Going TV service free... questions please

[Denvergirlie]

So we are moving

Cable TV, which we currently have the most basic package at $10 a month, is not available where we are moving too.

I doubt we will be able to get a digital over the air free signal, as we are in a mountain valley, but will admit I have not yet checked that out. I will stop by the local Radio Shack in the new town, to see if they know of anyone successfully getting a signal in that area, before we would lay out money for all that equipment (converter box, attenna indoor & outdoor).
We have old TV's, both of them would need a digital converter box.

We will also be downgrading to DSL, 1.5 speed from highspeed cable internet int he city, so expect things to be much slower?
We are going to try DSL first, but do have satillite internet option available in this area if the DSL just doesn't work out to be fast enough. (How will Hulu/ Netflix work on DSL?)

We do not want to get locked into a 2 year contract for satillite TV, which is our only option, so we are thinking of going without TV service to start with at least.

I understand we can watch stuff on Hulu, and are also considering Netflixs. However, in order to do those, we have to watch all this sitting at the desk on a 19 inch monitor, that doesn't sound very relaxing...

I understand we can buy a Roku box for Netflixs to watch on our TV, but that is a $90 piece of equipement as well.
Could we somehow connect/ convert Hulu to play on our current TV as well? Would we need to buy another box for that as well?

Is there another option or set up that I am not aware of?

I know some of you ladies have gotten really good at all this technology to save money on TV shows, etc., so please help me out with doing this the cheapest way.

I'm okay with investing money into some of this stuff if I have too, but want to get it as low as possible, and also as multi functional as possible, in case we cave and get DirectTV/ Dish Network after all.


Any suggestions?

thanks

[Drummer's Wife]

We connect a netbook to our big screen TV to watch movies on Netfix, etc. You could use a PC and a monitor cord, too, if you don't have a laptop. I wouldn't spend $90, but it may depend on how new your TV is/what inputs it has.

[HeatherAtHome]

We watch tv shows/movies on the computer. We bought our house last fall and it turns out we have a small living room at the front of the house (10'x10'?) so we have the computer sitting on a desk on one wall and a couch on the opposite wall. The couch is out from the wall a bit with a sofa table behind it. When watching movies the computer chair gets pushed to the side. We find the size ok.

We also have a larger family room at the back of the house which will be where kids have toys etc so the front room is dedicated to computer use.

ETA: Our computer (HP media centre something or other) came with a remote so we can sit back and relax instead of getting up to use mouse.

[xmysticprincessx]

DH bought some kind of card to plug into the computer so that we could watch network tv live on our computer (vs having to watch shows the next day on hulu).The 1st one he bought was a Pinnacle, and it did not work well on our 1 year old Toshiba laptop (running XP). It worked better on our desktop computer. It cost over $100 at Best Buy.

DH is a computer geek, so I'm not sure if he researched them more or noticed it while browsing at Best Buy, but he bought a Haphaggue computer tv coverter. This one cost closer to $80. (He just bought it this past fall.) It worked right away on our laptop and on our desktop. Hands down, it was better than the Pinnacle. Buy.com had a Haphaggue one that is just for desktops for about $40. I'm not sure what the difference is between that one and the one we have.

He installed Windows 7 on the laptop, and I think there's a program already a part of Windows 7 that lets you watch network tv live on your computer. Not 100% sure.

We have a PS3, and dh was able to hook it up to our wireless network and basically use the PS3 as a computer to watch tv shows online on our tv. (He had to move the internet browser around on the screen or click "full screen.") I think he had also hooked a mouse and keyboard to the PS3. He was also able to log into the PS3 from another computer in our home network and then go to the various websites (hulu, etc) to watch tv on there. I'm honestly not sure what he did, since he does all sorts of computer things and makes them look simple. (He does IT, btw.)

Our tv is older (mid 80s), and we don't have a digital converter box. It can be kinda hard to read website info (ie, which button is "full screen") on our tv. We do have a flat screen monitor for our computer, roughly the same size as yours, and its not really a big deal for us to watch tv shows on it.

