Cutting the Cord - TV via Internet?

I know this has been talked about here before and therefore I look to y'all as a check and verification that I am thinking of this right.
The wife and I moved into a new house 6 months ago. Being summer and being busy we hooked up good internet via cable but no TV. We have just been watching 2 channels of broadcast TV over rabbit ears and I supplement that with rarely catching a few TV shows via free Hulu on the laptop.
Its colder out, it is dark earlier. Over this past week we have rented about 6 movies and therefore dropped about $12 on rentals. This gets me to thinking maybe I should try/buy one of these services.

We are not TV aficionados , here is what we have:
32' White Westinghouse 720p flat screen of about 2 years ago.
Cable Internet that gives 10mbps downloads through a D-Link N Router.

Is all I need a Roku LT?
http://www.roku.com/roku-products
Is there something better?
I do not care about games offered in the Roku XS and I do not have a 1080p screen. I do not have and do not want a game system like Play Station.

Services:
I do not/have never had a subscription to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc. I read a lot of recent anger at Netflix but which is best?

If I have one subscription can I view through that subscription on the TV and on the laptop? Can I watch one thing through that subscription while my wife is simultaneously viewing something different through the same subscription?

Thanks guys and gals.

While there is much animosity at netflix dollar for dollar they are still the best service available.

Couple that with the Roku you're looking at and get ready to enjoy thousands of hours of mindless tv.

I haven't had cable in about 2.5 years now and can't see myself ever spending $60 on up to watch programs about midget tow-truck drivers with 16 kids and counting that are trying to get off meth.
I have an inexpensive antenna on my roof (single story ranch) and I pull in 40 channels. I also have Netflix. I don't use Hulu because it doesn't seem to get me anything that my browswer and Netflix can't. Maybe I'm missing something?
I'll say this, you need a good connection speed to stream shows from network sites. I think this is because of the incredible amount of ads on their sites?

Also I forgot, if you go to antennaweb.org and punch in your address it will tell you what local channels you can receive and what type of antenna will work best for you. A good antenna setup is IMO a worthy investment for you home. With a proper set up you should be getting 30+ channels.

Anybody here use Roku? When I dropped cable I think this was little-known or a start-up? It seems quite nice?

Marty! wrote: Also I forgot, if you go to antennaweb.org and punch in your address it will tell you what local channels you can receive and what type of antenna will work best for you. A good antenna setup is IMO a worthy investment for you home.

I used antennaweb to decide on a digital converter box. The only thing about that site is it was telling me I'd need two antennas, a rotator, controller and tower for it all. It was going to be $700! I picked up a $70 antenna and $25 in chimney mount and I'm good. But yes, a decent antenna will do lots more than most folks think. And you do NOT need a digital antenna, they all work the same.

We moved about 4 months ago and didn't do the cable thing either. At the old house we had DirectTV, but it was getting expensive. We run Netflix through a $100 Samsung Blueray player and a 42" Vizio, and the wife catches a few network shows OTA. We tried Hulu, but the commercials are a turnoff for me. Mostly the TV is just off, which isn't a bad thing.

Our internet speed is pretty high though. According to Speed Test, it's in the 19mbps range. I'm not sure what speed is required for streaming videos.

I have currently cut the cord on our tv at home and am now thinking of NOT going TV via internet.

It is amazing how productive my family is now.

I will say thing. I was looking at a Google TV system but it is blocked by most of my providers I want to visit.

You could go the nettop route like a Lenovo Q150, comes with the cool integrated key board

Or wait for the $25 home computer from Raspberry Pi

DrBoost wrote: Anybody here use Roku? When I dropped cable I think this was little-known or a start-up? It seems quite nice?

I have a Roku on our bedroom TV, an Apple TV on our main tele, and my laptop with WIDI in case I want to watch something from a website (say Lifetime for the missus).

The Apple TV has a better selection menu and a nicer remote then the Roku.

The Roku will also do Hulu+ (which I also subscribe to) while the Apple won't. But at the same time Hulu doesn't have the rights to broadcast their whole catalog to mobile/streaming devices. So, while it may be on Hulu+, it still may not be able to played on a Roku box.

The Apple will do rentals from iTunes while the Roku uses Amazon on Demand. Both services video selection and prices are almost identical.

The Roku is cheaper than the Apple.

Both technically deliver about the same picture and the same speed.

The Apple TV only has a HDMI output while the Roku has HDMI and RCA outputs. This is important to those with older tv's.

If the Roku fits your price range, I don't think you will be disappointed with it.

Thanks Marty, nice that you have all three and can compare them. I'm not familiar with WIDI, I'll have to check it out.
I might just upgrade the PC I use for Netflix. I like being able to go to a network site and watch something, but WIDI will do that, huh?
If I did decide to do a box type thing, I think Roku looses because of the bluetoof remote. I have a Harmony remote and it has the all important wife-approval factor. If I can't program the Roku into the 880, I'll pass.

Ok, I see WIDI is your computer on your Tv. I have that now, just need to upgrade the TV.

[end threadjack]

In reply to DrBoost:

Doc, when we started using Netflix I upgraded a PC to use as a HTPC. It worked pretty good, but the Blueray player we are using works as good or better and uses an interface as good as Direct TV has. Simple enough that my 8yo can use it better than I can.

