| Hizzout |
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70's baby, early 80's child
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Getting rid of cable - suggestions please
#243772 - 01/16/11 06:00 PM
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So the wife and I are getting rid of our cable TV. There's hardly anything ever on that we're interested in, it's already too expensive and Xfinity (Comcast) just raised our rates out of nowhere so fuck em.
My sister has canceled her cable also and they just stream movies and TV shows through their Wii using Netflix. Well, I don't have an internet connected TV, or device other than my computers so I was considering getting a Roku to do the streaming and was wondering if anyone here had one and could share their experience or had suggestions for another device.
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KDL-55HX800
[Re: Hizzout]
#243774 - 01/16/11 06:17 PM
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costs a pretty penny but I found one on sale for $1599 (and no tax, of course  )
Gotta spend prolly $80 more on a wireless network adapter for it but the damn thing looks so promising at the moment! Has an XMB like the PS3 and everything. from what I understand, on top of netflix, it will do hulu and a bunch of other stuff (like stream things right from your computer if you have media center configured)
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Just broke my personal record for number of consecutive days without dying!
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Re: Getting rid of cable - suggestions please
[Re: Hizzout]
#243776 - 01/16/11 06:24 PM
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Is your internet through Comcast? Be aware that if you don't have cable TV service with them, they jack up the price of their internet. I'm not sure how much, but my buddy that had DirectTV wanted to get Comcast internet and it was cheaper for him to get their minimal cable package + internet than it was to get internet alone.
Speaking of minimal cable, you might want to consider dropping your cable down to "Limited Basic", which is like $15 a month or something like that. You have to call and ask for it specifically because they don't advertise that they even have a limited basic package. Just tell them that you're planning on canceling because of the price and ask what's the cheapest service they offer. Additionally, don't rent any hardware from them. If you rent your cable modem, buy your own. If you rent the digital boxes, get rid of them and just use the free DTA converters they provide.
If you go the streaming Netflix route, just pick up a Wii, PS3, or XBox360, whichever is cheapest and use it for Netflix. Several people I work with had the Roku devices and had them die shortly after the warranty period. I think the Wii is roughly the same cost as the Roku anyway, and you get the added bonus of being able to play games on it. The down-side of the Wii is that it doesn't do hi-def resolutions, though depending on your TV, this may be a non-issue. I "think" that the PS3 is the top Netflix solution because it does hi-def *and* has a blu-ray player. However, it's usually somewhat more expensive than a Wii.
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GroovyMAME support forum on BYOAC
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| dfrance |
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Crazed Collector
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Reged: 09/22/03
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Posts: 638
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Loc: The Black
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Re: Getting rid of cable - suggestions please
[Re: Hizzout]
#243777 - 01/16/11 06:26 PM
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We dropped DISH over a year ago. Have a rooftop antenna and pull in about 15 channels (many HD). Bought a WDTV w/HDMI cable for under $105 off Amazon, a 1TB drive for another $100, and loaded it with enough stuff to last a lifetime of evenings (EZTV.IT is a great source for current shows). 
The WDTV isn't the latest or greatest, but I've had great luck with it playing everything I've loaded and it'll output 1080p (the TRON Legacy trailers I've pulled from YouTube look fantastic) and the price was right.
We recently added Netflix on the Wii too, and signed up for the 2-DVD addition just yesterday. It's been fun watching series' we never watched before like "Psych", "Doc Martin", and oldies like "Cosmos".
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Re: Getting rid of cable - suggestions please
[Re: Hizzout]
#243779 - 01/16/11 06:36 PM
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$60 one time charge for that box seems very reasonable. Another option is buying a cheap used PC and wireless network adapter off eBay for around the same or a little more and hooking it in there. That way you could play games on it too. I was given some old PC hardware a couple of weeks ago and I'm hooking one of them into my main tv so I can stream to it, just need to put a new hard drive in my main computer and pull an old one out for the streamer. If you have an old PC in the attic or something, I'd just hook that up, save even more money. Tons of people are doing this btw, canceling cable tv and going stream happy and Netflix discs in the mail. They put an article about it in the paper the other day. I've been doing it for like 5 years.
