Help me Cut Cost's (dropping Cable Service to Basic)

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bastage

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So due to being Unemployed I have had to evaluate what I actually pay for Cable TV.. Well its too damn much for things as they are. I Added up the number of shows that we record in HD that are not on our locals & it totaled like 2 or 3 so there is no reason for me to pay the monthly fee's that I am.

Currently we have CableOne (zip is 83634) with all channels other then the Premium Movie Channels. What I want to do is cut down to "standard" package that will give us all the channels that we actually watch, just not in HD.

I Understand that I should still get my locals in HD (ClearQAM) & the rest in SD. That will be enough for us, But we need some sort of DVR in this setup.

Currently we have Tivo HD's that we are paying a total of 23 bucks a month for (plus 12 for cable cards for them) so between these & the drop in package it should save us like 51 bucks a month to watch 2 more shows in SD then we do now.

What I am starting with hardware wise is my WHS that is an atom d510 with only a single PCI slot (its already filled with a sata card). so an internal card means changing mobo & cpu.

I need to either have 2 systems when done (one for each TV) or I need some sort of extender. Netflix streaming is also a fairly important factor for atleast one of these TV's (the other has a LG blue ray player with built in netflix). If an extender type setup is used & the extender is fairly inexpensive a 3rd TV on the system would be great so that we can share the media with my daughters TV & eliminate some of her mess (she has a roku that could go away).

So what would be the least expensive way to make all this work. & I am not afraid to scout craigs list & the FS/T forums to find shit at a good price if building is what needs to happen.

Edit: I also have a gig of ddr2 533 & ddr 400 sitting around & 4gb ddr2 800 thats being RMA'd in addition to the 2gb ddr2 thats in my WHS. & If I build then I can stick whatever I put in my living room in an Antec 300 I have here & just lay it on its side.
 
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Check out http://www.silicondust.com/support/channels/

According to them, only your locals (in HD, mind you) are available in the clear, plus what appears to be 50 or so cable radio stations.This means, to get the 70 or so "standard" channels, they are still going to provide you with a cable box or possibly DTA box. So you are not going to be able to plug your cable directly into a computer TV tuner and get your standards channels (unless you get one of the two CableCard solutions, which is not ideal or cheap for your situation).
 
xrintrahx said:
Check out http://www.silicondust.com/support/channels/

According to them, only your locals (in HD, mind you) are available in the clear, plus what appears to be 50 or so cable radio stations.This means, to get the 70 or so "standard" channels, they are still going to provide you with a cable box or possibly DTA box. So you are not going to be able to plug your cable directly into a computer TV tuner and get your standards channels (unless you get one of the two CableCard solutions, which is not ideal or cheap for your situation).
Click to expand...

I have the standard cable plugged into a circa 1998 orion 25" crt TV & get all the channels short of the Digital or HD ones.
 
Well, looks like the aforementioned website is outdated (or simply wrong). Ha. Well ignore my post then.
 
The only Media Center extender I know of that's still supported is the Xbox 360, the cheapest version being $200. There is Netflix streaming but you will need a Xbox live Gold account which is another $30 to $60 depending on when you buy. Right there's a deal to get Xbox Live Gold Membership for $30 (Down from $50) for one year. Prices for Xbox Live Gold Subscription goes up in November to $60.
 
by extenders I was referring to something like the sage HD box's or maybe a AppleTV with Myth's front end on it.

I am strongly leaning towards a Myth Setup at this point. I was leaning towards sage, but it appears that I can do it all from Myth as well, Just have to spend more time on it. & being as I am now unemployed time is not a huge concern. But I would still perfer a boxed solution if the cost isnt outrageous (which sage isnt bad at all for cost)
 
if I was unemployed I'd dump cable entirely until the situation is remedied. No point burdening yourself with unnecessary bills, unless of course you're on contract.
 
Trepidati0n said:
1. Dump Cable
2. Record OTA
3. Watch via Hulu/etc for other stuff
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Did you miss the part where I was trying to decide how I am going to be doing the recording?

