Cutting the Cable: Two Years Later

Where are we now?

It's been almost two years since we got rid of our cable TV bill, so I thought I would post an update in case anyone was wants to know how it worked out.

When last we left, I had four problems with my TV/BluRay player setup:

1. TV sound won't play through home theater speakers.
2. Wireless connection gets dropped occasionally.
3. Haven't figured out how to stream local media from my computer (haven't really tried though).
4. Antenna reception is marginal for some channels in current location.

I'm not sure what the actual cause of the sound problem was. For some reason, it wasn't going through the HDMI cable. Probably a cheap cable. The solution was to use an optical Toslink cable from the TV to the BluRay player. Works fine now.

The wireless connection never got better. I'm not convinced that wireless can handle streaming HD content reliably. Maybe it's possible if you have a high-end router and an open floor plan. I have a cheap router, a hundred year old house, and our living room has a copper ceiling. The wireless signal is ok for my iPad, but not for HD movies. The solution was to hard-wire the BluRay player to the network. I tried to avoid this because I didn't want to have to run wires. In the end, I bought a pair of Zyxel Powerline adapters. These use the existing electrical wiring as a 200Mbps LAN. Plug the BluRay into one in the living room, plug the router into the other in the office. No setup, no software, and they have pass-throughs so you still get electricity out of the outlet. I was skeptical, but we get excellent quality streaming video and haven't had a dropped connection in over a year and a half. Well worth the investment.

Streaming media from my computer was easy once I figured out how to set Media Player up as a dlna media server. We stream music playlists fairly regularly, but we use Pandora even more.

Antenna reception is still spotty. I believe that if I move the antenna up to the attic, I could get much better reception and maybe a few more channels. But, as it is, we get the major networks and the quality if good if you spend a few seconds adjusting the antenna for each channel. I plan on trying to run a coaxial cable up the attic at some point, but it hasn't been a high priority yet.

Thoughts on the Hardware

TV: We got a Sony and liked it ok, but it developed a dark region across the middle that internet research suggested was due to a faulty control board. Costco took it back no questions asked because it was within the however-many day return limit. We replaced it with a Samsung and we love it. Great picture, looks good, no problems.

Home Theater: I'm a little less happy with the all-in-one Sony BluRay / home theater / streaming media player. The sound quality is excellent, and the BluRay player works fine, but there are some things that aren't so great. First, this machine takes a long time to turn on and run through its startup sequence...like over a minute. This gets really annoying when a show is starting and we turn the TV on, but have to watch the opening scene with no sound because the system is warming up.

Second, I downloaded Sony's remote control app to my iPad. It's terrible. Don't bother. I was hoping it would run all my components and let me type in searches...no. Just a basic remote that doesn't work as well as the real remote.

The streaming media isn't great. The apps are much less use-friendly or versatile than the iPad versions. At this point, we pretty much only use Netflix and Pandora. I've watched stuff on Crackle a few times. I can see using Hulu and Amazon VOD, but we don't need more content right now. The dozens of other apps are mostly junk or pay services or have a very narrow target audience. 

Finally, I'm beginning to realize that the home theater and BluRay player will be serviceable long after the streaming media player is out of date. There are lots of services that are not available, and you can't download additional apps. You get what they give you and that's all. And it doesn't look like there will ever be a we browser. If I were doing it again, I would probably get a BluRay and home theater, but get a separate media player that could be upgraded or replaced without having to throw away the other components. I guess I can still upgrade to something else and not use the built in media player, but it's not really designed for that.

Final Verdict

Overall, we're happy we made the move. We don't miss cable all that much. Between broadcast TV and Netflix, we get plenty of content to keep us happy and the upgrade to HDTV, BluRay, and 5.1 surround sound was well worth it. It's nice to know that with the money we're saving on our cable bill, the hardware is already nearly halfway paid for. 

Cutting the Cable Part 5

Installation and Setup

The Cable has been cut!  Setup wasn't too bad. I connected everything, updated firmware on the TV with a USB drive and on the home theater via wireless connection. Connecting to the network took a few hours, but mostly to work through all the security on my network.  The TV and Blu-ray are only connected by a bi-directional HDMI cord (version 1.4 or greater), so there's minimal spaghetti in back. Right now, I can't get TV sound to come through the home theater. Not sure if it's the cable or a setting somewhere.

The antenna works OK, but it needs to be up high to get some channels.  Broadcast HD stations are much better quality than SD cable. The broadcast SD stations are just as good as SD cable and have some interesting content. Many broadcast channel channels have several subchannels. For example, CBS 3 Hartford has four subchannels: 3.1 is HD, 3.2 and 3.4 are standard def, and 3.3 is news and weather for CT. CBS 3 Springfield is channels 3.5 HD, and 3.6 SD local news and weather. There are four PBS stations including the main station in HD and Create in SD. ABC, NBC, FOX, and PBS really strong, but CBS is a little touchy and we like some CBS shows. I hid the Spanish language channels and a few random channels that were too fuzzy to bother with. I'm thinking about using a longer cable to put the antenna in a window or even in the attic for better reception and more channels.

