So Long Directv! Hello Freetv!!

Thank you to the makers of boxee! Boxee is a free software application that allows you to turn any desktop computer (or laptop in my case) into a tv tuner. Directv crossed the final line when they decided to continue charging me for nfl ticket - AFTER THE NFL SEASON WAS OVER to the tune of a cool $59.99. Apparently, they think you have to call them to cancel their service, even though there are no NFL games. My biggest frustration was that they wanted $50 bucks to come out and move the dish. The exact same dish that they positioned directly behind a tree, which would give us crappy reception every time a storm would kick up and the tree limbs would start blowing around. So kiss my grits directv!

Yet, somehow, I'm watching TV, at a level equivalent to Directv (standard def - I can't afford HD!), and instead of it costing almost $1k a year, I'm getting all my TV for free thanks to boxee! Here's a video of what I'm watching in real time by streaming the ncaa tournament(did I mention that I can select any NCAA tournament game that I want to watch?!):



I wanted to add that the resolution is much better than what is shown in the video. I shot it with my iPhone.

This week, I found an old & broken laptop that I had collecting dust in the closet. I'd just heard about boxee and decided to give it a shot. I installed xp professional on it, and updated all the drivers. I added the computer to my home network and setup the high speed internet connection, and then downloaded boxee. I then connected my laptop to my tv via an s-video cable, which I had lying around, and connected the sound to my surround sound via a headphone out to red/white rca cables to my surround sound. Total cost: $0! I already had the two cables, though you can probably pick either of them up for around $10 at Walmart.

Setting up boxee was a piece of cake. You simply download the program, set up your monitor under "display" settings, and set your resolution settings and your good to go. Another thing I like is the fact that it takes your movie collection and puts it on steroids. Because I have a ton of storage space (3TB mirrored), I decided to backup my DVD movies and save them to home server. I burned a copy of them and put them in a single folder. Boxee is super cool because it takes each movie title and organizes them from the imbd.com database. It provides the DVD cover and on top of that, it gives you all the information you ever wanted on every movie in your collection. You can download movies, stream movies, and a heck of a lot more as well. Here's what the movie interface looks like:





Boxee also organizes your entire audio collection. So at any time, I can have my audio files playing on my surround sound. You'll want to check out the audio visualizations. I know windows has some lame visualizations, but boxee's are very interesting. I definitely recommend checking them out!

Now for the coolest part. Since all of the stuff plays on my laptop...no remote, right? Wrong! It just so happens I got an iPhone this year. iPhone has an app on it that connects via your wireless network to Boxee, and allows you to control everything from surfing on the web to video sites, to selecting movies, to controlling volume.

There are a few small things that I don't like. If your internet is slow, you might have choppy play when you stream video. I've got a pretty beefy internet connection (the fastest that at&t dsl offers for residential service), and I don't really see any choppiness unless I'm streaming a show (rather than playing a file) AND downloading a bunch of other stuff. Adriana has even watched shows on her laptop while I've watched shows on my tv without any choppiness. Just something to be aware of if you have a slow internet connection though.

Another thing I don't like is the remote. Don't get me wrong, it is by far the best feature since you don't have to get up out of your chair every time you want to do something, but if you leave the remote app on, it drains your iPhone in a matter of hours. As long as you turn off the app, and just make changes when you want to its no big deal.

Bottomline: I love it. You can't beat free TV! So if you've got a cable or dsl high speed internet, and an old computer lying around, put them to work! Then send the notorious L.E.V. a check for saving you $1k a year! :)