This past weekend I decided it was time to turn my Samsung television back into an entertainment system.  Having disconnected from all forms of Comcast – I had no “TV” for the past few days. In fact, for the moment, I’m actually connected to one of three open wiFi connections here in the lower SE of Portland that I get in my apartment – so I have zero cost for internet.  Soon I might get my own connection, but for now it’s hard to beat – and a welcome relief from $45/month internet bills and $85/month cable bills.

I am by no means a “tech” guy – and there may be other (possibly better) ways to accomplish this, but because folks have been asking, here’s basically what I did.

To connect my Apple iMac to my Samsung I needed to purchase two cables (as well as some audio cables to connect the iMac to my stereo).

The first cable is a MINI-DVI to DVI Adapter Cable

This just plugs into the back of the iMac – and connects to the second cable, the HDMI to DVI-D Cable:

This cable then plugs into the back of my television in the HDMI slot. As I mentioned, I also hooked up my iMac to my stereo through the headphone jack.

At this point, the television now becomes an additional monitor for the iMac.  You can manage all of this by pulling up the SYSTEM PREFERENCES panel, and selecting DISPLAYS.

On the ARRANGEMENT tab you can determine the placement of your new desktop.  I personally keep mine to the middle-lefthand side.  It’s a bit bizarre using the mouse with two monitors, but you quickly adapt (definitely time to purchase that wireless mouse). You’ll notice that when you pulled up the DISPLAYS window, a similar window appeared on your television’s desktop.  The settings for screen resolution on your TV are different than on your computer, and you can adjust these as you need (mine worked fine in the default settings).  Also, under OPTIONS, make sure OVERSCAN is NOT checked.

You can now slide whatever windows or applications over to this new desktop. And prepare to dust off that Apple Remote – you now finally have a real use for it.  Control the volume and interface with the apps listed below from the comfort of your couch.

Okay – so now I have a computer screen on my TV – but that’s sure as hell not cable television.

So now that you have internet on your television – it’s time to grab a few applications to make experience complete.  While it’s certainly not the HD quality I was getting with cable, that whole “free” thing really makes up for a bit of pixellation. Plus the variety and on-demand nature of the content is hard to beat. There’s lots of great content out there – but below is a list of my favorite apps and sites. I’ll post more when I find them – and feel free to comment with your own.

BOXEE – www.boxee.tv {FREE}

Boxee is a kick-ass application that grabs content from all the best online services (some of which are listed below) – and manages everything for you in one simple interface.  They also make improvements to the existing interfaces of many of my favorites, like Pandora and Netflix.  By saving all my accounts and logins, I don’t have to keep signing into sites – and I can search across all my providers.

It also does a pretty good job of managing local media files as well – and while it hasn’t replaced iTunes as my source for music – it’s definitely replaced Pandora.com. It’s also got a good selection of video streaming services I hadn’t discovered previously.

HULU - http://www.hulu.com {FREE}

For those of you who haven’t yet discovered Hulu – prepare to see the first glimpse of what life without Cable could be like. All your favorite shows – when you want to watch them.  What a wild concept. Now granted, it helps that they have Simpson, Family Guy and Futurama and I’m a nut for cartoons – but they also have a pretty solid (and growing) collection of “real” shows too.

In addition to their website, Hulu is available through Boxee – you simply have to provide your login details – and you can begin browsing the entire online selection of shows.  Personally, I think the Boxee version of Hulu is easier than the website version.

NETFLIX – http://www.netflix.com

I was never a “video rental” sorta person – and the notion of having 3 DVDs mailed to me seems insane.  But when I discovered they now had 12,000 movies available to stream from the website – I took notice.  I got the most basic plan (and the DVD has been sitting here for about a month now) – but now I can search through tons of movies I haven’t seen. Granted, there aren’t as many new releases as you might like (although I imagine that will change) – but when the cost is almost nothing – you can take a chance on some older fare.

The Boxee interface for Netflix is really great – and being able to browse the movies from the same main interface window on your TV, rather than having to work with a web browser is great.

TED TALKS – http://www.ted.com/ {FREE}

Anyone who follows me on Facebook probably already knows about Ted Talks – but it’s definitely one of the best websites out there for amazing presentations about absolutely fascinating topics. Scientists, philosophers, artists and like share their observations on a variety of topics from cutting edge science to rewriting history.

Always inspiring – the talks range anywhere from two minutes to thirty minutes, and can be an excellent break at work when you need to think about something else for just a few minutes.  The menu on the site does a great job of breaking up presentations into their general themes, as well as connecting presentation you’ve already watched to other areas of interest.

If you’re looking for a place to start, three of my favorite are:

Jill Bolte Taylor’s stroke of insight

Janine Benyus shares nature’s designs

Ramachandran on your mind

and if that ain’t enough entertainment – there’s always YouTube.

Filed under: Homelife, Television by gspies
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