Considering ditching cable...

[Sheep]

@freedomsbeat: I'm not poor either, and I'm perfectly capable of paying the cable bill. For me it's a matter of principle in that I don't want to pay Comcast a monthly fee if I don't have to.

What's wrong with you? You should be thankful that Comcast makes your life easier by giving you the opportunity to pay $50 or more a month for the convenience of having hundreds of channels at your fingertips so your freetime isn't filled with TV silence.

Like you, I'll take the $1200 I save annually from not having cable and save it (gasp!) or use it for other hobbies.

 

[Knavish]

It's all hooked up and working now, with the only issue being the tv's weird 1024x1080 native resolution that the Mac Mini doesn't support. The closest is 720p, where the text is clear but the desktop extends past the screen's ability to show it. Otherwise, Boxee on the Mac does a fine job with Hulu feeds, and iTunes content works great. Hulu at this resolution looks like standard def tv, and displays without artifacting or stuttering.

Congrats!

Any chance that Apple lets you edit the resolution parameters like you can with modelines in linux? I googled it for a sec...do either of these work?
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/21600
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/15467

...I don't even own a mac, so I'm just guessing here.

 

[Kadarin]

^^ I've tried SwitchResX without success thus far, but haven't tried the other one. Thanks for the link!

Edit: DisplayConfigX has the same issue that SwitchResX has: On Snow Leopard it doesn't accept the resolution entered. I don't know if it's because I have some other setting wrong, or if it's because 10.6 on this mini simply doesn't support the resolution period.

 

[slackerinabox]

^^ I've tried SwitchResX without success thus far, but haven't tried the other one. Thanks for the link!

Edit: DisplayConfigX has the same issue that SwitchResX has: On Snow Leopard it doesn't accept the resolution entered. I don't know if it's because I have some other setting wrong, or if it's because 10.6 on this mini simply doesn't support the resolution period.

Welcome to the annoying world of trying to figure shit out 😉

 

[Rhoxed]

i am to the point where cable can be replaced also.

the only shows i watch are broadcast or HBO shows (which i dont pay a premium for anyway) and 90% of the time i am working when they are on, so i am left looking online to watch the show 3hrs after it has aired.

i have 100% basic cable, 38$ a month, no box no tivo no dvr nothing, just basic cable with around 80 channels (no HD) if i want the premium packages im looking at 100$+

so for the shows i watch on broadcast (Lost, Heroes, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother etc.) i am better off watching with my OTA antenna for HD resolutions.

My HTPC is of much more use to my than my cable, as i watch things when i want, no commercials, the ability to pause, rewind or continue later.

 

[Kadarin]

Minor update on this: Since everything is hooked up and appears to be working well, today I called Comcast to kill the service. It'll be cut off as of the 7th, and I need to return my box and Cable Cards to a local Comcast center, so after that I'll start making up what I just spent... 🙂

Quick related question: If I get a OTA HDTV antenna, do I need to plug it into a separate digital converter box that I would have to buy, or does the antenna produce an output that can be plugged directly into my Denon receiver?

 

[nataku00]

Quick related question: If I get a OTA HDTV antenna, do I need to plug it into a separate digital converter box that I would have to buy, or does the antenna produce an output that can be plugged directly into my Denon receiver?

Most antennas only provide a coaxial cable input so your main options are to get a convertor box that can output into your receiver via some kind of cable. My toshiba 52XF550U has audio toslink out, so I plugged in coaxial into the TV, then connected toslink to my yamaha receiver for audio through my speakers.

 

[sivart]

Quick related question: If I get a OTA HDTV antenna, do I need to plug it into a separate digital converter box that I would have to buy, or does the antenna produce an output that can be plugged directly into my Denon receiver?

Your antenna must be plugged into a device with an ATSC tuner to receive digital TV. I doubt that your Denon receiver would have a TV tuner :hmm:

So if you are going to use your TV's tuner, you would run the optical out from the TV to your receiver. This is how mine is hooked up and works great. If you have an OTA HD DVR then you will want to run the audio from the HD DVR to the receiver. I also have this setup. Recording in HD for free is awesome.

 

[Kadarin]

Your antenna must be plugged into a device with an ATSC tuner to receive digital TV. I doubt that your Denon receiver would have a TV tuner :hmm:

So if you are going to use your TV's tuner, you would run the optical out from the TV to your receiver. This is how mine is hooked up and works great. If you have an OTA HD DVR then you will want to run the audio from the HD DVR to the receiver. I also have this setup. Recording in HD for free is awesome.

I have a Tivo Series 3 which I think will accept OTA input. Not sure if it'll perform the function, but it might be worth a try. If it works, I could do OTA HD, and also use the same box for Netflix and Amazon VoD.

 

[kalrith]

It's important to note that not all TVs will transmit Dolby Digital 5.1 via the optical out. Some will downgrade it to 2.0.

Edit: I have mine connected directly to the TV tuner on my HTPC, and it works great for recording. Hopefully your TIVO will do the same.

 

[thomsbrain]

I haven't watched a single show from our landlord-included-satellite since I got my Netflix PS3 disc. Not one. I won't be paying for cable TV at my new place, just cable internet. Plus, it's pretty common for cable companies to leave analog cable turned on if you only pay for internet because they don't want to climb the pole and switch it off. You don't get your digital cable box, but you still get a fair number of SDTV channels and the quality is usually better than the heavily compressed digital SDTV feeds. So in a pinch you can still turn on the news or whatever.

 

[Kadarin]

Update: Turned the cable box in today, and the cable service is off. As of now, it's a brave new world 🙂

 

[slackerinabox]

Update: Turned the cable box in today, and the cable service is off. As of now, it's a brave new world 🙂

GOod luck now that comcast will own hulu. cable providers will buy content providers left and right, and easy free online tv will go bye bye

 

[kalrith]

GOod luck now that comcast will own hulu. cable providers will buy content providers left and right, and easy free online tv will go bye bye

This has come up in other threads, and I just don't think it'll be the case. There will always be free online TV out there, at least on the illegal fronts. People like the legal free online content, but I know that a huge number of those people would switch to illegal free online content if it either disappears or comes with an exhorbitant fee. My guess is that free online content will get many more advertisements over the coming years, and that's how they'll make their money.

Kadarin, here are some good sources to get you started:

• slickdeals list
• avsforum list
• avsforum discussion
• blog of online content

 

[Kadarin]

GOod luck now that comcast will own hulu. cable providers will buy content providers left and right, and easy free online tv will go bye bye

I'm not really that concerned about it. I watch so little tv that I'm even ok with paying per episode (or season pass) to download from a provider like iTunes. The only show I watch with any regularity whatsoever these days is Fringe.

 

[slackerinabox]

I'm not really that concerned about it. I watch so little tv that I'm even ok with paying per episode (or season pass) to download from a provider like iTunes. The only show I watch with any regularity whatsoever these days is Fringe.

I really hope iTunes develops an all you can eat subscription model - that would be all sorts of amazing - and I'd buy an Apple TV!