I have unplugged my cable. I use Netflix, especially instant viewing, Hulu and other software.

I bought PLayOn software to link my online resources to an xbox driving my best TV. This software simply SUCKS. It doesn't work, the authors KNOW it soesn't work. You can rewind a moving, pause it, or even start over again!

In fact, when you write to them, here is what they tell you to do AND IT STILL DOESN'T WORK:

"When this happens, try going to your PC browser at www.netflix.com and resetting that particular video to the beginning. Then try again through PlayOn."

The fact is, Microsoft media Extensions werve you far better on XBox than Playon Software. This is a warning: do not buy PlayOn. It will never work right, IMO.

@moneymatters: Good post. I think the value-add of playon however is the ability to stream through XBox, PSP3 and Wii.

We have a Wii that never gets used and we ditched cable 2 years ago, strictly using our laptop for online watching or streaming Netflix on PC and X360.

With PlayOn, I can now use my Wii & X360 to stream these channels.

[www.fancast.com]
[www.hulu.com]
[tv.blinkx.com]
[www.cnn.com]
[espn.go.com]
[www.pbs.org]

...and my absolute favorite! This link will take you to the most recently posted Daily Show. It's my favorite bookmark :)

[www.thedailyshow.com]

Right now I pay $79 a month for Expanded Basic and 1.5mbps/256kbps thru Cox. Expanded basic has about 80 channels. No convertor box is necessary, so it can be viewed on all tvs in the house.

Cox charges around $50-$60 a month for 7 mbps internet if I don't subscribe to television service. I know, this is robbery!

So given the fact that Hulu (or simialr) can only be viewed on a tv with a media box or pc connected to it, plus the other hassles that come associated with networking, it doesn't seem like a deal to me.

I do have a 360, but I use it for gaming and Netflix streaming. My other two tvs in the house would be useless if I used Hulu.

As a kid I loved to read and also watch TV so I trained myself to do both at the same time. To this day I can't watch TV without a book unless I'm sick or really tired.

I take a tiny fan with me when I go to my mom's because her house/neighborhood is like a tomb.

I use my neighbor's wireless router to connect to the internet and watch everything on the PC. I don't own a TV, but have begun toying with getting one. Either that or a monitor that had standard TV inputs.

@theblackdog_Happy250thGuinness!:

It's cool, but blame the owners of the Orioles and Nationals then, not the cable company. Accuracy is important in life :)

If you would have said Peter Angelos and The Lerners suck, I would agree wholeheartedly.

I found this price appalling and so if I miss a TV show that I like I watch it on Hulu but on the big screen. Makes life much better.

@Cool story bro: I'd gladly give up my TV for an English Breakfast.

I'd even consider streaming MLB.TV through my Roku box, but the MLB blackout rules stop me from that.

And they aren't talking about small charges either! As people start canceling, or downgrading, their cable TV services to move in this direction, the cable companies will impose these caps and charges to recover (more than recover) their losses.

Read more about this at: [stopthecap.com]

How do I remain a couch potato? Books and the internet still require sitting on my butt.

Computer:
* motherboard with HDMI (on-board video), SPDIF (optical) output (Newegg - $80), no need for video or audio card
* cpu, hard drive, memory, case - $250
*tuner card, PCI or USB - $12-110
+ $330 (say, $400)

* Antenna for over the air TV broadcasts, many in HD:
(Monoprice - $23.40)
* cable for antenna to computer (monoprice again) $3-12
* cable for HDMI to HDMI, Component, or DVI (monoprice once again - $3-12)
+ $60 to round out

Software
Boxee or XBMC or MythTV - Free
Web-based programming: Fox.com, Hulu.com, TV.com, ABC.com, CBS.com, espn360.com, Shoutcast, etc. - Free
(note: some Firefox browsers can block ads on some of these sites)

uTorrent + Mininova = possibility of seeing shows from HBO, AMC, etc. (however, may be illegal where you live. in that case, try netflix)

So for less than $500 (newly bought) and the cost of electricity, you have all the shows you want. Throw in an extra Bluray/HD DVD drive for $100 and you have hidef movies that play on computer to TV.