Home theater has great sound after I let it run through its auto-calibration cycle. CDs, radio, and streaming content sound fantastic. DVDs look great and are upconverted to fill the screen- can't wait to get some Blu-rays. Streaming movies vary in quality, but most are no worse than standard definition TV and some are 720 or 1080i. The wireless connection has been dropped a couple of times, but I've made it through whole streaming shows and movies with no problem, so we'll have to see if the issue persists.

The Sony home theater has some free (and pay) streaming content services built in. The music and concerts are good. Movies are about as good as what you get on cable on demand if you don't have movie channels.
There are some old TV shows like Bewitched

 I had to put a code into my Netflix account to link the device to it, and it looks like it works that way with other online services like Hulu Plus. You can only view your Netflix Instant Queue, you can't search, so we've had to spend some time loading up the queue with content. Other sites, like Youtube, are searchable so I assume capabilities will improve as more people adopt this technology. Between the antenna, Netflix, and free content, we're not sure if we even need Hulu Plus. It would give us lots more shows and allow us to time-shift and catch up on any episodes we missed, but we don't follow too many shows that closely and so far there's plenty to keep us entertained. There are lots and lots of old shows available on Netflix  as whole seasons if you don't mind watching stuff from last season and earlier. For others, it depends on how much you follow specific shows and talk to people about them the next day versus just watch whatever's on at the time or older shows.

There are currently four tech problems I need to work out:

1. TV sound won't play through home theater speakers.
2. Wireless connection gets dropped occasionally.
3. Haven't figured out how to stream local media from my computer (haven't really tried though).
4. Antenna reception is marginal for some channels in current location.

Provided that these issues can be resolved, we're quite happy with the variety and quality of content available through the new system. We're looking forward to the monthly savings too.

Suggestions

You should probably NOT get rid of cable if:

• You get poor broadcast TV reception. This is the main source of news, network TV shows, and special events like the Super Bowl. Hulu Plus can fill in the shows, but not local news or special events.
• You follow shows on pay channels like HBO and Showtime, or cable channels like BRAVO and USA. Can't get 'em without cable/satellite unless you're willing to wait until after the season is over. 
• You frequently time-shift CBS shows or watch them on-demand. CBS is not on Hulu Plus, so you have to watch it live or on something with a full web browser on CBS.com.
• You like sports. There aren't many sports options available as streaming content. 
• You like to channel surf. Streaming content requires you to decide what you want to watch. It's not as easy to jump around and stumble upon things.
• You can barely make your TV work now. The network connection and variety of inputs make this system more complicated than a cable box.
• You make lots of money and don't care how much it costs.

You should Cut the Cable if:

• You have good broadcast reception. In fact, you should get an antenna even if you have an SD cable box because it's better than basic cable and it's free.
• You hate it when you have free time to watch TV (like during a school vacation or snow day) but nothing's on. Streaming content is always ready to go when you are.
• You're willing to watch stuff that's different from what other people watch. There's a lot of free and cheap content out there, but you it's different from the standard cable shows that other people are watching so you won't be able to keep up on all of their shows. This applies to web-enabled devices. Almost all shows except HBO and Showtime are available online if you have a computer with a browser.
• You prefer to wait until a show is over for the season and then watch the whole season on disc or on demand in a shorter amount of time.
• You watch more movies than television. Netflix streaming, and Amazon/Blockbuster pay per view have more and better content and are a much better value than movie channels and cable pay per view.
• You're frugal and would prefer to spend your money on other things. 

Cutting the Cable Part 4

The Final Decision

When last we left, I had presented cases for a web-enabled device and for an HTPC.  It's one thing to analyze their theoretical pros and cons in a vacuum, but there's something to be said for actual field research as well. I went on a few retail sites to see what was available. HTPCs basically come in four flavors:

1) Refurb. Buy a cheap computer and update whatever needs updating. The computer I'm using right now is a Gateway with a 2.00GHz dual-core processor, 3Mb ram, 500Gb hdd, and 512Mb video card with HDMI output. It has Windows Vista with Media Center. It cost me about $180 used on eBay (thanks David) plus a few bucks ($20ish?) to upgrade the memory. It runs my 23" monitor just fine and would probably run a TV. If not, I could get a nice video card for under $100. A 2Tb hard drive is also under $100. However, the system is not that quiet and it doesn't look good in the living room. So...

2) Boutique. These are custom made using the best components so you get exactly what you want. Maybe if I hit the lottery, but not a cost effective alternative.

3) Barebones. The really nice HTPC cases that look like AV components are generally sold only as barebones kits. Most come with a power supply, some also throw in a motherboard, fans, processor, and ram. The simplest kits only require you to buy a hard drive, optical drive, and software. But you'll have to assemble the kit yourself. Kind of a pain. Also, the cases are not as cheap as regular tower cases. They range from about $70 to over $500...just for the case and a few parts. While cheaper than a fully assembled boutique HTPC, I couldn't see a way of putting a complete system for under $600. I'm not sure it would significantly outlast its payback time.

