Getting rid of "pay" TV

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:49 pm

Well, I'll still be paying, but in a different way...

For some reason, I really hate paying Time Warner for TV. I know they provide me with more channels than I can watch, and many more than I want to watch, etc. Heck, even the customer service has been passable when I've needed it.

But... I hate being slave to the man, and seeing that $100 tab every month (HD-DVR's on two TV's).

I'm curious to know (brief summaries?) what others are doing to deal with these things. As of now, here is my likely setup for two TV's.

Main TV:
Apple Mac Mini with an Eye TV tuner. This should cover all OTA needs and add DVR functionality. In theory, I can run a splitter and have OTA TV on the TV while I record a 2nd program.

I plan to use iTunes for most of my media distribution - until I decide I don't like it anymore.

I will also be taking advantage of Hulu (and Boxee). There will be one or two network drives in the mix (or more).

Second TV:
Live stuff will come OTA.
AppleTV will be the media streamer for the rest of the content (served via Boxee and iTunes).

I can add XBMC stuff if I need to.

Cost?

I already have two new TV's that have ATSC tuners, so I don't need help there. The house also has a big ole antenna in the attic (previous owners did Primestar). I also have the Apple TV and a good home network setup.

Needs:
Mac Mini ($800-ish new).
Eye TV ($140)
More disk space ($150/TB, plus or minus, a little more fluff if I want a true NAS solution)

I should be able to recover my expenses in less about a year.

I know other things (XBox, etc) can play a role, but I prefer to use and deal with Apple stuff (for now).

Most of the networks offer at least a few programs. So far, big compilations can be found at:

hulu.com
joost.com
youtube.com
others?

Media players, etc.
VLC
boxee
miro
others?

Am I making some major mistake here? We are big TV "browsers" but not so much watchers.

Our normal program list is:
Heros
Battlestar Galactica
House
General Hospital
some sports
kids stuff (lots of Noggin, some Disney)

It seems we will lose out on the Noggin and Disney programming, but I can buy most of that a-la-carte at Target or via iTunes. We will replace it with PBSkids stuff (download and over the air).

We will also miss out on the cable only sports.

I hope to replace F1 via bittorrent, but that is about the only sport I regularly watch in non-live fashion.

Oh yeah, if it's too complicated, Sally will get pissed off and hate me for making General Hospital suck.

Scott

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:54 pm

scottjohnson wrote:

Oh yeah, if it's too complicated, Sally will get pissed off and hate me for making General Hospital suck.

I'm betting this is in your near future

- AB

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Sally will probably hate you.

You could consider this:

- TWC Basic cable ($35/mo?), no STB, no DVR -- should get you the first 75 or so cable channels on the PC (incl Disney, etc)
- Basic cable should include all the local HD channels in clear QAM so you could avoid the antenna and get to minimize the number of tuners needed.
- HTPC w/ DVR of your choice -- MythTV on a low-power built PC would be my choice. Two TV tuners with ATSC / Clear QAM capability (like the Hauppauge HVR models)
- Spare HTPC slave on other TVs in the house, no tuners. Use the built-in TV tuner for live channel browsing, switch sources to HTPC for viewing recorded content via the network. Newer HDTVs have excellent tuners which can tune clear QAM signals off TWC -- I have a 50" plasma upsstairs w/ no STB which gets all local HD channels off the wire.

Now I know you're an Apple fan but a 3-year old $50 PC can get it done as a slave HTPC for viewing on other systems. Throw MythTV on there under linux and you'd be all set. I'd stick with a powerful machine if you plan to DVR HD content. It's a tossup whether to use a NAS or just build the main machine as an always-on

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:52 pm

MikeWhitney wrote:

Sally will probably hate you.

You could consider this:

- TWC Basic cable ($35/mo?), no STB, no DVR -- should get you the first 75 or so cable channels on the PC (incl Disney, etc)
- Basic cable should include all the local HD channels in clear QAM so you could avoid the antenna and get to minimize the number of tuners needed.

Basic: $15/mo (up to channel 24+ QAM HD stations)
Standard: $54/mo (up to channel 74+ QAM HD)

It's the $54/mo I'm choking on (I have considered this option). I realize that is half of what I'm paying now, but it doesn't get me any DVR stuff. My break-even on a homebrew (Apple) DVR slips to 2 years this way. Others brands are likely to break even sooner.

David Spratte · **Posted:** Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:49 pm

Netflix and $99 Roku player have been pretty cool. And it's just been bumped to HD (720p). Essentially anything that can be played instantly can be played via the box. I think they finally released the Mac client/plug in so you might be able to access it via your Mac Mini. Instant/Online viewing is included in even the most basic package.

