Life without cable

[TwoSolitudes]

Sort of makes you wonder how long people will keep paying big bucks for TV commercials- when its clear than less and less people watch them.

 

One of the things I have to get used to when I visit home is seeing commercial breaks during shows. It seems so strange now. Time to start selling stock in cable companies I think. The end is closer than they think.

 

I would still pay to see live sports - NFL, NHL, MLB, and Golf of course. But I don't think I could be bothered paying for anything else.

[ZenGolfer]

Also, as someone who loves sports but doesnt live in my team's home market, cable is pretty much a must. No way Im going to miss watching Badger football, basketball or hockey and as an NHL fan, not being able to watch the Blackhawks game online on NHL Gamecenter Live because its on NHL Network or NBC Sports Network is HIGHLY annoying.

[GolfSpy WD]

Just ordered my system. I made a few tweaks, the total came out to $592 and it should pay itself off in a little over 7 months. I'm watching the Deutschebank on NBC right now and have only watched local stations all weekend. I really don't think I'll miss cable and my new DVR is going to be damn cool . I don't think I'll even need Hulu Plus because I'm essentially watching all my TV through the computer.

[GolfSpy WD]

Thought I'd post an update since I've been without cable for two weeks. The new HTPC has been working great and I haven't missed the golf channel yet since the big events are all on channel 4, except for days 1 and 2. Luckily, a lot of those have been on the PGA.com website. Other than that I watch golf central though the golf channel's website. When I need some background TV noise, I turn on the most recently recorded golf tourney.

 

Except for the Ryder Cup, I deleted that one. Still, I was able to record all of Saturday (70GB) and all of Sunday (36GB) without blinking an eye, so this setup is infinitely better than a cable box DVR.

 

Here is the final list of components I put together. Everything is built on Ubuntu using MythTV to watch and record TV.

 

AMD A6-3500 65W APU (CPU + GPU)

Mini ITX Motherboard with HDMI output and built in sound

8GB DDR3 PC1333 RAM

2TB Low Power Hard drive

Blu Ray Burner

Mini ITX Case (size of a small shoebox)

 

External TV Tuner (signal shared over home wifi/ethernet)

Paper thin amplified antenna

 

Remote Control with built-in mouse

 

I had to return a few things after I realized I needed everything to be low power to reduce how much heat was generated, hence the low power CPU chip. SiliconDust makes a cable card reader so if I ever want to go back to cable, I can still use the same setup instead of renting a DVR.

 

I also may get some of these so I can play/pause in one room and resume in another via XBMC:

 

http://www.vizio.com/costar/overview?utm_source=digitalmedia&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=Co-Star&utm_content=Google

 

 

I'll stop the computer talk now

[Kanoito]

wdgolf is a such a nerd BTW, I have a similar setup LOL

 

All the shows and tournaments I'm interested in are streamed online.

[GolfSpy WD]

wdgolf is a such a nerd BTW, I have a similar setup LOL

 

All the shows and tournaments I'm interested in are streamed online.

 

I got the glasses and everything! Lacking a pocket protector and tape on my glasses though. I'll look into that once someone punches me in the face.

 

I forgot to mention Hulu, since I'm watching from a computer, it's free so I can watch the Daily Show and South Park!

[RookieBlue7]

Well, swapped from Comcast to DirecTV. Get more for significantly less money plus get the Sunday Ticket free this season. Kept Comcast Internet though. Went from a $215 bill to $62 and $55 for tv and Internet.

[The Dansome]

I don't know how Canadian pricing differs from US, but I'm on a grandfathered plan and pay $162/m for almost all channels and internet. What sucks now is they suck you in with basic packages at roughly $95 tv/internet and get with adding channels. You want a single channel you need to purchase a 10 channel pack @ $10. So if you want 5 channels all in different packs that's where they screw you.

 

But I'm not giving up on this TV thing I'm just too addicted. I think we record minimum 3 shows a night.

[Super Tuna]

Which provider are you on MBP?

 

We're with Shaw but only roll Cable (mid package) and internet (business package 50 but that's through my account rep at work) and clock in around $70.

 

Agreed on the channel pack. I use to be able to get just Fox Sports World for more footie for $5 a month. Now they require I buy the sports package with a bunch of crap I don't want for $20. Sod that.

[The Dansome]

Which provider are you on MBP?

 

We're with Shaw but only roll Cable (mid package) and internet (business package 50 but that's through my account rep at work) and clock in around $70.

 

Agreed on the channel pack. I use to be able to get just Fox Sports World for more footie for $5 a month. Now they require I buy the sports package with a bunch of crap I don't want for $20. Sod that.

 

Shaw

 

I'm on an old most SD and all HD plan + internet 10. Then I add on Movie Central/HBO and an old 7 ch's for $7. I tried calling in and getting the based offered $90 plan tv/inter which is some SD + "best of HD" and after I added in all the extra channels I like now it comes out to $200.....

[GolfSpy Tim]

Yikes... coming back to this thread, I'm about to switch from living on land to possibly living on a boat in a marina without any high speed internet or cable...

 

Right now we've only got internet and stream what we watch and that might get condensed down even more shortly.

 

Maybe I'll just have to download stuff while at work then watch on the boat.

 

Good news is, we'll save a bunch of $ each month.

[GolfSpy WD]

Just to put things in perspective, my monthly cable + internet bill was $126, which is by no means high compared to some. My new bill is $46 a month for just internet (6mbps, which is more than enough for 99% of people), so I save $80 each month. The machine I built ran about $600 when all was said and done, but I've recorded every golf event since and have plenty of room for more (I've also recorded every Pat's game and a ton of shows). Having total control over your DVR is an awesome thing, I don't miss cable in the slightest.

[GolfSpy Tim]

wdgolf - where do you record the golf from??

[GolfSpy WD]

wdgolf - where do you record the golf from??

 

During the season it's on channel 7 (NBC, which owns the Golf Channel). At least Saturday and Sunday rounds are. Some of the bigger tournaments have streaming on the PGA website for Thursday/Friday.

[GolfSpy WD]

One more comment, as much as I wanted to use linux, I've eventually got sick of the quality and the problems. I installed Windows 7 with Media Center yesterday and wow is it so much better. Everything just works and integrates together much more seamlessly.

 

This coming from someone who in general hates Windows (mainly because of it's security and bloated registry). Highly recommend for HTPCs though.

[kygolfer1980]

One reason to keep cable....HONEY BOO BOO

[The Dansome]

One reason to keep cable....HONEY BOO BOO

 

Oh geez......

[kygolfer1980]

It's horrible but I can't not watch.

[GolfSpy WD]

She still seems to appear on TV with regularity. Recently she's gotten into headlines with the likes of Rosie O'Donnell and the Lohan family. That's more than enough for me.

[The Dansome]

For those who didn't catch South Park last week.