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Sick and tired of cable and satellite

post #1 of 23
2/12/09 at 8:33am
Thread Starter 
I have been a customer of Direct TV since 1999. I have seen a good, fair price alternative to cable. Turn into a 24 hour commercial and paid programming nightmare. I am tired of watching tv shows that are shortened to fit in commercials. This is ridiculous and now a waste of money.

So I need someones help. I am looking for a website for internet tv as an alternative. There are so many websites out there that do this. Unfortunatly they don't do what I am looking for. Or I have not found them. I am a Discovery, History, and Fox news kind of guy. I love the programs on those channels.

Believe me when I say this. I don't mind paying money for a service. Thats how people feed their kids and so on. I just want to be able to watch what I want. I have looked at Vudu, ModernFeed, Hulu and a few others. Has anyone had any experience with this? I am going to make a move one way are the other. Either find some internet alternative or stop watching TV all together.

I would greatly appreciate any encite and help.
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post #2 of 23
2/12/09 at 8:48am
try searching. there is a big thread about this very topic:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1102441
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post #3 of 23
2/12/09 at 9:53am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the link and I did a search. I really didn't find what I was looking for. A lot of vague questions and answers. I just really need a concrete answer.
example

I use BLANK for my internet tv. I use BLANKfor my movies. I like it expecially for BLANK or except for BLANK.

Just trying to get a feel for whats out there from people who have experienced it.
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post #4 of 23
2/12/09 at 10:05am
Try this thread.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1098626
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post #5 of 23
2/12/09 at 10:10am
You know you could just send your kids to the library and tell them to come back with some books...
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post #6 of 23
2/12/09 at 10:11am
What exactly are you looking for aside from being able to watch Discovery, History and Fox News? You know, you weren't very clear on that. You can watch their content from their individual websites, but if you're looking a "Media Center" experience, that might be harder to come by.

The thread dav234 linked to contains a fairly extensive list of online content providers.

I personally use Netflix. They've got a growing number of titles available on Instant Watch. Whatever they don't have on Instant Watch, I just get via mail. For the Instant Watch functionality, I got a Roku Netflix Player for my mom. It's very intuitive and it just works.

I also have a TV tuner for broadcast stuff, but I really don't watch a lot of TV.
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post #7 of 23
2/12/09 at 10:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Inline6 View Post

I have been a customer of Direct TV since 1999. I have seen a good, fair price alternative to cable. Turn into a 24 hour commercial and paid programming nightmare. I am tired of watching tv shows that are shortened to fit in commercials. This is ridiculous and now a waste of money.

So I need someones help. I am looking for a website for internet tv as an alternative. There are so many websites out there that do this. Unfortunatly they don't do what I am looking for. Or I have not found them. I am a Discovery, History, and Fox news kind of guy. I love the programs on those channels.

Believe me when I say this. I don't mind paying money for a service. Thats how people feed their kids and so on. I just want to be able to watch what I want. I have looked at Vudu, ModernFeed, Hulu and a few others. Has anyone had any experience with this? I am going to make a move one way are the other. Either find some internet alternative or stop watching TV all together.

I would greatly appreciate any encite and help.

I can't help you as long as D*TV is the exclusive provider of the NFL ticket and provides the most HD content (by a longshot). I had Comcast cable in my other rooms, but picture quality of HD material sucked. So, it's D*TV from now on or until some other provider can match PQ and content.
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post #8 of 23
2/12/09 at 10:18am
By the way....Those commercials are the reason pay TV doesn't cost $1,500.00 a month!
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post #9 of 23
2/12/09 at 10:21am
Thread Starter 
Thanks to everyone for their replies. It looks like my questions have been pretty much answered. I guess I was really hoping to buy something like a set top box. So I can have a familiar interface and not worring about going to www, something. Don't get me wrong I will go to www. something. Anything to get away from the commercials and the insane payments.
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post #10 of 23
2/12/09 at 10:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Inline6 View Post

Thanks to everyone for their replies. It looks like my questions have been pretty much answered. I guess I was really hoping to buy something like a set top box. So I can have a familiar interface and not worring about going to www, something. Don't get me wrong I will go to www. something. Anything to get away from the commercials and the insane payments.

No matter what you decide to do, you WILL pay. If you find a bargin, you can bet that PQ or SQ will be lacking. Good luck!
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post #11 of 23
2/12/09 at 10:24am
And this applies to home theater computers... (?)
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post #12 of 23
2/12/09 at 10:29am
Thread Starter 
I have no problem paying money. Even if it were close to the same amount I pay now. I just want to get away from the commercial, paid programming, and just down right loussy programs.
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post #13 of 23
2/12/09 at 10:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Inline6 View Post

I have no problem paying money. Even if it were close to the same amount I pay now. I just want to get away from the commercial, paid programming, and just down right loussy programs.