My question is why the necessity for TiVo now that shows are all on-demand? Why pay for storage at your home when you can connect to the web and either stream or download at that time? The only thing I could think of is crappy or no network connections would be the detraction.

I'm weaning myself off now, in preparation for when we buy our first home and I stay home with our baby (due in March). Cut the HBO, did the whine at Comcast thing so they knock the bill down - now it's $92 a month, about $55 of which is for internet (I think I got caught up in the "try this free upgrade for 3 months" thing and never canceled, it should be about $45). I am a bit of a TV junkie, but I am faithful in my ability to adapt to a non-channel-flipping style of viewage. I'm certainly not going to pay $50 a month for that luxury, anyway.

Our plan is to cancel the service in December, once all my beloved shows go on that mini hiatus. Then, it'll be back to using the Media PC & streaming things again. It's funny, too, because the resolution on Lost on CBS.com as an example is WAY better than what we get on our HD DVR. So, the quality will definitely improve.

We have a PS3 but don't really use it for any of the media stuff it can do - the PC is easier, and as a Mac person I kind of hate to say it, but the Media Center Edition of Vista is very decent. We even have a remote for it, it's pretty cool. Just like the DVR but with a way prettier interface. :)

@wcnghj: Also, if you downgrade from "Expanded Basic" to "Standard Basic," they may not shut off the channels. My parents saved a lot of money for a year doing this. They dropped the bill down to $2x from $6x but still had the same channels!

Most of the cable companies are still doing the analog cable thing for at least 3 years. But they are steadily dropping channels and moving them to the digital sphere. I lost 2 of my 3 PBS stations this year.

That's about how I watch tv. I don't really have a ton of shows I watch, I just flip until I find something that I find interesting. 50% of the time it seems I never find anything though.

@Trai_Dep: I really didn't like Southland. It didn't hold my attention, and it kind of made me just want to rewatch The Wire. I might give it a try again, but we watched a few of the first episodes and the consensus was "meh"...

@theblackdog_Happy250thGuinness!: I'm in DC & have RCN, and can watch MASN. Now, if you're in Philly trying to watch the Phillies without Comcast, that's annoying.

@dfens42: I hadn't known that. It's not the most enjoyable channel to watch, but it's not bad. Maybe I'll give them points for being scrappy.

@Scoobatz: Yeah, that's what's going on at my place, too. I think the cable cord will never be cut.

Added bonus: If someone says "You should really see this program!" I can open my iphone, search for the program name, and start the first few episodes downloading while I'm out. They'll be done by the time I get home.

Added Added bonus: Overseas content, such as the excellent Life On Mars UK, or The IT Crowd, or unedited Boosh & Top Gear. All automatic, all completely brainless, all controlled with a Harmony remote, all in a beautiful interface, all for $120 / year.

(Usenet feeds aren't free.)

We'll usually record several episodes of a show and watch them all back to back.

I have a hard time keeping away from spoilers.

You could save a lot of money versus the OP's plan by just watching the shows on your computer screen. My computer screen is significantly higher quality than my television (which is about as old as my first computer).

Does anyone use AppleTV? We're gonna ditch the cable when we move next spring, and I was considering AppleTV. Any thoughts or feedback?

@theblackdog_Happy250thGuinness!:

FAIL. MASN is not owned by Comcast. ComcastSportsNet is owned by Comcast. MASN is owned by the Orioles and Nationals. Nice try though.

A lot of folks are mentioning how there are other options out there to watch streaming shows on your TV including hooking up your computer to your TV. I agree that doing that is a viable alternative, and I've done that at times as well. In fact we've got our old computer hooked up to the TV and sitting behind the entertainment center. However I just prefer using the Xbox and playon to stream because it is extremely easy and intuitive to use - you just turn on the playon server (mine is always on since our home computer is on all the time), and navigate through hulu/etc using your regular remote - no need to use a keyboard/mouse - or navigate to the websites etc. It's just turn it on, and watch.

As far as there being other available media streaming softwares available - that is a valid point as well. I've also used Tversity and been impressed with it. I have just found Playon to be a little bit more reliable and have found updates to the software happen faster. Again, I use TVersity as well, and it is also a good software. I'm sure there are others as well. My setup is just one of many good options - but the one that has worked the best for me.

