Ridding myself of Cable TV providers

[jebatty]

This morning wife and I agreed, and we canceled *ishTV. We've been talking about doing this for quite awhile now. It's done. We have Roku with Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Vudu, along with many free streaming channels. I think our life will be for the better. Happy New Year!

 

[woodgeek]

We had been streaming Netflix through our Blu-Ray on the TV for years, and watching everything else on a laptop screen. That player died due to Sandy (?) and I just ordered a Roku 2 XD for $80. Looks like a great selection of 'channels' including Amazon and HBOtogo (we watch several HBO series). Looked at Apple TV, but we rarely do video/movie content from iTunes, and no amazon or HBO (except if we mirror from a laptop web browser).

The question....can I pay HBO for HBOtogo and still cancel my cable....anyone done it?

 

[jebatty]

The Roku offered a lot more channels than our blue-ray DVD player, and also is much more dependable. Very satisfied, although once in awhile it loses the wif-fi network. We live in a rural area and buy quite a bit through Amazon, and the Prime option with "free" instant video, plus free 2-day shipping, seems to make it worth the annual charge. Crackle is pretty good on free movies, although it includes brief advertising about every 15 minutes. Lots of other good and free channels, still learning.

 

[abrucerd]

The question....can I pay HBO for HBOtogo and still cancel my cable....anyone done it?

I'm pretty sure HBO still requires you to have a Cable subscription to use HBO go:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technol...nt-standalone-hbo-app-simply-t-160034085.html

 

[hotprinter]

The interface on Apple TV is really slick. You can use you iPad or iPhone or iPod touch to stream any of your content and even mirror whatever is on your IOS device or Mac. There is also an app called remote which is a really nice remote control and works great for searching YouTube. Apple is getting ready to do for TV what the iPod did for music and what the iPad did for tablets. Be watching. One of our favorite things to do with company is to have them show their videos from their phone wirelessly on our big screen.

 

[SIERRADMAX]

I'm not sure if other Cable companies are doing just this but mine has us by the ball$. They have their "Bundle" packages where you save money by "bundleing" cable, internet, & phone. I was paying $160/mo. for these three services in their "bundle". I looked at my bill and noticed I was being charged $20/mo. for phone. I persued dropping phone and adding magic jack figuring I would save about $15/mo. So I scheduled to have this changed and what I learned was that I dropped out of my "bundle" package and my new bill would be $155/mo. without phone... Go Figure.

Anyone know how the HULU thing works?

 

[jebatty]

By dropping satellite, we severed our bundle of phone, internet and satellite TV. The 2-year contract had expired. I then called the phone company to see what could be done to reduce charges for phone and internet, and wonder of wonders, we got better pricing from the phone company that resulted in land line long distance from 30 minutes/month to unlimited + internet speed increase from 5 to 15 Mbps at a price CHEAPER that our prior service. No TV in the "bundle" wasn't even a consideration. Savings now are about $80/month less $7/month to add Amazon Prime (already had Netflix streaming). The new price is good for a year, no contract, and the phone company rep said when the year is up it is likely that a better deal will be available. Competition from cellular phone and data plans seems to be the reason the phone company is offering more for less $.

 

[abrucerd]

Savings now are about $80/month less $7/month to add Amazon Prime (already had Netflix streaming)

Do you notice much difference in streaming content between Netflix & Amazon Prime? I've only poked around and at the surface they look pretty much the same.

 

[Elle]

I'm not sure if other Cable companies are doing just this but mine has us by the ball$. They have their "Bundle" packages where you save money by "bundleing" cable, internet, & phone. I was paying $160/mo. for these three services in their "bundle". I looked at my bill and noticed I was being charged $20/mo. for phone. I persued dropping phone and adding magic jack figuring I would save about $15/mo. So I scheduled to have this changed and what I learned was that I dropped out of my "bundle" package and my new bill would be $155/mo. without phone... Go Figure.

Anyone know how the HULU thing works?

You mean the Hulu Plus? I tried it for about a day. I had a hard time navigating it and I found the shows that I wanted to watch on regular Hulu were not on Hulu Plus which seemed really odd to me. HP just wasn't even worth the entire week to try for me. I also don't like that they do not really show you what is on Plus until you sign up for the trial. To me, regular hulu is better.

 

[Elle]

Do you notice much difference in streaming content between Netflix & Amazon Prime? I've only poked around and at the surface they look pretty much the same.

I've noticed a few things here and there that amazon prime has that netflix does not but I think overall netflix has a better selection. Amazon seems to get the new episodes of tv series a few days earlier but other than that....pretty much the same. I get the student price for prime right now...when I actually have to go to full price I will have to the value a bit more.

 

[TradEddie]

Welcome to the club! We've been nine years without cable, only OTA, Netflix, and occasional Redbox. Unless you're a sports fan, you won't regret it.

TE

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

Pawn shops are a great source for movies. One local shop has many to choose from and will sell 18 for $20, plus you can sell them back when you're done. I know this is an obsolete technology, but Netflix has limited movies and our library selection is always heavily picked over