The Avengers for $20

The Avengers for $20

Click here to grab this deal now!

I have to share this.  I'm not sure how long this price will stay, but this morning I was able to go to my local Target and purchase the DVD/Blu-ray/3D Bluray/Digital Copy/Digital music download/ of The Avengers for a whopping $20.  Apparently there isn't a Bluray/Dvd copy that has digital copy.  So Target decided to lower the price on the 4 Disc version by $5.  So you can pick up today (9/25) a copy of The Avengers, and have a version for just about every device you own.

All for only $20.

This just in Amazon has matched that price! Click on the image to grab your copy today!

I'm all in...

I'm all in.

So I've been tempted a couple of times to get a new provider than my cable company, but I got to tell you I enjoy TV alot more when I choose what I want to watch.  That is instead of having a network play a show that gets me sucked in and then realizing how dumb it is.

I've taken some steps to ensure that we always have something to enjoy.  I've cancelled my DVD/Blu-rays from Netflix.  I figure that I'm not getting the most from that.  So I've decided to put that $18 dollars or so towards an iTunes giftcard each month.  This way I always have a balance and can enjoy some TV shows and new movie rentals the day they are available.

Pretty soon, I will be detailing out all the devices we have and the different services that use on those devices.

Right now, I'm pretty happy with our AppleTv. 

Stay Tuned. More to come.

Sony BDP-BX37 Blu-Ray Player

Sony BDP-BX37 Blu-Ray DVD Player & Streaming Internet

This Blu-ray player is a considerable improvement to my previous model.  I was one of the lucky people to buy into Bluray when it first came on the scene.  I was really lucky to find one of the first players put out as a open box item at Bestbuy.  It was a Samsung BD-P1000.  It was one of the worst bluray players ever.  The load times were painfully long and don't get me started on the firmware updates.  I understood that Bluray was an evolving medium, but the updating of this player must have been a huge after-thought. 

Now to talk about the new player.  Just by the fact that this player actually plays bluray disc makes this player a huge improvement.  The Samsung in recent months wouldn't play any new disc at all.  Making my next Netflix rental a huge gamble.

This player not only play disc, it loads them in a matter of seconds.  It's really amazing how far we've come.  I put in a disc that I knew would take forever to load.  Avatar was an amazement in feature films and when the bluray came out it, it was no different.  It was one of the first movies to not play at all on some players.  The Sony handled it like a champ.  It loaded it as fast a regular DVD would. 

This player takes advantage of all of the features bluray has to offer.  It also has a network jack on the back that enhances some features of the player.  Firmware updates are the first thing that have gotten alot easier.  I turn on the player and it alerts me of an update.  I click ok and 5 min later, it have an updated player.  No more hunting down an ISO image for a firmware update and burning to a disc and popping it into the player.

A whole new world is opening up with broadband internet speeds.  Streaming of video and audio are now the norm.  This blog is all about using these types of devices to entertain yourself instead of paying those ridiculous fees to Mr Cabletown.

Sony has a strange setup with the way you setup these services.  You will login to sonystyle.com and register your player.  From here is where you'll add your services that you subscribe to.  Hulu plus, Netflix, Slacker radio and Pandora will be setup here on the site.  Once you set them up on the site your player will be updated and be able to start streaming the media.  Once you set it up, you'll be ready to go.

The interfaces for these services are lacking.  That is the only drawback.  Netflix being one of the better interfaces. The wife meter score is pretty high on ease of use. The other services have alot of searching of small boxes with words on them.  Netflix uses alot of images.

It gets the job done.  The fact that this player is "wireless ready" has alot of people upset.  Obviously people can't read when they buy things online.  You'll see alot of negative reviews for this player because of this fact.  It has a network jack which is superior to wireless and will give you better results.

I paid around $75 for this player and I would pay it again for another if I needed to.  It's a great player and will serve as a great replacement for that aging player you may have purchased to keep up with the Jones.

General

• TypeBlu-ray, DVD
• BD player profile2.0 / BD-Live
• Disc loading typeTray loading

Video

• Upscaling 1080p of DVD's
• Full 1080p on Blurays

Surround

• Surround supportDolby Digital, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD High Resolution

Remote

• Remote (included)AA batteries

Power

• Power adapterInternal

Other features

• Upgradeable firmwareYes
• Front text displayYes

Outputs

• Video outputsHDMI (1 outputs), RCA / composite (1 outputs)
• Audio outputsCoaxial (digital), via HDMI, RCA stereo, TOSLINK (optical)

Networking

• Ethernet10/100 [Fast Ethernet]

Size & weight

• Dimensions 1.42 inches (h)
  16.93 inches (w)
  8.11 inches (d)
• Weight4.41 pounds

A letter to the cable company

Here is yet another story of someone being fed up with paying the cable company for substandard TV viewing.