@Saboth: Plus, I'm following the excrutiatingly slow process of watching the Phillies clinch the division title. Reading the box scores on-line is not the same.

@pecan 3.14159265: I found Pawn Stars and Gangland the same way...LOL and I love them! Also there's Clash of the Gods (I'm a mythology freak) and the FX shows of SOA and Nip/Tuck. If I hadn't been flipping around I never would have found many of the shows that I now love to watch.

@HogwartsAlum: Yeah, I have that issue when trying to sleep. The silence just screams at me. I also grew up right beside a school, so I am used to having a source of noise all day long. Its unsettling how silent some places can get.

I usually turn on some music though. I want white noise, but not words. Daytime at work, it usually is classical music. At night, its movie and tv themes on pandora. Which is awesome, because it turns itself off in one hour.

@balthisar: I'm in the minority around here too, it seems. I not only don't have complaints about Comcast, I am VERY glad to have their services (tv and internet). I had 6 years with a local cable/net company and they had no service after 5pm and no service on weekends. I would frequently have outages of the internet or cable tv on a Fri. night after 5pm and I had to wait until 8am on Monday to call in to get it fixed. Now I have Comcast and along with only a few outage problems (that were fixed within an hour of calling about them - getting new laptops on the wirless network took a bit of time w/ Vista OS but Comcast techs did a step by step via phone each time), I even got a bill reduction after my 6 mth. promo ended and I get to keep everything I had before except the HBO (I didn't watch it much even when I had it as part of the promo).

TV antenna = 6(ish) channels plus digital subchannels.
Computer = hulu.
Eyebrows = happy.

I am a simple woman.

@MostlyHarmless: Ooh, which one did you end up going with?

@tbax929 is back from the beach: I've always had TV. I really like it, and I read a lot, and I'm a very visual person. So as a child, TV was all about amazing stories coming to life, instead of me reading books and imagining them. It was like other people were doing the same thing, but they were able to show other people what they were thinking.

Granted, I only watch scripted TV, documentaries, and Top Chef. Mr. Pi watches all of the above and sports.

@theblackdog_Happy250thGuinness!: Not that the Nationals are really offering anything to watch. Sigh. At least our hockey team is awesome.

Mediaportal does the same thing as the software mentioned in the article and it open source and free.

I've got an old HP desktop connected to my TV.
It's also got a 500gb hard drive that I've archived all my DVD's to.

@What The Geek:

That's what I have and that's what I figured. I found the PlayOn thing confusing because it didn't make sense to run through other devices when you just have the computer plugged directly into the TV.

But if Time Warner comes around again with this internet-capping crap, they're going to find us very suddenly dropping all of their services to find alternatives, one of which may be exactly what they fear: going all-internet with another carrier and watching TV over the web.

@Cool story bro: I understand that a lot of this, or all of this, is entirely irrelevant to you...but it's a US-based site, so it makes sense that some things may not apply to you.

@tbax929 is back from the beach: BBT is a hoot and truly a laugh-out-loud funny show. The bummer about it is that CBS doesn't put it anywhere but on live tv, no streaming, nothing (at least that I've been able to find).

@tbax929 is back from the beach: Basic cable where I am is about $22. I have Expanded Basic, so my bill skyrockets to $52.

@MostlyHarmless: This is pretty much why we have cable. We love TV, and we love discovering new things to watch. Come on, Pawn Stars? Gangland? Where have these gems been all my life? And lets not forget the Forensic Files marathon every once in a while.

@seamustry: Yeah, but good luck if you like college sports as well.

@wcnghj:
Where is basic cable that cheap? If I had nothing but basic cable, my bill would be about $35 where I live.

"* Playon® Software: This software that ... allows you to stream online video from popular services like Hulu.com, straight to your TV through a networked media device ..."

Huh? Get a video card with VGA TV output if your set is too old to natively support HD, or a slightly cheaper one without signal conversion if your TV allows HD input. I've been using such video cards since the mid-1980s to use my large-screen TV as an output (monitor) device. Optionally add a network device instead of needing a wire/cable. What purpose does the software serve? And how does it save money to use it if you still need to get "services like Hulu®" anyway? Nor does it instill confidence that using the link just now I get either "down for maintenance" or "404 - not found" message.

