Make my iMac a Media Center PC

I've just had the first big problem with my 4 year old iMac. There is a huge white line down the middle of the screen that I can't see behind. This is an annoyance, but I've also wanted to hook my computer up to my 52" television, so I consider this the perfect excuse. I just ordered a cable that will let me use my television as a display, and down the road I'm going to get a wireless keyboard with a trackpad on it so I can use the computer from the couch.

This actually might end up saving me some money. Because of the increasing amount of video content online, I may soon be able to do away with cable, since most of the shows I watch are online for free. I should be able to watch Netflix "watch now" movies, since I have Windows through Virtual PC, so that will cut down on my Blockbuster trips.

Getting rid of cable

This past week I did some research on the Netflix Roku player. It's a $99 box that links with your Netflix "watch now" account, allowing you to watch all that content online (The $99 is a one time charge, there's no monthly fee for the box). There is a fair amount of content right now, with some movies as well as TV shows (including The Office!). Plus, this past week Roku announced that the Roku player would be adding new content partners as well, such as Youtube and Hulu, which would be incredible.

My thinking on all this is; our cable costs around $90 a month, and we really only watch about twenty channels out of the 400 we pay for. For an unlimited Netflix "watch now" account, it's only $8.95 a month, and that includes getting actual DVDs every month. That's a savings of $80 a month! That's $960 a year! I could almost buy a macbook!

It's a tough sell to my wife right now, because the shows she watches now aren't available on Netflix or Hulu, and it could be a while before they add them, if they ever do. I am a firm believer that either cable companies will start offering channels al a carte or more and more ad supported content will be moved online. This makes for an exciting future, but I'm still paying that cable bill in the present.

Has anyone gone the cable less route? Do you love it? Hate it? Miss some of the content that you used to enjoy? Let me know.