Just built an HTPC, can i cancel my cable now??

[daveybrat]

So i'm sick of paying $139 a month for cable tv w/internet bundle. I rarely even watch tv any longer, most of the time it's watching movies and shows on my computer.

I just finished building an HTPC with an Ivy-Bridge G2030 3.1GHz cpu. The motherboard has HDMI (which will be hooked up to my LG 47" TV) and i loaded Windows 8.1 on it.

I've got the logitech K400 wireless touch keyboard with touchpad to use while on the couch.

Sooo, are there any good programs that would allow me to watch regular tv channels on the computer other than my usual Netflix, Amazon Prime, Crackle, and others.

Bottom line, is it possible to cancel my cable nowadays and just keep my internet while still watching some normal tv channels??

Thanks!

 

[mvbighead]

Hdhomerun. Hook to coax, and you have TV on your PC.

 

[mfenn]

Hdhomerun. Hook to coax, and you have TV on your PC.

That's only if you can get the raw feed for the channel you're interested in by some means. Since the OP is wanting to get rid of cable, that means OTA. Not all channels are OTA of course and the OP might not get good reception.

OP, it kind of depends on what shows you want to watch.

 

[Blue_Max]

I know I did, but Netflix, movies and antenna TV are plenty enough for me. $55 for inet is still too dang much though...

 

[Charlie98]

We cut the cable long before I built an HTPC... 120 channels of nothing on. Netflix rules... with the HTPC you can watch on demand, which is very nice.

I'm kind of thinking about adding a TV tuner to the HTPC... I'll be curious what others will come up with...

 

[mvbighead]

That only if you can get the raw feed for the channel you're interested in by some means. Since the OP is wanting to get rid of cable, that means OTA. Not all channels are OTA of course and the OP might not get good reception.

OP, it kind of depends on what shows you want to watch.

You're absolutely right, but if the op wants to cut cable... I would think that means he's aware he's only going to get local channels. I could be wrong though.

I've not yet connected my HDHomeRun, but I'm fairly sure the 1000s of reviews can't be wrong. And for me, a good majority of the shows I enjoy watching are on OTA channels such as NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, etc. There are some shows such as The Walking Dead that I'll simply have to wait for Netflix, but I already have to do that with Dexter.

Long story short, when you do the math of cable, you're usually paying close to $100/month or $1200 per year to watch maybe 2-3 shows that you can't get via OTA broadcast. So, I look at it as a $1200 budget I have to stay under when buying or renting seasons of this show or that show. Pretty easy to do as most seasons run $20-$30. That adds up to 40 series I can buy on Bluray? And I am quite sure that there are only 4-5 that I can only get via cable.

The last problem is NFL Sunday Ticket, but for me, that still isn't worth it. At $1200/year for Direct plus $400 for Sunday ticket, I can easily get the football I need via a local sports bar.

So while the above are my considerations, I'd have to assume the op is on a somewhat similar path. He may have some different shows, but all in all, the math generally never works out in cable's favor.

 

[mvbighead]

We cut the cable long before I built an HTPC... 120 channels of nothing on. Netflix rules... with the HTPC you can watch on demand, which is very nice.

I'm kind of thinking about adding a TV tuner to the HTPC... I'll be curious what others will come up with...

There are a lot of options as far as tuners go, but from what I've read, the HDHomeRun is one of the easiest solutions available. And the real nice part is that it works with all sorts of systems including MythTV (Linux), Windows Media Center, and also whatever Apple's version of software is. To add to that, you don't have to worry about getting the card in your PC, and you can also add extra tuners if you want to tune to more than 2 channels simultaneously. And to add to that, you should be able to stream to two separate devices. Not a lot of negatives that I've read about, but I still have not yet hooked it up.

 

[LoveMachine]

OP, I have a basic $40 USB TV tuner doodad hooked to the ol' antenna attached to the side of my house. Windows Media Center (and when I get the time to configure the add-on, XBMC) can record any show from the major networks just like a cable DVR. XBMC also has add-ons for several of the cable networks so you still have free access to at least a few shows. It really depends on what you "need". (How much do we really "need" to stare at a glowing box?).

 

[AssassinHTPC]

Here are two free sites/guides that should help you!

Guide on How to Eliminate Cable:
http://www.assassinhtpc.com/eliminate_cable.pdf

Assassin's Easy NewEgg Hardware Wishlists:
Link to ad-sponsored assassinhtpc.com page redacted

mfenn
General Hardware Moderator

 

[nwo]

I don't have cable at one of my homes. I use roku for streaming/watching my favorite TV shows with hulu+. I miss watching sports on regular cable though