We've found Netflix to be a pretty solid sub for Cable TV. We decide to watch something rather than surf and settle.

Did you pull the trigger on an AppleTV? I couldn't see doing it. I bought a dock and we drop an iPod in it. Yes. I'm sure some networking coolness is being missed out on, but it was cheap and it works.

<-hasn't had cable TV since the 90s.

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:56 pm

David Spratte wrote:

Did you pull the trigger on an AppleTV? I couldn't see doing it. I bought a dock and we drop an iPod in it. Yes. I'm sure some networking coolness is being missed out on, but it was cheap and it works.

The inlaws bought us one (40GB). I think a hacked ATV will also do Netflix (via Boxee). I will know tonight if all goes well.

Scott

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:04 pm

Scott I would just switch to Directv for a year, then switch back to cable. You can get killer deals just by switching. I switched from Directv to TWC. I got a deal for 2 HD DVR's with Digipic 1000 for $39.95 a month for year one, $49.95 year two and $59.95 year 3. After year three, I will go back to Directv. - AB

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:21 pm

Aaron Buckley wrote:

Scott I would just switch to Directv for a year, then switch back to cable. You can get killer deals just by switching. I switched from Directv to TWC. I got a deal for 2 HD DVR's with Digipic 1000 for $39.95 a month for year one, $49.95 year two and $59.95 year 3. After year three, I will go back to Directv. - AB

Another worthy option. If I call Directv will they give me a better deal than what I configure online? Doing it online isn't really any cheaper than what I pay for cable now. I just need to call TWC and tell them to give me the Satellite switcher package or I'll cancel...

Scott

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:29 pm

scottjohnson wrote:

Another worthy option. If I call Directv will they give me a better deal than what I configure online? Doing it online isn't really any cheaper than what I pay for cable now. I just need to call TWC and tell them to give me the Satellite switcher package or I'll cancel...

Scott

Yup. Make the phone call. That's when all of the real deals are put on the table. Online I would have paid well over $100 a month for my service. Also, Directv went to a lease versus own model on their hardware, so it's not any different than TWC, except they still have those stinking commitments. The beauty of their comittment is that it's a prorated one that's $12 per remaining month to get out of. - AB

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

scottjohnson wrote:

Basic: $15/mo (up to channel 24+ QAM HD stations)
Standard: $54/mo (up to channel 74+ QAM HD)

It's the $54/mo I'm choking on (I have considered this option). I realize that is half of what I'm paying now, but it doesn't get me any DVR stuff. My break-even on a homebrew (Apple) DVR slips to 2 years this way. Others brands are likely to break even sooner.

Wow, you're right -- I didn't realize that "Standard" had gotten so expensive.

Hey for $5/month I'll let you run a slingbox here at my house. You can tune to any channel from any net-connected device in the world

Chris Halweg · **Posted:** Mon Jan 05, 2009 5:18 pm

Slingbox would be a very good option if you did not care about HD stuff. HD will not work with most upload limit restrictions. Get a friend to get an extra DVR and attach a slingbox to it and you have dedicated content. If your neighbor did the same thing, you might be able to avoid the upload cap and pipe it straight to your house with wireless-N.

Another option would be to have a friend get an extra satellite reciever for another room where that room is your house, legalities aside.

Honestly, I ditched TWC a few months ago for Dishes all HD package. I have the medium package with one DVR (2 sat tuners and 1 OTA tuner) that operates two TVs, local channels, no installation fee for $43/month and that is not an intro rate. You could get it closer to $30/month if you got rid of locals which you can get OTA and got their basic package. The DVR is 1000X better than TWC's POS.

Matthew Fortner · **Joined:** Sun Mar 21, 2004 12:21 am **Posts:** 384

We cut the cable last September and have no regrets. I was able to find F1 streamed live online. We bought an antenna, use Hulu and Netflix through our Apple Macbook Pro.

Carl Fisher · **Posted:** Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:13 pm

MikeWhitney wrote:

Throw MythTV on there under linux and you'd be all set. I'd stick with a powerful machine if you plan to DVR HD content.

What HD can you DVR with Myth? Just OTA? Clear QAM? All?

(sorry for the acroynms...)

Jason Mauldin · **Posted:** Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:14 pm

Mike, do you know if you can access Netflix with MythTV yet?

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:23 pm

Jason Mauldin wrote:

Mike, do you know if you can access Netflix with MythTV yet?

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/MythFlix_README

edit:
cant stream, just manage the acct

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