Resources for dumping cable for internet TV?

[The Dad]

I know there was a site I found a couple of months ago that was a how-to on setting up a computer that was adequate to drive an HDTV, so you could dump cable. Now I can't find it.

Anyone using this these days? Or better yet, know a good how-to site?

[Canada Guy]

Try reading through some of the stickies on here:

http://www.overclock.net/htpc/

I have been using my PC that I connected to my HDTV exclusively for watching tv without cable for nearly 2 years now.

The downfall is if you like sports you still need cable. Unfortunately I think I will need to get cable again with the olympics coming up.

[Todds]

my buddy connected a pc to his TV for hulu and similar
He also subscribes to some shows via amazon and watches them on a tevo
He also played with over the air HD - not sure how that is going.

[The Dad]

The downfall is if you like sports you still need cable. Unfortunately I think I will need to get cable again with the olympics coming up.

I should clarify that I also have OTA working well, and currently piping through my DVR. I'm curious to see what NBC does with its various channels during the Olympics.

Thanks for the pointer on the site.

If I wasn't clear enough before, what I'm really looking for is specific systems, or specs for an inexpensive box, that will be adequate to pump 1080p signals to my screen. Preferably with an OTA antenna in and DVR software.

But I'm sure there are how-to guides already out there, and that's what I'm looking for. Mainly.

[Sinfield]

ninjavideo.net has hands down the best selection and best quality internet TV of any site that I've found.

Other ones are
Hulu
Netflix
Greatstufftv.com
justin.tv

But ninjavid is waaay better than these. That said, internet tv is still a pain in the ass these days compared to real tv.

[Hugh Conway]

That said, internet tv is still a pain in the ass these days compared to real tv.

ding ding! after over a decade it's still not there

[Velillen]

I think there are two real routes you can go with internet tv. One is the viewing it via websites like hulu, ect. The second option is what i do and it is to download the actual tv show and play it as a video file. i mainly use eztv.it (it is down right now) to see when/what shows are airing that day. You can then find them to download (i could tell you where/how but in pms). Then you just have them in the download folder, set the folder to show in your media center software (i use one called GB-PVR which supports recording too). By downloading you get great quality (720p at most though)

As for content....i can get any tv show from the us and quite a few from the UK as well. Well all the bigger one from the major networks. Special things like the olympics usually come broken down by event but still very watchable. As for sports you can find them but it takes a bit more to find them.

As for what is needed for 1080p...i play it back fine with a AMD 4400+ X2 and nvidia 8600gt and 2gb of DDR ram. You can probably get away with less and build something that would work great for under 500 bucks if you have some part syou could reuse.

[RShea]

Try reading through some of the stickies on here:

http://www.overclock.net/htpc/

The downfall is if you like sports you still need cable. Unfortunately I think I will need to get cable again with the olympics coming up.

What about ESPN 360- it is online streaming of many sports that do not get on ESPN, ESPN 2 or any of the other cable or satellite dish exclusive channels.

[Canada Guy]

What about ESPN 360- it is online streaming of many sports that do not get on ESPN, ESPN 2 or any of the other cable or satellite dish exclusive channels.

I didn't know about any of the streaming ESPN channels. Problem is that if you are located in Canada like myself eh!, you can't recieve the feeds for US channels.

For example I can't get Hulu or BBC's streams because my IP address shows that I am located in Canada. However I do get most local hockey games streamed through CBC.

As for watching most shows I do the same thing that Velillin was talking about.

I should clarify that I also have OTA working well, and currently piping through my DVR. I'm curious to see what NBC does with its various channels during the Olympics.

Thanks for the pointer on the site.

If I wasn't clear enough before, what I'm really looking for is specific systems, or specs for an inexpensive box, that will be adequate to pump 1080p signals to my screen. Preferably with an OTA antenna in and DVR software.

But I'm sure there are how-to guides already out there, and that's what I'm looking for. Mainly.

For playback and recording of OTA you will most likely need a tv tuner card. Hauppage and ATI both make them and should provide exactly what you are looking for.

For the actual system itself you don't need anything too powerful, in fact you can get away with onboard video for 1080P/Blu-ray playback.

Something like this would work as an idea to get you started:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813500019
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231098
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148412
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811163149

This comes to about $365 US and gives you everything but the tuner card.

Here is a tuner card for another $105 that should work for your purposes.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815116015

[The Dad]

Cool -- thanks. Newegg actually has a tempting combo right now that includes 1tb storage, 4gb RAM, and BluRay for under $500. Decisions....

[Canada Guy]

I actually forgot to include a processor in the list of stuff I gave you. This would likely be more than sufficient, but would be another $50:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116265

I also didn't include a blu-ray or DVD drive which would push the price up another $100 or so.

Due to that I would be inclined to say that the combo you found is a better deal, with the tv card you would be looking at around $585 vs $615 for what I quickly put together.

[The Dad]

Plus $125 or so if I want to add Win7 Home Premium (I think I'd be using 32-bit). Not sure whether I can get away with Linux.

[El Chupacabra]

How fast of a connection do you need to stream high-res (or HD) video?

Curious how the cost/benefit breaks down on this. For example, I have Dish Network's "bronze" package of all-HD (plus locals) for $30/month, and DSL through AT&T/Yahoo for around $17/month (cheapest, and therefore slowest, DSL option available).

[runethechamp]

This is a good resource for the hardware needed for a HTPC: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940972

It only has 12,000 posts and a couple million views.... But it's good, with links to the spec pages etc.

[The Dad]

El C -- yeah, but I gotta have DSL anyway, so at most, additional bandwidth is an incremental cost. (And I'm a block and a half from the central office, so I'm not limited.)

Thanks, Rune.

[Hutch]

How do I run two LCD monitors on two separate floors with one HTPC? Two VGA cables? Is there a wireless PC to monitor solution?

[The Dad]

I think that'd be a pain. Probably easier to set up a second HTPC and network.

[DtEW]

How do I run two LCD monitors on two separate floors with one HTPC? Two VGA cables? Is there a wireless PC to monitor solution?

Yes. It's called a Windows Media Center Extender (MCE).


[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Media_Center_Extender[/ame]


Linksys makes my particular hardware box, although I'm sure others do as well. I know that the XBox360 is designed to work as one as well.

I use it to wirelessly send broadcast (live) TV and my music library to my garage workshop, which has no hookups. It does high-def with ease, provided you have either 100mbs Ethernet or wireless-N.