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This is the final article in a 3 part series entitled, Television on the Web.

Be sure to checkout Part 1, “Is it Right for Me?” or Part 2, “Streaming Services” for more information.

Ok, so you’ve decided that cutting the cord to cable is right for you. You’ve picked the services you’d like to use. Now it’s time to find the right device.

There are a few factors to consider here. What you want to watch and how you want to watch it. Also, what ecosystem you use and finally price.

The list of which services play on which box is changing so fast that adding it to this article would risk putting outdated information. Instead, I recommend looking through the list of devices and deciding which ones support the way you intend to view your content and then doing further research to see if they support the streaming services you’re that interest you.

Some commonalities, with the exception of some low end budget boxes, expect to see HDMI and 1080p HD video. Also, wireless is the standard for these digital media devices. With the exception of the Boxee Box, they are all pretty small and unobtrusive.

Apple TV
Cost: $99

Odds are, you already have a bias to Apple products. Either you love their design and services and already own several Apple devices, use the iTunes store and generally like them, or you think they’re pricy, pretentious and have no intention of buying anything with a half-eaten piece of fruit on it.

Honestly, let that be your guide. Even if the services fit your need, if you don’t like the company, don’t invest in their products. To really get the full experience, you need to be part of the full Apple ecosystem.

That said, Apple TV has many of the popular services and also will allow you to play TV shows, movies and music from your iTunes library. You can also make purchase from iTunes directly from the devices and also stream content from your iPad and iPhone via Airplay.

The apple TV is definitely one of the strongest in this category.

Roku
Cost: from $49-$99 depending on which one you choose.

So, if you’re not interested in the Apple TV, then the Roku XS deserves a strong look. There is an active app developer base and new apps are appearing here all of the time. Nearly every service except for iTunes and Youtube are available on the Roku.

The interface is easy to use, if space and the system is overall solid and stable. Even the non-tech folks in your house won’t have any challenges using the Roku.

WD TV Live
Price $99 – $200

If I was starting from scratch, the offerings from Western Digital would be a compelling choice. You have two serious options here. The WD TV Live and the WD TV Live Hub. The first is more of a player but can also playback movies stored on an external drive. The second has a 1 TB drive that actually stores those shows and movies to the internal drive. This is a great option if you want a nice seamless setup and also plan to backup all of your DVDs.

Of course, you also have the streaming services like with the other devices in this article.

I like the $99 WD TV Live here. I don’t want to limit myself to the 1 TB in the Hub version.

The Boxee Box
Price: ~$165

Boxee started as a program that you could install on a home theater PC. They have since switched to the external box in your living room concept. To call it a box is a bit of a misnomer. its more of a pyramid-like thing. You’ll either love it or hate it.

The Boxee Box does a lot of things. Media server, streaming services, social media integration, a lot. What it doesn’t have is Hulu. Without that, I’m not interested. If you can live without it, well then this might be a good choice if you can get past it’s looks.

Smart TVs
Price: $500 – Sky’s the Limit

The segment of smart TV is large and growing. In fact, it’s hard to really find a “dumb” tv anymore. You might even already have one and not know it.

The smart TVs are great if you are already in the market to upgrade your TV. I would not, however, go out and buy a new TV just for the so called smarts. How smart is it to pay a several hundred dollar premium for a smart TV when you can easily add the same functionality with a little box sitting under your TV for $100.

Also another consideration, how often do you upgrade your TV? If you plan on holding onto your TV for 5-10 years will you have access to the next big unannounced service coming down the road?

If you like the idea of having the whole solution integrated into one device, then take a look at the offerings from Samsung and Panasonic. They really have some great looking TVs.

Gaming Consoles
Price: Lots

If you’re a gamer, you’ve got a way to watch most streaming services in the Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3. If you’re not a gamer, don’t go buying a gaming console just to watch Netflix.

Well, that’s it. Three articles get you closer to freedom from the cable company and freedom from a ridiculous cable bill.

What do you think? What did I miss? What questions do you have? Please comment.

Two of the most popular ways to cut the cord to cable TV is to use a Roku box or an Apple TV. Which one is right for you?

We’re stacking up the Apple TV 3rd generation with the comparable Roku XS.

Price

They’re both $99. The similarities don’t end there.

Roku does offer other models that start at $49. You can check them out here.

Hardware

So, neither of these little rectangular boxes has anything remarkable on the outside. They’re basically  1″ x 3″ x 3″ squares that sit under your TV. The Apple TV is ever so slightly larger but for all practicality, the same. The Apple TV does feel sturdier, but I don’t plan on throwing them across the room.

If you flip them around and look at the back, you’ll notice a similar set of connectors.

Roku 2 XS Rear

Apple TV 3rd Gen Rear

Both have HDMI and Ethernet but the Roku has AV out and a slot for micro SD and the Apple TV has a slot for optical audio. I do like the ability to play videos off of the micro SD card slot on the Roku. Also, the Roku has a USB connector that can be used to play back video from a hard drive.

If you aren’t using a TV with HDMI, you’re only choice is the Roku.

The remotes are also very similar. They’re small, simple and well designed. Both setups also allow you to use your phone as a remote.

Winner: Roku

User interface

So both systems use icons for their various channels. Both interfaces are snappy and responsive without any noticeable lag. The Apple TV’s interface is more convenient because you can see all of your channels and once, while you’ll be doing some scrolling left and right with the Roku. Also, Roku does display an ad at the bottom of the home screen.

Apple TV Interface

Roku 2 XS Interface

Winner: Apple TV

Setup

Easy as can be with both of them. If you can hook up a toaster, you can install these guys. The directions are simple to follow. You’ll need to set up an account with Roku and the Apple TV but Roku does collect credit card info so you can make purchases from the channel store. In reality, you’ll need to give Apple all of that info to make use of the Apple TV to its fullest.

