Making the Switch from Cable to just Internet

[mlmpetert]

Need some help.....

Im getting rid of Fios (Glenn beck is going off the air so whats the point) and im gonna do the full blown just internet thing starting June 1st. Anyone one have Apple tv? Google tv? This thing:

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Or something else that integrates all the free and pay stuff out there, with local hd channels, movies, internet stuff and more? Mind sharing your set up with me?

I only have a laptop at home (my roommate also has apple laptop, im a pc) and i would prefer that i dont have to use either, so i want something thats stand alone. I do want the ability to bluetooth or somehow else send something stuff from either of our laptops to the tv if easy/possible.

Also just got off the phone with verizon here are the upload download speeds available:

upload/download:

5/15
25/25
35/35

I signed up for the cheapest (slowest) upload/download option since its just a phone call to change. Is 5/15 fast enough for hdtv through netflix, hula, ect?

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Get a ps3. Blu-ray plus hulu, Netflix, vudu, and amazon on demand.... Although with hulu you'll get 10 times the content if you get playon and just stream everything from your laptop over wifi to the ps3.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Btw Bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth to stream anything other than cheap audio.

[mlmdub130]

u need a new tv, the tv i got to replace the one you have has wifi built into it's pretty sweet. the ps3 route is pretty money too, netflix is way easier to use throught he ps3 because the tv just has netflix as an app. and i'm using the 15/5 right now w my netflix and it works pretty damn good for netflix, not sure on hulu.

what made you make the switch richmond cable can't be that expensive, i'm interested to see what you think. are you gonna go to bars or try and stream sports? i would love to dump directv but their sports coverage it amazing

[mlmpetert]

I didn’t have legit internet before (just “barrowed” my neighbors signal and rebroadcasted an encrypted version as my own through my ddwrt router or teatherd through my phone), but my new roommate freelances as a graphic designer and needs legit internet. And I don’t watch much tv, especially during the summer, so whats the point in having both? I figure for football ill get a hdtv antenna for the local channels, and I only really follow the CAA for basketball and you have to watch most games online anyways. Thursday and Sunday and Monday night games usually stay on too late for me anyways so I wont really miss watching them…. I guess I can watch a crappy internet feed for those games if I really have to.

My roommate has a 360, will that work for anything or is a ps3 pretty much needed. I don’t play video games at all so id rather go the non-gaming route if the xbox wont work. Also I don’t have a bluray player or a even a dvd player so I know I need to make some purchases.

This looks pretty sweet:




It plays Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu….. I don’t think theres anything else? Id like to somehow have the have the hdtv antenna streaming though the Roku or something else if possible so I don’t have to switch inputs, I do plan however on buying a sweet remote.

Yeah I realize now that Bluetooth aint strong enough to transmit anything but music, but I guess I could set up a network to get content off my laptop with Roku or something else?

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by mlmdub130

u need a new tv, the tv i got to replace the one you have has wifi built into it's pretty sweet. the ps3 route is pretty money too, netflix is way easier to use throught he ps3 because the tv just has netflix as an app. and i'm using the 15/5 right now w my netflix and it works pretty damn good for netflix, not sure on hulu.

what made you make the switch richmond cable can't be that expensive, i'm interested to see what you think. are you gonna go to bars or try and stream sports? i would love to dump directv but their sports coverage it amazing

I hope the wifi built into the TV works better than the internal wifi built into laptops.

USB wireless adapters work so much better...faster too.

Hmmmm...my new LG LCD has a USB port...wonder if it will work? I've just used it to view pictures on a thumb drive, never tried to put a wireless adapter in it.

[BDBohnzie]

If you don't want to go the PS3 route (even though it's the best blu-ray player on the market), there are plenty of blu-ray players out there that have internet capability that will allow you to use services like netflix, hulu plus, amazon on demand, itunes, etc. The one up they have on the Roku box (which looks pretty sweet by the way, and for $100, it looks hard to beat) is that it does play blu-ray movies.

I've been contemplating the jump for a while, with our only issue being that we're pretty far from DC and Baltimore (50 miles), so antenna signal strength will be an issue for local channels. I'd get a blu-ray player for one of the TVs (so the kids can still watch DVDs) and I'd build a small HTPC for the big TV. But in the meantime, I might go with the Roku Box. For $100 to get all those features is pretty outstanding.