4) Nettop or Mini PC. Mini PCs, like the Asus Eee family, are built on a small form factor and often marketed as HTPCs. They often run on a single or dual atom processor and the better ones have Nvidia Ion graphics built in. They often come with a remote control and/or wireless keyboard and mouse. Most can even be attached to the back of your TV via the wall-mounting bracket if you have the TV on its stand. Unfortunately, Mini PCs usually can't be upgraded much because there's no space.  Many lack an optical drive, and I didn't find any with a Blu-ray drive. The ones with a dual processor, nice graphics, decent memory and hard drive, and DVD drive are just as expensive as buying a full-size HTPC, which would have much better components, so they're not much of a deal. 

I suspect the small number of available HTPCs, and their lack of cutting-edge components, means that there's not much interest in them. Indeed, many models have been discontinued and the majority of the articles on HTPC are from a few years ago. On the other hand, there's no shortage of web-enabled TVs, Set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, video game systems, review sites, and sites telling you how to get the most out of them. Ditto for HD antennas. The herd seems to have spoken and they prefer web-enabled devices. 

Looking back at my system requirements, I wanted something that will do the following:

1) Play optical disks, preferably Blu-ray.

2) Stream local audio, video, and image files. The industry standard for local file sharing is called DLNA. DLNA certified products will share files over your home network. However, not all devices support all file formats. Sometimes this gets better if you upgrade the firmware, sometimes not. Caveat emptor.

3) Receive and tune a digital antenna signal and output digital sound. FM radio would be nice too.

4) Stream TV and Movies from the internet. 

The last one proved to be the most restrictive part of the equation since every device has its own set of available services. We already have a Netflix account for movies, and just about all streaming content players support Netflix, so that wasn't much of a factor. For TV shows, Hulu Plus seems to have the most bundled content for the best price. You can get a lot of the same content on the individual networks' sites, but you have to navigate to each one individually, and that means a fully functional browser.  Currently, Hulu Plus is only on a few platforms: Samsung and Sony TVs and Blu-rays, Vizio TVs, PS3, Roku, and computer with browser. There's also a "coming this year" list, but who knows if they really mean it.

The video game systems were quickly crossed off the list because we don't play games, so they're a lot of money for relatively few features. PS3 is the best because it has a Blu-ray player and there's no additional cost to be online. The Xbox 360 doesn't have a Blu-ray, and it does have an access fee to go online. Wii is a bit cheaper than Xbox and you can go online for free, but there's not as much content. 

Since we're getting a new TV anyway, I looked into web-enables TVs. There are lots of them. The better ones have wifi built in. Some have a dongle, usually brand-specific so you can't use a cheap one. Most newer TV models are available in two versions- with or without web access. In the 37"-42" range, you'll pay about $100 to $200 extra for the wifi and internet streaming option. Sometimes you can find a deal where the web-enabled version is even closer in price. This seemed reasonable, but I'd still have to get a Blu-ray player for around $70 and at some point upgrade my stereo. An alternate path with basically the same pros and cons is to get a TV without internet and a Blu-ray player that streams local and internet content. These start around $150. These might be workable, if not elegant, options.

Set top boxes, like Roku, have a similar problem in that I would need to buy several other components to address all of my needs. Also, Roku doesn't support surround sound. It would be an attractive option if I already had an HDTV and a Blu-ray player, but you can get streaming content and better sound when you upgrade either of these for about the same price as a Roku, which is the best value in set top boxes.

I was momentarily excited about the Sony Internet TV Blu-Ray player with Google TV. It plays Blu-rays, streams content via Android Apps over wifi, and has Google Chrome built right in. It supports quite a few local file formats and outputs digital HD audio. Sweet! But, as my Mom used to say, if something seems too good to be true, it probably doesn't support Hulu. Or somthing like that. Anyway, Hulu is officially blocked for Google TV devices. There are ways around this. But there's no way to get Hulu Plus yet. And it's about $400 all by itself. It was a near miss, and maybe an option if they work out a deal for Hulu Plus in the future.

While digging through Blu-ray players, I started reading about some Home-Theater-in-a-box (HTiB) systems. An HTiB has a Blu-ray player, surround sound receiver, and speakers all in one unit. Some HTiB systems also stream local and internet content. This combination kills a lot of birds with one stone. And I'm looking to upgrade all of these features anyway. Given the current Hulu Plus restrictions, I looked most closely at the Samsung and Sony units. Both companies make a range of HTiBs. The ones that best fit my budget and needs were the Samsung HT-C6600 and Sony BDV-E770W. Both are mid-range systems with the following features:

• 5.1 surround sound sending 1000w of power through 5 speakers and a subwoofer.
• 3D Blu-ray player with all the latest digital decoding.
• Play local files over the network via ethernet or n-wifi (Samsung buit-in, Sony with included dongle).
• Play streaming media from the internet. 

