Potential Customer questions

[ck75253]

Dear Boxee,

I'm seriously contemplating killing my horrible AT&T U-verse service. I have a bunch of friends doing the same and going over to roku, apple tv, etc. I had contemplated going the Google TV route and right now it's a toss up between you guys and Google TV. Here's my question:

1) I'm going to want some live tv capabilities when I drop the AT&T service so would I need to get a DTV Antenna and use that with the Boxee Live TV adapter or would I just need a Boxee Live TV adapter plugged directly into the Boxee Box that would be plugged into my TV?

2) My Router for my HSI service is in a completely different room than my HDTV so would I be able to connect the BB wirelessly to my router?

3) Would I need any other special equipment other than the Boxee Box and the Live TV adapter in order to make the service work?

4) If I wanted to create my own media library, is the Boxee Box compatible with other devices like an IOMEGA Storage Center etc?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to figure out the best way to cut the cord to my cable provider. I'm going to miss the DVR functionality but it's worth the savings if this all works out.

[defenderbob]

Hey CK,

I'm another soon-to-be-ex uVerse user - though I am happy with the service.

To answer your questions:

1. The Boxee Live TV adapter comes with an antenna. Keep in mind, its range is limited, so unless you are within ~10 miles from the broadcast antenna, don't expect a miracle. Within 30 miles, you can probably use a Leaf indoor antenna or something similar. If you are ~40 -60 miles like myself, you should put an antenna on your roof

2. Yes, the Boxee can connect to a wireless router - though with any device, wired is preferred over wireless.

3. No. Only other recommendations would be to install some of the 3rd party repositories on the Boxee Box like Navi-X and the Bartsidee TV framework.

4. The Boxee can connect to network shares / device / local USB devices for creating libraries. With the current firmware, NFS or local USB is the most stable.

Hope that helps, and welcome to the forum.

[Begbie]

1) I'm going to want some live tv capabilities when I drop the AT&T service so would I need to get a DTV Antenna and use that with the Boxee Live TV adapter or would I just need a Boxee Live TV adapter plugged directly into the Boxee Box that would be plugged into my TV?

The Boxee Live TV dongle does come with an antenna. Depending upon where you are in relation to the station's antennas...it's hard to say whether you'll be able to pick up the signal with the antenna. You can go to antennaweb.org to see what signals are available to you. IMO, best bet is to invest in a good antenna that might be able to pick up even more channels.

2) My Router for my HSI service is in a completely different room than my HDTV so would I be able to connect the BB wirelessly to my router?

Yessir.

3) Would I need any other special equipment other than the Boxee Box and the Live TV adapter in order to make the service work?

To enhance the experience and amount of content you can access...it doesn't hurt to sign up for Netflix Instant or have a NAS that can access your local content. Oh, and research Navi-X! But no, the service works just fine with a Boxee Box with or without Boxee Live TV.

4) If I wanted to create my own media library, is the Boxee Box compatible with other devices like an IOMEGA Storage Center etc?

Maybe someone can speak for Iomega, but I have a pretty crappy Seagate GoFlex drive on my network, and Boxee actually works very good with it!

As for GoogleTV, eh, it's a bit of a work in progress still. I had a Logitech Revue with the new Honeycomb 3.1 update, and I returned it. I stream alot of content online...and I couldn't get 5 minutes into a web stream without the Chrome Browser crashing (Shockwave crashes, in particular), and it's apparently a pretty big problem. I don't get that issue with Boxee, even with some of the bugs that their working on in the latest update.

As for DVR functionality...I can't speak for Boxee, but it seems like they're headed in that direction very soon...at least with regards to channels you pick up with the Live TV dongle. On the other hand, I thought I was really going to miss not having a DVR. But honestly, alot of the cable shows that I watch can be easily played thru the Boxee Browser from the network's website. I've watched every latest episode of Intervention and Hoarders...either live thru TVPC.com or a day later when A&E throw it up on their website.

Cutting cable is a bit of lifestyle change, no doubt. You may find yourself "digging" for content you really want to see and sometimes you might not be seeing something in the best possible quality. But, I've been cable cord-less for 8 months now...and I know I've saved almost $1000 already. Nice knowing I'm not throwing money in the trash for the 5 channels I might've watched on satellite TV.

[ck75253]

Begbie and defenderbob,

Thanks so much for the feedback. I've been researching almost all day. Seems I'm kinda screwed either way. None of my TV's are digital so I've gotta get a digital converter box for each (3) plus an Antenna if I'm gonna cut the cable on cable. At least it'll be a one time expense though vs. monthly on the cable bill which as almost everyone knows is useless spending that kinda money that you're spending when you're only watching a couple of the channels.

Still trying to figure out if Indoor or Outdoor Antenna is gonna be best. Seems best quality is going to be outdoor, but that's going to require some installation skills that I don't quite have yet. Indoor would be the easier way to go, but not sure about picture quality and signal strength.

You both have given some great feedback and I'll have to see where to go from here.

Thanks a bunch! God bless!

[defenderbob]

A website like tvfool.com can help in determining what kind of antenna that you will need. Where I am, I need a large directional antenna and a pre-amp ($~100). You may only need and indoor amped antenna like the leaf. At any rate you will need a TV that can accept HDMI inputs depending on what you get, may only be looking at $250 there. Anything that gives you an ROI of 6 months is a no-brainer. :-)

[ck75253]

Hey defenderbob,

Thanks again for the info sir! It looks like I have an older CRT Projection screen TV that is not a Digital TV so I'm going to have to go with a converter plus an antenna, not really what I wanted to hear but in the long run it will still be a considerable cost savings. Plus I have two other sets in the home that I'll have to run the same setup on.

Thanks for all the great feedback!

[Begbie]

Yeah, I'd definitely check to see what OTA channels are in your area before going thru all of the trouble of buying and installing an antenna. I say that, because I went nuts and bought this expensive long range outdoor antenna...thinking I'd get a bunch more channels in my area over the cheap indoor tabletop antenna I was using. I spent all of that money and effort and all it gave me was the tabletop antenna channels, Home Shopping Network, and 3 religious channels. So not worth it. I was able to return it though and just went with an AntennasDirect Clearstream and threw that up in the attic. Works great. But I'd still love to find a way to pick up a few longer range (30+ miles) channels.

Regardless, it's important to know that, once you do cut out that big monthly expense...all of the equipment you buy will eventually pay for itself since you don't have that ginormous monthly cable bill anymore.