Step 3: The Decision

When we were ready to "dump the dish," there were not quite as many choices as there are today.  When I say choices, I am referring to the growing number of platforms that are available to help you bring the internet into your living room - via your TV.  There seems to be a new one everyday, and each one is marketed as more user friendly than the last.  Just a few of the more popular ones are Google TV, Boxee, Apple TV, Roku, and WD TV.

Another available option is often referred to as a Home Theater Personal Computer or HTPC.  If you asked 10 people "what is a HTPC", you would probably get 10 different answers.  However, for the purpose of this blog we will use the term HTPC to simply refer to a computer that is being used as a dedicated media device to bring content to your TV.

For our family, the decision was fairly easy to make.  We elected to go with a HTPC, because it would allow us to achieve 100% of our goal (see last blog post).  All of the other available options, in our opinion, would have required the sacrifice of at least some portion of our goal.

As I mentioned, there are many more options that are available today when compared to the timeframe when we made our decision.  However, I can say that I would make the exact same decision if I were asked to decide today.  I say that not only because our set-up has worked so flawlessly, but also because I feel that no other current option is as functional as a HTPC.  While I do not have first-hand experience with all of the other options, I have read a great deal about many of them.  While there are some really great user-friendly features that many of these options include, I feel that each of them has at least one weakness.  Those weaknesses are differenet depending on the platform, but can include: 1) access blocked by the content provider, 2) no full functioning web browser, 3) additional fees 4) no DVR capabilities and 5) no TV tuner.

Perhaps one of these other platforms would serve your needs, but for us, none of them could offer everything that is offered by a HTPC.