Your remote shouldn't have any problems running a blueray player.

Can you surf the net on the player toyman? We use that capability often enough I don't know if I really want to drop it.

Are you talking about Netflix streaming or disc service?

Personally, I got a lot more QUALITY use out of the disc service. My wife caught up on True Blood, plus other premium exclusives that don't stream, along with month-old movies.

Also, even though we watched two documentaries on Netflix streaming today, it's more of a "wow I want to watch this so I'll add 200 things to my queue and then never watch them"-service. I told my wife we can kill it this week and she had no objections.

The main problem with cutting-the-cord is Sports. If I were to try it, I'd go with the OTA + network-over-internet + Redbox option initially. My cheap, homemade cardboard and aluminum foil antenna picks up a ton of HD channels in my office.

No, this one won't do internet other than the apps that Samsung has. I usually use my netbook for surfing.

Funny, my wife and I were just talking about dropping all but the basic Direct TV channels.

We monitored our watching for about 2 months to see what channels we used and found we never watch the movie channels except for some of their series. With the DVR we simply find what we want by doing a search and scheduling them at off hours so we don't interfere with anything we can't record off hours (traditional TV channels).

I LOVE not having to watch commercials!

Is there a way to get the Showtime and HBO series in near real time?

HTPC here hooked up to a 65" TV in the living room, our only TV. Use Netflix Streaming AND disc, it's not really that expensive. Especially not compared to our previous $160/month cable bill, although we still pay $65/month for Internet since we have a 25 MB down connection.

Have a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse on the coffee table, just waiting for a good way to use a tablet as a remote that basically just mirrors what the TV is displaying, then I'll ditch the keyboard/remote and get a tablet.

It does get a bit tedious at times having to LOOK for something to watch, but in almost two years we've saved nearly $2k.

Marty! wrote: Also I forgot, if you go to antennaweb.org and punch in your address it will tell you what local channels you can receive and what type of antenna will work best for you. A good antenna setup is IMO a worthy investment for you home. With a proper set up you should be getting 30+ channels.

I am confused by this website. As noted, I put in my address and it told me I need an Violet antenna and will get one station???????
I get two stations now (ABC, NBC) and all I have done is connected a wire from a cable type connector to the actual metal sides of my TV stand.
Yes, the metal parts of an Ikea shelf system (similar to picture) is my whole antenna and it works better that the under $100 stuff you can buy in the stores.

Oddly, I do not get the one station that the website recommends .

Marty! wrote: If the Roku fits your price range, I don't think you will be disappointed with it.

Good to hear, Thanks for the effort and the informative posting.

When we made the step up from rabbit ears to DirecTV (around 2001) we enjoyed the extra programming, but found it frustrating. 800 channels of nothing worth watching. Granted, we had quadrupled the number of shows that we WANTED to watch, but we were at the mercy of their scheduling.

That's when they sold us the TIVO... which is great if you remember to set it (like your VCR).

We hit some hard times and ditched it all... back to the rabbit ears. Then they started doing all the digital stuff which was great. Now I get 17 channels of HD TV with a $5 Radio Shack antenna from 1982.

Right now we have a Wii that gets us Netflix. We also have a Roku which gets Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, and several other blossoming channels. Its nice. We have HDTV broadcasts for local stuff, and the other internet channels pretty much cover the rest of our needs.

I know it will never happen, but I think the dish/cable providers could corner the market in a heartbeat if ALL of their stuff was on demand instead of scheduled. Too many people miss their episode of House because they had to choose between TV or a birthday party. What if it were ALL on demand? Almost as if everything were automatically TIVO'd for you. That way they would still have live broadcast to satisfy the normal people and the Niellsen ratings, but you could watch whatever you want on YOUR schedule.

+1 for the roku

We've had two for the past three years. 10 mbit down is ok for 720p as long as your cable segment is not oversubscribed.

Both work great with netflix and amazon vod - the two services we've used the most. There has been the need for the occasional reboot. And one hardware failure under warranty. what was really cool was being able to subscribe to the NASA (the aeronautic one) channel (free) and watch the launch of the Mars Explorer. Some of the indie channels offer free streaming to try (not HD, etc) them out.

So yes, for the minimal investment in the roku lt, it should be a good buy. Remember, ya heard it on the intarweb!

Are Velocity and Speed available on these channels

I don't have TV.

On the positive, my family is productive, interactive, and much more involved with each other and other activities.

On the negative, I kind of miss channel surfing. Never thought I'd say that. Internet viewing is not the same. Either I have to already know what I want to watch, or I get to wade through so much trash that I am no longer interested by the time I find something I want to watch. Something about the occasional mindless remote button pushing.

So, I don't watch much at all any more.

Probably won't go back.

The number of shows that are not variations on people cutting down trees or fishing for something are getting pretty sparse. They even have a show about people cutting the downed trees into things!

I am considering getting rid of everything, and only buying complete seasons of the few shows that I like. Sure I'll be a year behind everyone else, but it's not like I'm all hip and with it anyway.

If you've still got your old VCR it does a good impression of a free TiVo. We use ours that way with our roof top antenna and converter box.

The laptop computer on the dinner table makes a perfectly adequate internet streamer when we chose to do it.

carguy123 wrote: Is there a way to get the Showtime and HBO series in near real time?

Is there?