satellite direct tv

sphelps · #1 01-12-2010, 02:22 PM

OK so I'm curious if anyone else is sick of paying a high cable bill these days because apparently you can download software for a one time fee to have access to 3500 channels. Basically you watch TV through your computer with an internet connection.

The software that seems to be top rated is called "Satellite Direct TV" and costs around $50.

Has anyone tried this method of eliminating the cable company?

banditpowdercoat · #2 01-12-2010, 02:50 PM

You allways have "issues" and outages, then need to go on internet, wait fro someone to crack a 'fix' so you can get the TV up again. I'ts alot better than it used to be for Pirating TV, but there's still work involved. I used to do it with Dish Network and Bell, but don't have the time to find cracks etc any more

sphelps · #3 01-12-2010, 02:54 PM

Yes I've done the satellite thing as well but this is different. You watch everything through your PC and internet connection, no dish or receiver required. Plus it's 100% legal and other than the occasional lost internet connection you'll never be down.

The question is how well does it work and what kind of internet connection will be required? And is it possible to setup some kind of PVR?

banditpowdercoat · #4 01-12-2010, 02:57 PM

Ohh, my internet would never be able to handle that. heck I can't even watch a YouTube vid. I'm really getting ticked off acctually. $45/mo for 100Kb/s speed Tops!

Delphinus · #5 01-12-2010, 05:09 PM

I doubt you could totally eliminate your cable company because they might still have the better internet speeds. But yeah, eliminating the tv portion of the bill .. might be nice.

And it's not like you can't watch your actual TV anyhow. Just get a little PC on each TV and some PVR or media software and poof done.

I guess the real question is how legal is it? Is it a grey area, is it totally legit, or is it non-legit in the eyes of the RIAA or whatever?

Any links? I'd love to look into this more myself. It's time consumers started taking more control of things like this. Prices go up and up and up, service gets less and less, and incomes are getting more and more pinched (ie., no raises, or hours cut back due to economy or whatever).

Reefer Rob · #6 01-12-2010, 05:28 PM

You have a reef aquarium and you have time for TV?

mike31154 · #7 01-12-2010, 05:40 PM

This sounds interesting. I too am getting a little miffed at the cable rates. The cable company is quick to provide info regarding your 'savings' when you bundle their services, but seems to be very slow when it comes to innovations that might cost them money. I get a real charge about their 'home' phone service now offered. As far as I'm concerned that should be free. I mean, there are plenty of applications available these days to do VOIP. These guys/gals running the show need a wakeup call. They want more and more for what they're pushing running through the same cable. I jumped on the digital TV bandwagon when I moved to Vernon, but most of the channels offered with the package I have now do not interest me. I don't want or need 300 channels, just a few select ones, without having to deal with all the different bundles available. Even then, the ones that are of interest, are 'extra' charge or 'on demand'. If I could choose the channels I watch, it would probably boil down to no more than 10. It shouldn't be that difficult with today's technology to allow a customer to do that and charge a fair price accordingly.

banditpowdercoat · #8 01-12-2010, 06:13 PM

The problem with everything, and I think it should be illegal, is price upping. Take Call Display for instance. When it was offered to the public, it was about $2/month. Now, once everyone is hooked and can't live without Call Display, they up the rates to almost $10/mo. Don't tell me the technology required fpr CD has goten more expensive!.

And Satelite TV, the packages used to be Sports, Learning TV, Networks. Discovey and THC were in the same package. NOW, Shaw mixed them all up, AND won;t let you juist order Discovery alone. The popular channels are mixed with unpopular ones and you "have" to buy the package. it just infuriates me. But I can;t live without my Discovery LOL

Delphinus · #9 01-12-2010, 07:05 PM

Found the link. I dunno, it seems pretty fishy to me.

- First of all anything with that "As Seen on TV" logo is something that.. um .. OK I don't really know where I'm going with this other than it puts it it all into the same category as K-Tel Mini-Pops, It Slices It Dices, and "Hi Anthony Sullivan here, you can get CASH for your unwanted gold!".

- When I clicked away from the link, I got an automated popup saying "Are you sure! A LIVE AGENT would like to offer you a discount!" .. instant turn-off.

- Here's the thing. Most network channels allow streaming of their shows anyhow. So it makes me wonder if it's just some kind of data concentration service. Thing is if they are circumventing geographical restrictions (ie., if you're in Canada, you can't just go to abc.com and watch Lost, you need to do it from ctv.ca) then they'll likely be forced to change their model sooner or later and I bet you're out the $50 at that point.

sphelps · #10 01-12-2010, 08:02 PM

Yes essentially the "direct satellite" software is a kind of scam in the sense it's not exactly clear what it does and isn't exactly what it says it is. It's just a simple piece of software that is suppose to organize what are essentially links to live streams provided by TV networks. However I figure if they actually did a half decent job of it, it might still be worth $50 which really isn't much. I was curious if anyone has actually tried it, all the reviews online are obviously fake so it's hard to get a real feel for it. Either way I'm not saying this is the answer but I do believe the answer is related to the PC.

Anyways I'm off that idea and onto something else. I got a program called TED which stands for torrent episode downloader. Now this likely isn't 100% legal but in all fairness it's not that bad when you consider what's considered right and wrong these days. Plus if more people take this approach and ditch the cable companies they will be forced to lower there prices to attract more business. So it's a simple program if you're familiar with the torrent world and it simply allows you to set a schedule of your favorite shows and automatically downloads them once they become available, you can even set it to download HD quality only.

TED is a completely free program and if it works as good as it's suppose to I don't see the need for cable TV. You might end up watching your shows a day after everyone else but that's a small price to pay.

The main purpose of this thread is to see what others do for alternatives to the cable company. I'm personally sick of the system, even the fact you have to pay extra for HD in the same channels you already have and pay for. Then on top of that you have to pay additional HD fees for each additional TV. Then when you finally get around to watching something good it craps out on you and you miss part of all of the show. So exactly what are we paying for??