Any cord cutters here?

Post #408,124 by drook 2/16/16 4:48:57 PM 2/16/16 4:50:32 PM Reply	Any cord cutters here? I'm looking to kill the cable. I'm going to keep Netflix, and figure I'll probably need an HD antenna for OTA channels and a DVR. I'm seeing refurbished Roku 2 for you using? -- Drew Edited by drook Feb. 16, 2016, 04:50:32 PM EST Expand All History
Post #408,125 by malraux 2/16/16 5:05:59 PM 2/16/16 5:05:59 PM Reply	Yes We don't bother with an antenna and strictly watch Netflix and Amazon Prime. In retrospect I would probably get a Roku. Our current crop of devices includes: 1) PS3 - runs both Netflix and Prime. Generally what we use given its CPU speed. Video streams without a hitch. Occasional PSN annoyances. 2) Apple TV - doesn't run Prime (bastards), no longer runs Netflix because it's old. Boo. 3) Wii - runs Netflix but has a slight hitch in the video due to CPU. 4) Fire TV Stick - bought on a lark for $20, runs both Netflix and Prime but also hitches occasionally. We also stream music for which the Fire TV Stick is pretty good. It runs Pandora, Spotify, and Prime Music (natch). I suggest getting the newest gen device within your budget due to the video hitch problems on older CPUs. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #408,126 by drook 2/16/16 5:30:23 PM 2/16/16 5:30:23 PM Reply	What about storage? And/or live TV? There are a half-dozen series on OTA and basic cable that we currently record. If they can be streamed on-demand from Prime that might not be an issue. -- Drew
Post #408,127 by malraux 2/16/16 5:47:07 PM 2/16/16 5:47:07 PM Reply	Dunno, we don't watch that stuff Basically if it isn't on Netflix/Prime we don't care. And since we only stream, storage is a non-issue. That said, there's Hulu I guess. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #408,130 by drook 2/16/16 6:17:46 PM 2/16/16 6:17:46 PM Reply	Guess I'll have to look up specific shows on Prime, thanks -- Drew
Post #408,128 by static 2/16/16 5:48:06 PM 2/16/16 5:48:06 PM Reply	Never been on cable, myself. But I've always had an antenna for OTA. I use a MythTV box with 1TB of storage for OTA. Been using it for about 5 years. For streaming tech, I use a PS3. That takes care of YouTube, plus local catchup services. If I ever signed up for Netflix et al, I'd use my PS3. Cable here is expensive and doesn't have a big market share. Wade. Just Add Story http://justaddstory.wordpress.com/
Post #408,131 by drook 2/16/16 6:18:18 PM 2/16/16 6:18:18 PM Reply	I've thought about the Myth box I'm past the point where I want to play with building my own shit any more, though. -- Drew
Post #408,135 by Another Scott 2/16/16 8:48:33 PM 2/16/16 8:48:33 PM Reply	I finally gave up on that. With just about everything being digital now, I figured MythTV would be basically worthless. The FCC is going to have a meeting Thursday and seemingly make a big announcement about people being able to use their own cable boxes soon. That might make something like MythTV become more appealing - maybe - but I figure the cable companies will try to come up with a way to keep up their margins even if people stop renting cable boxes. On January 28, the FCC announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the FCC’s February 18 Open Meeting: * “Promoting Diverse and Independent Programming.” The FCC will consider a Notice of Inquiry that “seeks comment on the current state of programming diversity and the principal obstacles that independent programmers face in obtaining carriage on video distribution platforms.” * “Expanding Consumer Choice.” The FCC will consider an NPRM containing proposals designed to “unlock the set-top box,” according to a Fact Sheet released by the FCC on January 28. The FCC states in the Fact Sheet that “consumers should be able to have the choice of accessing programming through the MVPD-provided interface on a pay-TV set-top box or app, or through devices such as a tablet or smart TV using a competitive app or software.” The FCC’s primary proposal in the NPRM is to require that multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) – which are “cable, satellite or telco companies” – provide “three core information streams” to “creators of competitive devices or apps” that can be used to access MVPD-provided programming. Chairman Wheeler discussed these items in a January 28 blog post , noting that the February Open Meeting “has a clear unifying theme: expanding consumer choice in the video marketplace.” The FCC’s Open Meeting will take place on Thursday, February 18 at 10:30 a.m. in Room TW-C305 of the FCC’s headquarters at 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. and will be streamed live at fcc.gov/live. FCC Finds Broadband Not Being Deployed to Americans in a “Reasonable and Timely Fashion” [...] I'll probably look into our options a bit more in a few weeks. But J is addicted to the Tennis Channel and the Red Sox, so it's not clear that we would save much even if we did get rid of cable. (We have had Prime for years and have never downloaded a show from Amazon - it just hasn't interested us (at least not yet). We haven't done much of anything with our Chromecast thingies either.) Cheers, Scott.
