Getting rid of "pay" TV

Jason Mauldin · **Posted:** Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:31 am

Too bad the wii won't interface with Netflix.

That Roku box looks promising considering the one-time cost (for existing netflix users).

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

Carl Fisher wrote:

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...)

Never done it myself, but if you can tune it you can DVR it. Sounds like Myth HD setup is a pain though.

MarekRozanski · **Posted:** Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:59 am

scottjohnson wrote:

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 use a Mac Mini for my main media center (see my previous post), and while it's served me well, I would NOT plunk down $800 on a brand new one -- I happened to have one that I had been using as my photo editing workstation. There are MUCH cheaper alternatives that would work just as well, some of which have already been mentioned in this thread.

David Teague · **Posted:** Tue Jan 06, 2009 10:35 am

scottjohnson wrote:

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

Media Center will stream Netflix.

Carlton Whitehead · **Posted:** Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:13 pm

I cancelled my cable TV service last February when I moved and haven't missed it at all. I have an always-on Mythbuntu PC that handles media playback and a few lightweight server tasks (which run under virtualbox VMs which run as a separate user than the gnome login so the TV user can't break them). It works like a charm and is very easy to use.

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:02 pm

Well, I'm closer today than I was at the start of the week. I hooked up our attic antenna and pull in pretty much all the relevant stations, with great picture quality (I need to tune it a bit if I want the High Point, Greensboro and Winston Salem ones).

I was interested to see the digital lineup on "Ion" (channel 47.1, 47.2, etc - Time Warner channel 22). While Ion itself has nothing for me, they carry the qubo channel on 47.2.

www.qubo.com

Well, this station appears to be an over the air competitor to Noggin. Plenty of shows to keep Meghan happy, 24-7.

This is starting to look doable. We miss out on sports. Solution? Maybe ESPN360, though we will need to access it via a proxy server (they don't feed to Earthlink or TIme Warner).

I did call Time Warner to see what they could do for me. So far, the "best" they can do is lower our bill by $14.xx per month. Wow, what an effort

Scott

Michael Westerfield · **Posted:** Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:05 pm

scottjohnson wrote:

Well, I'm closer today than I was at the start of the week. I hooked up our attic antenna and pull in pretty much all the relevant stations, with great picture quality (I need to tune it a bit if I want the High Point, Greensboro and Winston Salem ones).

I was interested to see the digital lineup on "Ion" (channel 47.1, 47.2, etc - Time Warner channel 22). While Ion itself has nothing for me, they carry the qubo channel on 47.2.

www.qubo.com

Well, this station appears to be an over the air competitor to Noggin. Plenty of shows to keep Meghan happy, 24-7.

This is starting to look doable. We miss out on sports. Solution? Maybe ESPN360, though we will need to access it via a proxy server (they don't feed to Earthlink or TIme Warner).

I did call Time Warner to see what they could do for me. So far, the "best" they can do is lower our bill by $14.xx per month. Wow, what an effort

Scott

My best experience with getting TWC is having your backup plan ready and calling them to cancel. It's mostly automated, but at the end they put an operator on to try one last time. I was able to get them to take about 30$ off my bill for a year. That year has ended so I'm shopping now as well. After the rate increases they just announced I told the wife to say goodbye to TWC.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:32 am

If you "cut the TV" part of TWC, what do you use for broadband internet?
Is AT&T DSL comparable to TWC internet?

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Sat Jan 10, 2009 9:48 am

DickRasmussen wrote:

If you "cut the TV" part of TWC, what do you use for broadband internet? Is AT&T DSL comparable to TWC internet?

I still use Earthlink/TWC for internet. The other options in Durham are DSL via Verizon and Clearwire. It's been a long time since I had DSL, but back when I did have it I also had to pay for a Verizon phone line (making their prices uncompetititve). They might be offering naked DSL now, but the best speeds at my address are 1.5 Mbps down, and TWC gets me 6+ Mbps down. If I go to a internet-based TV source I will probably need the bandwidth (but Verizon will give me espn360...)

Scott

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:04 am

Looking at my last TWC bill (pre rate increase) the TV portion with Digipic 1000 plus one additional cable box is about $77 before taxes. The whole bill with Earthlink and taxes jumps to $125. Looks like the rate increase will be about $4 before taxes.

Any rough numbers for comparable channel choice and convenience from other sources?

Michael Westerfield · **Posted:** Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:15 am

DickRasmussen wrote:

Looking at my last TWC bill (pre rate increase) the TV portion with Digipic 1000 plus one additional cable box is about $77 before taxes. The whole bill with Earthlink and taxes jumps to $125. Looks like the rate increase will be about $4 before taxes.

Any rough numbers for comparable channel choice and convenience from other sources?

Dick, that's the same package I got and as mentioned above when I called to disconnect I got them to give me 12mo at 91.xx$ out the door.

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:41 am

scottjohnson wrote:

I hooked up our attic antenna

Hmmmmm, what kind of setup do you have?

Jason Mauldin · **Posted:** Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:50 am

Scott, Is it the entire UHF/VHF antenna? Unless they start moving the digital channels back down to the lower frequency, you can remove the large section of the antenna, which will give you more room to position it.

I assume that you've looked at antennaweb to figure out which way you need to point it?

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Sat Jan 10, 2009 12:44 pm

Jason Mauldin wrote:

Scott, Is it the entire UHF/VHF antenna? Unless they start moving the digital channels back down to the lower frequency, you can remove the large section of the antenna, which will give you more room to position it.

I assume that you've looked at antennaweb to figure out which way you need to point it?

I have no idea what it is. It's big and in the attic. I'll take a picture. I have seen antennaweb.org, but haven't taken a compass into the attic yet. Since it is 15+ years old it probably is both U and VHF.

Scott

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Sat Jan 10, 2009 3:05 pm

Michael Westerfield wrote:

My best experience with getting TWC is having your backup plan ready and calling them to cancel.

Good call Mike. I got them to lower my bill $10 or so last month.

I just got off the phone with TWC (after about 24 prompts- terrible/non-existent cust. service!) to get info for swapping out my boxes for the 'free' HD box now that I have a real tv you don't have to squint at.

Anyway, we pay $114 for the RR and digital cable with two boxes and no DVR. They offered to do $109 a month with DVR included but the catch is a two year contract. No way!

Otherwise, I can upgrade each box for about $8.

Direct TV seems like a bargain if the service is decent. They're my next call...

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