TV Alternatives
Posted by PC in Uncategorized, tags: Apple, Boxee, DirecTV, Hulu, Netflix, TV
A couple months ago we cancelled our DirecTV subscription. I had a nearly complete HD package and two HD DVRs, so we were paying something significant for it every month. It was a tough decision because DirecTV is great coupled with a DVR allowing us to have something to watch almost all the time, but there were still those times when there was nothing on that we wanted to watch.
The options we had to choose or mix and match from included:
- Cheapest Cable TV package ~$40/month.
- Netflix ~$10/month.
- HuluPlus ~$10/month.
- Boxee Box
- Custom PC with various websites with streaming (Fox, CBS, etc.)
- Apple TV
- Cheaper Dish package
No matter which we pick we would lose some functionality, ease of use, level of content, and quality. There’s simply no one better than DirecTV, with the posible exception of FiOS, which I haven’t had a chance to experience personally yet, so I can’t make a fair comparison on it. I also can only receive one OTA channel, and it is a religious channel with as much snow as signal. Not interested.
Cable TV
The point of this exercise is to save some money temporarily. Cable TV has an immediate negative from this perspective in that even the cheapest package available, with just a dozen or so real channels in standard definition, commercials, and general poor quality.
We used a high end Cable TV package prior to switching to DirecTV this last time. Even with the $100/month package that included HD and a DVR it still suffered from quality issues. I complained numerous times. One time they replaced the cable from the pole to the house and that seemed to improve it slightly, but then they replaced the cable from the entry point to the TV so they could blame that and charge me something for the “repair.” The interior wiring was fine and changing it out made no improvement.
The one thing the cable company is good for is their Internet service. It is currently the only high speed option available to me, so I get the fastest Internet only option 8mbps down 512kbps up. It is generally rock solid, and for where I live I’m very glad they offer it.
Netflix
I am a long time subscriber to Netflix having first joined when the service was brand new, although I have let my subscription lapse from time to time. The most useful part of the service, for me, is the streaming service. A DVD subscription is nice, but we always have trouble remembering to put the discs back in the mail. Streaming, especially for kids programming, is wonderful.
Netflix streaming works best when coupled to a 3rd party application. There are TVs that include this option, DVD players, or any Windows based PC.
Hulu/HuluPlus
Hulu still feels really beta to me. For one their refusal to allow Boxee or others to integrate seems ignorant and stupid. It’s not like these services are stealing advertising revenue. On the contrary, they would be increasing viewership. Also, their application for TV usage is designed more approprietly for a desktop computer. The typeface is difficult to view from across a room. The basic service is free, but for $10 more you get a broader selection of shows with more episodes, the ability to work with a few appliances, and HD access. Currently Plus is in beta preview right now, invite only, but still costs money which also seems disingenuous to me. Hulu seems to have an extreme amount of potential coupled with a lazy culture. It is almost as if they are just waiting to be bought out by someone who will take it to the next level.
Boxee Box
Boxee can be downloaded and used for free on any decent PC. Literally. They have versions for Linux32/64, OSX, AppleTV, and various flavors of Windows (XP and better). The Boxee Box is available only on preorder right now, but it looks to be decent except with a (possibly fatal) flaw in that it has not been confirmed that it will play Netflix. The general concensus is that it will not since it is based on Linux and Netflix does not work in Linux without some sort of virtualization.
Boxee’s aim is to provide a positive experience from a remote control on the couch away from the TV, and it does an excellent job at this. The downloaded version integrates just fine with Netflix. Boxee is best experienced rather than talked about, and the sign-up process is so simple that if you are at curious you should try it. There are some bugs with certain web site integration. Sometimes the video cuts off about 3/4 of the way down the screen. Sometimes it gets stuck in a paused mode while the video is still playing. Can’t argue with free though.
Custom PC
A PC to play these solutions has the advantage of being versatile. It can run Boxee, Hulu, Netflix, any video feeds from network sources, or old fashioned browsing. When Boxee has trouble playing an expisode of House (frequently) we can just use the web browser to browse directly to Fox’s website to watch. The negatives here include having an extra computer to take care of and startup costs. This became my solution because I had some extra computer hardware sitting around, and what I did have to purchase was saved in the first two months of being without a bill from DirecTV.
Apple TV
Apple TV looks to be about $100 and plays a variety of things from iTunes. At $0.99 per episode for TV, it is a great alternative financially, however it is not free. If the only shows I watch in an average week is House and CSI, I can get those for free on the respective network website, albeit a week behind schedule. The delay doesn’t bother me at all, so what is the point of paying $0.99.
Cheaper Dish Package
Dish is all about being the cheapest of the traditional solutions. Their initial term prices are always the most competitive, however it is still a contract and still includes startup costs. The quality is slightly inferior to DirecTV, but superior to any streaming solution. I opted out of this idea because of these downsides.
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