Free HDTV!!

Well, it's been tested and confirmed. If you already pay for a Comcast Cable internet connection, you can get HDTV on your flat screen TV for FREE!! I just called Dish Network and canceled my contract with them. Of course, they're going to make me pay the $15 to send back the DVR. Bastards!

I've been wondering about it for a couple of months now. For the past week, I've been crawling under the house, hooking up my LCD to see what kinds of channels it can actually "see". The verdict- I can get a over 100 digital channels, but most of them are just the same channels in various formats. But I did get all the major TV networks, including NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox in high definition in a full screen (and not stretched) format. The pictures are crystal clear. Of course, your selection isn't going to have all the bells and whistles compared to if you are paying a provider. But you can get all the basic channels, plus a bunch of Chinese, Latin and Korean channels. I'm also able to get PBS, HSN and a bunch of other stations. I'm still figuring things out- it's still a work in progress for me. Yes, I am going to miss the free movie channels, ESPN, Food Network and the Travel Channels on Dish, but if I'm going to save $43 a month, I think I can deal with it. With my "new" life about to get moving in high gear, I doubt that I will have much time to watch TV anyway.

The next step is to build a DVR out of a Vista/Win7 box. I was shopping around the Web earlier and it looks like it's going to cost me about $60 to put in a card. Media Center is built into all the latest editions of Windows, so it should just be a drop-in operation!

I'm so happy!!