DVRs, TiVo, Satellite.....

[Addict]

So I'm tired of paying for all these damn cable channels I don't use.

All I care about are History, Discovery, Comedy Central & Spike. I seldom watch much else. Maybe the local news in the morning. Getting the basic cable package will run me $48 not incl. taxes. I pay $65 with DVR and Digital Cable.

So I've been looking at satellite service. $37/mo with DVR service & 60 channels. It seems like a decent deal. DISH has no contract to sign either. DirectTV has 155 channels with DVR for $47/mo.

What about weather? Some people say the weather can knock these things out. How true is that?

Then there's this TiVo thing. $12.95/mo for a DVR itself. Anyone use this? Is it worth $12.95/mo? It seems like it has some neat features, like setting it to record via the internet (I'm a computer nerd; that's cool). Plus it can use WiFi now instead of a phone line.

Any other ideas? Experiences? I'd like to keep the DVR function in case you can't tell.

[Racing Rice]

I keep telling you... You don't need to skinkin tv.

[CD5Passion]

Originally posted by Racing Rice
I keep telling you... You don't need to skinkin tv.

what the hell?

My friends back home in florida have Tivo and it's school that they can record their tv shows they miss and watch the whenever. I never missed an episode of family guy

[pdiggitydogg]

Man satellite sucks. A lot of people I know have it and the reception really is as bad as all the rumors during even the slightest bit of rain or wind (and yes, sometimes for no reason)
MOST of dish network's 100 some odd channels are repeats (same exact channel on at least twice) or radio like channels that is just music with no picture at all (theres more than 20 of these last time I played with it)...there are a handful of spanish only channels as well.
For locals, you need an antenna, either strapped to the dish, or rabbit ears...= shitty picture. And at that point, why bother??

Personally, I dont watch many channels either, but I need cable (mostly for my internet )

[Racing Rice]

I had dish before cable. Yes, when it storms really hard you will probably lose reception. When it snows you have to clean the dish off if snow is piled up all over it (that usually fixes it aslong as it isn't all iced up). In that aspect cable is much better. Satellite is a cheaper though, unless you just get base, base cable like I do but you know what I have.

[Addict]

Originally posted by Racing Rice
I had dish before cable. Yes, when it storms really hard you will probably lose reception. When it snows you have to clean the dish off if snow is piled up all over it (that usually fixes it aslong as it isn't all iced up). In that aspect cable is much better. Satellite is a cheaper though, unless you just get base, base cable like I do but you know what I have.

You have the absolute minimum package available. Well sort of available. I can't even get it as cheap as you do.

I can't live like that though. Well lemme rephrase that. My woman can't live like that. I could manage I'm sure. Us guys can rough it to support other hobbies.

I do like the DVR stuff though. I can catch all my Mail Call, Boston Legal, etc... Its mostly because I forget about them. CRS ya know?

[ebpda9]

Originally posted by Racing Rice
I keep telling you... You don't need to skinkin tv.

i tried telling him to move to afganistan and live in a cave

[thermal]

Just get DSL/cable connection. You dont need TV.... he he he.

Actually I have the basic cable system with all the channels you mentioned (no premium like HBO, Showtime, blah blah) and cable modem for like $80 a month.....

[Racing Rice]

Originally posted by hondaman-iac
i tried telling him to move to afganistan and live in a cave

He can't even get his wife to move to Wilmington, she says THAT is to desolate for her. She would never go for Afghanistan.

[Addict]

Originally posted by thermal
Just get DSL/cable connection. You dont need TV.... he he he.

Actually I have the basic cable system with all the channels you mentioned (no premium like HBO, Showtime, blah blah) and cable modem for like $80 a month.....

I could deal with $80 /mo. But by lowering the package to basic cable, my internet goes up. So $48 (cable) + $50 (internet) makes it only $10 less than what I pay now. And that's only because I complained about it and was going to cancel it altogether. I was paying $125/mo. I do have HBO & Starz. But like I said, I could live without them.

I think I'm going to call today and complain.

Originally posted by Racing Rice
He can't even get his wife to move to Wilmington, she says THAT is to desolate for her. She would never go for Afghanistan.

