Living w/o DVR, suggestions pls

[dreamer423]

I fully admit I LOVE TV. I work hard, I read a lot but I love TV. I also love my new self who budgets and watches my $. So here's my scenario: We are moving to a new home where basic cable and HBO are included through Comcast in H/O fees. To upgrade channels or have DVR is additional monthly fees I prefer not to pay. There is free ON Demand.

Right now I watch very little live TV but have mostly current network shows-last 2-3 weeks on my dvr. I do love the choice of being able to watch when I want to.

So-what are solutions? i have heard of Roku, apple, Hulu/hulu Plus etc. I don't currently have a DVD player other than my laptop, so that is actually on my BF list. Would one that streams be a part of the solution?


Thank you for brainstorming.

 

[kristenrice]

I have found that I can watch some of my favorite shows (Once Upon a Time, Bones, PanAm, Body of Proof, DTWS) using the Comcast On Demand. They have a section in TV series called "catch up" and you can usually watch the last 3 weeks of a series whenever you want. You do have to watch the commercials as the fast-fowards feature is disabled, but it works. You also have to wait at least one day, sometimes 2, before the shows are available.

HTH!

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Yes, a DVD or Blu-Ray player that streams would be a great choice. Make sure it's capable of streaming your favorites. We also love our Roku. One time cost and it streams beautifully. It requires you to have a high speed internet connection and supscribe to certain media channels.. like Netflix, Hulu, etc. Many channels are free. I love not having to remember to set a DVR to record.

 

[Poohbug]

Well, we have never had a DVR or TiVo because I know once we have it, we will never want to go back.

We do have the cheapest possible package thru DirecTv with local channels. We pay $26 a month, which is all I am prepared to pay right now.

Hulu is free. You can watch network shows on their websites the day after they air for free. As far as I know, everything else will cost money.

 

[dreamer423]

Make sure it's capable of streaming your favorites.

How do I research that?

Thank you!

 

[Swimalie]

Like Poohbug I haven't had a dvr or Tivo either. One day maybe but at this time I can see my shows as they happen or watch them the next day on the web.

 

[dreamer423]

So the Roku is hardware and hulu/plus is subscription like netflix. Aha.

 

[ICF]

Living without a DVR isn't really living.......

 

[usnuzuloose]

I love my roku box.

 

[TnTWalter]

WELL...

I miss HGTV and Food Network. I missed for awhile but now am glad to be without the BRAVO reality tv shows.

I have Netflix [$8 month] and Amazon Prime [$79 a year...have it for shipping and bonus that shows and movies].... and regular tv.

watching glee right now....

love no commercials.

Love saving at least $45 per month not having DISH.

 

[limace]

Man, we have not missed our cable one bit since we dropped it. We subscribe to Netflix and Hulu+, and stream them through our X Box-it's incredibly simple, and costs us about $30 a month. It would be significantly less, perhaps $15 total, if we had streaming-only on the Netflix, but we like getting DVDs, too, and have the 3 at a time plan.

If you don't have an Xbox or any other console for streaming, then the Roku is a fabulous choice. Purchasing one costs less than a month's cable bill cost us, when we bought one for my folks, and it was very simple to install and use-the remote has something like 4 buttons on it.

Heck, try it. If you can't live without your DVR, then you can always go back, right?

 

[Jey12]

I would love to drop our cable bill. I would be perfectly happy with just the combo of Netflix and Hulu or Amazon and stream them through our Wii or soon to have Xbox. My problem is DH is a huge sports fan. He watches ESPN almost every day. Is there a way around this? Is there a way to get ESPN without cable?

 

[DVCBELLE]

I find the DVR gives me the luxury to watch my shows when I want - and the kids too. No hurrying up to get home to watch things - it really makes us less of a slave to our tv shows...it also stops the complaints that nothing is on.

I have watched a few shows streaming and hated the lag...its a problem with our internet provider so you have to see how well shows stream for you. TIVO sells a box for cable...you might want to look into that.

 

[dreamer423]

we have a wii. can we stream anything beside Netflix through it? How?

 

[cornflake]

Get the DVR and skimp on heat.

If you don't have a DVD player, how about a DVD-r? That way you could basically just use it like a DVR, as it doesn't seem like you have that many shows you watch regularly.

 

[brymolmom]

OK - Not sure if others here have different setup than I do, but wanted to say we dropped cable about a year ago and overall I have been very happy with the arrangement. We have antenna, netflix stream and use our computer hooked up to the TV for some other stuff. But I have to say that I MISS my DVR. It is the one thing I really do miss. And we are still researching some options to try to get one back - but it'll cost a bunch more than what we pay now - so we're hesitating.

So with Netflix - there are no 'current' shows. So while I LOVE it and have watched a bunch of older seasons of shows I had never watched (with NO commercials) - I do not have a way to watch, for example, Big Bang Theory current season this way. When I miss Big Bang on it's regular time/channel on our antenna my only option is to watch it on my computer (you can get LOTS of different network shows full episodes on their network site). But there are commercials on the computer full episode versions, which is a pain.

As for Hulu plus - We have considered getting it, but my understanding is that it is limited in terms of shows offered?? Perhaps I'm wrong on this....Someone with it will correct me.

Anyway - so far I have not found anything that measures up to DVR without paying some significant $$. I have learned to live without it - but I do miss it.

 

[Lewisc]

First see how many of your favorites shows are available via ON Demand. Not enough of them. Are your shows available on the networks website? Many computers have an HDMI port. Can you hook your computer up to your TV?

Otherwise find out how much a DVR from Comcast will cost.

 

[lucas43068]

we got rid of cable probably 4 years ago, i do miss having the dvr, but with netflix and the internet i have no problem watching shows.. now, i might be a season behind, but ill live with that. the problem with cable is theres soooooo much crap and we ended up only really watching network tv anyway. i do miss te onDemand channels, but its a small price to pay for NOT supporting channels that have shows like teen mom and jersey shore. hah

 

[neatokimmo]

love no commercials.

Love saving at least $45 per month not having DISH.

I love the no commercials thing too. I only stream netflix with my wii (walmart black Friday has a $99 wii btw). We were at a hotel last week and a commercial came on. DD was like - mommy! what happened to my cartoon? what is this??

My old cable bill was $85. Modem only is $20. I've been cable free for 2 years now.

My boy - who is more techie than I am - somehow has my computer hooked up to my TV through the wii. So if I want to watch something on Hulu it is on the larger tv screen not my PC.

 

[teCh0010]

There are several ways to create your own DVR with your computer and not pay any monthly fees. If you aren't tech savvy then turning on Windows Media Center on Windows 7 is probably the easiest way. This functionality is built in to the almost all of the Windows 7 versions.

It won't let me post links, but Microsoft has a guide for this you can find with google by searching for Windows 7 Media Center.

Once you have added a TV tuner card to your computer you have options on getting the video to your TV. Some people create a dedicated Home Theater PC and place it near the TV and use VGA or HDMI out to connect it to the TV.

The other option would be to use a media extender. A media extender is a box you connect to your TV that streams the video from your computer over the network. I would highly recommend a wired network for this.

It won't let me post a link, but Microsoft has an overview of extenders that you can find with google by searching for Windows Media Center Extender