The Samsung includes an iPod dock. I don't have an iPod, so that wasn't a plus for me. The Sony can connect to an MP3 via a USB input. The Sony includes Gracenote, which gives you info on whatever movie you're watching. Again, not that big a deal. It also has an FM tuner, which is a significant plus. But the biggest bonus feature for the Sony is that the rear satellite speakers are wireless...sort of.  They are wired to an s-air receiver, and the s-air box is wirelessly connected to the main system. So it needs power and there are wires, but you can hide it all behind your couch so there's no wire running across the living room. You can buy additional s-air speakers and have wireless music in other rooms, which is a pretty nice future add-on. Both systems look good, except that the Samsung has visible speaker cones with a silver disk in each one. The Sony speakers have black mesh covers. Ryan liked the plain look of the Sony speakers better. 

The Samsung system retails for $600, but you can find it for $330. The Sony system retails for $650, but you can find it for $450 on several websites. Since we liked the Sony's features more, I did some more serious searching and found it for $362 at compsource.com (the price has since gone up by $10 but it's still the best I can find for this system).  We decided that the slight price difference was worth it for the better-looking speakers, FM radio, and wireless speakers. It should arrive very soon.

The plan is to hook this system up to an LCD TV and get an antenna to pick up local HDTV broadcasts. I'm looking at TVs in the 37" to 42" range without any internet capability. The only real requirement is that it will have to have a digital audio output (Toslink) to get sound from the antenna signal into the receiver. Some low-end TVs don't have any audio outputs. I'm thinking that a Sony TV might allow us to control everything from one remote (without buying a universal remote), but I'm not sure if you can ever know that for sure without setting it up and trying it out. Hopefully, this combination of components should meet all of our entertainment needs for quite some time. 

Part of the pitch for making this upgrade is that it will eventually pay for itself. After eliminating our cable bill ($300/yr) and replacing it with Hulu Plus ($100/yr), we expect a net savings of around $200/yr. The total system upgrade should come in right around $1,000 (depending on the TV we choose) giving us a payback time of 5 years. Given that all of our current components are at least 10 years old, we expect to eventually see significant savings while enjoying more and better quality content. If your cable bill is higher, you will have a shorter payback period...or you can justify a much nicer TV. 

In my next post, I plan to detail the setup  procedure and the system's good and bad features.

Cutting the Cable Part 3

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Hardware

There are essentially two ways to get content from the internet onto your TV screen: Web Enabled Devices and Computers. 

Web enabled devices have some chips inside and a simple operating system (like Android) that lets them run apps. They basically work like a smart phone. The trend lately is to web-enable just about anything that holds still. Some TVs now come web-enabled or network-ready. They connect via an RJ45 network cable or wirelessly to your router and you use apps built into the TV itself to stream content. Other web-enabled options include game consoles (PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360), some new Blu-ray players, and set top boxes (like Roku, Apple TV, and Boxee Box).

Pros:

• Generally cheaper than a computer. Roku starts at just $60. 
• Easy to set up and maintain. Usually just 2 or 3 cables and a little network configuration.
• Few settings means few chances to make mistakes. 
• Apps keep themselves updated automatically.
• New apps are coming out all the time.
• Point and click interface = no keyboard or mouse. More user friendly.
• Some can also stream local content from a network. Others have USB ports for local media.
• Some devices do other things like play games and/or DVDs/Blu-rays.
• Some devices are very small or even built into the TV.
• Completely or nearly silent operation.

Cons:

• Not all sites have an app. No app = too bad for you.
• Many apps are only compatible with certain devices. What's worse, compatibility changes constantly. You can't be exactly sure which apps will work on your device next year. You would think that devices would only ever add apps, but sometimes they drop apps too. Boxee dropped Hulu...which is kind of a big deal if you planned on watching TV on your TV.
• Few settings means limited ability to customize the user interface and other options.
• Many devices, like video game consoles, charge a monthly fee of their own. For example, if you want to watch Netflix on your Xbox, you have to pay for internet, Xbox live, and Netflix every month.
• Limited support of local media. Some devices only stream online content, some add an optical disk player, and a few will let you stream files from your library or from a USB drive. Few do all of these. You can gain this capability by adding PlayOn media server software, which translates your local files into a format that your device understands and streams it over the network.
• Generally do not have the ability to store media files or record TV like a DVR.
• Non- or minimally upgradeable. Sometimes you can add memory, but that's about all.
• Some devices are network-ready, but you have to buy a wireless adapter separately. And you can't just get a $7 USB wireless-n dongle. Most require a specific wireless adapter and they can cost $60 or more.
• No input for an HD antenna. Generally, you can plug the antenna into your TV. But some HDTVs are actually giant monitors, not true TVs. The difference? A TV has a tuner built in that changes channels. A monitor just has video inputs- you need a cable box or computer with a TV tuner card to actually change the channel. Caveat emptor.

Computers have a fully functional operating system and various programs. You access the internet through a browser and use various plugins (like Java, Silverlight, ActiveX, Flash, etc.) to decode content. Computers are usually bigger  and more complicated than web-enabled devices, but there are mini PCs that are almost as small. The big advantage of a computer is versatility. You can add and upgrade lots of components to get what you want.