Azhar said:
if I was unemployed I'd dump cable entirely until the situation is remedied. No point burdening yourself with unnecessary bills, unless of course you're on contract.
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Unlike 98% of america me & my wife have always chosen to live below our means. What that means is that with me not working we get to buy less toys & cant blow money on stupid shit as much. But we are in no danger of going broke with me out of work. This is as much me taking the time while I have it as it is a cost cutting measure.

So please lets keep posts relevant to the topic.
 
So I am picking up a HDHomeRun (dual tuner) for 100 bucks tonight (new unit, but the original buyer didn't realize it wouldn't work for DirecTV). So now what is the Cleanest/best/most inexpensive way to get the channels to the TV?

Edit: Strike that the HDHomeRun wont get my analog cable channels & that is a requirement. Anyone know of a USB Tuner that will do the Analog & Digital that doesn't cost an arm & a leg?
 
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SuprSpy79 said:
I use a happauge 2250, but it is pcie
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I have seen it & it looks to fit the bill other then the interface.. especially since I get get one from CL locally for 75 bucks. I am just trying not to have to buy too much hardware atm. Unless I come across a mobo & cpu that would work for a good low price then I need to stay external
 
you COULD always bite the bullet and just use the cable on your tv, anything you would record just download online or watch on hulu?
 
just do what i do:

1. No cable TV.
2. OTA TV (Orlando gets about 40-50 channels).
3. Have media center computer (you can build out of spare parts, just get an ati 5000 series card for hardware acceleration). This is your DVR, Windows Media Center is awesome.
4. Get a gyration remote control. This will control your TV and media center computer.
5. Internet for Hulu, Streamick, ESPN (they stream alot of games live), southparkstudios.com, etc. most of the major networks put their shows on to stream online, can all be watch with the media center computer.
6. Get something like mymovies.dk to put your movie collection on the media center computer and integrate it into the WMC interface.

You don't need a great computer, just get an old one with a PCIe slot and put at $30 ati 5000 series card in it and a $70 TV tuner like this which is a dual tuner.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100041

Hell you can get 2 of those and watch 1 channel while recording 3 others! or just stick with 1 and you can watch and record.

I do this and my GF and I don't mind it at all. I don't get cable just because of principle. $50/month min for a bunch of channels i don't care about and 3 i want.
 
cooter said:
just do what i do:

1. No cable TV.
2. OTA TV (Orlando gets about 40-50 channels).
3. Have media center computer (you can build out of spare parts, just get an ati 5000 series card for hardware acceleration). This is your DVR, Windows Media Center is awesome.
4. Get a gyration remote control. This will control your TV and media center computer.
5. Internet for Hulu, Streamick, ESPN (they stream alot of games live), southparkstudios.com, etc. most of the major networks put their shows on to stream online, can all be watch with the media center computer.
6. Get something like mymovies.dk to put your movie collection on the media center computer and integrate it into the WMC interface.

You don't need a great computer, just get an old one with a PCIe slot and put at $30 ati 5000 series card in it and a $70 TV tuner like this which is a dual tuner.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100041

Hell you can get 2 of those and watch 1 channel while recording 3 others! or just stick with 1 and you can watch and record.

I do this and my GF and I don't mind it at all. I don't get cable just because of principle. $50/month min for a bunch of channels i don't care about and 3 i want.
Click to expand...

& Where I am the OTA Channels are only the major networks & spanish (& I Dont speak spanish) so an OTA only setup is not an option. & Even if using just the major networks was, the physical location I am in will keep that from happening as well since I would need a big enough antenna that I would have to get my HOA to approve it.

& As for just using my computer.. I have 4 TV's in my house 3 of them are used daily.. I Do watch some programs on my Computer, but my wife & daughter do not see that as an option.
 
ok so I have been progressing with this. So far I have sold 1 Tivo HD & bought a Athlon 64x2 5600+ with a Abit AN-M2HD motherboard & a Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250. I Was planning to use sagetv & extenders, but now I am trying to remember what I was going to gain by going sage instead of just using Media Center & 360's. I know initially I was turned off by having to get the xbox live sub to get netflix. Well thats a non issue on 2 of my 4 TV's anyway (one has a roku & the other has a LG BD550 that plays netflix). & SageTV doesn't support Netflix either.

So what am I missing?
 
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