Winner: Tie

Quality

You’ll get 1080P, 5.1 Surround sound and supper fast 802.11n WiFi. No real differences here.

Winner: Tie

Content

Roku is the big boy in this category.

Apple has Netflix, Hulu, MLB.TV, NHL, NBA, Flickr and YouTube. You can also purchase/rent content from iTunes.

Related: Cord Cutter Guide

The Roku answers with Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, Amazon Instant, Spotify, Vimeo, Pandora and about 300 other channels of various uses. There is also a channel for Plex Media Server. Notice there is no YouTube channel with Roku. If that’s a must, then Apple TV is your box.

Winner: Roku

Play Content from your Computer

As you might expect, the Apple TV interfaces beautifully with your iTunes library. All of your purchases will be available to all of your other Apple devices. If you already own a bunch of Apple devices, have a lot of iTunes purchases and are bought into the Apple ecosystem then the no-brainer choice here is an Apple TV. You’ll even be able to use Apple Airplay to stream content straight from your iPad or iPhone.

If you’re not tied into the Apple world of products and content then you might want to give the Roku a good hard look. You can stream video from your computer but you’ll need media server software like XBMC or Plex Media server installed on the computer.

Winner: Apple

Music

With Apple TV, you have your iTunes library. That’s it when it comes to music. With Roku, you’ve got Spotify, Pandora, and about a dozen other options including radio services.

Winner: Roku

Conclusion

If you’re an Apple person, then go with the Apple TV. It’s just the right move. If you want a lot more channels and more options when it comes to getting content then Roku is your box.

Buy Roku 2 XS 1080p                                              Buy Newest Apple TV 

What do you think? What is the big deciding factor for you?

If it seems like your cable bill is on a steady climb, then you’re right. In 2011, the average cable bill was $128, up from just $48 in 2001, according to the Wall Street Journal. With a 300% jump in just a few years, many folks are thinking about ways to cut back on services by dropping to lower tier channel packages, but even the most basic packages are pricey. Worse, most of the really popular channels are in higher priced packages.

So what is a budget conscience consumer to do?

In recent years, there has been a small but growing group of consumers who are disconnecting their cable TV services and switching to streaming video. They use various services such as Netflix and Hulu to stream content to their digital media device such as Apple TV, Roku, or their smart TVs.

Is it right for me

If you’re interested in kicking the cable TV habit, you’ve got to look at how you watch TV. If you are addicted to your shows and tend to watch them religiously, then going with streaming could be a great fit for you. Some shows may not be available to stream or you’ll have to wait until the day after it is broadcast to watch it. If your show isn’t offered under one of the subscription based services, almost certainly you will be able to buy the episode for $1.99 for Vudu or Amazon or for $2.99 for iTunes.

If you’re a big sports fan, then you’ll have a hard time. There are some offerings from MLB.TV and the NHL but you won’t have the same experience as switch to ESPN and getting 24 hours of wall-to-wall sports coverage.

Also, you’ll want to make sure you have access to decent internet speeds. According to Netflix and Hulu, you need a minimum of 1.5 Mbps but remember that you’ll need more bandwidth for every box you add to your network. 5 Mbps should be more than enough to get streaming HD TV and movies.

Depending on which hardware option you choose, you’ll probably need to set up wireless internet if you don’t already have it. If you don’t all you need is a simple wireless access point. Don’t let your internet provider charge you to add wireless to your internet service, they’re ripping you off.

You can checkout my favorite wireless router: Securifi Almond – World’s 1st Touch Screen Wireless Router.

Checkout Television on the Web pt. 2 “Streaming Services?”

Is this the Future of TV?

New look, new name, but same focus on the future of TV. Give it a look.

So, conflicting reports across the internet speculate that Apple is planning a March event centered around TV.

Appleinsider reported the March event, passing on a speculation of a March release to developers and an Oct/Nov product release, but is now backing away.

Speculations were already projecting 2 million units would be sold 4Q this year.

I think that while the dates and specifics are questionable, the existence of an iTV some time in the near future is almost certain.

What do you think about a possible iTV? Would you buy one?

My Crappy Cable

We used to have everything the cable company offered. We had hundreds of channels, HD movies, DVR, the works. And to be blunt, they all sucked.

Half the channels were in Spanish, the HD images were horribly compressed, the DVR was clunky and we paid way too much.

Back in May 2011 I paid my last $150 cable bill. We shutoff the cable TV and the bundled land line phone that was never hooked up. We were left with $45/month for internet.

Back to Rabbit Ears

At first, the pendulum went a little too far.

I went and bought one of those little boosted antennas and hooked it up to see just what was being broadcast over-the-air. I set the TV to auto scan and waited as it searched for all of the free HD content I knew was out there.

It found 9 channels.

After closer inspection, I realized that 3 were in Spanish and 2 were televangelism channels.

After 4 days, I threw in the towel and went shopping for another option.

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We’ve come a long way since the days of 3 channels and rabbit ears.

I can stream HD movies and TV shows to my Roku HD with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. I can store limitless amounts of video on my plex server and stream them to my iphone and watch them where ever and when ever I want.

So, the question is… Have we arrived?

Is this the content consuming utopia we all dreamed about? No.

Streaming services have limited catalogs, next-day-air services like hulu still make us wait until the next day to watched their limited offerings of shows. Copyright holders are still afraid that we’re some how getting something for free and taking money out of their wallets.

We’re not there yet, but it’s coming.

So what does the future hold for us?

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