Getting rid of cable...

Do all 5 TVs need full Internet capability? You could get some cheap netbooks to run 2 or 3 of them and 2 Rokus for the ones that just need Netflix and Hulu. Netbooks should be fine to just stream web content and they won't be $500.

frontline, now that I think about it, you should check out the twit.TV podcast "Know How." They have a couple of episodes dealing with this.

Yeah, cable's gotten to be more ridiculous than it used to be since the federal switch to digital broadcasts. I'm glad someone bumped this, because I was just about to start looking for alternatives to cable for when I get out to San Diego. I watch maybe seven to ten shows per week, all of which are easily found on Amazon, PirateBay.com, ect.

I'm sure you've already thought of this Front, but DISH or DirecTV might be worth a look. If you unbundle TV and switch from Verizon's package, you might be able to save a "bundle" on phone service by going to Vonage or iconnecthere.com

Know How program on building a DVR.

Know How program on setting up an HDTV antenna (its not always easy) to get OTA TV broadcasts.

Know How episode on building a media center PC.

Wiki article comparing the various set top boxes. A tech reporter (I can't remember who, I think it was Becky Worley, but I could be wrong) did a comprehensive list showing all devices, including PCs, but I haven't the time to try and find it. (Its posted as a Google doc, and is routinely updated.)

The Know How episodes are about 30 minutes long, and worth giving a look, as they give different methods for doing things.

just found out my apartment company won't let me get rid of cable. apparently it's part of our lease. fucking cox!

True...I gave up DISH because of it...however you still might think about unbundling your phone service....VOIP services are cheap and reliable

Yep, I had the same deal at my apartment complex. $30 a month built in for low level analog. I had to start a separate account to get hi-def and the channels I wanted. Bright House collected twice. Nice work if you can get it.

T-2 months and counting on our cable cut project. I've decided on 2 ROKU boxes (we have 4 tvs, but only 3 are used; and we have a Wii already hooked up to Netflix & Hulu+). I also have an old HP Media Center TV PC with HDMI out that I need to wipe & maybe upgrade the RAM on. I'd like to get a really long Ethernet cable to hardwire the connection to it as it doesn't already come with wifi. I also need to get a wifi range extender because my router is upstairs.

I also need to get some digital antennas for local channels.

I bought a Roku box for my mother for Christmas, since she doesn't have cable, and I figure even if she won't watch it, it'll give my nephew something to watch when he comes to visit. I hooked it up to my TV to figure out how to set everything up, and fix it so that my mom can't accidentally order something and I've got to say that I might have to get me one of these. Sure, I could get the content via the PC I've hooked up to the TV, but lots of the stuff available on there, I'd no idea one could get, and its pretty handy that I can just flip channels like I did with TV. Not to mention I don't have to worry about the video getting bogged down because I'm trying to load a page in the other browser that's a bit too massive.

Thinking about getting one as well, which model did ya get?

I got the Roku HD, which is the $60 version. Mom doesn't have an HDTV, so I would have gotten her the $50 one, but they were out of stock. When I get one for myself, I'll stick with the $60 one, as my TV is 720p, so going up to one of the expensive models that has 1080p is useless to me. I think that the more expensive models have a remote with a keyboard on them (which would be handy for entering passwords for things like Netflix, though you can do that via the web in some cases).

Well it's been about three weeks since we got rid of the DirecTV, and went with over the air HD and a Roku. Went with the fanciest Roku player and we're adjusting nicely. Bandwidth restrictions have kept us off of Hulu, but Netflix, Amazon Prime and Pandora are big hits. It took some adjustments, at first we missed the mindless scroll through the guide only to realize that nothing was on. Once we realized that no, everything is on, we just have to look it up, we started enjoying it. We're able to get most all new releases as well, we just pay a couple of dollars for new episodes of Doctor Who, Elementary, Justified, etc. I'm finally taking in Game Of Thrones at $2.99 per episode, which is fine considering I won't have the DVD's lying around once I'm done. The wife is moving through DS9 at a steady pace, which is free with the Prime membership.

