Electronically Obsessed A tech addict's guide to using the Internet to streamline your life

Break free from (and cancel!) your cable or satellite subscriptions (Part IV): My setup vs. the New York Times

Internet Video replaces Cable and Satellite Subscriptions

Summary

This post is a bit long, so here's the capsule summary:

1. The New York Times details an entertainment setup to acheive "cable freedom." (Thanks to a reader for telling me about this NYT article!)
2. The setup includes an Xbox 360 and a Mac Mini.
3. The NYT's setup requires some knowledge about which services to access for certain types of content.  It also requires the user to use a mouse (preferably wireless) to navigate on the Mac Mini.  This can all be pretty complicated.
4. My personal setup (which I believe greatly streamlines the process) includes a Sony Playstation 3 and a Windows Vista PC running Media Mall's PlayOn Digital Media Server.
5. PlayOn sends content to the Sony Playstation 3 and can be controlled via the Sony Playstation 3's interface and wireless controller (eliminating the need for a mouse and complex switching between services).

The Details

On December 10, 2009, the New York Times published this article about how to achieve "cable freedom."

The author, Nick Bilton details his setup:

Those devices are all behind me now. I disconnected everything, threw it to the side and canceled the cable months ago. Instead, now I have a Mac Mini, wireless mouse and a Microsoft Xbox hooked up to my television.

However, he did run into one slight problem:

I have to be honest, this isn’t as easy as just plugging a computer into a monitor, sitting back and watching a movie. There’s definitely a slight learning curve. One difficult part of this equation was getting used to the wireless mouse.

The use of a wireless mouse is not required, but makes his family's life easier when manipulating the setup from the couch.

The navigation options are a bit complex since he appears to be using a lot of different services at once:

Over Thanksgiving a friend graciously house-sat at our apartment. It took my wife more than an hour to write a detailed description explaining how to use our new TV setup. After explaining how to use the mouse and keyboard, we had to describe how to switch among applications.

I don't doubt that this setup works, however, I believe that all of this clicking around can be streamlined with a slightly different setup.

Streamline your Internet television experience: My current setup (Part I - The Windows Vista PC)

My personal Internet television setup includes a Windows Vista PC (vs. Mr. Bilton's Mac Mini) and a Sony Playstation 3 (vs. Mr. Bilton's Xbox 360).  I know what you're thinking now.  "Ronald, you're such a Mac fan.  Why did you opt for the Windows Vista PC?"

Two reasons motivated by selection of a Windows Vista PC vs. a Mac for this setup:

1. I already owned the PC.
2. The program (Media Mall's PlayOn Digital Media Server)  that bypasses the need for a wireless mouse and clicking around with a wireless mouse and keyboard is currently PC-only.

Media Mall's PlayOn Digital Media Server (which I reviewed in this post - currently a one-time $39.99, after a 14 day free trial), streams content from Hulu, Netflix, CNN, YouTube, ESPN, and more to the PS3.  In other words, the Windows Vista PC, with PlayOn, downloads all the content from the Internet, puts the content in a format that the Playstation 3 can understand, and then sends the content to the Playstation 3. 

You can control these data streams using the Playstation 3 interface and the included wireless (Bluetooth) PS3 controller, which eliminates the need for a wireless mouse or keyboard.

PlayOn is not limited for use with a Sony Playstation 3.  It can stream content to the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, and many other DLNA-compliant devices.

Streamline your Internet television experience: My current setup (Part II - Sony Playstation 3)

So, now you're probably asking "Ronald, why did you opt for the Playstation 3?"  There are two reasons:

1. The Playstation 3 is also a very capable Blu-ray player, which the Xbox 360 lacks.
2. Playstation 3 can access the Netflix Watch Instantly service (via a DVD provided by Netflix) with no additional charge. The Xbox 360 also has Netflix Watch Instantly access, but requires the user to upgrade to the Xbox Live Gold Membership (an additional $39.99-$50/year, depending on the current special).

Downsides of my setup

Of course, there are a few downsides to my current setup.

1. The Xbox 360 is the more popular gaming console.  If gaming is more important to you than access to Blu-ray movies, go with the Xbox 360 instead.
2. Media Mall's PlayOn Digital Media Server can be finicky.  Sometimes, there are outages.  However, Media Mall is always very good about addressing these outages as quickly as possible.  When I want to watch something during a PlayOn outage, I plug my computer directly into the television and surf directly to the services detailed in the New York Times article.

Note: Some of the above links are affiliate links.  This means that if you click the above links and subsequently make a purchase, I will receive a commission for referring the sale.

Action Item

Tell me about your own experiences with Internet television.  What do you think about my setup?  Any suggestions?  Please comment in the comments section of this post or send me an e-mail!

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