Cut your cable and save big $$$!!!

NOTE: XBMC IS NOW KODI

I cut my cable last year and haven't looked back!

My cable bill was killing my budget at over $150 a month! After telling my local cable provider to take their overpriced product, that forced me to purchase a bunch of crap channels I NEVER watched, and stick it in the west end of an eastbound cow! I am now happily spending $45 a month on my home entertainment And not missing a single show! How you ask? Keep reading..

I purchased a digital antenna (external) that I connected to my existing cable connection that allows me to service all tv's in the house with a single antenna. Mind you, most local channels are broadcast in HD and the quality rivals or exceeds that of cable! It provides me with about 30 Channels and I will give the model # and an ensuing review in the very near future.

What if I told you, you can watch any tv show or movie (many before release on blue ray and some before they even release in theatres) for FREE!! NOTHING! NADA! Do I have your attention now?

Most people would say, "go buy a Roku, or Chrome Cast, or Apple TV box." I say ABSOLUTELY NOT! Buy yourself an Android based tv box. What is it you ask? Simply put, imagine an Android tablet with your tv being the display. These work with any tv and DO require an internet connection, hence my $45 a month fee.

These Android devices differ from the aforementioned Roku, Chrome Cast and Apple devices by way of the apps you can run. For instance all these devices run Netflix and Hulu, but you have to pay monthly subscriptions to access these services and content is very limited (good luck watching the latest episodes of The Walking Dead or the newest released movies).

The Android boxes run several different apps including Showbox, HD Cinema, and XBMC all absolutely free and no subscriptions or commercials. If you currently own an Android phone, Google Showbox or HD Cinema and download those apps to get a feel for what I'm talking about. You'll love them! And then imagine that being on your TV!

XBMC is a whole lot more powerful but, more complicated to use. It's like an entertainment operating system within your Android operating system. It has its own apps or add-ons as they are referred and each one offers something different. Besides tv shows and movies, you can also find live streams of sporting events, tv, and movies. Keep in mind live streams are NOT HD, and that's where you'll toil with saving money versus picture quality and ease of operation (keep reading for a hack on this problem).

Remember, it is streaming and while you can watch your favorite shows live, albeit in 1980's definition, most shows are best watched later in high quality and usually within an hour of airing! Which means for those living on the West Coast, you can usually get access to those shows before air time, due to East coast time difference.

The Android box of my choice is the SkystreamX (full review to come in a later blog). I chose this device because it comes pre-programmed with apps and add-ons, minimizing the time it takes to set up, especially with regards to XBMC.

If you're a tech savvy person and want to jump in both feet and start saving money, go for it! You won't regret it! For everyone else, remember, there is a bit of a learning curve and nothing is guaranteed. It's NOT cable! And there's an acclamation period you'll have to go through before you become comfortable with cutting your cable. FYI, my wife was slow to accept and one might say, she hated losing cable in the beginning but now speaks highly of it, and recommends it to others.
But, if you started by purchasing your Android device ($178) and downgraded your cable to a lesser package, over time you'll still save money and might gain the confidence to get rid of cable all together.

As for the live tv hack. Many of us have close friends and family that wouldn't mind lending you their login for their cable provider allowing you access to their online streaming services, which would make viewing live sports and other shows more enjoyable. Most stations provide for live online streaming of their programming with an eligible login. And some cable providers (xfinity) have their own one stop live tv streaming web page. Just hook your laptop to the TV via HDMI cable and voila! Now you're watching your favorite team in all its glory live, in HD and free!

Now for the legals! Current copyright law states that while downloading a movie or tv show onto a physical storage device without paying for it is considered theft, streaming that same content to a display without storing it is NOT! Meaning, you can view whatever you want, as many times as you want, and as long as you don't keep a digital copy of it on a storage device, you are operating within the law!

And lastly when I mentioned watching movies before they release in the theaters, I wasn't lying! There's an awesome phenomenon that happens every year between December and February, it's called, Awards season!!!
And during this time many movies that have not been released yet are trying to win awards and they accomplish this by distributing what is known as a "DVD Screener".  Its purpose is to allow the award judges to view a movie in private. Many times copies of these screeners find their way online giving people like myself the chance to be far ahead of the rest of the movie going public. For instance, here are a few of the movies I watched in the comfort of my own home weeks before they released at theatres, American Sniper, Unbroken, Birdman, Annie, The Imitation Game just to name a few. And most movies find themselves online weeks before releasing to home media.

As for TV shows, you'll find them all there, organized by season and episode! I miss absolutely nothing and least of all my Cable bill!

Be sure to check back for reviews of the equipment I use and for other money saving life hacks!