# Have you gone internet-only?



## legalskier (Dec 8, 2011)

During Thanksgiving some of our younger family members mentioned how they no longer use the triple play option, but instead have pared it down to internet-only. No phone land line. No cable. Not even over-the-air digital tv. No, they stream everything. One streams off his x-box, another from his laptop wirelessly to a flat screen tv. Evidently Netflix and a sports package is all they need- they say it saves money.

So I'm wondering: has anyone here gone internet-only?  If so, what kind of setup do you use?  Are you happy with it?


----------



## riverc0il (Dec 8, 2011)

I haven't had cable TV ever since moving out of my parents house. That would have been 2002, I think? I only got a land line because I needed dial up for internet because I couldn't get cable or DSL. 2004, I moved and got DSL and ditched the land line. 2005 we ditched cell phones for two years in VT and went VOIP. Now we are back to cell phones. Throughout those ten years, never had cable TV, DVDs only. We have cable internet and Netflix but that is it. So this sort of thing isn't anything new nor driven solely by up and coming millennials, it is just becoming more prevalent.

What I really wish I could do without is mail and checks. Ick. Due to living in a condo, we don't get USPS delivery so I have to pay yearly for a PO Box (mostly for gear deliveries as if UPS or FedEx reroutes my home delivery to USPS it fails, don't get me started...). I've gone paperless almost everywhere I can. The stupid town and state still need checks for registration and so does my condo association for dues. Waste of time and paper.


----------



## snoseek (Dec 8, 2011)

http://www.free-tv-video-online.me/

That's all the tv/movies I could ever watch in a lifetime. A good wifi is all i really ask. I use a minute phone and burn 25 dollars a month on it-almost never more. I hate hate hate any sort of monthly commitment for any kind of service. I drives me crazy!

Riv I hear you about the check free thing. I actually buy two or three money orders a year for those things like registration ect....everthing else is cash or debit for me


----------



## o3jeff (Dec 8, 2011)

Interesting thread. Going to watch it to see what options others are using for tv. I would love to cancel cable tv since it's the biggest waste of money every month.


----------



## riverc0il (Dec 8, 2011)

o3jeff said:


> Interesting thread. Going to watch it to see what options others are using for tv. I would love to cancel cable tv since it's the biggest waste of money every month.


Just do it. All the popular TV shows end up on Netflix or Hulu or Amazon. Channel flipping is just a time suck. I'd rather time suck on the internet where I at least use a little brain cell activity and might actually learn something.

The only thing you can't get is sports, need to go to the bar for that. There are some packages but even Center Ice has local blackouts for local teams. Suck. Sports needs to get on board and let people pay per view or pay per team or pay per season or pay per all. No reason sports shouldn't be streaming profitably by now.


----------



## o3jeff (Dec 8, 2011)

riverc0il said:


> Just do it. All the popular TV shows end up on Netflix or Hulu or Amazon. Channel flipping is just a time suck. I'd rather time suck on the internet where I at least use a little brain cell activity and might actually learn something.
> 
> The only thing you can't get is sports, need to go to the bar for that. There are some packages but even Center Ice has local blackouts for local teams. Suck. Sports needs to get on board and let people pay per view or pay per team or pay per season or pay per all. No reason sports shouldn't be streaming profitably by now.



I hardly watch sports so I'm not worried about that. What do you do as far as local stations for the news?


----------



## MR. evil (Dec 9, 2011)

Been doing this almost a year now and it saves a huge amount. We have a Wii and a Roku box that both stream to our TV's. We have Netflix and Hulu Plus and only pay $8 a month for each service ($16 a month total). My old direct tv bill was over $100 per month. We also dropped the land phone line, another $55 per month savings.


----------



## riverc0il (Dec 9, 2011)

o3jeff said:


> I hardly watch sports so I'm not worried about that. What do you do as far as local stations for the news?


Read the internet! You still get the content, don't have to watch the ads, get to pick the news that matters most to you, and don't get the sensationalism. A lot of news stations also post news videos to the internet for important stuff. For example, NECN updates their weather forecast online three times per day. News really started to offend me when they went the sensationalism route.


----------



## Glenn (Dec 9, 2011)

Unreal on the timing of this. Just yesterday, we upgraded from DSL to cable. DSL was 1.5m down, .3 up. It was "good enough". Cable is 12-22m down and 2.5 up. It's night and day. The tech told me that even on our "low" end of the speed tests, it was good enough for streaming from the interweb (Netflix ect)

On paper, our phone is 7.95 a month. When you get the bill and add all the BS taxes and fees, it's $20. $20 a month for a basic land line...that no one but telemarketers call us on. Why bother? We have a great 3G signal on our cell phones in the house. DSL is $30...so $50 in all. The cable promo is $19 a month for 6 months...then $30 for another 6...then about $45. So if we ditch DSL and phone, we'll have faster internet and save $5 a month. 

Now the tech yesterday had me thinking of netflix. We have a basic cable package at the house...$40 a month IIRC? 60 channels or so. We bascially watch the same half dozen. So if we could ditch that..and go Netflix...that would be another savings. 

Cliffs: Thinking of just having a cable interweb connection, using cell phones instead of a land line and streaming TV via Netflix.


----------



## o3jeff (Dec 9, 2011)

MR. evil said:


> Been doing this almost a year now and it saves a huge amount. We have a Wii and a Roku box that both stream to our TV's. We have Netflix and Hulu Plus and only pay $8 a month for each service ($16 a month total). My old direct tv bill was over $100 per month. We also dropped the land phone line, another $55 per month savings.



How do you like that Roku box, saw it on Hulu site last night. Also what model do you have of it?


----------



## kbroderick (Dec 9, 2011)

riverc0il said:


> What I really wish I could do without is mail and checks. Ick. Due to living in a condo, we don't get USPS delivery so I have to pay yearly for a PO Box (mostly for gear deliveries as if UPS or FedEx reroutes my home delivery to USPS it fails, don't get me started...). I've gone paperless almost everywhere I can. The stupid town and state still need checks for registration and so does my condo association for dues. Waste of time and paper.



Does your checking account offer online bill payment?  Mine does, and they will mail a check if the recipient is not setup to receive electronic payments.  You can even sent payments to individuals.  I'm still working on the same checkbook from several years ago because I only end up writing checks for a handful of transactions each year.


----------



## Nick (Dec 9, 2011)

I've got a Logitech Revue, which I think for $99 now is one of the best deals out there, and it now has Honeycomb on it. 

I have Dish Network for TV, and to be honest I'm mixed on it. I do like certain shows... modern famliy, etc. , but I almost never watch just whatever is on. I usually am on Netflix or Amazon VOD. 

Sports would be an issue though. I don't watch a lot but the couple times a year  Ihave people over to watch a game or something would be tough.


----------



## Nick (Dec 9, 2011)

kbroderick said:


> Does your checking account offer online bill payment?  Mine does, and they will mail a check if the recipient is not setup to receive electronic payments.  You can even sent payments to individuals.  I'm still working on the same checkbook from several years ago because I only end up writing checks for a handful of transactions each year.



