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.