Cutting the Cord

SamSpade

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
I keep giving this more and more thought, as the cable costs keep rising.

But I have mainly these thoughts:

1. I want to have something CLOSE to what I have now, and be able to watch pretty much all the shows we watch now.
2. I want to have something akin to DVR - to be able to record, rewind, restart and so forth.
3. We have a lot of TVs - mostly, DUMB TVs. I shudder at the investment cost of hooking them all up.
4. I want an interface that is not so damned cumbersome, I can't find what I want. As expensive as cable is, I can get to whatever I want almost blindfolded. I am not even sure if something like this has even been invented yet, although the guy who invents it will make a fortune.
I am tired of all the click and scroll and long, long times just looking for something.

Admittedly - most of the cable channels we NEVER watch at all. We watch the big four - ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX. The major cable networks - USA, TNT, TBS, A&E, SyFy, Nick and all Disney - WB and WGN - BBC America - and sports and cooking channels. And news. That's about everything.

Who's done it, and what have you found? Personaly, I'm only slightly fond of Netflix, hate Hulu and Amazon Prime is a crapshoot (belong to all three). Any Sling TV or other streaming services?
 
vraiblonde

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
I went ahead and got DirecTV. I don't watch a lot of television and I can get episodes of Modern Family and Blackish on Hulu, plus Amazon Prime gives me older series' starting with the first season. BUT when Robin Williams died I'd have liked to have been glued to the tube for days watching the retrospectives and tributes. So I went ahead and got the lowest priced package that gave me the channels I was interested in.
 
H

Hodr

Guest
Roku's are nice, but might be a bit of an investment if you are just looking to try your options.

You could check out the Amazon FireTV Stick if you have Amazon Prime already. I picked up two for $15 a piece when they first came out, though I think they may be $25 or $35 now.

Hulu has most of the shows a day after they air on network TV (CBS being the big holdout), and if you are used to using the DVR a day delay may not be out of the ordinary for you.

In order to use Hulu directly on a Roku/FireTv/etc. you need to subscribe to Hulu+, which is $8 a month (and you still get commercials, but one about 1 minute per commercial brake).

I happen to find it worth the money, but only just barely.

If you keep a computer running at all times you could install a media streaming server like PlayOn, which will let you re-stream the computer version of Hulu to a Roku/FireTv/Etc. for free. PlayOn goes on sale several times a year for around $59 with a free Roku included.

My setup is two Rokus and two FireTv Sticks, an Amazon Prime account (already had it), Netflix account (wife already had it), and Hulu+ (have a free year) account. I never seem to be at a loss for content, and I turn on my main PC (via a phone app) to use PlayOn if I want to watch a CBS show like Big Bang Theory.

There are also streaming TV options coming out like SlingTV, which is a good deal if you like ESPN. 5 years from now I believe you will have a ton of un-bundled streaming options like SlingTV that will allow you to pick exactly what content you want at a reasonable price, giving you the ease of use of Cable TV with the features of a DVR and the price of traditional cable cutting.
 
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