Cutting the cord and going HTPC

[domerocket]

Has anyone here cut the cable and only stream from plex/xbmc HTPC or whatever..

I am new to this whole idea and looking for suggestions. I want to be able to stream to multiple rooms from one HTPC. I have been messing around with Plex a little today. Thinking of buying 2 Roku boxes for bedrooms to use with Netflix, Hulu, and the Plex app

 

[Arkitekt]

That is exactly what I am doing. Setting up a HTPC that will be connected to a HDTV and will stream to 2 Roku's and other devices via Plex Media Server. Will be completely cutting off cable.

 

[domerocket]

I will be keeping my Verizon Quantum 50up/25down so I figure that will be plenty for the internet with only 2 TV's currently.

 

[lotus503]

Has anyone here cut the cable and only stream from plex/xbmc HTPC or whatever..

I am new to this whole idea and looking for suggestions. I want to be able to stream to multiple rooms from one HTPC. I have been messing around with Plex a little today. Thinking of buying 2 Roku boxes for bedrooms to use with Netflix, Hulu, and the Plex app

I have been without cable for over 2 years now, first I was on XBMC now on Plex for central database ease.

I have a media server and various computers with low end 5450 ATI cards, I suspect Roku or apple TV would fit the bill just as well.

I will never go back to cable/dish, I have kids and having all viewing commercial free is so underrated.

 

[domerocket]

I have been without cable for over 2 years now, first I was on XBMC now on Plex for central database ease.

I have a media server and various computers with low end 5450 ATI cards, I suspect Roku or apple TV would fit the bill just as well.

I will never go back to cable/dish, I have kids and having all viewing commercial free is so underrated.

I have 2 kids. (3 and 1) Are their any apps/channels you recommend on Plex and other suggestions for them. That is the biggest reason we subscribed to TV in the first place. Our daughter watches a lot of PBS Kids on the iPad.

 

[lotus503]

I have 2 kids. (3 and 1) Are their any apps/channels you recommend on Plex and other suggestions for them. That is the biggest reason we subscribed to TV in the first place. Our daughter watches a lot of PBS Kids on the iPad.

I use Netflix plugin a lot, but frankly we direct stream most of our viewing stuff from a media server and dont use the channels and plugins as much.

One thing I do love abotu plex though is the ability to actually load up youtbe videos etc while I am at work and watch them in plex later.

 

[tydas]

Has anyone here cut the cable and only stream from plex/xbmc HTPC or whatever..

I am new to this whole idea and looking for suggestions. I want to be able to stream to multiple rooms from one HTPC. I have been messing around with Plex a little today. Thinking of buying 2 Roku boxes for bedrooms to use with Netflix, Hulu, and the Plex app

I tried Plex but my server had issues transcoding on the fly...a beefy box would probably work though...

 

[SMOGZINN]

I've been cable free for more then 3 years, now the only thing I pay for is my internet and netflix's streaming only tier. I also have a 17 year old girl and a 9 year old boy. I use XBMC, and started running it on an old xbox, but have since upgraded to a full sandybridge based HTPC. Between OTA, Netflix, and sickbeard we have no want for content.

 

[ecosmartpc]

I kept the cord and went fully HTPC by using a CableCard. You can have it both ways

 

[codyray10]

If i could get HD sports OTA I would definitely cut cable out

 

[wirednuts]

the only thing cable or dish is good for is sports, because you sort of need to watch those things live

i wish they would just stream games though. but cable companies and dish companies have a stranglehold on sports contracts

i have been without cable for about 4 years now. netflix is nothing short of amazing.

 

[ecosmartpc]

With the Red Sox s*cking, the NFL ref debacle and no Bruins games this year maybe I could really cut the cord since there will be no decent sports to watch anyway.

 

[ServerGUY]

Definitely looking into cutting the cord myself. Need to find some good places to stream my sports in HQ though.

 

[Jhatfie]

I am "trimming" the cord. Have streaming devices of some sort all over the house (HTPC, Xbox360, Sony SMPN200, multiple PC's, tablets, etc.) Got their Blast internet and preferred cable + HBO for $110/mo versus the $205/mo I was paying before by dropping all my DVR/tuner/modem hardware back to Comcast hands and picked up cable card to go with a Ceton InfiniTV 4 tuner. Use the Ceton in my HTPC to watch/record on the primary TV and stream live TV to Media Center Extenders in other rooms.

 

[XFalconX]

Hello

Have a question on the centon TV product. I am also looking for alternatives to cable. If I have a htpc for the main tv with centon. Can I stream a different channel to a bedroom upstairs with an extender. Want to know if I have a 1 htpc and 4 tv's with extenders . Is it possible to watch 4 different shows live or recorded at the same time?

 

[SMOGZINN]

Hello

Have a question on the centon TV product. I am also looking for alternatives to cable. If I have a htpc for the main tv with centon. Can I stream a different channel to a bedroom upstairs with an extender. Want to know if I have a 1 htpc and 4 tv's with extenders . Is it possible to watch 4 different shows live or recorded at the same time?

If you are talking about the Centon InfiniTV then you should be able to stream up to 4 live shows at a time, to 4 different TVs. The realistic amount of (recorded) shows you can stream is mostly just limited by your HTPC hardware, how much bandwidth you have to stream with, and how fast your HDD can dish it out.

 

[lucklessgorath]

I believe the limit on extenders is 5.

If you have 1 HTPC connected to a TV with 4 extenders connected to TVs you should be able to watch 5 programs at once. Obviously the InfiniTV4 would restrict you to only 4 live shows at a time.

Your HTPC hardware should also be beefy enough to handle it. I've heard as a rule of thumb you want one core and 1GB of RAM per extender. I don't know if this is absolutely true though especially with today's more modern CPU's.

 

[piasabird]

I just stream from websites like hulu, dramavever, viki, etc. However, I think I am really enjoying watching korean movies with subs on the Internet. I think most American TV is like horrible. Although it might be nice to be able to encode some video also. So far I have just kept it simple. My daughter bought the "Avengers" video and it came with a digital copy. I wonder if that will catch on?

Sometimes my daughter also uses both a flash drive and a portable backup harddrive both of which you can plug into a Samsung TV and play some video. I really wish the producers would just sell digital copies. I think they are missing a big market.