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Back in the 90s, you would have had to drive to Blockbuster to rent a VHS tape if you wanted to watch a flick. DVD’s created better quality and no rewinds. Then Netflix came around to offer a whole library of movies via the postal service. Blue ray disc offers 1080p high definition video. Steaming movies over the internet is where we are at. Just like no one had a DVD player when DVD’s came about, boxes connected to the internet (wired or wireless) to your HDTV is the future. Netflix has caught onto this by offering a box for $100, but all of the movies and the true HD quality is not there, especially if you have the cheap $20 per month internet connection plan. So, it is getting there. The cable companies video on demand service is improving, but does not have the capacity to host an entire library of movies and tv shows.
I recently bought a $300 tiny desktop PC (the size the Nintendo Wii ) called the ASRock ION-330 and cheap $10 remote. With binary newsgroups (access is $13 a month) I can download blueray movies and 720p HD TV shows. Each movie is 5-7GB so it take apx 90 mins to download. If I paid $80 a month for the 50Mb internet plan, each movie would take 15 mins to download. I only watch 2-4 movies a month, so I just queue them up and download them at night. My main point is that I have access to every movie and tv show for $13 a month + the cost of the internet connection. There is no point in buying a expensive blue ray player since physical media is dead. I took it so far as to sell all of my old DVDs on ebay. If I want to watch a movie, I will just download it. I save on gas, time and there are no scratches. I cannot see the point in buying a movie since all the movies are “in the cloud” 24/7 in HD.
I have been planning to convert to this in the near future as well. I currently pay $150 a month for internet and cable. It's ridiculous. Unfortunately, being cheap, but shortsighted at the same time, I still have an old shitty TV that does not have any HDMI connections so I won't be able to make this work until I get a proper set. With prices for a 42" 1080p LCD set now coming down to about $500 I think I should do this sooner rather than later. In the end I am going to save a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteSteve - Since you have a MAC, I am not too sure. If you have a windows computer and it has an HDMI connector, then you can hook it up to your TV and windows will see it as a 2nd monitor. I am not sure how close the computer is to the TV.
ReplyDeleteI personally remote desktop into the tiny PC connected to the TV to manage all of the downloads. I use a $10 wireless remote that has a pad to move the mouse around on the screen and click. If i wanted to do the youtube thing, the i could buy a wireless keyboard and mouse.
I personally use the antenna for my tv. It is pretty crazy, but I get 37 channels (half in spanish..haha). The only thing i watch is the news and all of the sports is on the local stations anyway in HD. There is no point in paying for cable/dish because:
- ESPN360 is free to stream.
- I use http://www.live247.tv/ to stream the out of town NFL and college football games.
- An I download my tv shows and movies for $13 via the newsgroups.
So, with the $300 small PC, I am not stuck sitting on my laptop watching an entire game/movie.
Come black friday, you will see the old 120hz LCD drop like a stone as they are clearing them out for the new 240hz LCD's. Kinda sucks that football season is half over.
When I moved out the az in feb 07 i bought a 37" LCD tv from Costco for $800 before the old return policy changed. About a month ago I had to try a 2nd costco to accept my return to pick up a new 55". I figured I go balls to the wall since the return policy is now 90 days, so I am keeping this one for a long time.