If you're like me and pay for cable television but rarely watch it, it may have crossed your mind to cancel your service completely. I enjoy television as much as the next person but personally the number and length of commercials has just sent me over the edge. Because of this, I have been pondering on whether or not to cancel my service for a long time. Though, not having TV at all just seems weird. Through my journeys through cyberspace I've noticed that there is a lot of content available online. I've also noticed that many popular shows are available on both Hulu and the major network websites. If you own a LCD or plasma TV and you have a spare laptop or desktop, you can hook that baby up to your TV, cancel cable and boom! Remember too that if your TV has a built in HD turner you can buy an antenna and receive local HD channels over the air for free. You can buy antenna's at just about any retail store that has an electronics department. When buying an antenna remember that even though some are advertised as "HDTV antenna's", there is no difference between digital HD and any other antenna. It's just a marketing thing. There is however a difference in quality between antennas. I recommend one that is designed to set outside.
If you're a hardcore channel flipper or someone that follows a certain show religiously and has to see it the night it premiers then this is probably not an option for you but for the rest of us I think it might work and save some money too. You can also subscribe to Netflix and then you will have movies as well. Netflix offers a wide selection of streaming movies too. Though many of them are not new releases and sometimes the selection seems to suck, their library of "Watch it now" is improving.
If your wondering about connecting your PC to your television you will need a VGA, DVI, DVI to HDMI, or HDMI cable. All of these can be purchased at your local Wal-Mart. Once connected just go to your Display properties in Windows and select the second monitor (for laptops) and set the resolution. If you have a desktop you can simply connect it to the TV and use it as your monitor. 720p and 1080p LCD's make great computer monitors!
Connections back of TV:
:Cables:
VGA
Also, HDMI is the only cable that carries an audio signal along with video. If you use VGA or DVI you will need to connect your PC to external speakers or an audio receiver via your PC's sound card or headphone jack.
Once you have your TV connected it works just like your monitor so you can use your PC for everything else too. I recommend a wireless keyboard and mouse. Newegg has wireless keyboards with integrated Touchpads so you don't have to worry with the mouse.
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