Post #408,139 by static 2/17/16 1:35:31 AM 2/17/16 1:35:31 AM Reply	That's kinda why I've not upgraded the OS. It's running Ubuntu 10.04 and Firefox is so old that Youtube complains quite strenuously. At the time, consumer DVRs were very leading edge: hard to find, very expensive and small capacities. Even my initial MythTV box about 8 years ago with 300Gb was way bigger than any consumer DVRs. But DVB-T cards for Linux had just gotten cheap and easy to find. So I re-learnt enough to build my own box to do it. It's been upgraded a few times as hardware has died or gotten better, actually, and got a re-install at one point with a 500Gb system drive. The original CPU couldn't keep up with decoding a HD DVB stream, but that problem's long gone. The original video card karked it 3 or 4 years ago, so I bought a cheapie NVidia thing. Then the motherboard died 2 or 3 years ago, so I bought an old HP office PC, stuck the drives and cards in and it booted right up where it left off. The original box was a genuine frankenbox, but it was noisy, so I figured out how to make the BIOS alarm work for it to turn itself on and off. But the current one is much quieter (and the BIOS alarm doesn't work) so it stays on all the time. Wade. Just Add Story http://justaddstory.wordpress.com/
Post #408,132 by a6l6e6x 2/16/16 6:28:04 PM 2/16/16 6:28:04 PM Reply	Not yet, but came close to cutting cord. That was when the "two year" deal ran out and rates hiked up. OTA DVRs like Tivo's would come with a subscription fee ($15/mo) for programming info. That pisses me off. W/o program schedule info, it gets inconvenient. But, yes. If you can't record say Downton Abbey or pause a live program to make a pit stop not having a DVR would be a pain. Alex "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -- Isaac Asimov
Post #408,143 by mmoffitt 2/17/16 8:16:33 AM 2/17/16 8:16:33 AM Reply	Three years ago. We have an antenna on two of our sets, but can only pick up 3 or 4 channels since everything was improved to digital over analog (in the bad old days of analog, we'd get 7 channels broadcasting from the same cities). Netflix/Prime/NHL Gamecenter for the most part. There's an ABC Roku app that broadcasts some of my wife's favorite shows about a week after the OTA broadcast we can't get (no ABC within digital antenna range for us). Don't have any storage devices, rely on the streaming companies for that. 3 Roku 3's and one Roku 2 which I bought new when we first cut the cord. You get used to not seeing commercials and that's the only thing I don't like about the ABC app. Still, the shows she watches (and we used to buy on Prime) are Quantico, Agent Carter and Agents of Shield, so for the 20 bucks per season savings, we've agreed to suffer through commercials. ;0)
Post #408,152 by scoenye 2/17/16 6:29:42 PM 2/17/16 6:29:42 PM Reply	Started that way Then Comcast borged the local cableco and that was the end of that. Either we added TV service, or they would cut the bandwidth to barely above dial-up speeds.
Post #408,169 by crazy 2/18/16 7:17:05 PM 2/18/16 7:17:05 PM Reply	Not yet but getting there I have a Sony blueray player which includes apps for netflix, pandora, phone mirroring, and a bunch of other stuff. HD netflix is perfectly smooth, interface is nice, and phone Web surfing is much nicer on the big tv.
Post #408,176 by pwhysall 2/19/16 3:28:53 AM 2/19/16 3:28:53 AM Reply	Heading that way. Will get the TV tuner add-on for the XBox One for free-to-air channels. It's got All The Services (Netflix, Prime, iPlayer, etc) and makes a dandy media hub.
Post #408,454 by drook 2/29/16 12:36:59 PM 2/29/16 12:36:59 PM Reply	OK, didn't think to ask ... what about the second TV? Right now I've got the DVR connected to the TV in the living room, and a second cable box with the downstairs TV. If I switch to Roku or something else like that, how do I watch on the second TV? Do I need a second Roku and net connection? -- Drew
Post #408,455 by malraux 2/29/16 12:47:18 PM 2/29/16 12:47:18 PM Reply	Cheapest is just buy another Roku Otherwise you're talking about a shared cabinet with multiple outputs, remote IR blasters, and so on. I did hear about someone who just output the Roku signal onto the shared coax, but you'd still need a remote solution. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #408,456 by drook 2/29/16 1:54:05 PM 2/29/16 1:54:05 PM Reply	Thought so ... this just became less convenient I don't have ethernet to the the basement yet. -- Drew
Post #408,460 by malraux 2/29/16 3:05:14 PM 2/29/16 3:05:14 PM Reply	You could bridge it Dunno what your main wireless router is, but I used an AirPort Express to extend a wired port to our living room. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #408,462 by drook 2/29/16 3:38:20 PM 2/29/16 3:38:20 PM Reply	Doh! Roku has wireless, should have figured. Still means I'd need two of them, and no DVR functionality. -- Drew
Post #408,464 by malraux 2/29/16 3:58:45 PM 2/29/16 3:58:45 PM Reply	What's the DVR for if you're cutting the cord? Broadcast? Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #408,471 by drook 2/29/16 4:44:39 PM 2/29/16 4:44:39 PM Reply	Couple broadcast shows, and a couple basic cable Still have to figure out where to get the cable ones. -- Drew
Post #408,467 by malraux 2/29/16 4:02:41 PM 2/29/16 4:02:41 PM Reply	Google 'roku dvr' for some interesting things :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJoXz33D3ds https://www.reddit.com/r/cordcutters/comments/30q4kf/my_cordcutter_setup_and_guide_wholehome_dvr_roku/ Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #408,470 by drook 2/29/16 4:43:22 PM 2/29/16 4:43:22 PM Reply	Good links -- Drew
Post #408,861 by boxley 3/20/16 12:41:02 PM 3/20/16 12:41:02 PM Reply	Just saw this, they ever get live sports I'm on it https://www.playstation.com/en-us/network/vue/#4 always look out for number one and don't step in number two

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