im TRYING to drop my uverse...

[jomari]

so, our discounted rates for internet and the U200 programming, which came about to 100 dollars a month, we bought a mohu leaf via walmart.

i was hoping to be disappointed with it, giving myself another excuse to keep my cable, but not really. after seeing that i am recieving the ONLY channel i care for (CBS 5) for my news, i think i am happy with it. the problem is, im going to miss out on my other news shows on fox and channel four.

anyways, i also would be missing out on my DVR services.

so, after reading the postings we have of several members leaving their cable companies, i need to find out your opinions, and pretty much how to 'record' live tv at times?

i still have my netflix, i guess its been a while and aside from the convenience of watching recorded tv, i think i MIGHT like saving money.

time will tell. i will try to renegotiate another discounted contract with them later on next week, just to see if i can live with it.

 

[Botch]

Jomari, I still have my Simple.TV box (it's a DVR for OTA programming). I could never use it as I no longer have OTA service in my location (my incredibly whiny thread is here: http://www.theaudioannex.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=7721 ). If you want to give it a try, PM me; if you want to pay shipping it's yours (you'll have to check to see how much the subscription service will be, I can't remember, I'd bought a lifetime subscription and now can't use it).
Good luck!

 

[jomari]

botch, i saw it and might take you up on the offer.

so, the basic option is still subscription tho? or is that built into the unit? i guess at 199 does that only cover the hardware only or a yearly subscription?

dude, you sure about this? thats 200 clams out the door man.

simply put, i just want to dvr some stuff, mostly just big bang and elementary. thats it i think. oh, and some news i guess?

anyways, thanks for the offer bro, again, might consider it tho, depending on how it works etc. will research later on today after i do my chores.

 

[Towen7]

Have you looked at the Tivo Roamio? This thread got me and Batman chatting and it looks like a good idea though it requires a $15/mo subscription fee for the guide. It's got the Netflix and hulu apps built in.

Sling's one stream limit is a deal breaker for my household.

 

[Haywood]

I use a quad-tuner Tablo DVR. I chose it over the SimpleTV, because it is more stable and does not have the heat and fan noise issues that the SimpleTV has. I have been running it since last summer and it is rock solid stable with steadily improving software. The only reboots I've done have been around firmware updates. The thing is a true appliance. The Roku app is not that great, but they are about to replace it with a complete re-write before the end of the month and the screen shots I've seen look fantastic. There is an excellent HTML 5 web client an Android client and an iOS client. There is also a Plex channel, which means you can access it from any device that runs Plex. I have ZERO regrets about buying it.

The quad-tuner unit was about $299. A lifetime program guide subscription was $150. Here is the thing though. That is a true onetime fee based on the life of the account, not the box. You can upgrade boxes or add additional boxes without ever having to pay again.

 

[Batman]

For 5-10 minutes Joanna and I were discussing each having our own Sling accounts we'd still be saving a ton over my ~$175/mo Dish payment. Then we'd avoid any personal viewing conflicts.

 

[Haywood]

With all the content I get from Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, I don't feel any compulsion to spend $20/mo for a single stream of content, 25-30% of which is ads.

 

[Batman]

The amount of content isn't as important to me as having the 3-4 main channels we watch the most, ESPN is at the top (for me). Having Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, while nice, becomes redundant. I have plenty of other access to TV shows and movies, so much so I don't know when I'll ever find the time to watch it all. I REALLY love the way my home is setup to access a variety of content. It works for me. The price on the other hand is getting long in the tooth. I'm pretty committed to Apple on the movie and music side of things and can easily access everything that plays in my home from one of two apps, either Dish Anywhere or an app called Streamtome which can access all media files on my home server on my idevices or Mac which operates independently from iTunes/Home Sharing (which is what's used when I'm home). What I would seek to do, is find a product(s) that most emulates the way the Dish Hopper and whole-house DVR OPERATES while cutting significant cost and without building a PC, jailbreaking a device, etc....aside from OTA broadcast channels, Joanna and I really only need ESPN and a couple other channels to be truly happy. SlingTV fits the bill from a content aspect I just can't DVR the content. If I could pull in The CW off air my kids would be fine between that and my local server.

 

[Towen7]

I think my family would be happy enough with an OTA DVR accessible from multiple TVs + Netflix + Sling solution. The deal breaker is the Sling's single stream. I'm 100% sure that the limit is exactly because of what we were talking about in the other thread.

 

[jomari]

i think my needs are a tad different, i didnt think about it until now, but essentially i only need to record shows and see it in the living room. remember, i dont have that many rooms in my house so we have different needs.

we just need two three shows, thats why when i researched a bit more (i havent even started chores)

this is what i came across,

http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HW180S ... a+receiver

essentially a OTA reciever that i can use with a usb stick drive and just record stuff on it. setting it up in the living room area, and not in the bedroom (bedroom is only for news and wifeys other stuff)

i CAN get two of these, and have wifey watch her 'heart of dixie' stuff too there. so no conflict. :happy-smileygiantred:

 

[Botch]

we just need two three shows, thats why when i researched a bit more (i havent even started chores)

this is what i came across,

http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HW180S ... a+receiver

essentially a OTA reciever that i can use with a usb stick drive and just record stuff on it.

:scared-eek: Damn, if I only got OTA here, that would've been the perfect solution for me too.

By the way, I have both an unused Mohu Leaf, and Sky HDTV antennas, if anyone's interested.

 

[Haywood]

I am fortunate in that I can get ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, Fox and CW off-the-air pretty reliably (though I do want to get an outdoor antenna at some point to maintain a stronger signal in bad weather). I currently have a 1.5TB hard drive on my Tablo, so I have a ton of recording capacity and with four tuners, contention is really not a problem. Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have less and less overlapping content all the time and having all three is not overkill for me, since I do not have cable at all. With the exception of some local media on my NAS, everything I watch is either off-the-air or streamed. My total monthly streaming bill is $40, which includes the three I mentioned, plus DramaFever, Viki and Funimation for my wife and daughter. I may add HBO Now after the Apple exclusive ends, bringing my entire monthly content package up to $55. I realize that there are cable packages in that range, but now with full house DVR, HBO and the sheer volume of content I can get from my streaming services.

 

[jomari]

so, quick update on this, i dont know why but its bugging the hell out of me and quite disappointing.

as much as the mohu worked perfectly in our living room area, our bedroom tv set cant pick up crap. its sad because i was hoping that since it was almost linear to the tv below, it was supposed to get better signal.

i am in the works of contacting our uverse company, hoping to get some sort of discount available. i might just go bare bone ufamily i think. too bad the cheapest version i think has you to pay for the hd reciever on a monthly basis, which defeats its 20 a month cost.

 

[Haywood]

so, quick update on this, i dont know why but its bugging the hell out of me and quite disappointing.

as much as the mohu worked perfectly in our living room area, our bedroom tv set cant pick up crap. its sad because i was hoping that since it was almost linear to the tv below, it was supposed to get better signal.

i am in the works of contacting our uverse company, hoping to get some sort of discount available. i might just go bare bone ufamily i think. too bad the cheapest version i think has you to pay for the hd reciever on a monthly basis, which defeats its 20 a month cost.

One of the beautiful things about tuners like the Tablo is that you can put them wherever you get the best reception. They don't connect to the TV, so it doesn't matter if the tuner is someplace else.