[room7]

I think everyone has been there.....cable/satellite bills are $125+/ month, but you dont feel like you watched your money's worth. There are lots of options out there (Hulu+, Netflix, Amazon Prime...) and with this project I want to be able to reduce my bill significantly (~$30/month)

My setup
Currently I pay about $1500/ year for my dish network.
5 HD tvs (non are internet ready)
Cat5&Coax near every tv, all cables lead to equipment closet

My Channel Needs
1) Big Network Prime Time Shows (Solved)
- 30 Rock, Big Bang Theory, Community, Family Guy, HIMYM, House, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation

2) FX (partially Solved, still need help)
- Some of my favorite shows are on FX such as Louie, The League and Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia
...they post shows on their website but not in any type of order

3) Syndicated/Reruns/random surfing (Solved)
- When people gather we watch alot of Friends, Fresh Prince or Seinfeld Reruns
....this isnt an issue because I have the box sets of all of these. I have ripped them all onto my NAS System connected to my home network

4) News (Need Help)
- Most of my news watching is stock market related news during the daytime and a little local news before bed

5) Sports/Sports/Sports (partially Solved, still need help)
- This is where the biggest problem arises, I watch alot of basketball and I dont mind getting NBA League Pass (~$150/yr) but from what I have read there are lots of blackouts (all local games and nationally televised games(ABC/TNT/ESPN)). Is there any way I could get the international version in the US? From what I have read the international version is all HD and no blackouts.

6) Some kind of DVR feature?

Planned Solution

• I will get a Roku for each tv (all Roku 2s ~$400)
  -this will solve problem 3) as I will be able to stream from my computer and surf random internet videos
• I will get Hulu+ (~$100/yr)
  -this will solve problem 1) as I will be able to stream all the prime time shows through the Roku
• I will get NBA League pass and try to mask my IP so I could get my local team games, This will stream through the Roku as well
  -this will hopefully solve problem 5)

 

[SayWhat?]

4) News (Need Help)
- Most of my news watching is stock market related news during the daytime and a little local news before bed

6) Some kind of DVR feature?

OTA antenna going to an HTPC using Windows Media Center.

 

[Stuart Sweet]

:welcome_s!

Are you close to a major city? You could probably get decent programming from an antenna.

 

[room7]

:welcome_s!

Are you close to a major city? You could probably get decent programming from an antenna.

Im near Orange County, near LA

 

[Getteau]

4) News (Need Help)
- Most of my news watching is stock market related news during the daytime and a little local news before bed

If you haven't already, head over to the Roku forums and see what Channels they currently have (there are alot of unpublished channels that you can add to your device). IIRC, there are a few "News" type channels and possibly a CNBC channel. I just looked on my Roku and in the add channels area, there was one for NBC News, Fox News, CNBC and Wall Street Journal. Plus a bunch of other local news stations

 

[SayWhat?]

There are actually a lot of options on the web. I would imagine both Bloomberg and CNBC have streaming options.

Also, check your ISP. Mine has a separate TV/video page with a lot of streaming offerings.

 

[photostudent]

Here are a couple problems you will have: No CBS content on Hulu Plus. You will have to watch ads. You may wait for years for shows from USA, FX, TNT, Discovery Channels, etc. to come to Netflix. The Roku is not DLNA compliant and mostly only handles channels transcoded to work on Roku. There are some streaming apps like Playon but they are pretty buggy on the Roku and not officially supported. On the upside you will probably find you do not need a DVR as most Roku content is on demand. Looks like you can hardwire the Rokus so that will be a plus. Good Luck.

 

[SayWhat?]

Here are a couple problems you will have: No CBS content on Hulu Plus.

CBS has some channels (current and classic) on Windows Media Center, but they do have commercials.