for episodes on Amazon.

[NorthwestUteFan]

What about for cable news? My wife is an ultra conservative that has to have her fox news. One would think after being in the TV news business she would know better. If there was a cable/sat provider that had a plan for all the sports channels (for me) and fox news for my wife then I would be all over it.

Roku has a FoxNews channel, which broadcasts live from 0900-1500 EST, and I believe repeats after that (they don't stream the 'premium' show content).

There is another channel called Newscaster, which contains news streams from most of the news channels, including snippets from the 'premium' shows from Fox. Russia Today actually has decent news coverage. And all the nightly news shows are available on the CBS, NBC, and ABC channels on the TV.com Roku channel.

She can also get the GBTV channel. I don't know how expensive it is, or if anybody could stand Glenn Beck for hours on end, but I have to admit that I admire the guy for his drive.

[Commando]

I've been cable free since April. Xbox360 + Netflix + Hulu= I am plenty entertained- even for a single guy w no obligations outside supporting myself.


Hulu+ mainly serves to give me my SNL, Jimmy Fallon, and NBC Thursday lineup fix. They have a lot of other stuff, but I defer to Netflix for my movie and drama needs.

Netflix has Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, and a good assortment of movies to keep me going.

I am able to store movies/tv shows/what not from bit torrent d/ls on an external harddrive in .avi format, plug directly into the Xbox and navigate the drive in 'my videos.'

ESPN3 started strong for me, but now suddenly doesn't work b/c Centurylink isn't an affiliate Now I just stream can't miss sporting events illegally. Hey if i could pay and get it legally I would.

[NorthwestUteFan]

Hulu+ mainly serves to give me my SNL, Jimmy Fallon, and NBC Thursday lineup fix. They have a lot of other stuff, but I defer to Netflix for my movie and drama needs.

Has the content on Hulu+ improved? Do they have more episodes of shows, and soon after they air? I did the trial demo about 8 months ago and was underwhelmed, but am willing to try it again.

ESPN3 started strong for me, but now suddenly doesn't work b/c Centurylink isn't an affiliate Now I just stream can't miss sporting events illegally.

{first row sports dot eu} seems to carry just about everything I want to watch, and many NFL games and PAC-12 football games are carried on local OTA channels.

Hey if i could pay and get it legally I would.

I would be all over an NFL, HBO, ESPN/2/U, AMC, F/X, or Showtime channel for $10/mo. The providers will catch on sometime, but the broadcasters will certainly dig in their heels to resist the change. Even if/when it happens cable/internet providers like Comcast will probably resist.

Until then I will catch a few games a year on one of the streaming sites. That is unless SOPA passes...

[beefytee]

No one is mentioning the Google TV boxes.

What's better about Roku than these boxes?

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Companion-Google-Keyboard-Controller/dp/B0040QE98O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323807463&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Logitech Revue Companion Box with Google TV and Keyboard Controller: Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41LPH4YyxvL.@@AMEPARAM@@41LPH4YyxvL[/ame]

They were $90 a few days ago.

[NorthwestUteFan]

Roku is not exactly plug-and-play, though for Netflix, Hulu+, and Amazon it is simple. But for sharing media files through my network it is a hassle. That is a big weakness.

Sorry I don't know anything about the GoogleTV, but falafel also suggested looking at the Western Digial TV Live. I am going to get one and try it out. It will play many file formats (see table below) , so no more ripping everything to .mp4 for me!

HERE

[ERCougar]

With the espn deal, is this any more doable? We've been talking about cutting cable lately, but I need to get BYU sports. Can I get ESPN3 if I don't have cable? Will that catch all the games that BYUTV doesn't carry live?

[pellegrino]

With the espn deal, is this any more doable? We've been talking about cutting cable lately, but I need to get BYU sports. Can I get ESPN3 if I don't have cable? Will that catch all the games that BYUTV doesn't carry live?

Yes, you can, but you won't get anything but Murray State vs. Southern Illinois. All of the good games that were available on ESPN3 last year are no longer free. You have to have a package with an internet provider that includes ESPN, so that means comcast, Verizon FIOS, cox cable, etc. BYU games won't be aired on ESPN3 this year, I guarantee it. The only games you'll get to stream for free live are those on BYUtv.

[ERCougar]

Yes, you can, but you won't get anything but Murray State vs. Southern Illinois. All of the good games that were available on ESPN3 last year are no longer free. You have to have a package with an internet provider that includes ESPN, so that means comcast, Verizon FIOS, cox cable, etc. BYU games won't be aired on ESPN3 this year, I guarantee it. The only games you'll get to stream for free live are those on BYUtv.

Thursday's game was on espn 3.