[tr0323]

salute to the forum,

i'm a newbie to the xbmc/htpc. i've been checking out different options here and there over the passed year or so, but i'm really eager to cut the cord with my cable provider (except for internet) and considering streaming (and recording) live tv/movies.

with all the options that's out there i'm having a hard time deciding which options would best fit my home.
so i'm trying to provide my wishlist of what features i'd like to have and maybe yall could point me in the right direction.

i have 3 tvs (living room, bedroom, kids room) that i would like to have setup to stream over the net.

i would like to be able stream and record live tv in the living room and bedroom (kids don't need to record, but at least be able to watch live tv

HD tv (720 and/or 1080 would be fine)
play regular DVDs (not doing the blueray or 3D films)

have separate storage to save movies and tv shows (considering a nas or a storage hard drive in a htpc build)

utilize netflix and hulu or any other tv/movie apps

my boys have the Xbox 360 and i hear that can be used to watch live tv and watch movies, so i'm really considering using it being it's a gaming console.

i'm open to all suggestions. definitely lookin for the most cost effective setup but would prefer something that would allow to expand and build on as needs demands it without having to start over.

ideally i'd like to invest no more than about $400 per tv (what i would considering spending for htpc barebone build) but if the best arrangement may cost more, at least i know what to save up for.

should i be lookin more towards building an htpc? one of these streaming media boxes?

i'll continue searchin thru the forums to find more alternatives and setups that might fit my needs

all recommendations are appreciated. thank you.

[nokdim]

So that is a long laundry list and probably the reason most people look to get rid of their provider so here are a few tips.

I like the client/NAS/Server model.

clients can be ATV's NUC's Q190's or a custom built HTPC or even your PS3 or Xbox.

NAS I use and recommend is unRaid which is easy, installs on a thumb drive and can run on almost any older PC so the more drives you can fit the better.

Server is really the backend TV system like MythTV, WMC or NPVR or there are others but those are the ones I have used.

Netflix really only works on Windows machines although you can find it in the forums with linux support I would say if you want Netflix dont use it in XBMC but Hulu works great and there are tons of streaming addons some legal and some not so check the forum rules if you are trying to get support on addons.

Playing DVD's to me is a thing of the past you can use a program like handbrake to rip them and store on a NAS so you can sit on the couch and have access to all your DVD's but if that is something you really need I would look further into that.

as far as clients like I mentioned you can spend up to $400 a piece with a high end Q190 and anywhere between 100 - 400 on others and they are quiet and consume low power.

the Xbox can stream UPNP content and XBMC can be a UPNP server and I know my MythTV is so you can watch recordings but I am not sure about live TV.

So to wrap it up I would say build a NAS unRaid or Freenas, get clients NUC, ATV1 or ATV2 or Q190, and build a back-end TV server like MythBuntu or WMC on windows.

You can always just install XBMC on any PC you have and try it out before investing in a solution.

[nickr]

When you say 'streaming live tv' where is it coming from? There are plenty of streaming addons for xbmc. There are also addons that simply facilitate piracy. We don't support the latter.

So start by telling us where you want to get your tv from?

[tr0323]

for live tv i was considering using a tuner card that would accept the cable card from my cable/internet provider

[wsume99]

Can you clarify? You OP says you want to cut the cord from your cable provider and your last post says you're going to get your live tv content from your cable provider. Those are two very different things.

Cutting the cable typically means getting no TV service from your cable provider at all. Your last post seems to indicate that you just wish to get rid of their equipment and provide your own hardware. So what is your objective? Both may be achievable with XBMC but in order to give you advice we'd need to understand better what your goal is.

[tr0323]

the overall objective is to be able to stream/record live tv and watch DVDs. i'm not familiar with a method of streaming/recording cable channels ( moreso history channel, a&e, discovery, own, nick, nickjr, etc.) unless you use a cable tuner with a cable card from a cable provider. i'm sure exactly what all netflix and hulu offers, but i don't believe either offers live tv streaming. that was my assumption. if there are other alternatives, i'm all ears figuratively speaking.

thank you.

[nickr]

You need to do your research on what is available.

OTA broadcast is free and easy to capture if you have a decent antenna and line of sight to a broadcast tower.

If you want a cable card tuner, you'll have to (obviously) keep paying your cable provider, which isn't really 'cutting the cable'. In addition most US cable providers encrypt their broadcasts in a way that makes it impossible to record them - 'copy freely' s restricted (as I understand it) to the same channels you'd likely get over OTA anyway.

I really don't know or care what netflix or hulu provide as they a geoblocked for me. Do your research...

[tr0323]

i appreciate the feedback and i'll continue to research. i'm surrounded by trees, the main level of an apartment so i'm not real confident in the results of an OTA antenna. understanding that cable card isn't "cutting the cable" per se, it will greatly reduce my bill which is the overall objective. to watch the select channels that my family and i watch (probly 12-15 total) record what we miss, without paying these crazy prices for cable when we only enjoy a fraction of it.

[nickr]

How will a cablecard reduce your bill? You still have to pay the company for it. Or am I missing something about cable tv pricing?

[Dougie Fresh]

How will a cablecard reduce your bill? You still have to pay the company for it. Or am I missing something about cable tv pricing?

You're not missing anything. The same packages and pricing apply whether or not you use your own equipment (cable-card) or get a STB from the company. What you do save on is equipment rental charges if you have more than one TV. That reduction could be significant if you have several TVs and you can use XBoxes you already own as extenders.

