Even when I had cable I would use Popcorn Time behind a VPN for TV shows. No messing with DVR that may or may not actually record the show. Nice Netflix-style

Even when I had cable I would use Popcorn Time behind a VPN for TV shows. No messing with DVR that may or may not actually record the show. Nice Netflix-style list of available programs and the ability to bookmark favorites and see if there were any new episodes. I'm sure if I had felt like setting it up, usenet automation + Plex server would have been even better but this was simple enough. Again, I had cable and I had a cable box but it was that much easier to watch streaming torrents that I still watched unlicensed recordings like that. Basically, if you are going to charge me a monthly fee to borrow some set top box, you need to make the set top box worth the expense. My only "legit" option was something that looked like a 1998 leftover that barely worked, worked slowly, and cost me almost $10/month to borrow. If I wanted one of the nicer boxes, I had to sign up for unrelated services like some "triple play" with phone service included. Not happening.