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| DMala |
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Sleep is overrated
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Reged: 05/09/05
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Posts: 3989
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Loc: Waltham, MA
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Re: Getting rid of cable - suggestions please
[Re: Hizzout]
#243784 - 01/16/11 07:09 PM
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> So the wife and I are getting rid of our cable TV. There's hardly anything ever on
> that we're interested in, it's already too expensive and Xfinity (Comcast) just
> raised our rates out of nowhere so fuck em.
FWIW, if you call Comcast up and threaten to switch to another service, they'll drop your rates back to the "new subscriber" level. I did it just a few days ago when my bill jumped by $30. My bill went back to where it was, and I got free Showtime and a bump to my Internet speed to boot.
If you're set on dumping cable, one thing I'd suggest is a cheap antenna to get the local HD programming. We don't have cable wiring up in the bedroom, so we set up cheap rabbit ears that we already had and get all of the major networks, PBS, and a bunch of other oddball channels. They all come in crystal clear with little or no antenna fiddling, and they actually look better than the same channels coming through the cable system. I guess it depends a lot on where you live, but if you're at all close to a city, it's worth a try.
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Re: Getting rid of cable - suggestions please
[Re: Hizzout]
#243811 - 01/16/11 10:50 PM
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Netflix, Amazon, ebay, and a decent DVD player. Also the bargain bins at local stores. Also look and see if there are any used record stores in your area. Many times they carry an 'ok' selection of DVDs. You can get TONS of material for fairly cheap. Especially if you are not concerned about it being new. Oh and the local libraries. Many carry a decent selection of DVDs. My TV has a built in netflix streaming as does the, wii, PS3, and xbox360. Some TVs have hulu. I pretty much paid for my 55 inch tv with the money I saved from not giving it to time warner. Streaming is 'okayish' but not quite there yet from netflix (mostly b type movies). You wili end up getting a HTPC anyway to get all of the sites. Heard a few good things about popcornhour and roku but do not know if they are any good.
Also the biggest thing you will miss is probably the news. Get a newspaper. Blogs/News sites work 'ok'. But an old fashion newspaper works pretty good too. I gave up on that too as I realized I didnt really care about it and was not reading it anyway. But at first it was good.
Also do not buy everything right when it first comes out. It will be tempting to do this for the first year. After that you will be 'so far behind' you can get everything pretty cheap. I am still on the first season of Big Bang Theory, and that is a few years old. Got it for 15 bucks. Or I could have ordered it from netflix. Got the entire 5 seasons of Remington Steel for 20 bucks at wally world. You just need to keep your eyes pealed for the bargain bins. The new releases for this last Christmas will be in the bargain bins next Christmas.
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Re: Getting rid of cable - suggestions please
[Re: Hizzout]
#243923 - 01/18/11 11:51 PM
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I recently switched from DSL to cable, because my year special price on DSL was up.
It was cheaper to get cable (I already had a cable modem - and it's years old, Cox doesn't demand you have a new model), and I got more bandwidth.
I made sure to push that I ONLY wanted internet, and it HAD to be comparable to or better than what I was getting with DSL. They had a three-month special at a reduced price, and the following price was about the same as the DSL, but with more bandwidth.
Be calm, but firm, with them.
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Consider it high comedy....sincere tragedy....whatever...don't take it personally.
The Culture
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| redk9258 |
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Regular
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Reged: 09/21/03
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Loc: Troy, Illinois USA
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Re: Getting rid of cable - suggestions please
[Re: mogli]
#243928 - 01/19/11 01:40 AM
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I'm glad I don't deal with a company named Cox. I would probably start laughing when they answered the phone.
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| Cable |
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retro gamer
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Reged: 08/30/08
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Re: Getting rid of cable - suggestions please
[Re: Hizzout]
#243954 - 01/19/11 01:57 PM
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I wondered what Id done wrong!
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| dfrance |
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Crazed Collector
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Reged: 09/22/03
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Loc: The Black
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Re: Getting rid of cable - suggestions please
[Re: redk9258]
#243982 - 01/20/11 01:32 AM
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> I'm glad I don't deal with a company named Cox. I would probably start laughing when
> they answered the phone.
The local amusement machine mafia here is Cox Music. They live up to their name. I've heard several accounts of them unplugging or marking "out of order" machines from the competition.
Here's their sales page though...if'n anyone wants to deal with them and lives near the Quad Cities
http://www.coxmusicinc.com/cox_music_inventory_blowout_sale.htm
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