Yeah, I do the exact same. I just sent a check to my father in law from the bank of america website.


----------



## ctenidae (Dec 9, 2011)

Cable internet, satellite TV, no land lines (see below)

Seriusly reconsidering the satellite TV part, but the last thing I want to do when I sit down for 30 minutes of mindless TV is think about what I want to watch. Fortunately, either Top Gear, Chopped, or How Its Made are always on, so channel flipping is minimal. Still hate commercials, though.

We have the business version of cable internet, since my wife needed a static IP for her office phone system. My office just converted to Lync, fully internet based and Microsoft integrated- my laptop is now my office phone, which is pretty cool (if my computer's off, my phone doesn't ring!).

Use online banking, so only check I write is for rent and the occasional DMV or similar. Our checkbook is 4 addresses old, and actually predates our marriage 10 years ago (we had a joint account before we got married, and my wife kept her name, so it works).


----------



## mlctvt (Dec 9, 2011)

o3jeff said:


> How do you like that Roku box, saw it on Hulu site last night. Also what model do you have of it?



We've got a Roku box that we use in our condo in Vt. It's the HD model. We love it. Even though we only have a very slow DSL line that's only about about 1.5M the streaming is still excellent quality on an older CRT TV. It's works equally well wireless or connected directly to our router.

There are many channels to chose from , and some are free.

Be carefull what model you chose. Some of the newer ones only have an HDMI connection while older models have both HDMI and composite RCA connectors.


----------



## soposkier (Dec 9, 2011)

I could do without it, but the girlfriend disagrees.  Only downside I see would be, like others mentioned live sports.  Last June during the Stanley Cup some games were on Versus, which even with cable I did not get.  Made for a nice excuse to go out to the bar on a Monday night.:beer:  Found a free online streaming site, but the quality was mediocore at best.


----------



## St. Bear (Dec 9, 2011)

MR. evil said:


> Been doing this almost a year now and it saves a huge amount. We have a Wii and a Roku box that both stream to our TV's. We have Netflix and Hulu Plus and only pay $8 a month for each service ($16 a month total). My old direct tv bill was over $100 per month. We also dropped the land phone line, another $55 per month savings.



We tried doing this over the summer, but when we started 100% streaming, our internet connection got really spotty.  I think Comcast put buffers on our account.  As soon as we went back to DirecTV, and only streamed occasionally, we haven't had any issues with the internet at all.

It's really frustrating.


----------



## WJenness (Dec 9, 2011)

St. Bear said:


> We tried doing this over the summer, but when we started 100% streaming, our internet connection got really spotty.  I think Comcast put buffers on our account.  As soon as we went back to DirecTV, and only streamed occasionally, we haven't had any issues with the internet at all.
> 
> It's really frustrating.



I've heard they throttle when you go over a certain volume of data each month... That's probably what you ran into.

I really only use my cable for sports... But that's pretty much all I watch... As a result, streaming isn't quite there for me yet.

I'd rather watch an NHL game between Phoenix and Winnipeg than 99% of what's on TV... so Game Center on the computer is attractive, but that doesn't cover the Bruins games, and that's a problem for me.

-w


----------



## gladerider (Dec 9, 2011)

WJenness said:


> I've heard they throttle when you go over a certain volume of data each month... That's probably what you ran into.
> 
> I really only use my cable for sports... But that's pretty much all I watch... As a result, streaming isn't quite there for me yet.
> 
> ...



me too, i have cable to watch live sports. mostly ncaa football. don't know how others deal with this when they stream....


----------



## MR. evil (Dec 9, 2011)

o3jeff said:


> How do you like that Roku box, saw it on Hulu site last night. Also what model do you have of it?



Love the Roku, have the HD model.

One thing to consider is most of the newer blue ray players have the ability to stream many sources just like Roku. So of you don't yet have a blue ray player, consider getting one over a standalone Roku box.


----------



## Geoff (Dec 9, 2011)

gladerider said:


> me too, i have cable to watch live sports. mostly ncaa football. don't know how others deal with this when they stream....



Yep.  The only time I have my set-top box turned on is for NFL and Red Sox games.   MLB.com blacks out streaming baseball games to local regions so I can't watch the Red Sox unless I stand on my head to set up a fake billing address and use a proxy that is outside of New England.   I've never heard of live high def video streaming of Patriots games.   If' I'm not doing anything and they're not lousy games, I'll also watch the Thursday, Sunday Night, and Monday Night games.

If I could stream that content, I'd be done with the video part of my cable bill.   I use my Comcast telephone service for business and couldn't quite function with cell phone-only on all the conference calls.   The reception and voice quality just aren't quite good enough.


----------



## Morwax (Dec 9, 2011)

*Great thread*

A couple questions from a technology neanderthal.. Im about to can my business/home land line and port the number to my cell phone in turn giving me the ability to cancel DSL and go cable modem as well. As far as streaming TV goes:
 Can you stream to multiple TV's ? In different parts of the house? Will I always have to use the pc to choose a channel or is there some type of device with a remote. This would be the kicker for me as we have three areas we watch TV in. Have not seen anything about wifi TVs?


----------



## riverc0il (Dec 9, 2011)

o3jeff said:


> How do you like that Roku box, saw it on Hulu site last night. Also what model do you have of it?


If you haven't gone to BlueRay yet, you might want to consider a BR enabled player that has Netflix connectivity. That is what we did for little more than a Roku.


----------



## riverc0il (Dec 9, 2011)

kbroderick said:


> Does your checking account offer online bill payment?  Mine does, and they will mail a check if the recipient is not setup to receive electronic payments.  You can even sent payments to individuals.  I'm still working on the same checkbook from several years ago because I only end up writing checks for a handful of transactions each year.


It does, yes. I haven't put enough trust in it to replace my checks. It doesn't make sense to me that they would offer this service for free and it really would work. :lol: Sounds like stupid reasoning, I know! I figured it was only for accounts that could transfer funds electronically. I wasn't believing they would pay for paper, printing, envelope, and stamp plus any labor or component costs to mail checks for everyone for free. I'll have to give it a shot.


----------



## mlctvt (Dec 9, 2011)

riverc0il said:


> If you haven't gone to BlueRay yet, you might want to consider a BR enabled player that has Netflix connectivity. That is what we did for little more than a Roku.



This is a good option too, just be sure to look at the offerings of each company first before buying. Some offer more streaming options than others.  I got a Sony because I could stream my Slacker music account as well as Netflix, Hulu plus etc.  
Also some are wireless and some must use a wired connection.


----------



## Abubob (Dec 12, 2011)

We are firmly rooted in the old and the new.  My wife works at home so she won't part with the land line. I'm told though that DSL doesn't require phone service. Can anyone substantiate that?

The last time I subscribed to cable TV was for the 1990 Olympics since I was disgusted with both I've never gone back to either. When I lived in CT we were right around the corner from a Blockbuster. After moving to NH we switched to Netflix and now we stream (using a Roku) as well. While I'd love to watch a Sox or Pats game I could never take the eye rolling from my wife so I've been weened. I'd much rather watch World Cup skiing but nothing seems to be available on that.

