[mythtv-users] Comcast bricked my HDHR above 33 - Los Gatos - 95032

[Mark Knecht]

On Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 5:20 PM, Kevin Kuphal <kkuphal at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 7:09 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht at gmail.com> wrote:
<SNIP>
>> Anyway, we do have a Roku and I hadn't considered purchasing channels
>> through it, but that's a possiblity. OTA antennas may or may not work
>> here as I'm sort of nestled into an area with no line-of-sight to
>> anywhere, but I could try it out.
>
> Like Tim, I pay Comcast a meager $16/mo in order to get the
> "broadcast" stations delivered via cable.  They may not advertise it
> but the plan is available.  I also get all those stations via ClearQAM
> which I record via tuners in MythTV.  I find this perfectly reliable
> even though I also could go the OTA route.  I enjoy the flexibility
> Myth gives me with that content.  In your case, then you also have a
> significant savings which you can use for purchased programming or
> just money in your pocket.  You may find you can just live without the
> Daily show or even buy yourself an iPad and watch it in your lap :)
>
> Kevin

Good point. It's on my bill. I pay $16.95 + $61.99. Keeping the lower
channels for $16.95 keeps Myth running which I like, and potentially I
keep their Internet but I'd politically like to completely dump them.
It's a funny coincidence, but today is my son's 18th birthday and he's
planning on moving out over the summer as he gets started with college
so our needs will change some going forward.

We already have a Roku with Netflix so I get a lot of media that way -
probably already 2-3x what I actually watch on Myth, so there's lot of
media in this house.

Hulu picks up a number of programs we record maybe more than I know.
I'm actually watching one on Hulu as I write this even though it's
also on Myth.

To put this money in perspective, the long term value of the money I
pay to Comcast looks like this to me: I live in California in a house
that costs far more than the average American home. It's just the way
it is here, and it means I have a big mortgage and big payments to go
with it. $140 month applied to my mortgage instead of Comcast's pocket
reduces the interest I pay over the lifetime of my home loan by about
$80,000. That's a lot of money in my pocket later in life. If I spend
just a bit of that on getting media some other way I still come out
WAY ahead...

Thanks for all the inputs.

Of course I'll continue to test and see if they just changed something
I can adjust to, but I fear this is likely the way it's gonna be...

Cheers,
Mark