Lousy programs? That eliminates network programming
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post #14 of 23
2/12/09 at 10:35am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TRT View Post

Lousy programs? That eliminates network programming

It is scary how much that statment is true. Out of 100 and something channels I have. I only watch 15 to 20 of the channels. But, of course I must buy the most expensive package to get the channels I want.
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post #15 of 23
2/12/09 at 10:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Inline6 View Post

It is scary how much that statment is true. Out of 100 and something channels I have. I only watch 15 to 20 of the channels. But, of course I must buy the most expensive package to get the channels I want.

Boy you ain't just whistling dixie!
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post #16 of 23
2/12/09 at 11:37am
Thread Starter 
I really like Vudu and its GUI. It looks very user friendly. I read on their forum that they are now offering TV shows. This is ultimatley what I am looking for. A one stop shop for my shows and movies. Is anyone using or have used Vudu?
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post #17 of 23
2/12/09 at 12:40pm
You could just record these shows using BTV, Sage etc. and enable commercial marking/skipping and watch recorded shows skipping the commercials. TV shows are 42 min/hr and 18 min of commercials so you can watch 3 hrs of TV in about 2 hrs (126 min). All it takes is one or two digital tuners for OTA or QAM or hardware encoding analog tuners (analog stations will be available over cable for a long time) or you can record SD analog from your cableco box.

My personal pref is BTV if all you want is PVR capability.

BB
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post #18 of 23
2/12/09 at 12:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hceuterpe View Post

You know you could just send your kids to the library and tell them to come back with some books...

BOOK?

Basic Optical Ordering of Knowdge?

Is that anything like a PENCIL?

Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus
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post #19 of 23
2/12/09 at 12:58pm
I feel the same way the OP does. I too have DirecTV and StarChoice out of Canada. And some nights, there is just nothing on. I fill the void with AppleTV, and pay my $1.99 to watch something I want to watch. Be it and old Drag Net episode or the latest episode of Fringe that I missed while away due to work. Or rent a new release movie for a buck or two more.

And yes, I know I could grab much of this for free elsewhere, but c'mon, you just cannot beat the convenience of just pushing a button and watching what I want to watch.

Kudos to Apple and their silly little service that just works.

Mike
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post #20 of 23
2/12/09 at 1:13pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks to everyone for the information.

The main reason I am asking all these questions is. I am in the process of building a custom house. I am a Network Admin and have been in the business for some time. So you can imagine that I will be wiring the thing to the nines. Networked, computer room, surround sound. I am tring to get as much done before the drywall gets in. A fiber line from my computer room to the media closet for my living room tv.

I am working for a software company so I am not big into pirating stuff. I don't mind paying a fair price for anything. I just don't believe we are getting our money worth out of cable/satellite.

Sorry about the long winded stuff.
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post #21 of 23
2/12/09 at 1:19pm
Until cable companies are threatened enough to go to a la carte programming, there are going to be many, many people in your shoes. I have Comcast digital cable. It gives me a bare-bones amount of HD channels, and there are several sports channels I desperately wish I had (ESPNU, etc). Yet I have 10 shopping channels, a bunch of soap opera channels, a billion movie channels, all kinds of history/discovery channels/ 150 music channels that I would NEVER watch. Yet I pay for it. We're stuck with it until the cable monopolies feel threatened. Unfortunately I don't think it will ever happen. Sorry for the downer.
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post #22 of 23
2/12/09 at 1:28pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TRCuse View Post

Until cable companies are threatened enough to go to a la carte programming, there are going to be many, many people in your shoes. I have Comcast digital cable. It gives me a bare-bones amount of HD channels, and there are several sports channels I desperately wish I had (ESPNU, etc). Yet I have 10 shopping channels, a bunch of soap opera channels, a billion movie channels, all kinds of history/discovery channels/ 150 music channels that I would NEVER watch. Yet I pay for it. We're stuck with it until the cable monopolies feel threatened. Unfortunately I don't think it will ever happen. Sorry for the downer.

It just pains me to see so many people feeling the same way we do. I have always loved the saying " necessity is the mother of invention". Just look at Linux and Unix code. The squeaky wheel always gets the grease. Everyone just needs to squeak really loud.
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post #23 of 23
2/14/09 at 6:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TRT View Post

By the way....Those commercials are the reason pay TV doesn't cost $1,500.00 a month!

I never see them as I FF right past them on my DireTV HD box and my SageTV DVR, I never watch Live TV everything is prerecorded
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