Finally we still write checks for bills.



Morwax said:


> Will I always have to use the pc to choose a channel or is there some type of device with a remote.



Our PC is never on when we watch Roku. It comes with a small remote too. Its a little clunky especially the search option but it gets the job done


----------



## WJenness (Dec 12, 2011)

riverc0il said:


> It does, yes. I haven't put enough trust in it to replace my checks. It doesn't make sense to me that they would offer this service for free and it really would work. :lol: Sounds like stupid reasoning, I know! I figured it was only for accounts that could transfer funds electronically. I wasn't believing they would pay for paper, printing, envelope, and stamp plus any labor or component costs to mail checks for everyone for free. I'll have to give it a shot.



I've been using this for my checks almost exclusively for a few years now...

In fact, I used it to send a check to you for the Sugarloaf condo for the AZ Summit in 2010...

-w


----------



## darent (Dec 14, 2011)

I guess we all have to jump into the e banking thing, seems like the USPS is about to go under and every bill I receive they want you to go paperless, life is getting difficult


----------



## dartmouth01 (Dec 14, 2011)

We like watching TV and movies, so having a setup for that is important for us.  However, we don't have cable or cable internet anymore:  

For entertainment:
We've got a PS3 (for bluray @ Redbox when we're at the grocery store and want something that night), Apple TV2 for when we want easily accessible paid streamable downloaded movies/content and also access to Netflix, and a Windows Media PC that contain two HDTV receivers, hooked up to a Winegard OTA antenna.  I'm able to pull every channel in Prov and almost every channel in Boston, so we are able to record our network TV shows when they air.  Basically, its a DVR without having to pay the cable company.  With a couple TB drives, I can store quite a bit at full res.  We also have access to newsgroups on the computers for when we are thinking ahead and are willing to take the time to download files of the interwebs.  There are alot of websites out there with free content as well, so we use the windows PC for that as well.  For example, the gf got into Big Bang Theory a couple weeks ago, so she did a search and was able to find every episode from every season online, for free.  I also run Airserver on that PC box so we can view all the content on that pc to our iphones and iPad, as well as over the web.

For internet access, I'm using a 4G/3G hotspot.  I get similar speeds to cable over 4G, and the portability to take it just about anywhere we travel.   Its through Clearwire, which uses Sprint networks (or vice versa) and offers unlimited data over 4G.  

For banking, I use Mint.com to deal with all my finances and multiple accounts.  Its great to have all the info in one place.

We are planning on going full time travelling in our RV next year, for about a year.  I'm busy outfitting the RV with some high power cellular and wifi antennas, in the hopes that we can keep our "connected" lifestyle going on the road.  I'll probably add a Slingbox into the mix at that point as well.


----------



## mlctvt (Dec 14, 2011)

dartmouth01 said:


> We are planning on going full time travelling in our RV next year, for about a year.  I'm busy outfitting the RV with some high power cellular and wifi antennas, in the hopes that we can keep our "connected" lifestyle going on the road.  I'll probably add a Slingbox into the mix at that point as well.



Keep us updated on this. My wife and I are thinking of doing this for a few years right after we retire.


----------



## dartmouth01 (Dec 15, 2011)

Will do!  I won't lie I'm a techie at heart so I'm definitely taking things further than is necessary on "wired" front.  Besides dealing w/ the tv and Internet issue,  I'm also tackling safety/security right now.  I'm working on installing some Internet enabled security cameras that will also serve as backup/ blind spot monitors, and allow our friends/fam to follow us along. I'm also hoping to connect smoke/lp/CO alarms that will notifying of problems via email/text,  and will be looking into going solar and lipo batteries if I can keep the costs down.  Our testing will be trying to take it to the ski mountains this winter!  If we can do that I think we'll be ready for full timing!


----------



## Glenn (Dec 15, 2011)

That sounds like a cool trip. Be sure to post updates. Love all the tech you're using.


----------



## SkiFanE (Dec 15, 2011)

We haven't had pay TV since 1999.  Get tons of free over the air Boston stations...like others have mentioned, the only thing we miss is sports, but not enough to pay for TV.  My kids would disagree, but I think them growing up w/o cable TV has been good for them - we get 5 PBS channels and Qubo.

We now stream Netflix through our Wii.  Someone asked - you can use Netflix on as many devices as you have, just competing with bandwith, so all get slowed down.

We have landline - won't give it up since my kids are home alone sometimes and 911 is an issue with 'net/cell phones, and I just like the security.  We have DSL for 'net.

We were without power for 4-5 days over October.  All our FIOS friends were w/o phone and internet as soon as their back battery died (within a day), our cable friends were w/o cable for at least a week.  We never lost phone, and as soon as we got a generator and could plug in our DSL modem and wireless router, we had internet.  I like that safety net.  

Netflix is sorta sucky on their offerings though..seems like they offer a movie for a few days, then you go to watch it and its no longer there.  And it seems the movies, when browsing, are rarely rated more than 3 stars...no goodies.  Definitely worth the $9/month, but need to look into other options too.


----------



## legalskier (Dec 15, 2011)

dartmouth01 said:


> *** ....a Windows Media PC that contain two HDTV receivers, hooked up to a Winegard OTA antenna.  I'm able to pull every channel in Prov and almost every channel in Boston, so we are able to record our network TV shows when they air.  Basically, its a DVR without having to pay the cable company.  ***



After reading your post I feel like a Neanderthal. :sad: Please forgive my illiteracy but when you say "Windows Media PC" are you referring to Windows Media Player? I've never even _heard_ of a computer having an HDTV receiver, and you have two. 

I'm still barely getting off the ground for streaming onto the old flat screen. I've checked into many alternatives, like Roku, AppleTV, blue-ray players, etc., but I've been hesitant to commit to a platform that I might end up not liking. So I decided to go completely low-tech for a test drive. I got a VGA cable with 3.5 audio jacks and hooked it up to the laptop, basically converting the flat screen into a large monitor. True, it isn't wireless, but then again it only cost $7. Now I just have to figure out how to access all that free content off the internet.
Who knows, this could be our first baby step towards going internet-only.


----------



## dartmouth01 (Dec 15, 2011)

Don't worry, you'll get it!  One of my "hobbies" is following consumer technology development (ie I like to buy new crap) so I'm ahead on the curve in that area.  Its like how some people here probably know everything and anything there is about skis.  I can't keep track of the name of the skis and boots I have, let alone know what is out there every year!  As for your current set up, thats how I started!  I had an old data projector in college and plugged it into my home computer with two 15 foot vga cables since the projector was ceiling mounted.  Things only get cooler from there.....

