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Thread: Considering giving up the dish

  1. #1
    A Pleasure to Burn Joseph's Avatar
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    Considering giving up the dish

    Hey folks. With all the tech savvy folks out there I thought I'd come ask you guys and gals what you know about a subject I've been mulling for a while lately.

    I think if its feasible I'd like to give up my satellite dish and live with only over the air digital channels but also hooking a laptop to my TV and watching shows that way.

    Thats why I come to you. Does anyone have any experience watching shows online thru the TV? Aside from an S video cable I need, are there any additional hardware requirements?

    Is there a website good for this that will tell me what channels I can get this way? A lot of the channels I'd be interested in are Discovery, Syfy, History, TLC etc, so i was hoping someone knew of a reputable online guide.

    What kind of quality can I expect? I'm not huge on HD, its nice, but not a requirement honestly, but I don't want to watch grainy TV either.

    Finally, baseball. If I buy MLB.TV will I be able to watch the Reds being that I live in Louisville, or will I be blacked out?

    Any help will be much appreciated.

    Thanks.

    Championships for MY teams in my lifetime:
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    Chicago Blackhawks - 10, 13, 15
    University of Kentucky - 78, 96, 98, 12
    Chicago Bulls - 91, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98


    “Everything that happens before Death is what counts.”
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  3. #2
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    Re: Considering giving up the dish

    Quote Originally Posted by Joseph View Post
    Hey folks. With all the tech savvy folks out there I thought I'd come ask you guys and gals what you know about a subject I've been mulling for a while lately.

    I think if its feasible I'd like to give up my satellite dish and live with only over the air digital channels but also hooking a laptop to my TV and watching shows that way.

    Thats why I come to you. Does anyone have any experience watching shows online thru the TV? Aside from an S video cable I need, are there any additional hardware requirements?
    No. Just need to be able to "mate" your computer's "gozoutta" with your TV's "gozinta."

    Is there a website good for this that will tell me what channels I can get this way? A lot of the channels I'd be interested in are Discovery, Syfy, History, TLC etc, so i was hoping someone knew of a reputable online guide.
    Check out Boxee. It can grab streams from sites that host them like Discovery channel, YouTube, Hulu, etc. and present them to you in one, pretty decent package. They even have "remote" software for iPhone (and maybe other smartphones).

    And...it's free!

    What kind of quality can I expect? I'm not huge on HD, its nice, but not a requirement honestly, but I don't want to watch grainy TV either.
    It depends on the source streams. Some of it is pretty poor but still watchable.
    Finally, baseball. If I buy MLB.TV will I be able to watch the Reds being that I live in Louisville, or will I be blacked out?
    You will be blacked out (I am and Nashville's even farther away than Louisville.) Baseball is the only thing keeping me with DirecTV.

  4. #3
    Member Redsfaithful's Avatar
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    Re: Considering giving up the dish

    Yeah, I'd love to do this also (I have a PS3 and think with Hulu+Netflix+Over the air it wouldn't be bad at all), but sports are the killer. If there were a way around things for baseball and football I'd definitely cut DirecTV.
    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

  5. #4
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    Re: Considering giving up the dish

    Roku Boxes have Netflix/Amazon VOD/MLB Extra Innings etc. It hooks up to the tv via HDMI cable if you have HDMI input to tv. Netflix is only $8.95 a month, a very good deal compared to movie channels. Also, if you have a WII, netflix will have a disc that will enable WII to run Netflix.
    Last edited by RBA; 01-25-2010 at 06:56 PM.

  6. #5
    Are we not men? Yachtzee's Avatar
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    Re: Considering giving up the dish

    With all the stuff Microsoft has been adding to XBox live, I'm wondering how long before they start offering full-on TV service.
    Wear gaudy colors, or avoid display. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one. The fittest shall survive, yet the unfit may live. Be like your ancestors or be different. We must repeat!

  7. #6
    A Pleasure to Burn Joseph's Avatar
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    Re: Considering giving up the dish

    Good information thus far folks. I'd never heard of several of those things.

    Championships for MY teams in my lifetime:
    Cincinnati Reds - 75, 76, 90
    Chicago Blackhawks - 10, 13, 15
    University of Kentucky - 78, 96, 98, 12
    Chicago Bulls - 91, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98


    “Everything that happens before Death is what counts.”
    ― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes


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