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iamshack

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Just moved last week and we're going to give Clear internet a shot, along with forgoing cable/satellite in favor of Netflix, OTA HDTV and maybe something like Roku with Hulu Plus. So far, Clear's been working pretty well. Not as fast as our old Comcast connection, but it's cheaper and I don't have to pay Comcast. It can still stream HD-quality movies and shows from Netflix.

 

edit: thinking about picking up Amazon Prime as well, depending on their offerings and if there's anything they have that Netflix doesn't. A year of that is the same price as a month of cable.

Edited by StrangeSox
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QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 23, 2011 -> 11:31 AM)
Just moved last week and we're going to give Clear internet a shot, along with forgoing cable/satellite in favor of Netflix, OTA HDTV and maybe something like Roku with Hulu Plus. So far, Clear's been working pretty well. Not as fast as our old Comcast connection, but it's cheaper and I don't have to pay Comcast. It can still stream HD-quality movies and shows from Netflix.

 

edit: thinking about picking up Amazon Prime as well, depending on their offerings and if there's anything they have that Netflix doesn't. A year of that is the same price as a month of cable.

Very interested in this endeavor. Keep us posted. What does a decent HDTV antenna cost? I spend a fortune on DirecTV, and while I do watch quite a bit of tv, whether it be sports, or stuff on my DVR, I am very interested in going an alternative route. Would love to hear what your observations ultimately end up being.

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QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 25, 2011 -> 01:06 PM)
Very interested in this endeavor. Keep us posted. What does a decent HDTV antenna cost? I spend a fortune on DirecTV, and while I do watch quite a bit of tv, whether it be sports, or stuff on my DVR, I am very interested in going an alternative route. Would love to hear what your observations ultimately end up being.

 

Our Clear reception has been pretty bad despite being only 1/2 mile from the nearest tower. 1-2 bars (out of 5) most of the time, lowest or second-lowest Netflix quality. I'll probably be calling Comcast this weekend since they're the only real option in town. My brother, on the other hand, has Clear in Joliet. He's on the 4th floor, and he gets 4-5 bars consistently and pretty good speeds.

 

We're still going to try streaming and OTA HDTV, though. A decent amplified indoor antenna is about $40. You can get traditional rabbit ears looking antennas for $10. And, of course, there's larger attic antennas or outdoor mast antennas from $80-$200 or more. Given that I'm pretty close to Chicago, I'm thinking the indoor amp'd antenna will work well enough. There's a website that will do some fancy math based on your location and tell you approximate signal strengths and directions for channels in your area and what equipment you would need to get reliable signals. If I find it again I'll post it here, but I think I came across it on avsforum's Chicago OTA HDTV thread.

 

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QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 25, 2011 -> 01:06 PM)
Very interested in this endeavor. Keep us posted. What does a decent HDTV antenna cost? I spend a fortune on DirecTV, and while I do watch quite a bit of tv, whether it be sports, or stuff on my DVR, I am very interested in going an alternative route. Would love to hear what your observations ultimately end up being.

 

My wife and I do the same thing. No cable, OTA HD (rabbit ears work fine for us in la grange), netflix and hulu plus and then any series we want to watch we just buy through the ps3. I miss watching White Sox/Bulls games on comcast but that's about it. Certainly better than spending 100 bucks or more a month on a cable package.

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QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 25, 2011 -> 02:53 PM)
My wife and I do the same thing. No cable, OTA HD (rabbit ears work fine for us in la grange), netflix and hulu plus and then any series we want to watch we just buy through the ps3. I miss watching White Sox/Bulls games on comcast but that's about it. Certainly better than spending 100 bucks or more a month on a cable package.

so you pretty much don't watch the white sox?

 

I could absolutely get rid of cable if it weren't for sports....

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QUOTE (SnB @ Feb 25, 2011 -> 04:27 PM)
so you pretty much don't watch the white sox?

 

I could absolutely get rid of cable if it weren't for sports....

 

You get the occasional WCIU, WGN or FOX game. Hopefully ESPN will stream some of the games through xbox live like they do college bball and the nba. But yeah, I rely a lot on the radio or we head to a bar to watch a game. Or I'm there in person. Sports is the huge drawback obviously.

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QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 25, 2011 -> 04:38 PM)
You get the occasional WCIU, WGN or FOX game. Hopefully ESPN will stream some of the games through xbox live like they do college bball and the nba. But yeah, I rely a lot on the radio or we head to a bar to watch a game. Or I'm there in person. Sports is the huge drawback obviously.

 

If MLB didn't have its stupid rules, you'd be able to stream mlb.tv through a Roku box to your TV.

 

http://www.roku.com/mlb-partner

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QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 25, 2011 -> 08:46 PM)
Someone will figure out a way around this...and when they do, I'll be sold.

 

You can stream it through your PS3 as well. I thought it was based on your IP address, not credit card information. If it was, couldn't you just change your credit card information to a PO box in another state?

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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 26, 2011 -> 04:11 PM)
Well, my f***ing blockbuster is shutting down. Guess im going to have to invest in some new technology.

You won't be disappointed especially if you have a 360 or something else like that to stream Netflix with.

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QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Feb 26, 2011 -> 03:37 PM)
You won't be disappointed especially if you have a 360 or something else like that to stream Netflix with.

I wasn't impressed with the Netflix streaming, there were zero new releases. I am thinking about going with the Roku and Amazon prime.

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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 26, 2011 -> 05:40 PM)
I wasn't impressed with the Netflix streaming, there were zero new releases. I am thinking about going with the Roku and Amazon prime.

The one downfall of Netflix is that you have to wait for the show to be on DVD to have access to it, Prime beats it in that factor big time.

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