Dumped the cable

[Crankin]

We recently bought our son a TV with the stuff you describe (internet streaming video device), as like you, he has internet/wireless, but no cable. He loves it! Especially since they were watching movies on the computer screen, which was a pain for 2 people.
I have cable, but none of the "extra" channels, like HBO. DH keeps threatening to cancel the cable, but I do watch the Tour and other bike races on VS, as well as CNN, and let's not forget HGTV.

[tulip]

Congratulations, Catrin. You can watch shows online, including HGTV. I watched a great House Hunters International episode last night online. It may not be the most current episode, but I don't know that, so who cares?

I watch the occasional L&O/House/Bones on Hulu, and the other night I watched The Way We Were on crackle.com.

I have not had true TV in years. I knit and listen to Old Time Radio alot. And read. It's much more satisfying than TV in my opinion. When I do want to veg out in front of a TV, I watch it online. But I normally have better things to do.

Last year, for the TdF, I subscribed to Versus online coverage for something like $30. It sure beats the price of cable all year long.

[esmorin]

Last year, for the TdF, I subscribed to Versus online coverage for something like $30. It sure beats the price of cable all year long.

Ooooo! I didn't know you could do that! I would love to do that and watch Hockey!!

my husband and I got rid of our cable (which he had only for a year or so - and I was not brought up in a house that had cable, and TV was not relied on for entertainment)...and we have never regretted it. sure, we LOVE to watch stuff at friends' and family's homes...but we mostly just watch a lot of stuff online. Also, we're readers. And I knit, too! Also, Netflix's streaming plan is only $8 or $9 a month...and they have a pretty good selection (and getting better, I hear!).

Congrats!!! you will have more money and time for better things!

[ny biker]

[bump]

I am looking into alternatives to cable TV. I was content with what I had, an HD-DVR from the only cable/internet provider that is available in my neighborhood. Until last month when they started to pelt me with warnings that technological changes on their end would cause me to lose HD channels if I did not get a new HD-DVR.

[yada yada multiple phones calls to "customer service" where I got transferred around and every person I spoke to gave me a different answer yada yada yada.]

New box was installed on Monday morning and I hate hate hate it. They have added all sorts of features that I do not need and will never use. In the process they have made it harder to do basic things. Actions that used to required one press of a button on the remote now require multiple button presses to drill down through various menus. Stupid changes like before when you pressed "Last" it took you to the last channel you watched but now it just brings up a list of channels with channels I literally have never seen in my life on the left and the last one I was watching all the way over the on the right where my eyes go last. To say that I have no patience for this kind of thing is an understatement. I don't know who they designed these "upgrades" for but from where I'm sitting they have taken away a product that me my needs and replaced with a product that absolutely does not meet my needs. I am so annoyed that I haven't tried to watch TV since the new box was installed.

So I am looking into cutting the cord, seeing if I can still watch the shows I want to watch without the cable company, and without spending more than I spend now (saving a little $$ would be a nice bonus).

I have a relatively old HDTV, purchased 9 years ago. So it's not a smart TV. I have internet with wifi. The router has been acting up lately so I am willing to buy a new one; I know the one I have now is not the most advanced type available. The modem is new.

Channels I watch most often: TCM, local broadcast channels, PBS including reruns of Masterpiece Mystery (i.e., Morse, Lewis, Wallender, George Gently) on an all-British-programming PBS station, FX, Food Network, Comedy Central, NBC Sports for Formula 1 racing. There are other channels I watch occasionally like TNT, USA, AMC, plus CNBC when F1 coverage gets kicked over there due to conflicts on NBS Sports.

I rarely watch shows in real time -- I record almost everything on the DVR. I am usually not home or asleep when the shows I want to watch are on. Sometimes I save favorite shows indefinitely on the DVR so I can watch them again months or years later.

From my research so far, it looks like I will need a streaming device like Roku, plus subscriptions to things like Hulu, Netflix, SlingTV, Playstation Vue. It looks like CBS requires its own subscription and I may need to become a member of a local PBS station. Maybe I need a digital antenna, though I don't know if that will do much for me since I don't typically watch things when they are broadcast. I must say I'm finding the websites for the streaming services to be less than helpful in terms of the details of what they offer. And I can't tell yet if I need a DVR (either Tivo or a cloud DVR service) or if everything I want would be available on demand.

I am anti-Amazon, so will consider their streaming hardware and services as a last resort only. I'm not wild about using Google products for this either, since I feel like they already know too much about me (okay yes I'm a bit crazy-paranoid). I currently have no Apple products.

Any thoughts, suggestions, advice? Thanks!!

[Crankin]

Before we moved to the condo, where we have to have cable, we had a digital antenna for HD and Apple TV. The Apple TV was complicated for me to use. I mostly watch network news, anyway, and a couple of shows, so I didn't care. We did have cable internet and phone.
Now that we have cable, I am enjoying having it, watching more HGTV and a John Oliver, Bill Mahr when the shows actually air. I could live without it, though. No DVR. We had one 2 houses ago and it never got used. We just don't watch much TV and go to bed early!

[Pax]

We dumped out cable when we sold our house in 2013, we've been saving intensely for retirement so we never got any streaming stuff. We use a Mohu Leaf to get over the air channels and it works fine unless it's storming or windy. What we've found is once you adjust to life without tons of media you end up reading more or watching DVD's.

Our condo in FL comes with cable as part of our fees, but I find it almost overwhelming, there are so many channels, and we end up with 3-4 different remotes to juggle. It just makes me anxious, although I do love TCM.