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.