The cons, the picture quality is sub par at times, especially with Netflix, though I suspect that's more to do with our internet connection. Sports are a problem as well, we tried to get the title game last night through the Wii, once I found it on the laptop I saw no need to hook it up, as Bama was already up 14-0. Still, gotta figure the sports out. Other things I miss, my DVR, I miss being able to pause live TV. I assume there is some sort of Tivo/DVR device that would let me record shows that come in over the air, there's no excuse to pay for Big Bang Theory when it's coming to the house every week for free. Thoughts?

We're liking the Roku, but when we add another TV once the addition is complete, we'll probably go with Apple TV to compare the two, and take advantage of our existing Apple environment.

Like frontline is suggesting above, you can build your own DVR. You can also leach off someone else's cable with a slingbox for sports. I had one when I was in Shreveport hooked to my parents cable in Dallas just for sports. You can buy a stand alone TiVo box if you want a simpler solution than using a computer.

I'm ready to cut the cable again. I just need to get Samantha on board. I will finish up Football season first as well because I love Red Zone.

I'll look into the tower/Tivo, as it is I'm trying to keep things as minimal as possible, at least in this room. This is the setup as it is...



Yes, the TV is small, get over it. I'm gonna have a hard time adding anything that fucks with the feng shui I've got going on there, maybe a low profile Tivo box on top of the cabinet or something. The Bose control and the Roku are both in that cabinet, easily concealable behind a drop down door, the amp is in a linen closet down that hallway.

Oh and Tuckerfan, my wife had the Roku app downloaded to her phone by the time we got out of the Wal Mart parking lot.

I'm still on schedule to do this in February, but I need to find a workaround to MLB's blackout rules. Anybody know of a good proxy server/service?

You can get a computer the size of a Mac Mini made by HP or another manufacteror fairly cheap, or use a laptop. There are plenty of things that will fit right inside that cabinet top. A small external hard drive will cover storage needs for the computer based DVR.

Does MLB.TV black out home games? I have two big reasons for not getting rid of cable, one of which is watching baseball. If that were the only reason, I figure I'd do fine with a season subscription to MLB.TV viewed via Roku. Unfortunately, the other issue is that my kids TIVO and also watch a lot of on demand stuff from cable that isn't all that available through Netflix. That might be a tougher nut to crack.

MLB uses your IP address to black out all games for your 'Home' team. They have a zip code look up tool on their website to see if you are affected. I've heard that you can use a proxy server, like UnoTelly, to fool MLB into thinking that you live somewhere else. I was wondering if anyone had any experience going through a proxy server or an SSL for something like this.

Is it all home games, or is it just home games that the team has blacked out? The Redsox have no blackout dates that I know of -- all 162 games are broadcast by a cable station they own. If I can't get the home games, even though they are in fact being broadcast, then I can't see why I'd have any interest in a subscription to MLB TV.

The blackout is for the MLB.com package, not TV. It's the cable station that's causing the internet blackout. If you're in an area that can get the cable channel, they won't let you watch it online.

As per the MLB website: "All live games on MLB.TV and available through MLB.com At Bat are subject to local blackouts. Such live games will be blacked out in each applicable Club's home television territory, regardless of whether that Club is playing at home or away. If a game is blacked out in an area, it is not available for live game viewing...If you are an MLB.TV subscriber within either Club's home television territory or an MLB.TV subscriber in any territory, the applicable game will be available as an archived game approximately 90 minutes after the conclusion of the game."

If you've got a Roku box, check out Plex. It's great for streaming stuff from your computer to your TV. I use it for things that aren't available on Netflix/Hulu. It's pretty good about figuring out episodes and pulling info from the net.

I just ordered a Roku box that should come next week. I'll try Plex on it, but usually I put my movies on a hard drive & play them through my WD TV box.

I'm hoping this will work for getting me local MLB.tv broadcasts. I'll let you know.

Also, I found this to be a useful guide to making this transition, especially the section about making your own DVR: http://www.amazon.com/Cut-Cord-Need...8&qid=1357931065&sr=8-1&keywords=cut the cord

How to turn a $35 Raspberry Pi computer into a media center PC.