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Do you think you could get away from having cable service?
#265709 - 10/05/11 10:04 PM
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A couple of us were at work and visiting about having to have our nuts bound by rubber bands paying for cable. We started toying with the idea of using Vudu/Netflix/Hulu/etc. We came up with that it would be cheaper FOR NOW.
This was a long discussion. I thought of asking others on here what they do, or could they even part with cable. I think I could.
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italie |
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MAME owes italie many thank yous, hah
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Re: Do you think you could get away from having cable service?
[Re: TheBigAmbulance]
#265712 - 10/05/11 10:19 PM
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> A couple of us were at work and visiting about having to have our nuts bound by
> rubber bands paying for cable. We started toying with the idea of using
> Vudu/Netflix/Hulu/etc. We came up with that it would be cheaper FOR NOW.
>
> This was a long discussion. I thought of asking others on here what they do, or could
> they even part with cable. I think I could.
I totally could. The only 'cable' shows I watch anymore are cooking shows. I can get that action in front of my stove.
My wife however, could not. I think pulling the plug would result in bad things for me.
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| Hizzout |
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70's baby, early 80's child
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Re: Do you think you could get away from having cable service?
[Re: TheBigAmbulance]
#265715 - 10/05/11 10:55 PM
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I gave up Comcast (except for the bare minimum local channels...gotta be able to watch football still) for a Roku and I haven't missed cable at all. No commercials, no crappy reality TV shows, just what I want to watch, WHEN I want to watch it. Between Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon there is more than enough selection. Seriously, it's awesome.
I get all my news from the internet anyway. The only drawback is having to watch current episodes of The Daily Show and other Comedy Central shows online, but that's hardly a sacrifice (little to no commercial breaks).
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GatKong |
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Tetris Mason
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If you wanna Hula you still need high-speed internet... is cable internet any better? I s'spose it's not a "cable tv" bill, anyway.
But I'm off cable, but not by choice, I live in BFE where cable isn't an option.
Now I'm on cellular internet service (it's all i can get where I live)... which is ok at best. But we netflix, Hula, all that, and really don't miss cable at all.
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| Gor |
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Giver of truth.
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Re: Do you think you could get away from having cable service?
[Re: italie]
#265718 - 10/05/11 11:06 PM
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> > A couple of us were at work and visiting about having to have our nuts bound by
> > rubber bands paying for cable. We started toying with the idea of using
> > Vudu/Netflix/Hulu/etc. We came up with that it would be cheaper FOR NOW.
> >
> > This was a long discussion. I thought of asking others on here what they do, or
> could
> > they even part with cable. I think I could.
>
>
> I totally could. The only 'cable' shows I watch anymore are cooking shows. I can get
> that action in front of my stove.
>
> My wife however, could not. I think pulling the plug would result in bad things for
> me.
I had been contemplating parting with cable for a while and finally did so at the end of August.
Most of what we were watching were DVR'ed network shows and Netflix streaming. Dropping
the TV portion of the Comcast bill completely reduced it from $155/month (with only 1 HD DVR
box in the house and the minimum service to get BBC America) to $60/month for internet only.
This did bring about some disappointment from the wife.
I mounted an antenna in the attic over the garage (avoiding homeowner's association complaints)
to pick up all of the over the air digital broadcasts coming out of Chicago so we could watch most
of what we watch, but on the network schedule with commercials. I also signed up for a free
month trial of Hulu+ (.edu email address) so we could use it with the PS3 and hopefully use it as
a DVR for the shows it provides.
This was an OK, but the lack of pausing live TV was annoying. I then called Comcast and told
them I was looking to cut costs and a friend of mine recently signed up for internet at $20/month
for 6 months, then $35/month for the next 6 months. They gave me this deal, which gives me a
total savings of $1530 over the year. I took part of that savings and did something I had wanted
to do for some time - built a dual tuner HTPC, which does everything the DVR did and more. The
wife seems quite happy with how it works. I think I'll cancel Hulu+ shortly, since I don't need to
use it on the PS3 now and I don't need it for its DVR-like capabilities.
I might try TunnelBear with the BBC iPlayer to replace some of the BBC America content.
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Oh for Pete's sake.
loser.com
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| yaggy |
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Coin-op fixer
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Re: Do you think you could get away from having cable service?
[Re: TheBigAmbulance]
#265719 - 10/05/11 11:09 PM
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I'm now one year removed from Pay TV.
I watch local off-the-air channels, some netflix, or go do something productive. (self-limits couch potato time)
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Re: Do you think you could get away from having cable service?