[Leta]

We have had this same problem, for, oh, almost five years now. After impatiently waiting and trying lots of things, we have decided to buy a flat screen with an HDMI port, a surround sound system (one box that is a DVD/CD player as well as an amp/receiver, plus speakers) and a bare bones Dell Zino. Then will get an HDMI cable to hook the computer to the TV, the TV will be hooked to the surround sound system via included cables, and we'll hook the surround sound to the computer with RCA to headphone jack cable.

The cables will come from Radio Shack and cost about $30 for both. We are getting the $130 surround sound system at WalMart, as well as the $500 TV. The basic Dell Zino costs $250. We'll also have to shell out for a wireless keyboard with trackpad, so that's another $70. We already have a good, new modem/router. We have 1.5 DSL and watch Netflix, Hulu, Joost, etc. with no problems. We have to let shows buffer, but it's no big deal.

I've looked at nice quality computer speakers, projectors, the Vizio web enabled TV, Roku, Vudu, Apple TV, Pandora radios, and a bunch of other stuff, and the problem is that they all are tied to specific platforms- Roku to Netflix, Apple TV to iTunes, etc. None of them offered the functionality of just a regular computer. So we talked to some of DH's kids (he works at a college) and they told us exactly how to do what we wanted. One of them even sent me this link.

To my surprise, it was cheaper than any of the plans we had worked out, partially because large computer monitors and high quality computer speakers are more expensive than stuff that's intended for home entertainment. Also, with this system, there are no subscriptions, other than our internet service and $9/mo to Netflix.

[Stayseeliz]

Netflix will be streaming video through the Wii by the spring. Just a thought!

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by Stayseeliz

Netflix will be streaming video through the Wii by the spring. Just a thought!

Very cool! We do sometimes watch videos on YouTube via the wii. I just wish the browser/processor wasn't so slow, and we didn't have to fnd the next part of the show every 5 min.

[Stayseeliz]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

Very cool! We do sometimes watch videos on YouTube via the wii. I just wish the browser/processor wasn't so slow, and we didn't have to fnd the next part of the show every 5 min.

We've never tried it but we almost bought a Roku box last year. I'm glad we waited since we don't have cable but love netflix. They seem to be committed to putting more up on the streaming side and since we already have a Wii this will be perfect for us!

[RollerCoasterMama]

We use some simple little cords from the laptop to the tv to watch netflix and hulu. They're really cheap---under $10 for both. I think with my new laptop I can go with one cord so it will be even easier.

Yay about the netflix on Wii! Very cool!!

[annethcz]

We have DSL, but we're at the edge of the service area since we live 7 miles outside of town. Despite this, we watch Netflix and Hulu and other streaming video on our computers without problem. Occasionally a Netflix movie will pause at the beginning of the movie to adjust for the connection speed/quality, but it isn't a huge inconvenience.

We stream Netflix through an Xbox 360 (and are looking forward to being able to do it on the other TV with the Wii), so I don't have any advice about hooking up a TV straight to a computer or laptop. But honestly, DH and I often stream videos on the laptop while we're snuggling in bed together, and it works just fine for us

[Denvergirlie]

Thanks ladies, i will look into some of this.

We are very slow adapters to technology, it's not that we don't like it, it's that we don't choose to spend this type of money on entertainment (digital TV's, gaming sytems, etc). We have a laptop, but it's terrible for listening to anything on it, but if I could connect that to the TV somehow, we might be able to make that work.

We don't have any of those gaming sytems (Wii or Xbox), but could possibly put together another computer to be devoted to this function.

Lots to think on, thanks.

[ArtsyMomma]

Originally Posted by Denvergirlie

Thanks ladies, i will look into some of this.

We are very slow adapters to technology, it's not that we don't like it, it's that we don't choose to spend this type of money on entertainment (digital TV's, gaming sytems, etc). We have a laptop, but it's terrible for listening to anything on it, but if I could connect that to the TV somehow, we might be able to make that work.

We don't have any of those gaming sytems (Wii or Xbox), but could possibly put together another computer to be devoted to this function.

Lots to think on, thanks.

I'm not great with technology either. I watch hulu on my laptop. I bought an inexpensive set of speakers. They plug right into the front.