Pros:

• Versatility. A media center computer, or home theater PC (HTPC), can be customized to do just about anything you want it to do. It can access (nearly) all types of local and online media. The 'nearly' has to do with Linux. There is currently no Silverlight equivalent for Linux. Silverlight decodes Digital Rights Management (DRM) protected content, which includes Netflix. So, no Netflix on Linux. 
• Media center software (like Windows Media Center, XBMC, Boxee, etc.) organizes all your local and online content and displays it in an simple way, just like the web-enabled devices. In fact, some programs run plugins that are just like apps. Windows Media Center comes standard with Windows 7 and gets pretty good reviews. Boxee and XBMC are free.
• You can connect a remote control to your computer and brows your media center, so you don't always need a keyboard and mouse. Some media PCs come with a remote and a built-in sensor. You can even get a RF remote, which doesn't require line-of-sight like IR, so you can put your PC around a corner and still use the remote.
• If there's no app or plugin for something, you can always pull it up on a browser and play it in full screen. This means you can put anything you see online on your TV. Plugins and programs are available to play virtually any format of audio, image, or video file. 
• Add whatever drives you want. And you can rip and burn disks, or transfer files to a mobile device.
•  With a TV tuner card and software, you can record TV on your hard drive. 
• All your local media can be right there on the hard drive, or you can play filed from any networked computer.
• No additional fees like some devices.
• Quality. If you build your own, or buy a boutique brand computer, you can make sure the components are high quality.
• Upgradeable. You can't put more memory, a bigger hard drive, or a 3-D graphics card in most devices. You might be able to take a used computer and upgrade for cheap with a graphics card and a bigger hard drive.

Cons:

• Cost. It would be tough to put together an HTPC for less than the cost of most web enabled devices.
• Setup. It's most likely going to be more complex to set up and network a computer than a device. You have to track down the hardware and software yourself and get everything to work together. You'll also have to install all those browser plugins to decode your content, but they usually do it automatically now. If you buy a commercial computer, there's all that crapware to delete.
• Viruses. You'll need a firewall and antivirus programs, and you'll still accumulate some malware because you'll be surfing the web.
• Maintenance. You'll have to clean up files, update software, defrag the hard drive, and do other normal computer maintenance chores. Most devices pretty much look after themselves.
• Size. There are some micro PCs out there, but they often lack an optical drive and they're not that much more powerful than some of the better devices. A regular tower PC isn't usually welcome in the living room. HTPC cases sit horizontally and look like other video components, but are mostly available as an empty case or as part of a barebones kit.
• Noise. All those drives and stuff produce a lot of heat, which means cooling fans. You don't want to have to turn the volume up to hide the hum of the fans. Case design, heat sinks, and higher quality fans can eliminate this problem...for a price. Devices are generally all but silent.
• Complexity. The other side of the Versatility coin. Since there's no one program that can do it all, you may have to navigate several to view all types of media. This will make it hard for non-technically inclined people to operate the system. Sometimes you just want to hit the power button and start channel surfing.
• Windows. Since there's no Silverlight for Linux, and I'm not buying a Mac, I'm stuck buying Windows and dealing with its issues. 

Analysis:
Web enabled devices are easy to set up, maintain, and use. They occupy the low to mid price ranges. They do most of the things I want and are constantly gaining new apps. A computer is expensive to buy, harder to set up, more complicated to use, and requires some maintenance. But I know I can make it do everything I want, and do it well. In the next post, I will present several hardware/software configurations and analyze their actual costs and capabilities.

Cutting the Cable Part 2

Media

I was explaining this project to my Mom last night and she, not surprisingly, didn't quite understand exactly how it could work. I asked her for an example of something she watches on cable so I could explain how to get the same thing online for free or for cheap. I was hoping for a specific TV show that I could pull up on Hulu to prove my point. Instead, she said "News channels like CNN and MSNBC." And it struck me that most people don't naturally separate the media content, the format, and the source. In a way, she's right. Cable TV stations don't have a simultaneous online stream the way many radio stations do. Who would pay for cable if they did? But, as an example, she could go to msnbc.com, click on 'Maddow', and watch the last few Rachel Maddow Shows in their entirety whenever she wants. It's the same content, but it a different format and from a different source than she's used to. In this installment of the project, I want to lay out the various types of media, the various formats they come in, and the various sources they can come from. You have to know what you want in order to get it.

Types and Formats of Media

We typically consume the following types of media in the following formats:

Print: Physical print includes newspapers, magazines, and books. All three are transitioning to digital media. Most newspapers are available online. There are also a few online-only newspapers like the Huffington Post. 

Rupert Murdoch's The Daly is available only as an iPad app. Many magazines are available online and some are only online (eZines). Lots of books are available in various digital formats (eBooks) that you can access on a computer or a eReader.  In the digital-only print category are the various informational websites (like wikipedia, cnet and instructables), shopping sites (like amazon), blogs (like this one), and social media websites like Facebook.

Print media doesn't really lend itself to the big screen. Most people seem to like to consume text-only digital print (such as books and newspapers) on low-glare, tablet-style readers like the Kindle. Print that includes color graphics and photos (such as magazines, informational websites, and social networking) seems to be mostly consumed on desktop and laptop computers, iPads, and the like. Reading text off the TV doesn't seem like it will ever catch on. It might be nice to be able to check a website between shows or during a commercial without having to get up and go to another room, but this is not necessarily a requirement of the system.