Basically, a Windows Media Center (WMC) PC is a type of HTPC (Home Theater PC), so its main job as a computer is to basically be a TV tuner (like a cablebox or DVR), as well as play your DVDs, movie files, music, etc.  Window Media Center (WMC) is the name of the program that acts as the interface you see for playing those things.  Instead of your tv screen looking like a normal desktop and having to interact with a keyboard and mouse, WMC instead gives you what looks like a screen from a cablebox/dvr, and you have a remote that works just like a cablebox/DVR remote.  There are other programs out there that work similar to WMC, but WMC is the most popular, and often installed on the PC, if it has a tv tuner card built in.  I built my HTPC from scratch out of older components I had lying around, but you can purchase pre built WMC PCs from most retailers like Best Buy, Staples, etc.  The Windows Media Center link from Microsoft's website has some videos and good info to get you acquainted:  

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/products/windows-media-center

If you already have a computer and want to just try installing a TV tuner, you can get one from Hauppauge.  http://www.hauppauge.com/  You can get them in many different styles/features.  Some are plug n play (using USB) and some require installation in the computer.  Be forewarned, you need a fairly powerful machine to be able to record HD signals, or spend a little more money and get the higher end cards that will do alot of the processing on the card, instead of using your computer to do it.   These cards don't come with the Windows Media Center program, but I believe most Windows 7 versions already come with it.  There is even a tuner you can buy that you can install a CableCard into, which allows you to get the encrypted channels from cable (like ESPN, etc).  You have to get the Cablecard from the cable provider, and pay for the cable service, of course, but you wont have to pay the monthly charge for the DVR they supply, and you can do more things with the recordings since they are on your PC.





legalskier said:


> After reading your post I feel like a Neanderthal. :sad: Please forgive my illiteracy but when you say "Windows Media PC" are you referring to Windows Media Player? I've never even _heard_ of a computer having an HDTV receiver, and you have two.
> 
> I'm still barely getting off the ground for streaming onto the old flat screen. I've checked into many alternatives, like Roku, AppleTV, blue-ray players, etc., but I've been hesitant to commit to a platform that I might end up not liking. So I decided to go completely low-tech for a test drive. I got a VGA cable with 3.5 audio jacks and hooked it up to the laptop, basically converting the flat screen into a large monitor. True, it isn't wireless, but then again it only cost $7. Now I just have to figure out how to access all that free content off the internet.
> Who knows, this could be our first baby step towards going internet-only.


----------



## Cannonball (Dec 15, 2011)

Geoff said:


> Yep.  The only time I have my set-top box turned on is for NFL and Red Sox games.   MLB.com blacks out streaming baseball games to local regions so I can't watch the Red Sox unless I stand on my head to set up a fake billing address and use a proxy that is outside of New England.   I've never heard of live high def video streaming of Patriots games.   If' I'm not doing anything and they're not lousy games, I'll also watch the Thursday, Sunday Night, and Monday Night games.
> 
> If I could stream that content, I'd be done with the video part of my cable bill.   I use my Comcast telephone service for business and couldn't quite function with cell phone-only on all the conference calls.   The reception and voice quality just aren't quite good enough.



2 things:
1)  Wanted to bump your point about sports.  I'm in the same boat.  Anyone know how to get live NFL over internet???  I guess the other option is to just go out to watch the games (which I do half the time anyway).

2) landline for business.  I've been using Google Voice through my laptop.  Calls are free.  And with a good mic/speakers or a good headset the quality is at least as good as a landline.


----------



## ALLSKIING (Dec 15, 2011)

Cannonball said:


> 2 things:
> 1)  Wanted to bump your point about sports.  I'm in the same boat.  Anyone know how to get live NFL over internet???  I guess the other option is to just go out to watch the games (which I do half the time anyway).


You can't...The next best thing is to sign up on NFL.com but you can't watch them until Tuesday. If you have a PS3 you can get the NFL Sunday ticket and watch any game live.


----------



## mattchuck2 (Dec 15, 2011)

I'm going to cancel my cable pretty soon, as long as I can get Mets games on MLB.tv through my XBox.  MLB.tv is coming to XBox this summer, but I'm not going to cancel the cable until I'm sure that the games aren't going to be blacked out here . . . 



Geoff said:


> I can't watch the Red Sox unless I stand on my head to set up a fake billing address and use a proxy that is outside of New England



Either that, or I could work up a mailing address trade-off with Geoff so he can have his Red Sox and I can have my Mets


----------



## riverc0il (Dec 15, 2011)

ALLSKIING said:


> If you have a PS3 you can get the NFL Sunday ticket and watch any game live.


Sounds like a great service. Wonder why they limit it to PS3 besides having an exclusive deal with Sony? Seems like they could do much better financially by opening up that package to all systems.


----------



## legalskier (Dec 15, 2011)

dartmouth01 said:


> *** Basically, a Windows Media Center (WMC) PC is a type of HTPC (Home Theater PC), so its main job as a computer is to basically be a TV tuner (like a cablebox or DVR), as well as play your DVDs, movie files, music, etc.  Window Media Center (WMC) is the name of the program that acts as the interface you see for playing those things.  Instead of your tv screen looking like a normal desktop and having to interact with a keyboard and mouse, WMC instead gives you what looks like a screen from a cablebox/dvr, and you have a remote that works just like a cablebox/DVR remote. ***.



Thanks for the explanation. So if I'm following you, you're using your computer as the brains of the operation and your tv to display the signal from the computer; which means you don't need a "smart tv" with all those bells and whistles (which helps keeps costs down).  You also don't need to buy a new, updated tv every few years because your upgrades are to your computer, not the tv. A fusion of computer and tv.



dartmouth01 said:


> *** If you already have a computer and want to just try installing a TV tuner, you can get one from Hauppauge.  http://www.hauppauge.com/  You can get them in many different styles/features. ***



Interesting.  Those USB tuners appear to be for Windows (which is the system I use)- I'm wondering whether they are compatible with Mac, as I think my son would be interested in one.


----------



## Dylan (Dec 16, 2011)

No landline phone and want to burn cable once I figure out the right options. So this is a great thread for me!


----------



## dartmouth01 (Dec 17, 2011)

I haven't tried this yet,  but I am probably going to try this with my brother once I'm on the road with the RV.  Offer to pay for another cable box from someone who has cable channels you want.  Then buy a slingbox and hook it up to the cable box and to their Internet.  BasicAlly the slingbox  controls the cable of like you're sitting there.  It's like your looking at the tv that's hooked up to the cablebox.  Actually if u were controlling the slingbox with your computer, like if you change the channel, you would see the change happen on the tv directly hooked up to it. Then watch the games from your computer or iPhone like you're watching it on the TV.



mattchuck2 said:


> I'm going to cancel my cable pretty soon, as long as I can get Mets games on MLB.tv through my XBox.  MLB.tv is coming to XBox this summer, but I'm not going to cancel the cable until I'm sure that the games aren't going to be blacked out here . . .
> 
> 
> 
> Either that, or I could work up a mailing address trade-off with Geoff so he can have his Red Sox and I can have my Mets


----------



## Geoff (Dec 18, 2011)

dartmouth01 said:


> Offer to pay for another cable box from someone who has cable channels you want.  Then buy a slingbox and hook it up to the cable box and to their Internet.



You could easily pool your cable bill with a few neighbors.   With Comcast, an add-on HD set-top box is about $9.00/month.   As long as you're on the same fiber node, there's no way Comcast can tell.   The cable modem is also plenty fast to distribute among a few houses unless everybody is streaming IP video.

