Thinking of cutting the cord

So, the wife and I have been discussing the idea of dropping cable TV completely, especially with the new House vote to end cable card requirements. For years we have been using SageTV, even after they got bought by Google. According to Antennaweb.org we don't receive any OTA signals even with a roof-mounted antenna

As long-time SageTV users we are accustomed to having one box for everything... TV, imported media, music, DVD/BluRays. It looks like we can cover most of what we want with a combination of Netflix/Hulu+/Amazon since we've never subscribed to HBO/Showtime/etc. and we don't watch any sports. Sure, there might be a few shows we miss.. but I think we'll survive.

The issue comes down to hardware. I've got a Roku I've played with and set Plex up on, and I have to say I'm not a fan of the controls. I'm used to 15 second and 3 minute skips. Granted, that is mostly for commercial skipping, which won't come into play in a post-cord setup, but with two small kids even watching a regular show we find ourselves rewinding 15 seconds to try to catch something. With the Roku and Plex... this is practically impossible. You have to hit the rewind and guess where to stop since it seems to only track videos by minutes in the timeline.

I would also like to have a device that can play whatever I throw at it (mkv, mp4, BluRay/DVD rips, etc.). We have a pretty good size collection from over the years, especially kids DVDs. I really don't want to have to switch between multiple devices and definitely don't want to have to put a disk in anything

How is the Chromecast for this type of setup? We both have smartphones (one android, one iphone), 2 kindle Fires, and iPad, and an old HP Touchpad. However, I wouldn't want to dedicate any of those to "remote duty" as we tend to start things in the living room and finish them upstairs in the game room or the bedroom even.

Any suggestions from those that have moved away from the traditional cable TV setup, but still watch all their content on a large TV? I personally can't stand watching media on a laptop/tablet/computer for more than 30 minutes to an hour or out of necessity (travel).

What cable card requirements?

My understanding is that the House voted to end the requirement forcing Cable companies to support Cable Cards. This is one of the areas the Cable companies have fought since the creation of the cable card standards. Basically they don't want to have to support cable cards in "unauthorized devices".

http://www.lightreading.com/cable-v...votes-to-kill-cablecard-mandate/d/d-id/710079

Comcast is already working with Tivo on a future product to allow content access on Comcast without a cable card

http://www.multichannel.com/news/tv-apps/comcast-tivo-working-non-cablecard-approach/375989

While it will be some time before anything happens, I can see Comcast and other cable companies starting to phase out cable card access if it is no longer required to separate the security from set-top boxes in the form of cable card access.

We cut cable about 3 years ago. We use Netflix, Youtube(for great documentaries) and my collection of Blu-Rays/Blu-Ray rips on my NAS. One thing I could not stand were the commercials. My brain feels better because of the absence of commercials on "TV" and on the Internet.

FM 3370 said:

We cut cable about 3 years ago. We use Netflix, Youtube(for great documentaries) and my collection of Blu-Rays/Blu-Ray rips on my NAS. One thing I could not stand were the commercials. My brain feels better because of the absence of commercials on "TV" and on the Internet.

Click to expand...

What device do you use to view your online and local media? One thing I can't stand is consuming media on tablets/laptops/computers/etc. for more than maybe an hour or when options are limited (like travelling). When we want to watch something, that's why I purchased a 65" TV so the family can watch it together instead of burying their heads in individual devices...

Farscape(best damn tv series - ever, imo... )

We cut the cable about two years ago - or so. When I decided to do it, I opened a thread on here asking what others thought too.

We ended up going with an over-the-air antenna and a Roku/Plex setup for everything else. We also cut out the phone too and switched to an Ooma. Ended up basically saving about 130.00 a month over what we we're previously paying...and that is after paying for Netflix and Hulu+.

Probably the best thing our family has done for ourselves.

Recently(as in the last week)...I decided to add XBMC and I have the parts to put together an HTPC, but I might put that on hold because I've also been looking at the Android devices like minix neo x8 and I might just go that route instead...haven't decided yet and the budget is tight so don't want to make any mistakes...although, I'm essentially in the same boat, I have a classic movie collection that would choke a horse...and I want to load it on something and not have to throw the discs in...

I've set up a couple of other people with the same set up we're using and they're very pleased...especially after the first bill comes.

Best,

LC

Liquid Cool said:

Farscape(best damn tv series - ever, imo... )

We cut the cable about two years ago - or so. When I decided to do it, I opened a thread on here asking what others thought too.

We ended up going with an over-the-air antenna and a Roku/Plex setup for everything else. We also cut out the phone too and switched to an Ooma. Ended up basically saving about 130.00 a month over what we we're previously paying...and that is after paying for Netflix and Hulu+.

Probably the best thing our family has done for ourselves.

Recently(as in the last week)...I decided to add XBMC and I have the parts to put together an HTPC, but I might put that on hold because I've also been looking at the Android devices like minix neo x8 and I might just go that route instead...haven't decided yet and the budget is tight so don't want to make any mistakes...although, I'm essentially in the same boat, I have a classic movie collection that would choke a horse...and I want to load it on something and not have to throw the discs in...

I've set up a couple of other people with the same set up we're using and they're very pleased...especially after the first bill comes.

Best,

LC

Click to expand...

Farscape! Love that show. Can't wait for the new movie!