[skinsguy]

Mlmpetert:

I did this very thing you are talking about and I have not had any regrets. I ditched Directv a few months ago (after football season and most of college basketball season was over) and went with over-the-air tv antenna and the internet thing.

I use a combination of a PS3 and a new Dell i5 Inspiron for my media entertainment. I have Playon and Hulu plus. Regular Hulu will not work on the PS3, but works perfectly on my Dell. Hulu plus is OK, but I'm a little disappointed with its content. Still, for only $8/month, I guess I can't complain too much. I just have found that the majority of my entertainment can be seen on regular Hulu. Anyways, Playon is OK, but I've been a bit disappointed with it. I've found that mostly what it does is just allow you to pull in all of the content that is already on those station's websites for free. So, I just usually go to those websites on the computer, but I can see how you might need the server for the PS3.

As far as the over-the-air thing, you will be surprised at what you can pick up, especially if you're in more of a urban populated area. My girlfriend can pick up around 25 channels, free and in HD, in her apartment. I do well to pick up about 7 at my house, but I don't watch a lot of TV other than NBC or FOX anyway. It has saved me about $90 a month!

I figure if it becomes and issue during football season, I can always subscribe to NFL Rewind if I wind up missing a game. But anyways, hulu and Netflix is just about everything you need as far as TV is concerned.

[mlmpetert]

I really don’t want to do a whole separate HTPC at this point…. And after reading this:

Google TV vs. Apple TV vs. Roku: Set-Top Box Smackdown | PCWorld


Im kind of leaning towards google tv. It sounds like it’s the next best thing to a a htpc set up with the big exception that hulu wont work on it. I like that the roku is cheap and has hulu, but I think id rather have full blown internet and no hulu. Maybe I get lucky and in the next few months hulu strikes a deal a google? Plus I have a droid and there is some integration and likely more in the future.

[mlmpetert]

I live in Ricmond city so i should get most available stuff through a antenna. And my cable bill is about the exact same (91/month). Do you know if NFL rewind is only available through the internet, or do you know if i could get it with a Roku or something similar?

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by mlmpetert

I live in Ricmond city so i should get most available stuff through a antenna. And my cable bill is about the exact same (91/month). Do you know if NFL rewind is only available through the internet, or do you know if i could get it with a Roku or something similar?

Well, the NFL rewind is fairly new, so I'm not sure if you can get it through the Roku box or not. Honestly, I haven't checked since I don't use the Roku. I want to say that it's mainly an internet thing. BUT....if you do get Playon, you can play NFL Rewind through the Playon server onto a PS3 (or XBox 360.) I think the service is $50 a season...which isn't bad considering you can watch any NFL game you want to at any time (after the game has been played of course) and the games are all in HD.

[skinsguy]

Just checked the Playon website. The Roku box is supported by Playon which means you should be able to feed NFL Rewind through your Roku. Not a bad deal!

[mlmpetert]

Well i think the google tv option is out for me..... it doesnt really intergrate tv and web UNLESS you also have cable:

Why Google TV May Not Work for You | SimplyGoogleTV

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by mlmpetert

Well i think the google tv option is out for me..... it doesnt really intergrate tv and web UNLESS you also have cable:

Why Google TV May Not Work for You | SimplyGoogleTV

Did you read the comments section? I'm not sure how accurate that little piece was.

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by skinsguy

Did you read the comments section? I'm not sure how accurate that little piece was.

Yeah there are kind of a couple ways to get around it but it requires buying something that costs as much as google tv (300ish) or flipping back and forth from inputs (which takes away from the integration whole point).

Also just read this (good comments here too):

http://gigaom.com/video/google-tv-2-0-honeycomb-arm-android-market/


Which makes me want to wait anyway until other kinks are worked out, its possibly cheaper and its also made for people who don’t want to have cable.... It still sounds good, but perhaps a little rushed by google the first time around, hopefully theyll role out with something a little better later this year.

So at this point im thinking the easy initial way to go for me is to start out trying apple tv or roku.