[Re: TheBigAmbulance]
#265722 - 10/05/11 11:24 PM
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I haven't paid for cable (tv) for years, although the internet is through a cable modem.
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Re: Do you think you could get away from having cable service?
[Re: TheBigAmbulance]
#265727 - 10/05/11 11:40 PM
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been doing it for years... Only a few shows I miss... but I found a lot more to watch.
huluplus + netflix
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Re: Do you think you could get away from having cable service?
[Re: TheBigAmbulance]
#265747 - 10/06/11 05:45 AM
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My only choice for "high speed" internet is the same lone company that provides cable service, and there are no local or in-range broadcast stations worth mentioning.
The limits on the cable internet are too low to allow extensive program viewing at reasonable resolutions.
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Re: Do you think you could get away from having cable service?
[Re: TheBigAmbulance]
#265748 - 10/06/11 05:54 AM
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> A couple of us were at work and visiting about having to have our nuts bound by
> rubber bands paying for cable. We started toying with the idea of using
> Vudu/Netflix/Hulu/etc. We came up with that it would be cheaper FOR NOW.
>
> This was a long discussion. I thought of asking others on here what they do, or could
> they even part with cable. I think I could.
I've been cable-less for many years, and I don't miss it at all... and for the same reasons the other cable-less lads have mentioned. I can view any program I want, when I want, without all the garbage and advertising. If you know where to look, you can stream just about any live event without issue.
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| DMala |
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Sleep is overrated
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Re: Do you think you could get away from having cable service?
[Re: TheBigAmbulance]
#265749 - 10/06/11 07:13 AM
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> A couple of us were at work and visiting about having to have our nuts bound by
> rubber bands paying for cable. We started toying with the idea of using
> Vudu/Netflix/Hulu/etc. We came up with that it would be cheaper FOR NOW.
>
> This was a long discussion. I thought of asking others on here what they do, or could
> they even part with cable. I think I could.
A friend of mine does it, with just a Roku and an antenna to get local stations. I could probably do the same, but I'd miss two things:
First, premium channel series - Boardwalk Empire, True Blood, Game of Thrones, etc. Yeah, you can get them on Netflix eventually, but I'm impatient and it's more fun to watch them as they're broadcast.
Second, channel surfing. The problem with on demand programming is that you have to know what you want to watch. Sometimes I like to just flip through the channels and see what's on. Many times I'll stumble across something interesting that I never would have thought to specifically seek out. Sure, I probably shouldn't be vegging out in front of the TV, but sometimes (especially right after work) you just need to turn the brain off and recuperate for a little while.
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| Tomu Breidah |
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No Problems, Only Solutions
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Never had it, can't say I ever will...
[Re: TheBigAmbulance]
#265750 - 10/06/11 07:16 AM
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To me it's just another useless bill to pay. (It's like) I'm paying for ALL the channels, shows... But I can only watch one show/channel at a time. If they had a pay for what you watch option - I'd consider it (presuming it would be a fair rate). But I hardly ever watch T.V. anyway. All of my "entertainment" comes from the internet. Youtube, games, reading a few news sites, forums, or whatever.
But commercials are supposed to pay for T.V. shows. Why are the things on network television any worse than the crap they put on cable? If I'm paying for cable why do I still have to watch commercials? [/rant]
I guess somebody, somewhere has to make money somehow.
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LEVEL-4
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Re: Do you think you could get away from having cable service?
[Re: TheBigAmbulance]
#265751 - 10/06/11 10:12 AM
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> A couple of us were at work and visiting about having to have our nuts bound by
> rubber bands paying for cable. We started toying with the idea of using
> Vudu/Netflix/Hulu/etc. We came up with that it would be cheaper FOR NOW.
>
> This was a long discussion. I thought of asking others on here what they do, or could
> they even part with cable. I think I could.
Yes, but for live sporting events. -JW
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Re: Do you think you could get away from having cable service?
[Re: TheBigAmbulance]
#265755 - 10/06/11 10:47 AM
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> A couple of us were at work and visiting about having to have our nuts bound by
> rubber bands paying for cable. We started toying with the idea of using
> Vudu/Netflix/Hulu/etc. We came up with that it would be cheaper FOR NOW.
>
> This was a long discussion. I thought of asking others on here what they do, or could
> they even part with cable. I think I could.
I've never had cable, costs too much for what you get. (over $100/month here)
Only watch TV on Saturdays, the rest of the time its total crap.
Plenty of other things to do.
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