Cutting Cable

[Motown74]

This may have already been a topic but I didn't have the time to go through all of the threads.

I am looking into getting rid of my satellite provider and watching everything online. Here are a few options and questions that I was hoping some of you may know:

If I decide to go with a blu-ray device connected to the Internet am I limiting myself to only those apps that are available to that device?

I know about hulu and netflix but I am a big hockey fan and live out of the area of my fav team so I usually by the hockey package. If I stream my computer through my tv then I can purchase hockey and baseball packages through NHL and MLB. If I go through a blu-ray or gaming device will I be able to even access those sites?

I am new to much of this and am a little overwhelmed. I am damn tired paying $165 a month for satellite, internet, and phone. Would like to get that down.

[mgoblue1]

This may have already been a topic but I didn't have the time to go through all of the threads.

I am looking into getting rid of my satellite provider and watching everything online. Here are a few options and questions that I was hoping some of you may know:

If I decide to go with a blu-ray device connected to the Internet am I limiting myself to only those apps that are available to that device?

I know about hulu and netflix but I am a big hockey fan and live out of the area of my fav team so I usually by the hockey package. If I stream my computer through my tv then I can purchase hockey and baseball packages through NHL and MLB. If I go through a blu-ray or gaming device will I be able to even access those sites?

I am new to much of this and am a little overwhelmed. I am damn tired paying $165 a month for satellite, internet, and phone. Would like to get that down.

Internet connectable HDTV's and Bluray players are limited to the softare/ apps that run on those devices. They cannot freely browse the internet. A PS3 is good for streaming most of the time. I have used mine to watch football games from espn3 and it's worked great. As far as your general tv/ movie viewing, a good over the air hdtv antenna is good, and the new Logitech Revue may be of interest to you as well. Also, to cut cost of paying for a landline phone, there is a product called OOMA. It is a piece of VOIP hardware that you purchase, then it allows your home phones to use internet traffic to transmit voice data. All you pay for is the upfront cost of hardware, then your phone is free, even long distance in the U.S. Good Luck.

[Motown74]

Internet connectable HDTV's and Bluray players are limited to the softare/ apps that run on those devices. They cannot freely browse the internet. A PS3 is good for streaming most of the time. I have used mine to watch football games from espn3 and it's worked great. As far as your general tv/ movie viewing, a good over the air hdtv antenna is good, and the new Logitech Revue may be of interest to you as well. Also, to cut cost of paying for a landline phone, there is a product called OOMA. It is a piece of VOIP hardware that you purchase, then it allows your home phones to use internet traffic to transmit voice data. All you pay for is the upfront cost of hardware, then your phone is free, even long distance in the U.S. Good Luck.

Thanks for the response. I have been busy as hell so haven't been able to check in awhile. I don't want to go with what I call a box top option. I think I want to go with a computer tower that I can stream from. This way I can access mlb.com and nhl.com and see the Tigers and Wings. Do you have any suggestions in regards to the type of system I should go with? I have been told to upgrade from a Dosis 2 to a Dosis 3 modem and then go with at least a quad-core system. I want to maximize the viewing and listening experience so I need something that is 5.1 or higher for sound. Question, is it better to build your own or will Dell customize for me so that I am not spending money on software and things I don't need? I am interested to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

[mgoblue1]

Thanks for the response. I have been busy as hell so haven't been able to check in awhile. I don't want to go with what I call a box top option. I think I want to go with a computer tower that I can stream from. This way I can access mlb.com and nhl.com and see the Tigers and Wings. Do you have any suggestions in regards to the type of system I should go with? I have been told to upgrade from a Dosis 2 to a Dosis 3 modem and then go with at least a quad-core system. I want to maximize the viewing and listening experience so I need something that is 5.1 or higher for sound. Question, is it better to build your own or will Dell customize for me so that I am not spending money on software and things I don't need? I am interested to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

I would definitely build my own system rather than going the dell route. I would make sure you get a mobo that will handle a quadcore processor and around 8gbs of ram. Then your biggest thing will be what graphics card you install and which sound card. Sounds like these two pieces will be the most important. I buy all of my pc parts/ electronics from newegg.com they have a great selection and rock bottom prices and excellent customer service if you have any problems.