It was the case for the longest time you could get the OTA content and even basic cable channels via clearQAM but now that's all being encrypted, even PBS, so even if your system has that it's temporary at best. The only guaranteed unencrypted content is OTA now.

For having more than one TV, I would get a SiliconDust or Ceton network tuner and build small HTPCs for each TV with a SSD and small HDD for recording TV/live TV buffer. You can have the recordings swept to your NAS each night or move what you want to keep manually. Some content will only be playable (Copy Once) by the PC that recorded it though any extenders off that PC will be able to watch it. I haven't found this to be a huge issue since it's usually just for movies off HBO, etc. and I prefer to watch those on the HT setup anyway.

For the HTPCs, you don't need much. Since you don't need 3D, a G3220 would be plenty of processor and have the integrated GPU you need plus 4GB RAM, 64-120GB SSD and a small HDD. If you're looking for barebones, check out these barebones HTPCs. They look very nice next to a TV and are small and efficient. If you need an optical drive, there's a version with a slot too.

[wsume99]

For having more than one TV, I would get a SiliconDust or Ceton network tuner and build small HTPCs for each TV with a SSD and small HDD for recording TV/live TV buffer. You can have the recordings swept to your NAS each night or move what you want to keep manually. Some content will only be playable (Copy Once) by the PC that recorded it though any extenders off that PC will be able to watch it. I haven't found this to be a huge issue since it's usually just for movies off HBO, etc. and I prefer to watch those on the HT setup anyway.

Everything Dougie said is correct however for the text I highlighted in boldface YMMV depending on your cable provider. You need to do some research. Here are the way things breakdown:

1. If you only watch OTA channels then drop cable entirely get an antenna & a HD Homerun and use XBMC with it's PVR.
   
2. If you need cable only channels (ESPN, Discovery, History, MTV, etc) then you will need a cable card device. I suggest HD Homerun Prime. However you may not be able to use XBMC for watcing live or recorded TV.
   

So here's the squishy part. You can use any software to watch/record cable signals that are marked "copy freely" by your provider. Some providers only flag premium content (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz, etc) in that manner - sounds like that is the case for Dougie's provider. Other providers (such as TWC) only flag OTA channels as "copy freely". All the other stations are flagged as "copy once". If a program is flagged as "copy once" then you MUST use software certified by Cable Labs for playback AND only the device that recorded the content can play it back. Right now Windows Media Center is the only software certified by Cable Labs for playback of DRM protected content (i.e. copy once). You can get around the device restriction by using a WMC approved extender (i.e. XBOX 360). In this case the content is still actually being played back by the device that recored it (in the background) and that device is streaming the playback to your extender. It's not the most ideal situation but AFAIK there is no way around this.

I have two HD Homerun Primes and because my provider (TWC) locks down everything I use WMC for TV and XBMC for movies. I've setup my remote to easily switch between the two apps and trained my wife (this was the hardest part) and kids how to do this. So it is possible to do all this and make it work.

So what do I gain from all this. Well 2 cable cards costs me a total of $5 per month and I can record/watch 6 shows at the same time using my Primes. Previously I had 2 cable boxes that cost me a total of $20 per month - not DVRs just straight cable boxes - that allowed me to watch two shows at the same time. So I'm saving $15 per month and I have more capability plus complete control over my media center and I don't have to deal with TWC's POS hardware.

One last thing - an XBMC plugin has been developed that allows you to use WMC as a PVR backend and use XBMC as the frontend to watch live/recorded tv. See this thread - WMC as the backend - released. I haven't used this yet but if you want a single application to do everything then that may be an option.

EDIT - I've read a bit in that thread I linked above it looks like the WMC plug-in only works for copy freely content. There are currently 131 pages to read so I would not be surprised if I missed something.

[kphammond9]

I'm looking to truly "cut the cord" and have done a fair bit of research on what is out there and what I need. But it's still super confusing to me and I could use some advice before I start buying hardware. Here is my current setup:

- Cable service from Time Warner including DVR and basic channels
- 1 networked PC being used as a Plex server

I want to keep costs down as much as possible. Until recently, I was thinking about this setup:

- OTA antenna hooked to an HD Homerun Plus tuner
- WMC acting as a DVR
- Plex serving most media (including TV recorded via WMC)
- Roku 3s hooked up to the TVs, acting as Plex clients
- There is a 3rd party Roku channel that lets you stream live TV from the HD Homerun, but it's in development and potentially buggy.

But I can't help thinking there is a more elegant solution. If I had a couple of xbmc extenders, I'm thinking it would be less of a headache. But I need to get something that is in the same price range as a Roku ($95) and offers at least some of the same functionality/interface. It will need to:

- Stream live TV, preferably with functions comparable to a cable box (pause, rew, ffw, channel guide, etc.)
- Provide channels or apps like Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, Hulu, etc.
- Assuming xbmc works more or less natively with WMC, I'd like to be able to manage recordings from the TV interface.
- Needs to play nice with the HD Homerun Plus and be fairly plug-an-play

Price point and ease-of-use are key. Any suggestions would be super helpful. Thanks.

[nickr]

Amazon firetv $100

[kphammond9]

Amazon firetv $100

That was one option I was considering, but I'm not sure if it will allow me to control WMC or stream live TV from the HD Homerun.

[nickr]

Amazon firetv $100

That was one option I was considering, but I'm not sure if it will allow me to control WMC or stream live TV from the HD Homerun.

Actually I was just reading that firetv isn't good on deinterlacing so I withdraw that recommendation.