Getting ready to "cut the cord"

[loudshirt]

Well I am currently gearing up to "cut the cord" from cable/satalite tv. Since we will be having a kid in April and my wife will be off work for a while with only some of it paid for we need to trim some bills. Over the next week or so we are going to start transitioning to internet tv/movies via a new blu-ray player and an over the air antenna. I am going to wait until after football season to complete the process. I am also looking to get a Roku or Apple Tv box not quite sure which one, however I am leaning towards Roku. How many people have done this transition? What is your set up? What subscription services do you use? What drawbacks have you found with your set up? What new thing have you discovered that you can not live without now?


Thanks

 

[flatwins]

I did it last May. I have a Roku box plugged directly into my router so there isn't any buffering. I also have plain old rabbit ears for network programming but they don't get used much. I'm not a big network TV person anyway so I haven't missed it. I have a Netflix subscription as well as Amazon Prime.

What I have missed is:

Football games in the fall (though I had extremely limited channels anyway when I was on satellite.
DVR (this can be resolved with various computer programs)

 

[TwoForFlinching]

I'm on three different hd satellites, one in each metro direction. Add in hulu, and vudu, I'm not missing much.

 

[CODE_3]

I watch a lot of Netflix and Hulu plus.

 

[JxxxOxxxE]

There are quite a few threads on here talking about this...my personal choice is to hook a pc to the tv...there really couldnt be a better option....

 

[orangeRcode]

If you have cable internet, you have basic cable tv. Just saying.

 

[JacobDaddy]

If you have cable internet, you have basic cable tv. Just saying.

They can install a data only filter that will block everything except for the cable modem frequencies. They typically have a red band on the filter and are installed inside the box that is mounted on the outside of your house.

 

[murphy j]

We haven't had cable for about 3 1/2 yrs now. We have had Netflix since dropping cable. Originally we had it streaming through my wife's old laptop, but now have a Panasonic DVD/Blu-Ray player(model # DMP-BDT210P) that acts as a receiver and comes pre-loaded with Netflix and Amazon Prime. We spend almost $25 a month on those 2 services. Keep in mind that you have to have an internet connection and that if there's any regular TV shows you're trying to keep up with, that you will have to pay extra for on Amazon Prime. Overall we're pretty satisfied, but it definitely takes some getting used to.

 

[skatalite]

Wife and I cut the cord back in 2009, and haven't looked back since.

We use a PlayStation 3 and watch content using the following apps: Hulu Plus, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and YouTube. Since the PS3 is also a Blu-ray and DVD player, it's kind of the perfect entertainment box.

We pay $79 a year for Amazon Prime, which gives us free two-day shipping on purchases on Amazon.com, and access to Amazon Instant Video.

We pay $7.99 a month for Hulu Plus.

We pay $7.99 a month for Netflix.

YouTube is free, but has a large number of TV shows, concerts and movies on it.

Before we cut the cord, our cable bill was about $120 a month. Now it's a fraction of the cost, and we get to dictate what and when we watch things.

Also, there are a number of YouTube clone websites out there that stream current television shows and movies. They're actually legal to access and use since the site themselves aren't hosting content. With popular shows, like "The Walking Dead," you don't have to wait very long for the episode to appear online. Usually it's instant after the episode finished airing on television.

Do it. Cut the cord. Don't look back.

 

[willnotgoquietly]

HI
Looks like I'm not the only one that pulled the plug on cable. We did it and left it off for a year. We turned it back on for two months and then cancelled. As others have posted, an antenna, high speed internet, and Netflix is a good combination. Don't pay for an antenna. Use the coax cable to your tv and build an antenna with a few wire coat hangers and a 2x4. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-fractal-antenna-for-HDTV-DTV-plus-/ Put this in the attic. Disconnect the coax line from the TV to the splitter in the attic and connect to your new antenna.

We used a Netflix enabled DVD player until be bought a smart TV. You won't believe the quality of HDTV over the air. You can HULU with a Notebook computer plugged into your TV.

Another saver. If you still have a Phone line to your house, consider a Majic jack. 30 or so bucks a year is so much cheaper then the phone companies. Majic Jack works well on high speed internet connection. I use it for work conference calls.

Good luck.