3 thoughts on “Your Perfect TV Setup”

  1. Perhaps I found this guide so useful because I’m pretty much doing everything on it already:

    1. I don’t have cable, but my TV pulls in HD signals for the major networks here in Baltimore.
    2. There are three devices capable of playing Netflix in my living room: my Wii, Blu-Ray player and the TV itself (four if you count connecting my MacBook Pro via HDMI, five if you count my iPhone). The TV also streams additional content, including YouTube and stuff like Amazon video on demand and BlipTV, and it will be enabled for Hulu Plus this fall.
    3. Their other recommendation was an Apple TV, which just got a huge change in capabilities and price. $99 is a low barrier to entry (and don’t think the recent price-drop of the Roku is a coincidence) for streaming content from all your computers and the Internet to your TV. It’s going on my X-Mas wish list.

    I’m usually subscribed to one show a quarter in iTunes (right now it’s MadMen) and I’m paying the following: $23.95 for Netflix (for three discs and Blu-Ray, see below) and $9.95 for Hulu Plus. Counting iTunes, that’s $50 a month for home entertainment, and I can stream Netflix and Hulu on my iPhone to boot. That’s still a bundle, but nothing compared to Comcast or Verizon FiOS.

    I think we’ll see some additional concessions on Netflix’s part in regards to DVD rentals and streaming services. When they announced their 30-day moratorium on new releases from Warner Bros., a lot of fans were pretty upset. But, from a business perspective, streaming is their future, and they’re doing everything possible to own that future. My living room is evidence enough that they’re streaming stuff on every new device that comes out. And, why shouldn’t they? It costs them literally pennies to stream a show or movie, compared to the postage required for a physical disc. You’ll see a lot more people shifting to the minimum plan (I’m going to downgrade), and you can already see customers requesting a plan for no discs, just access to streaming.

    In addition, things aren’t exactly going great for the Postal Service, and that has huge implications for Netflix.

    Sheesh Ken, sorry, shoulda written my own blog post.

  3. I quit cable almost a year ago. Smartest thing I ever did. MUCH happier without it!

    Between Hulu, DVD’s rented free from the library, iTunes and network sites that stream shows, we have more content than we can get to, AND it’s all stuff we want to watch. (We also dropped our Netflix subscription, by the by….)

    We also have rabbit ears and a converter box. Some interesting stuff out there…

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