I have crappy cell reception so I still have a wireline phone for my business calls.


----------



## mlctvt (Dec 18, 2011)

Slingbox is great but it probably won't work if you have DSL. You need a fast upload speed from the provider side. 
I have DSL at my home that is 3M download but only about 400-500K upload. I wanted to set up a slingbox that I could access from my VT condo where I also have DSL but the slingbox needs at least 600k upload speed to work properly. 

I hate Comcast so I dumped them for Directv satellite over 10 years ago. No ATT uverse in my town yet either. Directv HD is excellent.


----------



## Glenn (Dec 19, 2011)

mlctvt said:


> Slingbox is great but it probably won't work if you have DSL. You need a fast upload speed from the provider side.
> I have DSL at my home that is 3M download but only about 400-500K upload. I wanted to set up a slingbox that I could access from my VT condo where I also have DSL but the slingbox needs at least 600k upload speed to work properly.
> 
> I hate Comcast so I dumped them for Directv satellite over 10 years ago. No ATT uverse in my town yet either. Directv HD is excellent.



We're thinking of doing something similar since we just switched from DSL to cable internet. 

What do you use on the recieving end to receive the slingbox signal?


----------



## Sky (Dec 20, 2011)

Great thread!  I've been looking to dump out of the triple-threat cable bundle myself.  The only calls I get on the land line are telemarketers.  The only up-side to having that landline...I give that out (vs the cell) on applications etc.  I rarely answer the land line.

As for the cable TV....I'd have some pain over losing it...but I'm willing to go with alternative sources (NetFlix etc) just to stop paying the cable company.

Internet.....can't go without it...yet.  But I could learn.  Hit the internet cafe....work access, etc.

Because I'm tired of paying these outrageous monthly bills.

Cell phone bill....I'll stick with the basic phone I've got.  Yes, it's technologically well below the Do All phones, but I'm not interested.  Call and txt...totally adequate.  Unfortunately, my daughter's iPhone (as nice as it is) is really driving he bill.  We'll see what she does when the bill becomes hers (post college).  We all make our own sacrifices.  :>


----------



## Bostonian (Dec 20, 2011)

I've long dreamed about the day to dump the cable myself.  We have Fios internet, TV and Verizon Wireless - Two Lines.  We have no land line.  While we do pay $285 a month for all three (which isn't too bad), I would love to dump the cable since all I ever watch is Channel 4, 5, 7 and 25... Although I do like some of the shows on FX and what not. However, my wife loves MTV, HGTV, and a few other stations. I have been thinking of dumping the FIOS tv in lieu of Dish or DirecTV... But haven't decided yet.  I do love the 35/35 High Speed Internet though so  I could easily stream movies without any issue.


----------



## hammer (Dec 20, 2011)

Interesting how people are looking to dump everything but internet but having a smart phone is a "necessity"...

I'd like to drop the landline but I'd lose the Fios bundle discount so the savings would be minimal.  Dropping the Fios TV will not happen as long as we have a teenage daughter in the house...and I'm still waiting on the streaming options to get better.


----------



## dartmouth01 (Dec 20, 2011)

Legalskier, you're right, the smart tv's are doing some of the stuff that my computer is, but not all.  they are basically like Roku or Apple Tvs built into the tv, so they are generally easy to use and require very little set up.  but, I dont know of any smart tvs that have a tv DVR built in yet, which is the main reason I have my home theater pc set up.  If you're fairly tech savvy, and know how to already hook up a computer to a tv, then you'll benefit from a HTPC I think.  There is also alot of info on the web if you really want to dive into it, most of what I learned was from reading other people's experiences and tips/tricks.



legalskier said:


> Thanks for the explanation. So if I'm following you, you're using your computer as the brains of the operation and your tv to display the signal from the computer; which means you don't need a "smart tv" with all those bells and whistles (which helps keeps costs down).  You also don't need to buy a new, updated tv every few years because your upgrades are to your computer, not the tv. A fusion of computer and tv.
> 
> 
> 
> Interesting.  Those USB tuners appear to be for Windows (which is the system I use)- I'm wondering whether they are compatible with Mac, as I think my son would be interested in one.



I will be looking into mac tuners soon, since I think I may downsize to a mac mini for the RV (my current HTPC is a big on the bulky size).  I remember a device called El Gato Eyetv from a few years back when I was on a Mac that was a tv tuner, not sure if they have an HD version tho.  Anyways, I will probably dual boot the mac with windows XP so I can just use PC hardware, which will be alot more easy to come by.


----------



## Glenn (Dec 21, 2011)

Called today at lunch to shut off the landline and the DSL. Phone calls: Cell phones. Internets: Cable.


----------



## o3jeff (Dec 21, 2011)

Glenn said:


> Called today at lunch to shut off the landline and the DSL. Phone calls: Cell phones. Internets: Cable.



Did they try to offer you a reduced rate now that you were canceling?


----------



## Glenn (Dec 21, 2011)

They didn't. I had called to shut off the phone before...and they offered me a bare bones phone for $7.xx a month and then dropped my DSL to $30. But the taxes on the phone brought the monthly bill up to $20...for a line we just used to receive calls. We had the most basic phone and basic DSL. I don't know if we could have gone any lower.


----------



## mlctvt (Dec 22, 2011)

Glenn said:


> They didn't. I had called to shut off the phone before...and they offered me a bare bones phone for $7.xx a month and then dropped my DSL to $30. But the taxes on the phone brought the monthly bill up to $20...for a line we just used to receive calls. We had the most basic phone and basic DSL. I don't know if we could have gone any lower.



What DSL is over $30/month?  I have the fastest available in my location PRO level and it's only $24.99/month. Cable is over $50.00/mo for even the lowest plan.


----------



## Glenn (Dec 22, 2011)

mlctvt said:


> What DSL is over $30/month?  I have the fastest available in my location PRO level and it's only $24.99/month. Cable is over $50.00/mo for even the lowest plan.



That's interesting! Who's your providor? We have AT&T aka: SNET.


----------



## legalskier (Dec 22, 2011)

dartmouth01 said:


> I remember a device called El Gato Eyetv from a few years back when I was on a Mac that was a tv tuner, not sure if they have an HD version tho.  Anyways, I will probably dual boot the mac with windows XP so I can just use PC hardware, which will be alot more easy to come by.



Found it, thanks.


----------



## mlctvt (Dec 22, 2011)

Glenn said:


> That's interesting! Who's your providor? We have AT&T aka: SNET.



AT&T / SNET Connecticut. 
I've had it for 10+ years. They used to have a teaser rate then the charges went higher after 12 months. Each year I'd call up and bitch and they'd give me this rate if I signed up for a year. So I'd call just before the year ended to get the good rate for another year.  Then  a few years ago I threatened to go to cable and they upgraded me to the Pro level at no increase.  The last few years they stopped asking and the price hasn't increased. 

I do have a "long distance" plan with them too but I never use it I use my cell phone for all long distance. We actually don't answer or use our land line at all now but we still have an answering machine hooked up to it.