KEVIN SINTUMUANG  at the Wall Street Journal wrote a letter to his cable company.

Read what he wrote here...

Boxee Live tV

via - http://blog.boxee.tv

 

We are working on a new add-on to the Boxee Box that will come out in January. It is a Live TV dongle that lets you connect an antenna to your Box to watch channels like ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in HD with no monthly fee. You can pre-order the Live TV stick for $49.


If you are like us then the way you watch TV has changed. The stuff on Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Vudu, Vimeo keeps getting better and you can watch it everywhere. You end up watching less traditional TV, but continually pay more for it, which doesn’t make much sense.

The problem with canceling your cable subscription and relying just on the Internet has been the lack of live sports, local news, special events and live TV shows (think Dancing with the Stars). But these things are all available on broadcast TV channels like ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC for free, over the air in HD. With Boxee Live TV you can watch them all on your Boxee Box (and still get all the regular Boxee stuff you love to watch too).

Last year, 89 of the top 100 shows were on broadcast networks – they remain the most popular channels on cable. The Superbowl, the World Series, the Oscars, the Grammys, presidential debates and addresses, the Olympics… they’re all on broadcast. Yes, there are hundreds of cable channels, but make a list of the stuff you actually watch. You will probably find that most are on broadcast and the rest are available on Vudu/Netflix/Network sites.

What is left on your list? Is it really worth $85 a month?

We believe the combination of Netflix/Vudu/Vimeo/TED/etc. with over-the-air channels delivers a much better experience for less money.

Cable companies keep telling the press and investors that “cord cutting” is not real, and that if it exists then it’s limited to people who can no longer afford cable. We are sure they are conducting objective and unbiased research, but we are meeting more and more “cord never getters” and “cord cutters” every day. They are more than just people tightening their belts in tough economic times, these are people who have left cable TV behind because it does not fit their lifestyle. They are part of a changing culture, with a changing expectation of how they watch the shows they love.

The cord cutters we talk to have changed the way they watch “TV”. They don’t sit in front of it and channel surf hoping to land on something to watch, they don’t know when shows air, they sometimes don’t even know what channel shows are on. They love “TV”, but not necessarily on an actual TV. The only time they tune into a channel is to watch something live.
The cable companies’ efforts to adapt are more focused on protecting a decades-old business model than delivering a great experience to their customers. The cable companies think you should have no choice but to accept:

-high (and constantly rising) prices,
-a bad user experience on old set-top boxes,
-signing up for a $79 package but getting billed $104.26,
-taking off work to wait for hours for an installation guy who shows up late,
-pushing you to get triple-play including phone service (you don’t want) to get a lower price, only to see your bill double after 6 months,
-letting you sign up on their website, but making you call them to cancel,
-making you physically return the set-top box during working hours in a remote part of town.

There is a better way for you to get TV… and we think Boxee with Live TV can deliver that promise. We want Boxee to be your alternative to Cable TV.
It will start shipping in January, but you can pre-order it today. Here are a few screenshots of the experience.


 


 



Read more about Boxee Live TV at http://boxee.tv/livetv.

Getting points for Zune for FREE!

I have invested in buying shows on the xbox through the Zune marketplace.  Mainly because of how I can play these shows back.  I can download them and play them on our PC's, stream them on the xbox 360 or pc, and even watch them on my Windows phone. 

The way these MS points work is that they make you buy 400points at a time which is $5.  Then shows cost 160 points each (more for HD).  So the way you get these 400 points for free is easy.  Join Bing rewards.

If you go to Bing.com and join the rewards program you'll see a way to rack up points everyday.

Once you click the link to add points you'll see them rack up.

Sign in with your Windows live ID.  The same one you use with your gamertag.

Then once you start racking up 500 reward credits, you can redeem them for 400 ms points.

It may seem like it will take forever to get to 500, but once you first start out, you get around 300 points just for joining and searching with Bing in about a week. Then you'll be buying shows or renting movies in no time.

Xbox 360 Wireless Headset with Bluetooth and a new Media Remote

Most excited by the remote.

