Cutting the (virtual) cable...

I've come to a realisation.

We currently subscribe to $ky+HD standard package (no movies or sports) and pay around €44 for the privilege. Since moving to to Windows Media Center for TV viewing, we have circumvented some of the restrictions of the set-top satellite box such as limited storage space and dual-tuner limits. However, I'm still paying that €44 p/m, and it's going up.

What's more, in setting up favourite channels in WMC, we've come to realise how few of those channels we actually watch to any great extent.

There's very little beyond what's available on freeview / saorview that we actually view. So, what would happen if I packed in $ky? I'd miss the occasional Sky Arts concert and some first run sci-fi on Sky 1. Wife will miss food/style channels & kids will miss some of their channels. But that accounts for about 5% of our total viewing.


There's a lot of interweb chatter about cutting the cable so this weekend I looked into it seriously.

The aims would be to

1. Set up WMC to utilise at least 6x tuners (4x freesat, 2x saorview) to allow TV watching in multiple rooms as well as greater recording flexibility.

2. Replace lost channels with NetFlix to provide fallback fare & kids entertainment.

3. Continue using PLEX for viewing DVD and TV collection built up over the years.

With the above, we think we can survive.

Looking at the costs, here's what I figure;

CAPITAL COSTS

1x DuoFlex S2 Twin Tuner Expansion Card (€149)
1x DuoFlex CT Twin Tuner Expansion Card (€149)
1x Terrestrial Digital Aerial installation (€200 approx)
Sell Dreambox S500 (€-75 apporx)

ONGOING COSTS
NetFlix (€7 p/m)
UnoTelly (€5 p/m)
Digiguide (€5 p/a)

So, year one costs would be €575 approx. Next year I'd be paying $ky €552 at the increased rate. So why change?

Well, in subsequent years, the annual cost will only be €149 -  a saving of over €400.

Plus I'll have 6x tuners (expandable to 8 using octopus system), unlimited recording space, multiroom capabilities, full netflix access and lots of other perks. Sounds like a good rationale to me.