Static Images: Photographs, paintings, macaroni-art, et cetera. Everyone has a digital camera and thus a collection of digital images. We also share photos on Facebook and sites like Picasa and Flickr. Organizing and editing images is best done on a computer. I would probably never stick a memory card into my media center and pull up a bunch of raw files. But it might be nice to put together a slideshow of family or vacation pics and have it on when people come over. It's also a good option for a screen saver or something to have on if you're just playing music (instead of the trippy media player 'visualizations'). Again, not a requirement for the system, but something we might use from time to time.

Audio: This includes playback of music, sound, and voice recordings, and the audio component of TV shows, movies, and games. It could also include inputs. I don't really want to record and edit music, but it's conceivable that we might use a microphone jack for karaoke or controller inputs for games like Rock Band. 

Formats have changed radically over the years. I'll start with local, physical formats. Since I'm going to use a stereo receiver (or upgrade to a surround sound unit) to drive the system's speakers, I can use analog RCA or optical cables to connect most devices. This includes turntables, 8-track and cassette players, standalone CD players, and MP3 players (via headphone to RCA cable or iPod dock). We rarely use physical audio formats except for the occasional CD, so an optical drive is the only option we might need. Since DVD and Blu-ray drives also play CDs, there's no need for a dedicated CD player or changer. If I need more than a few songs, I want to stream a playlist. Albums and mixes are also available on micro-SD memory cards from slotMusic and slotRadio. I don't see them catching on, but if they did I would most likely rip the songs to my digital library or put them on an MP3 player rather than playing directly off the memory card. 

There are numerous legal and illegal sources of digital music online- too many to get into here. More and more, we're downloading audio and playing it through a media player. This also works for podcasts and digital audiobooks. These are local files, not streaming online. The benefits of local media (physical or digital) are 1) no commercials and 2) you own it forever...or until you can't upconvert to a new format and have to buy yet another copy of Dark Side of the Moon. With digital libraries, you may not have to keep re-purchasing the same music unless.  The downside is that your selection is limited to what's in your library, which is in turn limited by the time and money you're willing to put into building and organizing it.    

Then there are real-time and on-demand audio sources. Real-time sources include AM and FM radio, HD radio, and satellite and internet radio streams. The Tuner has AM and FM, which I could upgrade with a better antenna. I could also get an HD radio receiver- there are about 15 stations in Springfield. Internet radio is generally free and plays through a prowser or app. Satellite radio like XM and Sirius require special hardware and subscriptions. For completeness, I'll mention the music stations that are built into cable and satellite TV packages. I don't use them, but someone must. The upside to real-time audio is that someone else picks the songs, so you sometimes hear new stuff that you might not otherwise be exposed to.

On-demand audio sources are things like Pandora, Grooveshark, and Playlist. Some let you pick exact songs and build a playlist, others (like Pandora) let you have input but pick the songs themselves. 

They are mostly free and play through browsers or apps. 

We listen to FM radio, music from our digital libraries, and CDs. None of these functions run through the cable box, so they won't be disrupted. Adding free internet radio, podcasts, and ebooks would be nice, but are not absolute requirements. Same for controlling the audio library from the living room.

Video: TV, movies, home movies, web videos. These break down more or less the same as audio: Local media, Real-time streaming, and on-demand streaming. 

Local video is your collection of reel-to-reel, Hi 8, Betamax, and VHS tapes; your Laserdisk, DVD, HDDVD, and Blu-Ray disks; and whatever digital video files are stored on your camera or computer hard drive. You can also rent disks at Blockbuster and Redbox, and get them by mail from Blockbuster and Netflix. Pros and cons are similar to local audio. Unlike music, we don't have a large collection of digital videos on our computers. In the future, it would be nice to stream local videos to the TV, but it's not absolutely necessary right now. We're probably going to write off anything earlier than DVD format, but The new system must have an optical disk drive because we've got a bunch of DVDs. Another reason to have an optical drive is that not everything is available on-demand from subscription sites (especially new releases and obscure stuff). We could keep the current DVD player, but Blu-ray is much better on a big screen and doesn't cost extra from Netflix or Blockbuster. And, it looks like Blu-ray may be the last physical video format because there's not much point in upgrading the quality. It's already near the limit of our sensory perception. Blu-ray drives for computers are cheap, and standalone players are coming down too. Some units can also access streaming content or are built into game systems (more on that later).  

Real-time streaming video includes digital broadcast channels, cable TV, satellite TV, and any real-time webcasts. Pros and cons are similar to real-time streaming audio with a few important exceptions. First, radio is mostly free, but TV is mostly subscription...and cable and satellite can get expensive. Second, no one gets upset if they turn on the radio and 'Freebird' is halfway over, but most people have favorite shows that they try to keep up with. Third, we don't put the TV on in the background while we're doing something else like we do with music, so we're more upset when there's nothing on. The current popular solution is to pay for enough cable/satellite channels to satisfy your content needs and get a DVR (Tivo, upgraded cable box, computer with tuner card) so you can watch it all when it's convenient and fill in the times when there's nothing on. Since cable and satellite also have some on-demand content, this is the solution most people are choosing right now because it's relatively simple, reliable, and solves most of their entertainment problems. My only big issue with them is the cost. I don't think I should pay more than $1000 a year to be entertained. 

