I have a Roku box running Plex. I use SickBeard to download all our tv series. I works great. A personal PVR with out comercials to skip through. Took a bit to get setup and running smoothly. NOT for the faint of heart. Just need to get GameCenter Live setup and I will be good to go. Just about ready to cut the cable. Still might miss the six oclock news though.
You may be able to cut your cable with SickBeard or Let Me Watch This, but you are replacing it with a service that requires copy write infringement (torrents and usenet sites). Don't get me wrong, this stuff is great for the viewer, but I've yet to come across anything truly free AND legal in Canada. And if you think about it, it will probably never happen. Content companies don't make stuff for free.
Actually, I'd disagree with you there Rob. Personally I find that after cutting the cord, there is more content available either at a modest fee, free, or Pay-Per-View that more than augments what I was paying for. Our old Bell Satellite service bundle ran north of $90 per month when adding the sports, movie and premium channels. I can watch the same content today using a combination of Netflix, HockeyStreams and PPV Movies for less than $20.
If you want to watch movies and TV shows -- Netflix Canada has a great lineup.
If you want to watch Canadian content, there's CBC, CTV etc that all stream their content via the web for free. YouTube, Vimeo and a bunch of other sites are also carrying network shows, music and more. None of that violates any copyright.
We're now even seeing networks like HBO move to provide direct to consumer content.
$139 to buy, $9.99 a month, Canada wide calling, one year plan they will port your existing number for free if not $39.99, pennies per minute US calling.I cancelled my Shaw phone too - went with Ooma. $99 one time cost (costco or others). $4 per month, unlimited long distance north america, voice mail and few other nice features like auto email if 911 dialed from home, voicemail to email, etc.
Cable gone along with the phone. I have broadband 50, speeds are usually 49-51 Mb/s download, so no complaints.