----------



## Glenn (Dec 23, 2011)

That's a cool way to keep the same rate! 

Test called our old land lane last night: "The number you have reached is not in service". So that's all set.


----------



## o3jeff (Jan 2, 2012)

Have any of you tried one of the HD antenas (http://www.antennasdirect.com/) ? Your thoughts? I am not too far from where most of the local station broadcast from so it might be an option.


----------



## Glenn (Jan 2, 2012)

o3jeff said:


> Have any of you tried one of the HD antenas (http://www.antennasdirect.com/) ? Your thoughts? I am not too far from where most of the local station broadcast from so it might be an option.


 Try getting one of those dgigital converter boxes and testing the signal. You could probably get by with a box and a saet of rabit ears. I tested a digi xpnverter awhile back and was able to get a few signals.


----------



## skijay (Jan 2, 2012)

I am using a Winegard SS 2000 SquareShooter UHF Amplified antenna for my OTA reception.  It does work well, it's mounted outside on a former Dish Network mount (about 8' off the ground, pole mounted).  I have it oriented in such a way that I get the Hartford, CT (3.1,2,3,4,5,6), (18.1,2.3,4), (20.1,2), (24.1,2,3), (30.1,2,3), (59.1,2) and (61.1,61.2). From Springfield, MA(22.1,2), (40.1,2), (57.1,2,3,4).  Channel 59 is hard to get. Also on windy days channel 20 and 61 will pixelate. The antenna is stable and does not drift in the wind.  I had the "super" Dish (the one with multiple LNBs) on it and that kept the satellite signal on windy days. 

I am about 40 miles away from the Hartford broadcast area and 20 from Springfield. 

When I was having work done at my house over the years, a contractor would always ask what type of satellite antenna the Winegard it was


----------



## legalskier (Jan 5, 2012)

New device Roku will be rolling out-

_Roku Streaming Stick Expands Company's Horizons Beyond Set-Top Boxes_
Story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/04/roku-streaming-stick_n_1184097.html


----------



## dartmouth01 (Jan 5, 2012)

I'm currently still using a Walmart RCA flat panel antenna with amp as my antenna.  Its good enough for me because I'm pretty close to the towers.  However, my grandma in a nursing home in downtown NY was a difficult spot to get signals (concrete walls, only 1 window, surrounded by high rises), so I went with this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GIT002/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details

Its a winegard knockoff.  Since I couldnt mount it outside, I mounted it the end of a golf club handle and tied it to the back of her TV.  I have it pointed towards the one window in her room and voila, it improved the signal remarkedly over the flat panel she originally had.

You can also invest in amplifiers to further help boost the signal.  Good amps cost around 50 or a bit less....





skijay said:


> I am using a Winegard SS 2000 SquareShooter UHF Amplified antenna for my OTA reception.  It does work well, it's mounted outside on a former Dish Network mount (about 8' off the ground, pole mounted).  I have it oriented in such a way that I get the Hartford, CT (3.1,2,3,4,5,6), (18.1,2.3,4), (20.1,2), (24.1,2,3), (30.1,2,3), (59.1,2) and (61.1,61.2). From Springfield, MA(22.1,2), (40.1,2), (57.1,2,3,4).  Channel 59 is hard to get. Also on windy days channel 20 and 61 will pixelate. The antenna is stable and does not drift in the wind.  I had the "super" Dish (the one with multiple LNBs) on it and that kept the satellite signal on windy days.
> 
> I am about 40 miles away from the Hartford broadcast area and 20 from Springfield.
> 
> When I was having work done at my house over the years, a contractor would always ask what type of satellite antenna the Winegard it was


----------



## ctenidae (Jan 5, 2012)

dartmouth01 said:


> so I went with this:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GIT002/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
> 
> ....



I like it that the "frequently bought together" list is coax cable and HDMI cable.


----------



## SkiFanE (Jan 5, 2012)

We haven't had cable/pay tv since 1999.  We did netflix by mail for about 5 years, now do streaming.  Have to look into Hulu, Netfix has a sucky selection.  We use antennae for TV.  Only thing we miss is Red Sox.

Phone?  I refuse to drop landline, like having 911 access, reverse 911, etc.  Plus during the Halloween power outage, cable was out over a week and FIOS customers had no phones after their batteries died (about 12 hours).  Once we generated, had DSL and phone during the outage, the only one in my hood haha.  Plus with kids being left alone at home, having a hardwired phone is a peace of mind thing - can't rely on teens to always charge or have their phones turned up ($30/mo is a small price for this IMO).  I'm sure we pay too much for DSL (Speakeasy which has since been bought out), but am not in love with Verizon and don't really want to deal with them for DSL.


----------



## ski stef (Jan 6, 2012)

Anyone use Hughesnet? We are trying to find a satellite internet provider....directv is a no go and so is wild blue.


----------



## dartmouth01 (Jan 7, 2012)

Check out RV forums like RV.net and rvnetwork.com.  Some of those guys use Hughes.net, especially the full timers when they are in areas with no cell service.


----------



## Geoff (Jan 8, 2012)

Ski Stef said:


> Anyone use Hughesnet? We are trying to find a satellite internet provider....directv is a no go and so is wild blue.



http://www.nationwidesatellite.com/HughesNet/service/HughesNet_vs_wildblue.asp

If you think you're going to stream video, forgetaboutit.   There are big latency issues that make it work poorly.   Latency also makes web surfing slow since it takes a while for TCP acknowledgements to get back to the sender.  The speed is marginal and it's set up to penalize high volume data users.

The two satellite providers only make sense for specialized applications.   An off-the-grid house in the boonies with no cable or DSL access.   Live-aboard yacht.   RV.   The data rate is fairly low.   If you use it a lot, both providers put you in "low speed jail" where they rate-limit your data rate.   You can pay more to change how much data you can pull down before the rate-limiter kicks in.

For the masses who have access to data services from a cable company (the hated Comcast, Time-Warner, Cox, Charter, Cablevision...), a cable overbuilder (RSN), or the phone company (DSL or fiber), satellite doesn't make technical or economic sense.


----------



## Glenn (Jun 19, 2012)

Bump...

Seriously looking into dropping cable TV. Long story short, an Amazon Prime account and a few Roku boxes later(They come up on Woot.com every so often: $49 for a refurbed XD); I don't think we've watched cable but once in the last two weeks. Even if we added nextflix or hulu, we'd be paying less than half of our $40 monthly cable bill.


----------



## dartmouth01 (Jun 19, 2012)

I am still cable free (and cable internet free, I share my neighbor's now) and loving it.  Lots of money in my pocket every month.  I do have a DVR running on a computer, that records TV from local channels.  While I can't get paid cable channels of course, I do get most of the shows I watch, in realtime or DVR'd if I want, and that's enough for me!  I wait for the paid channel shows I like to come out on DVD or streaming and catch up on those shows then.