Wilmington is out there. Nobody wants to live there. Why do you think everyone commutes to Wilmington and lives elsewhere (myself included)? Actually, I don't want to live there either. Nothing is near it.

[nonovurbizniz]

My parents have satelite in upstate NY where you can't even get cable... they had problems for a while but I kept telling them they prob didn't have it lined up right...

like 2 YEARS later they had a guy come out and do it and guess what?

ZERO problems since... it hardly if ever goes out... I was just up there over xmas and it was snowing raining blowing and everything else as it is MANY times I'm up there... NO problems.

And then also keep in mind... if you're smart and set up your DVR right you have stuff to watch for the limited periods it is out... but seriously I can't think of one time in the past 3 years of me going up there that it's gone out.

Oh and for DVR's if you're thinking about getting a video card any time soon look into the ati all in wonder cards... they have built in dvr and tv output/input... I've had one for years and it's freaking great. and FREE... no monthly service fee.

[Addict]

Originally posted by nonovurbizniz
Oh and for DVR's if you're thinking about getting a video card any time soon look into the ati all in wonder cards... they have built in dvr and tv output/input... I've had one for years and it's freaking great. and FREE... no monthly service fee.

I've been thinking about that. I've wanted to build a media center for the living room anyhow. Right now the Xbox provides all the music and movies (gotta love mod chips....)

I'll look more into the ATi cards. I know I can get the channel guide like I get with cable for free (XMLTV). I'd just need to look into how to record on certain times & such.

[ebpda9]

you could set up the car just like normal vcr. i used to have one. i think you could record multiple chanels at once too.

Originally posted by Racing Rice
He can't even get his wife to move to Wilmington, she says THAT is to desolate for her. She would never go for Afghanistan.

that's ok, once there she has no rights anyway.

[Addict]

So it looks like I'll be building a PVR/DVR. Either with ATI or more likely using a WinTV card. Still researching.

ATI comes with GuidePLUS software for the channel guide stuff. There's other apps out there as well.

http://www.byopvr.com/ <- nice reviews & forums.

[Robert]

Addict, would you let me know what you settle on for your media center. I intend to build one shortly for our SF house.

We want ot stream music to a sound system, record tv, service as a file service for files and possibly play regular radio.


Side note - I have been without cable for years now. Anything you could want to see on TV can be found on the internet. Join a news group and download all the latest TV shows and watch them on your own time. We have $50/month for SBC DSL and I think we're going to switch to comcast cable high speed.

[Addict]

Originally posted by Robert
Addict, would you let me know what you settle on for your media center. I intend to build one shortly for our SF house.

We want ot stream music to a sound system, record tv, service as a file service for files and possibly play regular radio.


Side note - I have been without cable for years now. Anything you could want to see on TV can be found on the internet. Join a news group and download all the latest TV shows and watch them on your own time. We have $50/month for SBC DSL and I think we're going to switch to comcast cable high speed.

Will do. I plan on laying out the steps and products I use in my setup. So I should have a list and some procedures.

I currently use my Xbox to stream MP3s, videos, check the weather and of course play games from the 250GB hard drive I installed in it. Potentially you could serve files off of it. It would lack security though.

I don't think I could get away with that. The wife isn't very computer literate and downloading all the shows would probably consume some time.

[Robert]

Originally posted by Addict
Will do. I plan on laying out the steps and products I use in my setup. So I should have a list and some procedures.

I currently use my Xbox to stream MP3s, videos, check the weather and of course play games from the 250GB hard drive I installed in it. Potentially you could serve files off of it. It would lack security though.

I don't think I could get away with that. The wife isn't very computer literate and downloading all the shows would probably consume some time.

Ok very cool. Are you intending to use Windows Media Center to control your PVR? I was reading that site you recommened and it appears that there are other programs that do similar things to the Media Center, though I'm under the impression WMC does a great job of it all.

Keep me posted on your progress.

As for the downloads. I should tell you I watch two TV shows. It wouldnt work if you were watching many programs nightly. Though here we get around 600-700k/s downloads. Off giganew.com news group that means a TV show in about 5-10 minutes.