Digital broadcast  is another story. This is not your grandparents' bunny ears. Networks broadcast in full digital HD. And it's free, all you have to do is buy an antenna (and a converter box if your TV is from the bronze age.) I went to Antennaweb, typed in my address, and it told me what channels I should be able to get and their compass direction. If you get stations from different directions, you'll need a multi-directional antenna. Digital broadcast is a good way to fill in stuff you can't get online: PBS, local news and weather, network shows in real-time, and popular sports. If you hook your antenna up to a TV tuner card on your computer, you can record stuff to your hard drive. This will probably be part of our final solution.

On-demand video is available with most TV and Satellite packages, and from a variety of internet sources. The internet sources break down into three groups: 

1. Free (YouTube, Hulu, ESPN3, TED, and the various networks' websites like NBC.com). There's a lot of free content here, but you may spend some time trying to find what you want. You can often only see the most recent few episodes. If you're not picky, you may be satisfied with this option. Some are available on platforms other than a computer. Hulu is computer-only. Combine this with an antenna and you're doing better than basic cable without a monthly bill.
2. Subscription (Netflix, Hulu Plus, Blockbuster, Amazon Prime) More content, especially movies. You can often get whole seasons of shows and past seasons as well. Netflix starts at at $4.99 for one disk only or $7.99 for streaming only. Streaming plus disks cost more. The Watch Instantly options on Netflix change frequently, but if you stick something in your Instant Queue, it will still be available to you after it goes away for everyone else. Hulu Plus goes for $7.99 a month. Both are available through apps on a variety of platforms other than a computer. Blockbuster is a bit more expensive than Netflix, but offers games in addition to TV and movies. This might be a good option if you access your content through a game console. Amazon prime gives you unlimited free shipping with no minimum orders, $3.99 one-day shipping, and unlimited streaming of certain content from their on-demand site. It costs $79 a year, or about $6.60 a month. If you shop Amazon a lot, the shipping deals alone might be worth it and the video content would be a bonus. Overall, subscription sites offer way more content for way less money than cable or satellite. The hard part is getting it to your TV. I'll look at hardware and software in future posts. I want to mention here that the only way these companies are allowed to stream good content is because it's DRM-protected. That means you generally can't (legally) record and/or burn streaming content. To decode DRM-protected video on a computer, you usually need to run Microsoft Silverlight. Or Silverlight for Mac. There is no Silverlight for Linux (yet). So if you thought I was leaning toward a cheap, highly-efficient, Linux-based media computer...I was, but that's not currently an option because Bill Gates is a greedy bastard. 
3. Pay-per (Amazon video on demand, iTunes, Blockbuster). The Pay-per sites have some content for free and some you have to pay for. Some content streams over the internet, other content can be downloaded temporarily or permanently. If you watch the same thing over and over, you may want to just own it. If you're mostly happy with free content or other services, it may be cheaper to pay for the occasional download rather than maintain ongoing subscriptions. The iTunes store seems expensive, but it's an all-in-one content solution for some people. Blockbuster allows you to stream, download, rent a disk, or buy a new or used disk all from the same place. In general, this type of content source doesn't seem like a good deal for us. 

"Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up."

Our entertainment system must do the following:

• Play a good selection of TV shows and Movies from the internet. Bonus points for more content, online music content, ability to play whenever we want, fewer commercials, High Def, and other features. Double bonus points if it's not limited to a list of certain sites or has a fully-functional browser. Any subscriptions must add up to less than our current cable bill.
• Play CDs and DVDs. It would be tough to talk me out of including Blue-Ray as well.
• Stream music from my digital library. Bonus points if it can do pictures and video files.
• Give us local news, weather, and sports. Essentially, our local broadcast networks. Bonus if we can record and play these back or watch them on demand.

The more additional capabilities, the better, but we'd like to keep the interface manageable. Ideally, we'd still like to accomplish most functions with a remote rather than a full-on keyboard and pointing device. There will likely be a trade-off between simplicity and flexibility. Cable, satellite, and Tivo are successful because they are fairly simple to set up and use, not because they give you the most content for the best price. In the next post, I will lay out the major hardware and software options that are available and discuss the pros and cons of each.

Cutting the Cable Part 1

Identifying The Problem

This is the first in a series of posts about my research into the feasibility of replacing our cable TV subscription with something else. Preferably better and preferably cheaper. In this post, I'll describe what we have now and why we want to change.

TV:
27" Sony CRT.

Pros: We already own it. It's worked this long, so it'l probably keep going for some time yet. So easy a caveman could use it.

Cons: Small by today's standards. Low definition picture, crap sound. and 4:3 aspect ratio. Weighs about the same as a baby elephant and the footprint takes up serious acreage.