----------



## bvibert (Jun 19, 2012)

Recently dropped cable here.  Prior to that we only had the very basic of cable options, basically local channels.  The driving factor for us to get rid of it was that they were about to start charging us rent for the cable boxes that the required us to start using about a year ago.  We have two boxes, the rental fee is ~$12/mo per box... our cable package was only about $15/mo.  We weren't about to nearly triple our bill, and not gain anything.  We already had Netflix in addition to the cable, now we also have Hulu Plus and Amazon videos that we watch through our PS3.  I also hooked up a cheap digital antenna.  We're able to get 2 over the air channels; Fox61 and Antenna TV.  Antenna TV plays only old TV shows, like Adam 12, Dragnet, Leave it to Beaver, etc..  It's kinda cool, and we didn't get it before with our old cable service, so that's a bonus.


----------



## Geoff (Jun 19, 2012)

I live in two places.   May 1, I paid $25.00 for the Comcast guy to climb the pole and turn my service back on.   I get the promotional triple play rate.   Cell phone is marginal in my house and I'm on a lot of conference calls so it's worth it to have the telephone service.   I work for a cable modem company so I'm using my own MTA and avoiding the monthly rental fee.   I have an HD set-top box to drive my plasma.  The entry-level HD package has Encore and Starz with commercial-free movies.   I watch the Comcast free video-on-demand library of movies some.   When I shut things down for the winter, I'll disconnect the service.

I did the analysis on phone + internet vs triple play.   There just wasn't enough savings to miss the little TV I do watch (sports, mostly).

In the winter, my condo association pays for basic cable.   I turn on the cable modem I own for the $29.95/month promotional rate and pick up an HD set-top box to drive my plasma for another $10.00/month.   Cellular reception is better there and I use Skype as my backup.   I buy a yearly Skype all-you-can-eat to anywhere in the world for $130.00 and expense it


----------



## hammer (Jan 9, 2014)

Seriously considering this after paying more attention to my Fios bill and finding out that we pay $120/mo for TV service and $45/mo for phone.  We aren't under contract so I was thinking of dropping the TV and phone, boosting the internet speed (think the offering is 50/25), maybe getting a VOIP service for the phone (or changing cell phone plan to unlimited voice) and adding on streaming services beyond Netflix as wanted.  May have some upfront costs for additional Roku boxes but I'm guessing that they will be paid for in a month or two.  Just have to get the family on board to be used to watching shows differently.


----------



## bvibert (Jan 9, 2014)

I have rarely missed TV the last several years, just do it!


----------



## soposkier (Jan 10, 2014)

hammer said:


> Seriously considering this after paying more attention to my Fios bill and finding out that we pay $120/mo for TV service and $45/mo for phone.  We aren't under contract so I was thinking of dropping the TV and phone, boosting the internet speed (think the offering is 50/25), maybe getting a VOIP service for the phone (or changing cell phone plan to unlimited voice) and adding on streaming services beyond Netflix as wanted.  May have some upfront costs for additional Roku boxes but I'm guessing that they will be paid for in a month or two.  Just have to get the family on board to be used to watching shows differently.



Just picked up a chromecast.  Cheaper than roku. I recommend giving it a try if you are getting another streaming device.


----------



## bdfreetuna (Jan 10, 2014)

I don't own a TV .. my solution is to Bittorrent everything and use a seedbox/cloud service (put.io) which I pay $9.99 monthly for. This allows me to stream torrents instantly and not get caught downloading them on my IP address.

I mostly watch HBO, Showtime, and popular comedy shows, SNL etc.. so everything I watch is easy to find online.

Was never happy with Netflix service so I cancelled it last year.


----------



## Nick (Jan 11, 2014)

I'm also seriously debating dumping my dish network. It's 90 a month and in just very rarely use it. Rabbit ears + hulu + Netflix / amazon should have me covered. I was thinking of signing up for Areo

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk


----------



## Euler (Jan 11, 2014)

I use a roku with Netflix, Amazon, and hulu plus.  Works great for my family.  None of us watch sports, however.


----------



## bvibert (Jan 11, 2014)

Euler said:


> None of us watch sports, however.



That's the kicker. Sports fans will probably have a hard time cutting the cord. A don't watch any here either.


----------



## bvibert (Jan 11, 2014)

Nick said:


> I'm also seriously debating dumping my dish network. It's 90 a month and in just very rarely use it. Rabbit ears + hulu + Netflix / amazon should have me covered. I was thinking of signing up for Areo
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk



If you can get local stations with an indoor antennae that's great! We used to get a few at our old house, but since we mixed across town the topography prevents us from getting any.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AlpineZone mobile app


----------



## AdironRider (Jan 11, 2014)

Im a younger guy (28) so I've never actually even had a landline since I was 18 and living at home. Why everyone hasn't ditched that at this point is beyond me. 

I ditched cable right when Netflix streaming became available. Went from 125 or so a month down to 8 (now its 16 since I added Hulu Plus). Never looked back. 

Why would I? Netflix has every old Top Gear streaming. I'm covered.


----------



## Savemeasammy (Jan 11, 2014)

I like to watch football, otherwise I could do without tv.  


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Edd (Jan 13, 2014)

Can't convince the lady to dump cable with Comcast. We watch a lot of TV so it would hurt but we're already paying for Netflix and Amazon so I'd like to see how we'd fare. We don't watch sports. The worst part would be losing HBO. 

Got the Roku 3 awhile back and loooove it. The Roku apps for remote control on iOS are tight. One of us always has an iPhone or iPad in our hand. Haven't touched the remote in months.


----------



## soposkier (Jan 13, 2014)

Edd said:


> Can't convince the lady to dump cable with Comcast. We watch a lot of TV so it would hurt but we're already paying for Netflix and Amazon so I'd like to see how we'd fare. We don't watch sports. The worst part would be losing HBO.
> 
> Got the Roku 3 awhile back and loooove it. The Roku apps for remote control on iOS are tight. One of us always has an iPhone or iPad in our hand. Haven't touched the remote in months.



Looks like comcast is offering internet + HBO as a package now.  Ive been looking into dumping cable and thinking about getting that.  Only thing holding me back is sports at this point.


----------



## Edd (Jan 13, 2014)

soposkier said:


> Looks like comcast is offering internet + HBO as a package now.  Ive been looking into dumping cable and thinking about getting that.  Only thing holding me back is sports at this point.



I started a thread about that awhile back. Can't remember but there was some caveat that made that not such a great deal, surprise, surprise. I should check again.


----------



## Glenn (Jan 14, 2014)

I had thought I had posted this...maybe in another thread. 

We dumped cable awhile back. I use rabbit ears in the attic for the local news; in nice, uncompressed HD. We probably get a dozen or so channels over the air with just the rabbit ears. I'm sure we could grab a few more with a better antenna, but it's not a priority. We stream mostly through Prime. We just picked up a free month of Netflix. Looks like they have some decent TV on there. 

Anyone have Hulu plus? How's that for TV?


----------



## bvibert (Jan 14, 2014)

Glenn said:


> I had thought I had posted this...maybe in another thread.
> 
> We dumped cable awhile back. I use rabbit ears in the attic for the local news; in nice, uncompressed HD. We probably get a dozen or so channels over the air with just the rabbit ears. I'm sure we could grab a few more with a better antenna, but it's not a priority. We stream mostly through Prime. We just picked up a free month of Netflix. Looks like they have some decent TV on there.
> 
> Anyone have Hulu plus? How's that for TV?