Here is a look at the new remote for the Xbox 360s.  It's black to match the new consoles. Something to note is that the media center logo isn't present on this remote.  It also has a button for recording and "live tv" that would fit with the newest update coming this fall.  This remote is meant to work a tv and your xbox so it would make sense that these record buttons and live tv buttons would be for the xbox 360.

Oh yeah, and here is alook at the new headset for the Xbox 360.

Netflix value going up?

Netflix price break down: It has more than one meaning.

Some folks need to calm down.  With any kind of increase of price most people will object.  That is just a normal reaction.  But Netflix is such a great value, the price increase doesn't hurt its value at all.  Here are the new pricing plans. I am showing a comparison of what they were and what they will be.  I will personally see an increase of $5 to the bill.

I've been on Netflix for a long time.  It all began in my years as a poor college student.  Learning to use the facebook for the first time, and paying $21 for Netflix DVDs.  It actually started at $19.99 and increased slightly, and went back down.  That price was for 3 at a time.  Before streaming and absolutely before Blu-ray.  So the price is actually going back to where it was before, and I get an additional 20,000 movies instantly to watch whenever and where ever I want.

This change just means, one less lunch to Wendy's or Burger King.

But Netflix could pull a Hulu and put a 30 sec commercial before the movie and push our price down. Then again who watches Hulu anymore?

Okay, Okay, Maybe Netflix Is a Problem for Cable After All

Interesting article about Netflix cutting in on Satellite and cable from Allthingsd.com.

Netflix is booming, but the service’s success isn’t coming at the expense of the cable business. Just ask Netflix CEO Reed Hastings or the cable guys, all of whom will be happy to tell you.
Nonsense, says a new report: The Diffusion Group’s survey of Netflix users finds 32 percent of them planning on cutting at least part of their cable bill — either because they can’t afford it, or because they’ve got plenty of stuff to watch online. That’s up from 16 percent a year ago. (Thanks to VideoNuze for flagging).

This jibes with both common sense and other anecdotal evidence we’ve seen. Like Roku's surveys that show that up to 40 percent of its customers have cut some or all of their cable service after buying a box from the company, presumably to watch Netflix.
And again, because it’s not necessarily about cord cutting, but cord shaving, the Diffusion Group study also fits with statistics that show cable subscriptions holding steady even as Netflix adds millions of subscribers per quarter.
Start paying Reed Hastings $8 a month and you may not be ready to rip out your cable box. But you might be willing to drop down a service tier, or say goodbye to HBO.
Some cable company executives will indeed acknowledge this, but not around people who will quote them on the record. And even when they’re chatting on background, they’re still likely to argue that their company will make it through just fine — it’s the other guys who are screwed.
Meanwhile the Netflix folks, a disciplined bunch, continue to insist that they come in peace. And they keep writing those checks that the content guys are happy to cash, even as they worry about what’s going to happen about the cable business. One day.

Source - Allthingsd.com

Live TV - For the cord cutters

Its unavoidable , sometimes you got to have some live TV. Local news, sporting events, and the results for American Idol. But really add up the amount of time you actually sit down and watch those live events. For local news, you could easily go the website of any local news station and catch the headlines. For sporting events, those are usually only available during the season. I can't personally say anything about watching sporting events, because I don't like to watch them.

In those cases that you feel that you need some live tv, you have some choices. If you subscribe to cable internet, you might be able to get some local channels with your internet. Most cable providers are trying to free up bandwidth on the system to provider more services on the same copper line coming into your home. In the attempt to do so, they are switching the analog channels over to digital. These digital channels require a cable box in the home in order to watch them. Or so the cable company tells you. Actually they will encode these channels in what's called clear QAM. These channels can be tuned on most HDTV's that have a digital tuner. And all those new digital tuners that everyone had to buy a few months back as well.  The digital tuner in these box's and TV's are now required to watch some TV transmissions due to the fact that the FCC mandated that all analog broadcast cease over the air transmission and switch to the digital format in order to free up the spectrum. So if you have cable internet use a 2 way splitter and connect one cable to your TV and the other to your modem. Then run the channel scan. What you will see are that the local channels come through. Come through in HD.

The other choice is to connect a large antenna to your TV and tune in your local HD stations. You'd be surprised by how many channels you can actually get over the air. And with the switch to digital, the signal will either be there or it won't. If you can tune the stations in you'll be happy with an HD picture, that is totally free.

I currently am subscribed to cable internet. They trap out the analog channels so they can provide us with just the internet. If I connect the cable to my TV I get the local channels in their digital format for free. This makes paying for that internet connection a better value. Mainly because I'm not paying for 100 channels I will never watch.