Analysis: There's little point in upgrading our media source without a better TV to watch it on. I also have an Asus 24" widescreen monitor on my computer, which has an HDMI output. If I was single or had a studio apartment, I'd just watch everything on the computer. But it lives in the office and we want our entertainment in the living room.

Sound:
Sony receiver, Fischer cabinet speakers, Logitech Music Anywhere.

Pros: We already own them. They all work fine...usually. The receiver is basic, but puts out solid stereo sound. The speakers have good range and bass, and they hold plants up off the floor. The Music Anywhere system streams music wirelessly from my computer to the stereo so we don't have to play individual CDs. It's nice to put a playlist on and not touch it all evening. We can play CDs in the DVD player if we want to.

Cons: No surround sound, which is mainly a drawback when watching action movies. Cabinet speakers aren't the most attractive furniture ever. Receiver is bulky and only supports RCA inputs and outputs, so no hi-def. Music Anywhere is no longer made or supported. With the latest upgrade to Vista, it stopped working with Windows Media Player. As with most computer problems, the solution was to install a free, non-Microsoft application (Winamp) and now everything works again. Eventually, they may stop making drivers for it. Also, it only streams audio, so I can't use it to get pictures or video to my TV. If I want to change the music, I have to run upstairs to the office. And there is occasional interference is we try to stream music while using the laptop on the wireless network.

Analysis: The stereo is actually the strength of the current system. We could easily wait to upgrade to a better surround sound system.

Media Sources:
Cable Box, Sony DVD player, Computer with cable internet, Netflix.

Pros: Already own them. The DVD player is decent quality. We use it to play DVDs and CDs through the stereo. The best feature was a pass-through so I could plug it and a VCR into my TV that only had one RCA input. Our current TV has multiple inputs and we don't even have a VCR hooked up anymore, so it's not much of a selling point. The computer has a DVD player, TV Tuner with DVR capability, an OK graphics card with HDMI output, and my music and picture library. We also have an encrypted n-band wireless network and free ports on the router to add wired components. Online content currently streams over the network to our laptop fairly well even though the laptop only has a g-band card. The cable box, modem, and remote are owned by the cable company, so they're not my problem if they die. Some shows on channels we don't pay for are available on-demand. Netflix has great selection and is a cost effective alternative to movie channels.  The current system is pretty easy to use and has been reliable.

Cons: No Blu-Ray player. No way to stream pictures or video from the internet onto the TV. This makes Netflix kind of a waste since we can only watch 4 to 5 actual DVDs each month. The real value of Netflix is all the content you can 'Watch Instantly'. I could record TV on my computer, but again, I have no way to get it to the living room. Cable TV is the worst part of the system. We get the broadcast networks and the knock-off channels in the 200s (Encore movie channels, Create, Cooking Channel, Discovery Health, BBC, ESPN News), but not the major cable networks (Food, HGTV, USA, CNN, MSNBC, ESPN, etc.). There's either nothing on, or several things are on at the same time in "prime time". Not to mention the commercials. And none of it is in HD. On-demand content is limited and changes unpredictably, and playback controls suck.

Analysis: Some of these problems could be addressed by upgrading our cable, but the bill seems too high already. Our  low-end cable package costs $24.81/month. With a few taxes and fees, that's about $300/year. To get all the good channels, movie channels, and on-demand, all in HD would cost over $155 per month. Tack on some taxes, maybe the NFL package, and a DVR cable box and we're talking well over $2000 a year just for TV! And we're already paying $600 a year for internet and $120 for Netflix. I should buy stock in Comcast.

The Goal

The goal of this project is to upgrade our entertainment options as much as possible, while paying the same or less each month, without losing any of the key features we currently value. Specifically, we want:

1. To pay less than $1000 per year for content (about what we pay now for cable, internet, and Netflix).
2. More content. More shows, more movies, more music. 
3. The ability to watch shows when we want, either by recording them or by watching on-demand.
4. Better picture and sound quality.
5. Hopefully gain access to other online media sources such as Hulu, Pandora, YouTube, TED, podcasts, audio books.
6. Access to more local content such as pictures and videos stored on networked computers.
7. Maintain current benefits... 
• Network and cable tv shows, local news and weather, PBS, Patriots games 
• At least some on-demand content in case there's nothing on
• Access to digital music library 
• Ability to play CDs and DVDs
• Components will fit in/on current cabinet
• Remote control interface (we don't really want to have to use a keyboard and mouse)

We are willing to shell out some money for new hardware as long as it lowers our monthly bill and has a reasonable payback time, say 3-4 years. My technology skills are pretty good, so we're willing to put together a system with multiple components (we don't require an all-in-one solution) that can involve a wired or wireless network and moderately complex software configuration. We're willing to get our content from multiple sources, so we don't need a single provider. With multiple components and multiple content sources, the system may end up being somewhat difficult for guests, children, the elderly, and the technologically challenged to use. While I'd like the interface to be as user-friendly as possible, it's not as high a priority as cost, quality, and variety of content.

In future posts, I plan to lay out the various alternatives to cable tv and analyze their costs and benefits. If we decide to cut the cable on our TV, I'll explain how I set up the replacement system and tell you how it works out.