Software might better be something like MythTV, allowing time-shifting.

Oh, and a minor rant: I tried to watch a CBS show via their streaming service[s] and it would not wok. Took a while to discover it is because I was not allowing "ad.doubleclick.net" cookies. Only CBS, as far as I know...

@MostlyHarmless:
I've "discovered" a lot of shows I like simply by flipping through channels. I don't generally just watch something because someone recommends it. I thought the Big Bang Theory would be stupid, but I caught it one night and it's now one of my favorite comedies.

@balthisar:
Comcast is fine, until you have a problem. I used to question all the bad-mouthing about Comcast until I lost my signal and they took over a week to get it back.

For streaming from sites I usually just minimize mediaportal and use firefox to go to the actual site. There may be a pluggin in mediaportal for this now though. I also use a Gyration remote as they are just amazing for mediacenter PCs.

@MostlyHarmless:
I shouldn't admit this - especially on this site - but I'd go nuts without any TV in my home. I did without when I was working and attending school full time. Now that my nights are free again, I can't imagine it. I do everything with it on - chores, reading, crosswords, etc.

@TCama:
I got my bill cut by simply asking for a discount as well.

Furthermore, I just ordered Showtime (love Dexter, Nurse Jackie and Weeds) for 7.99/month for the first 6 months, then it goes to 9.99 for the next 6. This is an unadvertised special that I found out about from Showtime's website and had to specifically mention when I called Comcast to add it.

@acarr260:
Umm, we have those here, you know.

(it was made of MORE win when you could bypass the restrictions and get Hulu in Canada... but still win)

Also, Tversity is a free substitute for PlayOn for anyone interested.

Don't forget that if you're urban or not-to-far out suburban, a pair of rabbit ears and a digital tv or digital tuner box is all you need for crystal clear reception, most times, on broadcast stations. The same stations Comcast wanted to SELL me as a bare bones pkg when I called to cancel.

Check out Boxee.TV. (Don't know if it is the "real deal" as I just found this site, but my understanding is it's free software that functions as a video browser, but more specialized to the task than bookmarking video sites in IE or Firefox. Conceptually, at least, that's HUGE - as the different interfaces on different video sites is what makes online viewing a little clunky.)

Then recently we got a $750 projector. Now we just connect that to my Mac and watch DVD and streamed stuff from iTunes or Netflix. If you like TV you can get one of those EyeTV USB adapters that lets you stream TV to your computer.

In our very small condo, this system works beautifully. The projector takes up a little space on our coffee table, but no giant TV.

I don't quite understand the PlayOn concept. You put the software on your computer, but then you have to run it through your XBox or Networked Media Device and then to the TV? Can't you just connect the computer with PlayOn straight into your TV? Or skip the PlayOn altogether and just stream Hulu or Netflix directly on your computer connected to the TV?

Fortunately, my TV has DVI, VGA and HDMI in, so I get to just choose.

Some 20 channels along with QAM HD Channels.

I feel like we get all the entertainment we'll ever need out of this setup for not much money a month. I've considered dropping Netflix, but the combination of Blu-Ray access + streaming is worth the price to me (as long as they don't start raising rates again).

I have specific times that I watch, but not specific shows. I just flip through until I find something moderately entertaining (usually on PBS or some other quasi-educational channel) and hang around until I get bored. Then I shut it off and go do something else.

The alternatives listed above seem to be more geared to people who have shows they watch on a regular basis. I really don't. Which is also why I have no interest in a DVR.

Also, I personally add a TV antenna to this. If you live near a city, you get all the major networks in HD. Cost: $30 for a pretty antenna ... obviously no cost after that.

However, there is something to be said about just being able to flip channels and be surprised by what's on. Especially when you come back all tired and are not in the best of your mood. 2 hours of watching tv = instant antidepressant. Provided you have something worth watching going on at the time.

Unlike so many of you (apparently), I have no complaints about Comcast.

This would kill me during football and hockey season, sorry.

Something about streaming doesn't appeal to me though...when I have cable, I can flip channels and watch things I wouldn't normally watch..."oh wow, it's time for x-games again?"