So this has been a hard week for me. We turned off DirecTV.
Disconnected. Gone. Stopped the signal.
We immediately acquired a wifi blu-ray dvd player and have begun digitizing the dvd library. The 2-yr old has gotten by with kid shows streamed in via Netflix. I've managed to stay current with the series that we were watching (Deadliest Catch, Nurse Jackie, Magic City & Game of Thrones) via the wonder this bit torrent.
What it comes down to is this; we were paying cable to program stuff for us. At $150.00 a month, that's an expensive convenience.
Plans for the future include a media server, newer LCD monitor and cat-5 ethernet in the walls. We're still debating an indoor HD antenna (in which case we'll need a monitor with a TV tuner).
So how 'bout you? Are paying for cable? Could you cut the cord? Have you already? Will die with your cable remote in your hand?
I'm in Australia... We got cable tv about a year ago, it was the first time I'd ever had it in my life. Switched it off before the first month was over. Man there is a lot of crap on and I found myself glued to the screen at every spare moment. Two weeks was all I could take.
I'm keeping my cable only because it comes as part of my internet service. If there was another service in my area that offers hi-speed internet or a way to un-bundle the cable from the internet I would drop cable without looking back.
Like I said, I'm relying heavily on Netflix right now. Might get onboard with Hulu+ and maybe vudu as well. It does kind of suck. I really enjoyed late-night TV after everyone had gone to bed. I'd just channel-surf and relax.
Now I have to pick something to watch or choose to do something else entirely. lol
If you want to watch tv shows the day after they air sign up for Hulu+. If you just want a lot of older tv shows and movies get Netflix.
I've never had cable TV. The only time I've watched it was at my grandma's. There just isn't anything good on TV to watch to warrant a $30+ per month payment. There's also the fact it's all or none, I don't want the other 300+ channels in the package, I'd just want a select few. Even so, Netflix has so much and is considerably cheaper.
Even so, it's a once in awhile thing, last series I watched all the way through was Avatar, and some of my brother's anime. I'm either playing video games, or Pathfinder. TV just isn't that great :|
I cancelled cable 2 years ago, took the money I was saving on the monthly fees (~$100), bought myself a Wii, an Xbox 360 and a PS3. I pay $28/month for Netflix and Hulu Plus, and augment those with RedBox.
I miss a couple of channels, but am able to get by - all of my TV is now on my schedule, and I get a bunch of awesome video games, without having to buy new PC components every 3 weeks.
Life is good (and a LOT cheaper)!
Considering getting rid of hbo and going back to basic. It's just too expensive.
I've never had cable (in my own home that I paid for by myself--I did share it with roomies in grad school) and when all TV turned digital I never bothered to buy my analog TV a converter. So the big thing in the living room acts as a screen for DVDs and PS2 games.
I do watch TV though. I just watch the shows I like on the Internet, via Hulu or other official streaming services.
We've been slowly cutting down cable in our house, going from the triple package phone, net, and cable. It was actually quite a fight, because the customer service people are trained to 'sidestep' attempts to cut or reduce their service. They tried telling me that the deal I was getting (trying to cut the land line service) was better than paying for cable and net alone. They tried the same thing again when we wanted to reduce our cable down to basic channels only.
If they weren't a monopoly in my area, I would have given them the laugh years ago, because currently I watch the 4 or 5 shows I want to see on hulu (hating that now too) and try as much as possible to interest myself in more self-promotive measures.
I pay $28/month for Netflix and Hulu Plus, and augment those with RedBox.
My wife and I do this and with our high speed internet connection it's all we really need. We get basic cable as part of our rental agreement but we've occasionally considered getting a cable upgrade to watch a few HBO series but in the end we just usually wait for the DVD set to come out.
Most every major network streams their shows online a day or two after they air and we've just been finding it easier to watch stuff at our leisure.
I pay $28/month for Netflix and Hulu Plus, and augment those with RedBox.
My wife and I do this and with our high speed internet connection it's all we really need. We get basic cable as part of our rental agreement but we've occasionally considered getting a cable upgrade to watch a few HBO series but in the end we just usually wait for the DVD set to come out.
Most every major network streams their shows online a day or two after they air and we've just been finding it easier to watch stuff at our leisure.
And if you get yourself a cheap PC (or a hand-me-down), you can plug it into most flat-panel TVs these days, and, while not as convenient/handy as the device-native apps like Hulu or Netflix, you can also stream from the major network's websites.
I would like to cut the cord on cable, but I admit that I enjoy being able to DVR certain programs and watch at leisure while fast forwarding the commercials. Following that, a greater issue is closed captioning. Not all services have it and if they do, it's not completely reliable. I'm hearing impaired, so I rely on a lot of captioning while watching television so I don't have to strain so much to catch every nuance being said.
So I've determined that wifi DVD players are nice in theory, but they're also extremely finicky. I wonder of the same is true of wifi TVs? Anyone have a networked TV, tell me about it?
As a Windows guy, I'm a bit spoiled because I half-expected the dvd player to report as another computer on the network. That's now how it works, not even close. The thing doesn't even report as a connected device, rather it's just sort of "there".
I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that I need A.) a dedicated file server in my house and B.) a dedicated PC connected to the TV. The file server could be the box I'm using now and the media box could easily be an old laptop...
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We cut the cable over two years ago and have no regrets (well only one, I miss watching the super bowl but I'm not willing to go to a bar to watch the game.) Netflix is a life saver until you catch up to the end of all of the series and then have to wait for the next season to finally hit. (I wish Netflix would release a schedule of upcoming releases.)
As far as the wifi DVD player. I was too cheap to buy the wifi adapter for my blu-ray player. Instead, I located the modem/wifi router next to the blu-ray player and connected directly via patch cord. I do find that a wifi xbox 360 is wonderful for watching Netflix. I almost never use my blu-ray player.
Good luck and enjoy the savings of getting out from the cable/satellite company thumb.
My PS3 and my PC are my Blu-Ray players.