In my first post on the topic, I looked at accessing the “over the air” HDTV signal in our area. That went pretty well. That brought me to the next question, how will we get the shows that aren’t on the “free TV” channels (ex. Mythbusters). Not only do we need them in a timely fashion, but also we need to be able to see them from all over the house. Oh, and it needs to be easy enough for a child to access (as easy as Netflix).
Step Two – Verify that we can access purchased media from different locations around the house.
The biggest source of content (shows and movies) for the family is Netflix. We have both the streaming and the movie subscriptions. With that we have most of the content from previous years. The current season of shows aren’t on Netflix though, so we need another way to see shows from the current season (the next day after they air on the TV). The first things that came to mind were iTunes and the Xbox Video Marketplace.
The problem with iTunes is that we don’t have an all Apple ecosystem. We do have an iPhone and an iPad, but no Mac computers or Apple TVs. Even the two Apple devices that we have are linked to different iTunes accounts. In the past, people would use the same account on all devices. With iCloud, you need separate accounts so that your email and calendars don’t get mixed up.
The problem with XBox Video Marketplace is also that the content will be tied to a specific account and you can’t have simultaneous logins on different XBoxes at the same time. This is definitely something that Apple, Google and Microsoft will have to figure out if they want their ecosystems to flourish.
One company that isn’t dependent on their hardware is Amazon. They do have the Kindle, but it isn’t so popular that they refuse to allow access from other devices. Just the opposite is true. They provide Amazon Instant Video clients for the XBox, PS3, Computer, Kindle, Blu-ray players and Smart TVs. They also have season passes (show ready next day after airing on TV) for most popular shows. Another option from Amazon is their Prime subscriptions. This bundles a set of TV shows & movies with an ebook library and free 2 day shipping for $79 per year. I don’t think it provides enough value for us yet, but we could easily pay for it with the savings from cancelling cable.
There may be other options out there (Vudu comes to mind), but Amazon Instant Video library should do the trick for us. It’s cheap enough and easily accessible.
How do you record programs, or can you? DVR or computer. How does the Amazon client attach to each TV?
We use Windows Media Center to record the shows. There is a dual HDTV tuner in the machine so it will record/watch two channels at a time. We then use an XBox 360 in other rooms to watch the recorded shows (or live shows when necessary). The UI is the same on the computer and the 360s. For the Amazon client, we use the media center and the 360s. Our living room TV also has it built-in (smart TV) as well. PS3s, Macs and Rokus also support the client. In general, the device we use to watch Netflix also has support for Amazon Instant Video.
We are looking at options. We want to get rid of cable. Right now, we have cable and the dvr/hd converter from the cable company. No netflix, xbox, or stand alone dvr. So we are trying to get a game plan together. To record – is it better for us to go with dvr or computer? For content – netflix, internet, amazon, other? What about other content providers – Roku, boxee, hulu? Local channels seems obvious – just get a good hd antenna. But the question is what am I shooting for and how do I get there?? Thanks for posting your thoughts. It gives me a starting point.
The recording OTA content will be a trouble spot for you. I have a computer in my living room that records the shows (doesn’t really look like a computer though as much people don’t recognize it as such). Check out this tuner from Silicon Dust. It allows you to use software on either a Mac, PC or Linux to records shows. Also, Tivo might be an option. I don’t care for Tivo because I don’t want to pay the monthly fee.
Netflix is best for streamed (and DVD) content. For purchased content, I think Amazon is best. Roku or Boxee would be the best low cost devices to access said content. Of course, I do like 360s as well
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I’ll try to make a new blog post on some of these options.