[NTLUG:Discuss] Some background on tomorrow's meeting, Saturday 10/19

[Chris Cox]

Good ideas for sure... however, here's my reasoning.

A MythTV box that does "good" DVR'ing isn't free.  So that's another
expense.  Though you might be able to make the argument that the PMS box
and the MythTV box are the same.

Also, even with a powered antenna, I can't get all of the channels where
I'm at, not reliably.  The Aereo gives you all channels.  It is slightly
compressed, yes, but not unlike Netflix, etc.

Also, with Aereo, I can watch my PVR and/or live TV anywhere.

So, consider, antenna $20-30 (and doesn't get all channels, and sometimes
doesn't do well on the "good" channels).  Consider the cost of putting
together a DVR, in addition to the $300 for a PC, the cost of the grabber
board, etc..  and consider the browser interface to make it work from
anywhere.

So, yes, certainly I do have an antenna, because I do like playing with
DVR stuff, etc..  but it's not as "good" as what I get with Aereo.  And I
already have device (tuner) for the grabs... but not everybody has one in
their back pocket (cost... could be anywhere from $50+).

So.. all depends on your needs.  I can go to any TV, any PC, and (shortly)
even my phone and watch live TV and/or my recorded shows.  Setting all of
that up on your own could be "hard" and likely pretty expensive and I
can't even guarantee I'll have something "viewable" because antennas
aren't perfect.




> Chris - appreciate you sharing the information/thinking/testing/results.
>
> One thought about your 'Live TV' events is since these are all 'over the
> air' signals (and the Aereo service is at least $96 per year) - why not
> get
> a a standard HD antenna, plug it into a recorder (bet you already have one
> of those or could find cheap) and combine it with MythTV for the DVR
> functionality?
>
> Even when we had cable, I would watch the local games OTA for one reason -
> NO COMPRESSION.  The HD signal OTA is clean/clear/awesome.  The cable guys
> (and I'm guess Aereo) compress the signal to save when the 'ship it
> around'
> through their gear.
>
> Just a thought.
>
> -dave