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How to be cable free

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The dilemma

If you're like me, you have become more and more frustrated by the high price of cable TV service. A few months ago my partner and I got our cable bill and once again it had gone up drastically. The service was the same, the channels hadn't changed, and we didn't add any more options. Why was the bill going up? We pay on time every month and we were loyal customers. Shouldn't we be rewarded for that, not charged extra? Well, that's what we thought, so my partner and I were on a quest to find a way out of the chains of the cable company. Of course we still wanted to enjoy our favorite shows and have the convenience of watching them when we wanted, just like our current DVR provided us. There must be something is this world that would give us what we want and not break the bank.

Table of Contents

The search

We started our website quest for the perfect alternative to cable and options were available to explore in abundance. The adventure to find our perfect cable replacement was underway, I couldn't be happier. There are all different types of systems you can use to stream TV shows and a wide variety of other content right on to your TV. Some main systems we considered were Western Digital- WDTV Live Hub, Roku, Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. After much debate between my partner and me, we decided to go with the Western Digital-WDTV Live Hub system.

The new way

After deciding on the system, we needed to make sure we would have access to all the TV shows we have grown to love. How would this work and how much would it all cost us? We found out that we could buy the Western Digital system for a one-time out of pocket cost and that would solve the monthly cable bill issue. The only access we would need is internet, so we could stream the content on to our TV. Next we addressed what is available for watching the TV shows, how do we obtain those services and how much will the access cost us. Once again, we were pleasantly surprise by the information we found. Not only could we continue watching all our TV shows, we didn't have to pay extra to do so.
As an added bonus we could even stream movies through a service we discovered called Hulu Plus or Netflix. The low monthly cost you pay for either one of those services is way cheaper than adding Showtime, HBO or Cinemax to your cable bill. Also, you chose when and what you want to watch always. This totally puts you back in control of what you want and when you want it. Options galore! Isn't that what everyone really wants? Freedom has finally come to TV. We bought the system, set up our services & cable was finally in our past.

ACCESS TO TV SHOWS AND MORE

OPTIONS:

HULU and HULU PLUS-You can access several TV series, current and previous, through hulu.com. Hulu Plus is an upgrade option and for a low monthly cost, you have access to a wider variety of series and movies. You don't have to invest in the monthly Hulu Plus to enjoy your favorite shows. Hulu provides you with the TV shows you normally watch on a weekly basis.

Play On- software that you install on your PC. It allows you to use your Western Digital, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or other supported device to access feeds from content providers like Hulu, Netflix, Comedy Central, CBS, YouTube, your personal media, and more. PlayOn is both browser and media server software, built into one. It browses content from various online providers, and displays that content directly on your television, instead of on your PC screen.

Play on is compatible with the following devices:

Wii
Xbox 360
PlayStation 3
iPhone
iPad
Google TV
Android phone (Requires OS 2.2)
Kindle Fire
brite-View CinemaTube
Roku
Cirago Network HD Multimedia Center
Moxi HD DVR
HP MediaSmart TV
NETGEAR Digital Entertainer Live EVA2000
UEBO M200
VuNow VN1000SD/HD
Showwx
ZAAP TV
Jadoo TV
Diamond HD Media Wonder Full HD Media Player
DirecTV HR20/HR21/HR22
D-Link DSM-510, DSM-520, DSM-750
Internet@TV
Mvix ULTIO
Myka
Pioneer KURO HDTV
SageTV HD Theater
Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD Media Player
Sony Bravia DLNA-compatible HDTV
vmcPlayIt
Western Digital TV Live
XBMC

Questions or Comments

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  • Tipi May 18, 2012 @ 11:28 am | delete
    Thanks for sharing in this interesting article! :)
  • sukkran May 9, 2012 @ 9:45 pm | delete
    great options here. thanks
  • Plethora_Reader May 3, 2012 @ 10:09 pm | delete
    Didn't realize Hulu Plus has gotten that full list of shows yet. Thank you for sharing and will have to check it out.
  • Plethora_Reader May 3, 2012 @ 10:09 pm | delete
    Didn't realize Hulu Plus has gotten that full list of shows yet. Thank you for sharing and will have to check it out.
  • Auntie-M Apr 24, 2012 @ 9:16 pm | delete
    I do wish I had your smarts. My uncle tried to explain this to me too, and it just doesn't sink in.
  • poddys Apr 20, 2012 @ 3:38 pm | delete
    This can definitely save you money, but I wonder what the streaming quality is like? It's not always HD from my experience. Also, you might end up paying more for internet if you download too much. Depending on your equipment siting, you might need a new desktop to handle the streaming and some re-cabling to site it close to the television. having said all that as devil's advocate, I think this is the way that television/video is going.
  • JamesC Apr 20, 2012 @ 6:28 pm | delete
    DSL and Cable is unlimited internet access, they don't even throttle you back....or at least they are not supposed to. There have been a few lawsuits over that. Quality will depend on the site. Netflix, amazon prime and Hulu are all great streams and HD when available. As far re cabling, the RUKU is wireless, so no need. Just plug in the power supply and run an HDMI cable from it to the TV and you are up and running.
  • serendipity831 Apr 20, 2012 @ 7:30 pm | delete
    Thanks for your input James. Same goes for WDTV. The quality has always been great and there is no extra cost due to the streaming either.
  • virtualboy Apr 12, 2012 @ 10:08 pm | delete
    that's a lot of digital devices you have listed
  • TeamSTM Apr 12, 2012 @ 7:07 pm | delete
    I agree with this Lens, I am Cable Free! I watch DTV, short for Free Digital TV and there's no Month Bills or Payment!!! ;D ;)
  • JoshK47 Apr 12, 2012 @ 10:31 am | delete
    Awesome stuff here! Thanks for sharing! :)
  • DebMartin Apr 11, 2012 @ 1:49 pm | delete
    Good for you! d
  • digitaltree Apr 4, 2012 @ 7:28 pm | delete
    Great Lens, good to know of other options:)
  • ItayasDesigns Apr 2, 2012 @ 9:10 pm | delete
    Great information! I'll keep this in mind should we ever need it. I'm all for helping our monthly costs go down. :)
  • daria369 Apr 1, 2012 @ 9:42 pm | delete
    Interesting idea, never knew there were other options. But that's only because I don't watch TV, only movies on Netflix.
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Hello, I'm Drake.
Some of my passions are Madonna, music, theater & writing about the interests that excites me. I'm currently striving to be a more b... more »

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