[Leta]

I found this link helpful.

[Norasmomma]

We have a couple cords that are hooked into our computer. Dh then ran them through the wall, and we now watch HULU, TVU and movies online all the time. On complaint I have found is that HULU's big screen view freezes up sometimes, but we aren't sure if that is a processor issue or a HULU issue. Our computer needs some upgrades to make it function a bit better. If I were you I'd try to use the laptop to watch movies.

For us the cords cost like $30, my DH is pretty techie and an electrician, so he knew exactly what he was going to do.

[sunnysandiegan]

We use an old Mac laptop that is connected to the TV. That Mac has our movie, music, and photo libraries on it and that's about it. It is also connected to our cable internet through a CAT6 we ran through the walls. (This could be attached to a DSL line, if we chose that route instead.) We have one cable between the laptop and the TV, but each end of that cable has several color-coded "plugs" for certain ports.

Truthfully, I don't know much beyond the above because DH is the techie around here. However, I am about to learn how to watch LOST on the TV the day after it airs because I have a class every Tuesday night and LOST is the only TV show I watch. We don't have a DVR or anything like that and I don't want one. DH has figured out how to watch all (most) his college basketball games on the TV without any special packages this year. He uses the above-mentioned computer somehow to watch them on the TV. There are a few games that use technology that laptop cannot use, though. He uses his newer laptop (if possible) or goes to a family-friendly sports bar (often with DD) to watch those games.

We currently have the very basic cable TV and our earthlink through cable internet. Both are a la carte. I'd love to figure out a way to drop TimeWarner altogether...

[elbow]

Has anyone tried this http://www.playon.tv/?

It sounds like a good product and after the trial period it looks like its only $40. I'd love to hear reviews on it.

[PenelopeJune]

Does anyone here just have an antenna? We are moving to a house that already has an antenna, although I don't know if it has a box with it. If not, how much are those boxes? Our TVs are 6-8 years old, so I'm guessing we'd have to have a converter. How does it hold up with bad weather? My satellite poops out as soon as a breeze starts up.

We only pay $25 a month for satellite right now, but I'd be happy to drop even that much. All I really care about is having local channels, anyway.

Does anyone know what the name of the cord is that you need to connect a TV to a (basic desktop) computer?

[cschick]

Originally Posted by PenelopeJune

Does anyone here just have an antenna? We are moving to a house that already has an antenna, although I don't know if it has a box with it. If not, how much are those boxes? Our TVs are 6-8 years old, so I'm guessing we'd have to have a converter. How does it hold up with bad weather? My satellite poops out as soon as a breeze starts up.

We only pay $25 a month for satellite right now, but I'd be happy to drop even that much. All I really care about is having local channels, anyway.

Does anyone know what the name of the cord is that you need to connect a TV to a (basic desktop) computer?

We are 50-odd miles as the crow flies from where our over-the-air digital signals originate, and went cable-free about 8 months before the full digital switch-over. Our signals over the air are crystal clear--better signal quality than what we were getting over cable, in fact. I've never seen the signal be affected by weather--maybe some flickers during summer thunderstorms? I always figured those were problems on the originating end though; the broadcast antennas on the Sears and Hancock can put on quite a "fireworks show" during a summer t-storm.

Our primary tv doesn't need a converter, but our master bedroom tv does. We got one of the federal coupons for the converter, unfortunately, I think that program is over. My understanding is that you can pay ~$50 for a basic converter box, up to $150 for fancier ones.

[sunnysandiegan]

The "video cable" connects a computer to the TV. Doesn't matter if it is a desktop or a laptop.

[Pogonia]

Originally Posted by cschick

We are 50-odd miles as the crow flies from where our over-the-air digital signals originate, and went cable-free about 8 months before the full digital switch-over. Our signals over the air are crystal clear--better signal quality than what we were getting over cable, in fact. I've never seen the signal be affected by weather--maybe some flickers during summer thunderstorms?

We have a converter box, but, unfortunately, it hasn't helped after the switch to digital. We live across the water from Seattle, but the pocket we are in doesn't receive TV signals. On good days we get one channel; which is at least local news.