Anyone Here Pull the Cord? (Cable?)

[scarygirl]

I am seriously contemplating canceling the cable, buying myself a Roku and calling it a day There are so many old shows that I watch already up on you tube or available through HULU and NETFLIX. Just with the free HULU alone I have access to tons of old scifi, think Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, One Step Beyond etc.

The only thing stopping me is ONE I am nursing a serious addiction to TLC and TCM- Turner Classic Movies. I watch stuff like Say Yes to the Dress, 19 kids and counting, and Sister Wives. Though I could always buy the latest episodes of 19 kids and counting through Amazon Prime, the older episodes are available on you tube.

Two, I rely on roommates to get by. Basically I feel like if I don't have either cable or satellite tv I pretty much won't have a roommate.

Right now I am paying $230 a mth for cable, internet, and cell phone service. That's not including water/sewer/ electricity/hoa dues etc, car payment, mtg payment, and extraneous payments....

My options are to down grade the cable. which I can cancel at any time, but still even on the moderate end between standard cable. internet, and my cell phone I am $170 a mth easy.

Switch to DIRECT TV SATELLITTE. The down side means a TWO YEAR CONTRACT, PLUS they auto DEBIT your acct.. Year one would have me paying roughly $120 a month between DIRECT TV, INTERNET, and PHONE.

Year two of the contract would see me paying roughly $170 a month. Roughly what I would now with a downgraded cable package.

The final OPTION would to be cut the cable to either the bare bone, $14.95 a month and buying a roku so I can access some of the free streaming services, CRACKLE, HULU, YOU tube, etc. I would probably add in paid HULU an/or NET FLIX. THis should cut down my phone/internet/tv bill to well under $100 a month. I could always get my 19 KIDS and counting fix through AMAzon prime.

Has anyone else done this? Experiences good and bad would be appreciated......

[Monker]

That cost is insane.

Cancel cable, get a Roku, and then subscribe to Netflix, Hulu +, and maybe Amazon Prime...You will have so many options for TV that you'll never miss cable...for less then $30/month...< $20 for only NetFlix and Hulu.

NetFlix is great for the variety of movies and old TV...Hulu is great for NEW network TV and many new cable series. Amazon sorta fills in any gaps and you get some other benefits like free shipping upgrades. So, if you order a lot of Amazon stuff, it may be worth it...otherwise, check out what they offer.

I would think most everything on TCM is probably on NetFlix. The TLC shows, I'm not sure about. Hulu covers mostly the big networks and some shows on Syfy and such.

I will say again that what you are paying for cable is crazy...I pay $50/month for satelite and I'm thinking of cutting it down to the basic + Hulu and maybe Netfli.

Also, the apps on the newer TV's are good enough that you don't really 'need' a Roku...I have a newer Samsung, and it works great...

I am seriously contemplating canceling the cable, buying myself a Roku and calling it a day There are so many old shows that I watch already up on you tube or available through HULU and NETFLIX. Just with the free HULU alone I have access to tons of old scifi, think Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, One Step Beyond etc.

The only thing stopping me is ONE I am nursing a serious addiction to TLC and TCM- Turner Classic Movies. I watch stuff like Say Yes to the Dress, 19 kids and counting, and Sister Wives. Though I could always buy the latest episodes of 19 kids and counting through Amazon Prime, the older episodes are available on you tube.

Two, I rely on roommates to get by. Basically I feel like if I don't have either cable or satellite tv I pretty much won't have a roommate.

Right now I am paying $230 a mth for cable, internet, and cell phone service. That's not including water/sewer/ electricity/hoa dues etc, car payment, mtg payment, and extraneous payments....

My options are to down grade the cable. which I can cancel at any time, but still even on the moderate end between standard cable. internet, and my cell phone I am $170 a mth easy.

Switch to DIRECT TV SATELLITTE. The down side means a TWO YEAR CONTRACT, PLUS they auto DEBIT your acct.. Year one would have me paying roughly $120 a month between DIRECT TV, INTERNET, and PHONE.

Year two of the contract would see me paying roughly $170 a month. Roughly what I would now with a downgraded cable package.

The final OPTION would to be cut the cable to either the bare bone, $14.95 a month and buying a roku so I can access some of the free streaming services, CRACKLE, HULU, YOU tube, etc. I would probably add in paid HULU an/or NET FLIX. THis should cut down my phone/internet/tv bill to well under $100 a month. I could always get my 19 KIDS and counting fix through AMAzon prime.

Has anyone else done this? Experiences good and bad would be appreciated......

[scarygirl]

I am seriously contemplating it.I hate the idea of switching to Satellite and being tied down for two years. I hate contracts! My cable is sky high because I have a roommate that has to have SHOW time, HBO, digital tv, Dvr etc. etc. Drives me insane. I probably need a roku though. My TV though HD with HMDI outputs is basic as basic can be. It is an off brand SYLVANIA with no apps. Does anyone here have the ROKU 3? I have heard they have some sort of tech glitch and I should get the ROKU 2 instead.

Can a person switch back and forth between ROKU and over the air channels? My TV picks OTA decently considering. