Life without TV, so far
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about “Giving up TV” and so far the lack of television service has been fine. My friends Rob & Keith, beer techno podcasters, were intrigued by my plan so they invited me to their Happy Time Magic Hour to talk about my plan and in closing they requested followups. So guys, here you go - this first update is for yous.
My beautiful TV is in the living room hooked up to a theatre sound system, my ailing alienware laptop, and an xbox 360. Through the XBOX I can watch DVDs without any problems. I have my XBOX online membership card ready but haven’t used it yet (waiting to change my Netflix address after the son watches all the available Battlestar Gallactica dvds). Meanwhile, I have successfully watched a few episodes off Hulu via the laptop but I haven’t figured out what to do about the sound because it’s coming out of the puny alienware speakers and not the theatre system. That’s highly annoying. I could buy speakers for the laptop but spending money is something I’m trying to avoid; the broadband access and xbox online membership are the only costs I’m willing to incur thus far. How can I get the sound from the computer to the TV? I am hoping to use the laptop and TV this weekend to keep up with the Petit LeMans because I believe the ALMS website streams live feeds so we’ll see how that goes. The hulu and other webshows do not have very good quality on the TV, I played around with the display settings but didn’t get much satisfaction. It’s not good but it’s not a showstopper particularly for old shows like Alfred Hitchcock and The Twilight Zone. But any advice on settings will be appreciated.
Meanwhile, I have watched the majority of “tv” on my iMac. Worthy of mention are various shows on Hulu like “Lie to Me” and one that I found particularly addictive: “Commander In Chief”. I was able to watch all 18 episodes of that short lived series. ”Lie to Me” does not have all the shows and that’s typical of the more current series - they tease you with a limited number of shows. I don’t mind.
So I’m not sure what I’ll do once college basketball season starts - I’m back in the land of my Univ of Ky Wildcats and intend to watch as many games a possible. I’m wondering what I have to do, or can do, to get one of those digital TV boxes that everyone with antennas got last year when things swapped over to digital. The 3 network channels would be nice to get for free so I’ll check on that further - unless you have ideas….?
I think I’d have no problems living without television service because I have other sources like xbox online for netflix, etc. But one thing is for sure. I couldn’t live without broadband!! It’s about $20 more here than it was for Time Warner for about the same type of service. Netflix is a wash because I had it before. So the only new additional cost has been the xbox online membership which was $50 for 12 months.
In the future I may consider Apple TV but if it doesn’t have an internet connection I’m not sure it’d be worth it. We’ll see. Any other recommendations for me?
*LATER THAT SAME DAY*
So I found, in my handy stash box, the adapter that allows me to hook the RCA cable into my laptop.
I also played around with the display settings and found a different chip set I can use and wa-la the picture is GORGEOUS! Of course the picture isn’t going to be reallly reallly good unless it’s a high def feed, cuz it’s a high def TV but it’s perfect for me now.
A facebook friend told me about ESPN360.com which sounds like a great way to catch sports!
I think all my questions are answered for now but suggestions are still welcomed.
