Five Steps to Cut the Cable/Satellite Cord and stream, Stream, STREAM to your TV!

If you've already read my previous post about streaming and the cloud and thinking "I'm ready, but I need concise instructions" then this is the post for you.

1. Inventory Check

So what do you have so far?

Internet connected TV-check.

Internet connected blu-ray player-check.

Video game console -check.

Digital Media Center -check.

Laptop with Blu-ray & HDMI -check.

Um, you haz everything? whattayadoinhya? Go sit on the couch!

2. What do you care most about?

Movies (Tier1:2-3 months from theatrical release)

Amazon Video on Demand, BestBuy/Roxio CinemaNow, VUDU, Kmart-Sears/Roxio Alphaline Entertainment, EpixHD, iTunes Store, Zune Store, PSN Store

all these services allow you to purchase a movie, but the availability dates vary wildly

Movies (Tier2:2-3 months from theatrical release+shipping time)

Netflix (Blu-Ray Discs/DVD)

Movies (Tier3:1month from DVD/Blu-Ray release)

Netflix (streaming), Hulu/HuluPlus

TV Shows

Stream (Latest): Hulu/HuluPlus

Stream (Older): Netflix

Digital Purchase: Amazon Video on Demand, BestBuy/Roxio CinemaNow, Kmart-Sears/Roxio Alphaline Entertainment, iTunes Store, Zune Store, PSN Store

Sports

ESPN3, MLBTV

Premium Content

HBO Go (just of matter of time for this to be an independent streaming service)

3. Make the most of what you have

Already have video game console (Wii, Xbox360, PS3)? Services like Pandora, Netflix, Hulu/HuluPlus, VUDU, Amazon Video on Demand are already available on these devices. Give it a whirl. Subscribe for a month and see how you like it. With an Xbox360 and AT&T uVerse you can experiment with some semi-cut the cord-services.

Have a laptop/desktop? All these services are available on a computer and probably the best environment to do a test drive. If you have the necessary cables to put your screen on your TV, give it a go to see how it looks. You could even invest in something like Veebeam which wirelessly transmits your lcomputer screen to your TV. But keep in mind that the content on computers are different definition from the content on TVs. For example the if you rented the movie Inception on your computer's Amazon VOD site it would be in 480p standard definition (SD) whereas on the Amazon app on your TV/media device you are able to rent the (HD) high definition 720p/1080p version.

4. If you're already planning to buy a....

Video game console: Keep in mind that a Wii can play CDs, Xbox360 CDs+DVDs and PS3 CDs+DVDs+Blu-Rays.

Laptop: Get one with a blu-ray player and an HDMI output. That'll make it super easy to watch Blu-Rays and online streaming content directly on your TV with just an hdmi cable.

Digital Media Center: You have three great options; Roku, Boxee or AppleTV. GigaOM has an excellent article on trying to make this decision.

Blu-ray/DVD player: Get an internet connected one. If you can wait, then wait. Black Friday 2010 had internet blu-ray players at close to $50. The prices are definitely falling as streaming becomes more popular.

5. Baby Steps

Moving away from cable is hard.

Start with a Netflix subscription on your laptop, see how it works out. Amazon Video on Demand and VUDU typically provide you with around $5 credit just for setting up an account. You can rent an HD movie to see how you like the service. With a nice HD tv and surround sound system, that's about 1/10th the cost of a movie theatre date!

I have an internet connected TV with apps on it. As new apps get released, I can download it on my TV. I have access to Amazon Video on Demand, Netflix and VUDU to name a few. I also have an Xbox 360, so I have access to the same content plus the Zune Store and ESPN3.

There is a great article by Mark Glaser @ PBS MediaShift. It is a bit dated (Jan 2010) but still worth a click here, where you can read about how others went about to cut the cord.

Good luck, Wannabe Techie!

source(s): GigaOm, PBS

image: Mark. A. Hicks. http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/clip/thinkingcapwhoa.html