Apple TV vs Satellite in Canada

[powerman]

I live in rural Saskatchewan Canada, we are alittle behind the times. I am going to be getting high speed internet over the "new" 3g network that is coming to my region in sept. I have been searching for a while on this site, but have not found a thread that talks about going cable/sat free and using tv as there main source of tv, at least not since 2008. What are peoples thoughts of this, as I do not have any tv capability right now and watch dvds of old tv series, and movies. I am interested in HDTV content on tv. As well live sports or close too live sports.
Is there a better way to link my mac book pro to the tv? ie: airport, wireless networks. What do you the users prefer. Please remember I am new to mac as I have had my mac for 2 weeks but love it.

 

[BOSS10L]

Hey powerman, welcome to the Mac side of the pool. I switched almost 3 years ago after decades of building my own PCs, and I've not looked back since.

As far as the TV goes, it isn't a bad device, but I'd be a bit leery in recommending it to someone as their sole source of media content. Granted, there are many rumors circulating that Apple is planning on releasing a new TV soon; we don't know what the specifics will be.

I think the biggest problem that you're going to run into regardless of which route you go is the speed of your Internet connection. Granted, 3G is better than nothing or dial-up, but I wouldn't bet on it to be fast enough to serve your needs.

My personal opinion? Get your internet connection set up, and then use sites like hulu or even the major networks like ABC. See if it is decent when streaming and then you can make a more informed decision about what you want to do.

The other option might be an EyeTV from Elegato. Here's the website: http://www.elgato.com/ Check it out and see if it is something that might work for you.

Hopefully others will chime in, but from where I'm sitting, what you want to accomplish is doable, it's just a matter of how you'll get there.

 

[Winnterpeg]

..
My personal opinion? Get your internet connection set up, and then use sites like hulu or even the major networks like ABC..

Unfortunately those services are blocked in Canada. I think most of your HDTV viewing needs could be covered through AppleTV + iTunes, however at the current time, live TV (ie. news, sports, weather) are not available (yet? there have been old rumors swirling around subscriptions but nothing recent).

 

[BOSS10L]

Unfortunately those services are blocked in Canada. I think most of your HDTV viewing needs could be covered through AppleTV + iTunes, however at the current time, live TV (ie. news, sports, weather) are not available (yet? there have been old rumors swirling around subscriptions but nothing recent).

That sucks!

Yes, I would love to see an a la carte option for all television. We have 500 stations of DirecTV, and I only watch maybe 5 of them on a regular basis. Wasted money.

 

[3GEE]

I'm similar to the OP in that I am also wanting to ditch my tv satellite service. I pay a fortune every month for it and we only really watch a few stations.

I don't believe netflix or hulu are yet available in Canada (I could be wrong). I am watching the recent Apple iTV rumours closely, I would love to stream tv on demand. I just hope that they include the hockey Centre Ice channel right away.

 

[powerman]

What I am seeing is we are in a waiting game for the new Itv to come out in sept then we can see what is offered. I am hoping to be able to watch the ten or so shows that we like and not have the rest of the crap that comes with Sat. How is the movie rentals on Itunes? This would be better than having to drive 20 min to town and 20 min back to rent a movie then have to do the same thing the next day to return it.