Comments on: Cord Cutters: Turn Your PC Into a Media Center

By: Danielle Turner

Danielle Turner — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 23:14:33 +0000

Cord Cutters: Turn Your PC Into a Media Center http://t.co/BfTxLT3F

By: Kendall

Kendall — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 05:43:43 +0000

What is the remote in this video and how is it setup? Now that we have the steps to hook up the video and audio, maybe you could do a show on the best way to interface with the computer (remotes, iphone etc.). Also what is your take on nettop boxes?

By: John

John — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 19:21:22 +0000

Another PC option is to buy a relatively inexpensive nettop optimized for use in a media center. I recently bought an Acer AspireRevo, which has an HDMI out jack, an Atom CPU, and an Nvidia video chip optimized to run video offloaded from the main CPU, such as Flash has done since version 10.1. It’s about the size of a large router, and either stands on its end, or can be mounted on the back of your TV/monitor if mounting holes are present.

I installed Boxee from the beginning, which has worked great for streaming various web videos, although it has been partially blocked from Hulu. I bought the 3200 model of the Revo for $300 right before it was phased out, but even the current 3700 is selling for only around $350.

Admittedly, the much cheaper Boxee or Roku boxes would allow me access to much the same video content, but when there is a block for whatever reason, I’ve been able to revert to a regular browser and view to my heart’s content. And with both Hulu and Netflix, the browser has been my main avenue of viewing. With Flash 10.1 and the Nvidia chip, I’ve had no problem viewing even high def videos.

For a remote, I’ve installed both HippoRemote and the Boxee remote apps on my iPod Touch. Hippo has specialized setups for various apps and web sites, including Boxee, and I use it almost exclusively.

The SAF (spouse acceptance factor) may limit our just yet cutting the cord, plus the fact shows like _Walking Dead_ have no free immediate streaming option, but it’s definitely possible. Thanks for _Cord Cutters_!

By: Janko Roettgers

Janko Roettgers — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 05:40:32 +0000

Here’s a list of options for watching sports online:

http://gigaom.com/video/how-to-watch-live-sports-online/

By: Rich

Rich — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:14:25 +0000

I don’t know much about this so I’m going to ask: after you cut the cord, how do you watch stuff that’s only available on cable (live sports, perhaps?).

By: opsmgr

opsmgr — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 00:15:48 +0000

Thanks for publishing this piece, peeps. We love the concept and fully endorse “living the high life — Cord Cutters style”. Can’t wait to see the interview with a real,live cord cutter. Sending an associate to stock us up on popcorn right now!