Ed,

We don't get any OTA reception to make putting
an antenna feasible though.

Have you checked your location at www.antennaweb.org?

You might need a larger antenna, but I would be very surprised if you
couldn't get ANY OTA reception.

I'd still need a decoder as most everything we
watch is on the encrypted channels. History,
TLC, Science, Nat Geo and all pay-for.

You can still use GBPVR and the tuner cards with cable boxes, but you
have to use IR emitters and whatnot if you want to change channels. You
would also need a box for each tuner if you wanted to record more than
one show. I've never looked into that, but I know people on the GBPVR
forum discuss it all the time and could probably provide more info.

Also, I thought I read somewhere that most cable companies carry the
local broadcast stations unencrypted (Free QAM). The cable companies
usually won't tell you that though, as they want you to rent the box.
But, I haven't looked into that in a while, so that could be outdated
info.

How is the resolution on the Blu Ray downloads? I understand they cut
the resolution if you have a slower connection. Seems like a handy
way of getting movies though.

Are you talking about Netflix? If so, I really haven't paid much
attention to the resolution, as some movies are SD and others are in HD.
I don't know what res the HD movies default to, though the quality
setting changes depending on the speed of your network connection. I
have a 42" plasma and have been pleasantly suprised by the quality of the
Instant viewing.

Of course, only a small subset of the Netflix movies are available for
instant viewing, mostly old movies, or those that are less popular. You
won't find many (any?) new releases for instant viewing.

Also, I think Netflix downloads are limited to stereo audio. Last I
checked, 5.1 audio is not available.

If you're talking about torrent downloads, the quality is whatever the
person who encoded it used. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it's
horrible. Sometimes the picture is excellent, but the audio is in a
foreign language. But, I limit my torrent downloads to TV shows I
can't record myself, and rent Blu-rays through Netflix.

Take care,

Anthony