We have Hulu Plus, sometimes.  I never use it because I don't really like the interface (which may have changed since I last used it), and I never found much I wanted to watch on there.  My wife uses it to watch some shows, but she tends to watch a bunch, then cancel it for a while, renew, cancel, renew, etc..


----------



## Mullen (Jan 14, 2014)

I'm internet only at the house too.  Roku boxes on two tvs, MOHU leaf digital antenna on the living room tv (it pulls about 50 channels from central ct area...a lot are only in spanish tho lol), I get all the main local ones in great hd so can watch football on sundays.  Subscribe to netflix streaming and hulu + and split the mlb streaming with my brother and get every mlb game all season long (I'm a huge baseball fan so this gets the most use in the spring and summer months).  Haven't had a land phone line since about 2002.  I see no need for the services of a cable company.  

Also as an fyi if you have comcast service for internet you most likely have free basic cable on that line too (some areas they can't shut it off when you get the high speed internet, and for them to turn it off they have to manually send someone up the pole), just plug the line right into the back of the tv, no box and run a channel scan...you might be plesently surprised.


----------



## Mullen (Jan 14, 2014)

soposkier said:


> Looks like comcast is offering internet + HBO as a package now.  Ive been looking into dumping cable and thinking about getting that.  Only thing holding me back is sports at this point.



Do you know anyone that has cable that would be willing to share their password with you?  That's how I get espn and nfl network.  I "borrow" a friends password and watch it on my ipad.  I wish espn and nfl would come to the roku so I could just get that on there too.


----------



## soposkier (Jan 14, 2014)

Mullen said:


> Do you know anyone that has cable that would be willing to share their password with you?  That's how I get espn and nfl network.  I "borrow" a friends password and watch it on my ipad.  I wish espn and nfl would come to the roku so I could just get that on there too.



I "borrow" my brother's hbo subscription, use that thru the chromecast.  Might have to bum the ESPN subscription as well if I cut cable. I thought ESPN did have an app on roku?  I dont think I would really even miss ESPN though, would only really need NESN for Sox and Bruins.


----------



## Mullen (Jan 14, 2014)

soposkier said:


> I "borrow" my brother's hbo subscription, use that thru the chromecast.  Might have to bum the ESPN subscription as well if I cut cable. I thought ESPN did have an app on roku?  I dont think I would really even miss ESPN though, would only really need NESN for Sox and Bruins.



awesome looks like espn is in there w the live stuff too.  It used to just have a bunch of crappy clips of old shows.


----------



## o3jeff (Jan 15, 2014)

bvibert said:


> We have Hulu Plus, sometimes.  I never use it because I don't really like the interface (which may have changed since I last used it), and I never found much I wanted to watch on there.  My wife uses it to watch some shows, but she tends to watch a bunch, then cancel it for a while, renew, cancel, renew, etc..



That's my biggest complaint about Amazon prime is their interface.


----------



## Geoff (Jan 15, 2014)

o3jeff said:


> That's my biggest complaint about Amazon prime is their interface.



Yep.   It's awful in my Panasonic Blu Ray player.   

There really needs to be a web interface so you can tell it to put up your preferred selections first.   You can search by movie title but it's really clunky.

It's too bad because their video streaming for HD works a heck of a lot better than Netflix.   For me, Amazon never glitches.   Netflix will often interrupt the video stream several times and step down out of HD mode.


----------



## Geoff (Jan 15, 2014)

Right now, I'm in the middle of the 2nd season of "Lost" on Netflix after seeing Evangeline Lilly in the 2nd Hobbit movie and going "Whoah!  Who is that?"   I don't watch television with advertising in it other than sports so I'd managed to miss this series.   Unless it's an NFL playoff game, the only thing on my flat screen right now is endless "Lost" episodes.


----------



## Edd (Jan 15, 2014)

Geoff said:


> Right now, I'm in the middle of the 2nd season of "Lost" on Netflix after seeing Evangeline Lilly in the 2nd Hobbit movie and going "Whoah!  Who is that?"   I don't watch television with advertising in it other than sports so I'd managed to miss this series.   Unless it's an NFL playoff game, the only thing on my flat screen right now is endless "Lost" episodes.



I very much enjoyed Lost. She is hot, indeed.


----------



## o3jeff (Jan 16, 2014)

Geoff said:


> Yep.   It's awful in my Panasonic Blu Ray player.
> 
> There really needs to be a web interface so you can tell it to put up your preferred selections first.   You can search by movie title but it's really clunky.
> 
> It's too bad because their video streaming for HD works a heck of a lot better than Netflix.   For me, Amazon never glitches.   Netflix will often interrupt the video stream several times and step down out of HD mode.



I never have any glitches with it either and I have a slow connection at my house. Been doing Prime thru Airplay on my phone or iPad to apple tv.


----------



## bvibert (Jan 18, 2014)

o3jeff said:


> That's my biggest complaint about Amazon prime is their interface.



No, the Prime interface isn't as good as Netflix, but it's still better than Hulu.


----------



## soposkier (Jan 20, 2014)

What service providers do people use/recommend?  I have RCN right now but have been unhappy recently with the consistency of the internet service.  Other options are XFinity and Fios.  Looks like Xfinity is the best price at the moment.


----------



## Euler (Jan 20, 2014)

bvibert said:


> No, the Prime interface isn't as good as Netflix, but it's still better than Hulu.


I don't like any of the interfaces on the ROKU very much.  I usually browse and pick movies and shows with my laptop, then watch via the ROKU.


----------



## frapcap (Jan 23, 2014)

Missed this thread somehow.

We dumped Direct TV a couple of months ago and honestly, once you get past the first week and a half, you hardly even notice. To cover sports, I bought one of those outdoor HD antennas from antennas direct. It picked up about 50 channels and I used the tv settings to rename the channels and cut out the ones that aren't necessary- like the 4 home shopping network programs. 

Anything else we catch between Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu Plus run through an xbox 360. However, I'm missing my favorite shows, Justified & Walking Dead and will have to buy them on a per episode basis from Amazon. Should come out to approx $60 total for the shows. Still cheaper than cable and I can totally justify the purchase without feeling bad at all. 

We'll have to figure out a way for the lady to watch Game of Thrones though.

Honestly, we spend a lot more time reading, doing house projects, or car projects now. its probably for the best.


----------



## gmcunni (Jan 26, 2014)

roku 3 on woot today $65

http://www.woot.com/


----------



## o3jeff (Feb 9, 2014)

Had my friend jaibreak my iPad and now I'm using Movie Box with airplay to Apple TV. Tons of current movies and tv shows on there.


----------



## Euler (Feb 10, 2014)

I'm giving www.aereo.com a try this month to stream NBC for watching some Olympics.  It works so-so with my available bandwidth.  I imagine it would be great with a really high speed connection.  I also imagine it'll be taken down within a few more months...we'll see.


----------

