Over The Air Television Experience

[Valtepec]

I am looking into cutting the cable chord and going to OTA only.
I'd like to ask the members what has been their experience with their setup.
Here are the few key questions that come to mind:

1) Is your reception generally good, how good? Does it vary? How much work (e.g. rotate the antenna?) is it?
2) Is the content satisfactory?
3) What do you miss the most about cable?
4) Is there a DVR in the marke that I can use (non-Tivo, non monthly subscription) to tape my fav shows?
5) If I have to mount an extenral antenna, how much money should I budget?

Thanks for your help.

[pavakah]

1) Is your reception generally good, how good? Does it vary? How much work (e.g. rotate the antenna?) is it?
Reception is going to vary depending on location, obstructions, etc. Better to ask someone in your neighborhood. Also, you need to evaluate your line of sight to the various station towers in your area. Trees and tall buildings that block line of sight, may affect your signal.

2) Is the content satisfactory?
We cancelled our cable because my wife and I realized we were watching mostly network shows anyway. So for us, the content is fine.

3) What do you miss the most about cable?
I have lots of trees around me, so my signal will sometimes break up, so I guess I most miss the more reliable signal of cable. I don't miss it enough to go back though.
4) Is there a DVR in the marke that I can use (non-Tivo, non monthly subscription) to tape my fav shows?
I recommend this setup: a pc with Windows 7 (Media Center is built into Win 7), a network router/hub (you have one of these if you have broadband internet), a Silicondust HDHomerun network tuner. With these components, you can send your antenna signal over your home network and to your computer running Windows 7 with Media Center. Media Center basically turns your computer into a dvr. It has a channel guide, menus for recording and watching shows, etc. It even has a Netflix plugin. On top of Media Center being great, you also have an actual computer hooked up to your tv, so you can surf the internet, watch shows on hulu, etc. (If you go with this setup, don't forget to get a wireless mouse and keyboard)

5) If I have to mount an extenral antenna, how much money should I budget?
I only spent 85 bucks on my current antenna (not a Winegard) and it came with the parts to mount onto my house. I also just saw some extension poles at the hardware store for about 8 dollars per four foot section. I did spend a good chunk of change on the computer setup I have, but the thing is, I own my equipment, and eventually it pays for itself because I no longer have a 70 dollar cable bill every month.

On a side note, the network tuner is really awesome if you are comfortable with computers. With my setup, any computer on my network can be a tv. And with wi-fi, I can watch tv on my laptop while carrying it from room to room. Oh, and I can also record to any of those computers, and watch those recorded shows from any other computer in the house. I have the dual tuner, so I can record and watch up to two shows at once. Theoretically, though, I could buy a second tuner and watch/record four channels simultaneously. Lastly, if you want to setup a second tv on your network, but don't want to buy or use a second computer, you can use an xbox 360 in Media Center mode. The xbox will find your main computer on your network, and provide the Media Center interface for the second tv. It is a much cheaper alternative to another computer, as you can get the cheapest version (which is all you need for this) for under 200 dollars.