Padd Solutions

We were tired of paying nearly $80 a month for Dish Network. Even though we enjoyed the service (including the customer service), it just seemed ridiculous to pay so much money for television we didn't watch. Having 200 channels is nice, but since we only watched between 8 - 10 of them, it seemed like a waste. Really, who watches the Angel One network or Free Speech TV?

Moving to Houston has given us an opportunity for a clean break... or at least an attempt to cut the cord from cable/satellite providers.

I've spent the last two days searching for the best alternatives that (1) are easy for my wife to use since she's not a techie, (2) easily allow my daughter to watch her children's programming like Sesame Street, (3) allow us to rent moves, if we like, and (3) provide the most content.

I've considered all the front-line candidates:

• Apple TV
• Boxee Box
• Roku 2
• Google TV

Apple TV & Google TV both seem very limited, and I didn't love the interface of Roku and would prefer a web browser be included. Boxee Box seems to be the consensus winner, but I have hesitations about this device, as well.

So tomorrow I'm purchasing two things: an antenna for the TV, and a Boxee Box [What's Boxee Box? Click here.].

The antenna may bring visions of rabbit ears and snowy screens, but in the digital world, this is (supposed) to be a thing of the past. It'll allow us to get the local stations (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, PBS, and more) in HD content. From my reading, I hear the HD signal is better than the cable company provides.  Also, a lot of their content (including Grey's Anatomy) are streamable on their websites to watch on demand.

Boxee Box will then be my wife's center for apps that play movies and other TV shows. Netflix is an app currently available - although we do not have a subscription (and I'm not sure that will change).

Hulu Plus is an app not currently available, but should be available soon. I'm very interested in this app, and because their website says it's coming, I'll purchase the box. However, should it not show up, I'll be quite upset. The app is currently available through Roku, but I'm still gonna pass on that device.

Hopefully tomorrow, I come home with a winner... we'll see.