We cut the cord about a year ago cause we were tired of paying $110 a month for something we didnt really watch all that much. I went and bought an Antenna's Direct HD antenna and it fit right in the same place my Dish satellite was and I even used the same coax cable. I get the 4 major networks in crystal clear and free! I also bought a Roku for the bedroom and downstairs at $70 each and we have Netflix and Amazon Prime. There are also the History Channel, Fox News and ESPN channels that have free programming if youre really bored.

Occasionally I missed it for some sporting events but now, after a year, I dont really miss it at all. If I ever start making a whole lot of money Im sure Ill get cable back but as long as Im middle class, I think Ill be rolling this way for a while. I can think of a lot better things to spend $110 a month on that 400 channels of shopping, religious and Spanish speaking networks.

Godmachine...

Wasn't aware that a Farscape movie was in the works...

You made my day...

Liquid Cool

farscapesg1 said:

My understanding is that the House voted to end the requirement forcing Cable companies to support Cable Cards. This is one of the areas the Cable companies have fought since the creation of the cable card standards. Basically they don't want to have to support cable cards in "unauthorized devices".

http://www.lightreading.com/cable-v...votes-to-kill-cablecard-mandate/d/d-id/710079

Comcast is already working with Tivo on a future product to allow content access on Comcast without a cable card

http://www.multichannel.com/news/tv-apps/comcast-tivo-working-non-cablecard-approach/375989

While it will be some time before anything happens, I can see Comcast and other cable companies starting to phase out cable card access if it is no longer required to separate the security from set-top boxes in the form of cable card access.

Click to expand...

Awwww thats really disapointing. But I wonder, if the set top boxes have an embedded cable card is the card within different than the card they issue separetly and if they eliminate the cable card does that means the set top box wont need it either?

In any case, I see why they are going down this path. I guess it was a matter of time. But, the set top boxes these days are pretty good by themselves. In all honesty if I went back to a set top box vs a tuner card I would be more upset about the extra money i'd have to spend. Sometimes its nice to have the on demand stuff through the set top which you lose with a tuner card.

farscapesg1 said:

I've got a Roku I've played with and set Plex up on, and I have to say I'm not a fan of the controls...with two small kids even watching a regular show we find ourselves rewinding 15 seconds to try to catch something. With the Roku and Plex... this is practically impossible. You have to hit the rewind and guess where to stop since it seems to only track videos by minutes in the timeline.

Click to expand...

Enable media index files on your Plex server.

Thumbnail images will be shown in the timeline when seeking, making it much easier to rewind or fast-forward only a few seconds at a time.

Do read the entire support article though. If you enable media index files on a large library, it could take days to create all the thumbnails. With a 200 video library, it took my I7 3770 about 2 days to generate all the images.

crusty_juggler said:

Enable media index files on your Plex server.

Thumbnail images will be shown in the timeline when seeking, making it much easier to rewind or fast-forward only a few seconds at a time.

Do read the entire support article though. If you enable media index files on a large library, it could take days to create all the thumbnails. With a 200 video library, it took my I7 3770 about 2 days to generate all the images.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. Not going to do that though. I've got almost 3000 kids videos of TV series alone, another 1500 episodes of "current tv shows", 500 "cancelled" shows, and about 600 movies...

We've been using the Roku downstairs to see if we can get used to it. I found that pressing the left or right direction arrow seems to skip back or forward 10 seconds.. so that may work for us actually. I also ordered a Chromecast and have an AppleTV from work I'm testing out.. but I'm 99% sure the AppleTV is going to be out since I'm not tied to their ecosystem and most of my videos aren't mp4. I may set up a test system with XBMC just as another option to look at... but I don't really want a whole HTPC at each TV after being used to extenders.

DVD/BluRay is my main issue right now. Before I could drop the disk in my server and either watch it after doing a media refresh or copy it watch it. The nice thing was that we could start it downstairs and then finish it upstairs without touching the disk or worrying about converting it.

I've got a couple weeks to mess around with options though. I stopped in at Comcast and they dropped my bill down to $99. I still need Internet from them, so I may go back in and push for the Internet + local channels only that they claimed isn't available even though it is on their website...

I bought one of those HD homerun prime triple cable tuners with cable card support, but when I went to my cable company, they wanted to charge me 15 bucks a month for card rental. I still have the prime just sitting powered off collecting dust. I think I am going to drop cable for a combination of chromecasts on every TV coupled with plex server, amazon prime video, and possibly something like showbox, (still working on a solution). I am also trying out xbmc for plex replacement, but it just doesn't seem like it is an easy replacement for plex due to every device needing its own database and no server application.

ob1 said:

I am also trying out xbmc for plex replacement, but it just doesn't seem like it is an easy replacement for plex due to every device needing its own database and no server application.

Click to expand...

Is this what you need? http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=MySQL

My understanding is that the House voted to end the requirement forcing Cable companies to support Cable Cards. This is one of the areas the Cable companies have fought since the creation of the cable card standards. Basically they don't want to have to support cable cards in "unauthorized devices".

http://www.lightreading.com/cable-vi.../d/d-id/710079

Comcast is already working with Tivo on a future product to allow content access on Comcast without a cable card

http://www.multichannel.com/news/tv-...pproach/375989

While it will be some time before anything happens, I can see Comcast and other cable companies starting to phase out cable card access if it is no longer required to separate the security from set-top boxes in the form of cable card access.

Click to expand...

Mother fucker... this pisses me off. Not because I want to cut cable but because I just want ONE DEVICE that has access to everything.