How to Ditch Cable?

[threehills]

Trying to save a few bucks, and am thinking about ditching cable TV. I'd still like to be able to use my plasma TV to watch Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, mooch my parents Comcast streaming, and what not. I feel kinda lost in figuring out how to watch the internet on my television though. I know there are things like Boxee, but from what I can tell, they are all sorta limited in the content the can get. I was thinking about getting the new ChromeBox and using that as a computer with my 40 inch TV hooked up to the HDMI port. Would that work?

Anyone else have suggestion on how to make this happen?

Things I need to be able to watch
HBO Go
ESPN360
Hulu
Netflix (which I can already do via PS3, but would be nice if all in one place)

[picklemonkey]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

Boxee is my favorite. I have used Roku, Apple TV, and Google TV (Logitech TV} and all fall short of Boxee. Horrible implementations in user interface and overall experience. The bad part about Boxee is that it doesn't do Hulu or ESPN. I also bought a quality HD antenna for the TV that the girlfriend and kids use when they're not in Boxee, and that gets 23 HD (up to 1080p) free over-the-air channels for local stuff like Fox, CBS, NBC, sports, etc.

On a personal note, once I bought a Boxee and had six months to get over the wow factor, I found I really stopped watching TV altogether except for maybe two hours per week. The girlfriend and her two kids all use it, and none of us miss cable at all--it was pretty surprising that the kids adopted it so quickly. It could be because I just bought a new house, but either way I've broken the addiction to most television altogether and have instead done all of my viewing with Boxee's social experience, Netflix, YouTube, Vimeo, and my Watch It Later queue.


You can buy a Boxee refurb for $130 on Amazon (I have a refurb, no issues that a normal Boxee doesn't experience)

[threehills]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

Hmmmm.... That does sound good... but really need to have Access to Comcast Xfininity via the internet and or ESPN. The one thing I DO watch on TV is college football... so without that I don't know if it will work.

In theory though, do you think the chromebox idea would work? Or any basic simple no frills computer than can get an internet connection and has an HDMI output...?

[picklemonkey]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

You're not ditching cable if you still want to pay for Xfinity TV

[threehills]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

Let me clarify, I want to use my parents Xfinity account....

[picklemonkey]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

haha, makes sense.

Boxee does aggregate some (but I don't think all) Xfinity content, and if you authenticate into the account you can watch it from there. There's also a web browser in Boxee, which doesn't exist in other major competitors like Roku. You could go to Xfinity from the browser and navigate from there, though it may be a little cumbersome from the remote. My vote is you buy a Boxee, try it out for 2 weeks, and return it for a full refund if you don't like it

[res0nat0r]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

You could also if you wanted a hacky fix just hook up your laptop to the TV and use it that way.

Also you must have a cable subscription to get HBO Go they won't sell it to you w/o one. So if your parents have HBO then thats ok.

[threehills]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

Yes, my parents have HBO, which I use their HBOgo currently. I HAVE hooked my laptop up to the TV before, but sound output is an issue... I could make it work, but wanted something a little more elegant. May try the boxee... thanks pickle.

EDIT: Researched the boxee more in depth, and looks pretty great. My only question, is how legit is the built in web browser? Will it play most everything including flash and java type stuff?

[picklemonkey]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

Unfortunately, there is an issue with the flash. Adobe decided to quit supporting flash on mobile or IPTVs, so there are some websites which require a newer version of flash than Boxee supports. This isn't a Boxee issue, but instead is dependent on Adobe releasing a newer version for these types of devices. It sucks, and broke a bunch of content that I was watching, but I have ramped so much of my TV watching back that it doesn't bother me much. I just recommend you buy it in a store and try it for a few weeks so you can decide if it's for you. All i know is I love mine, and wouldn't ever go back to cable.

[picklemonkey]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

The way I see it's if you are able to stop paying for cable for two months you have bought a Boxee and saved some money. If you ever decide you miss it, you can always go back and keep the Boxee

[threehills]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

Sorry, one last question before I buy.... How does audio out work? If I run the HDMI into my receiver, same as I do all my other various game boxes and what not, that should work for both audio and video right? I just notice the white and red audio outputs on the back and was wondering if I have to use those instead?

Thanks!

[picklemonkey]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

You can output audio through RCA, HDMI, optical, or all three

[floridaorange]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

Boxee basically organizes the internet for you on your tv? Instead of plugging in your laptop and navigating to Hulu and Youtube, Boxee puts them all on a browser for you? It doesn't enable you to access any more channels online than your laptop does though right?

[picklemonkey]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

Yeah, it organizes everything there for you. It doesn't index Hulu or Amazon VOD, though. It did at one time through a third-party app, and Hulu blocked it. Either way, there's enough content on it that I'm never stuck trying to think of what I should watch

[floridaorange]

Re: How to Ditch Cable?

Thus enabling you to surf the web on your laptop while simultaneously watching online content on your tv?

I considered boxee at first but I think I'll stick with: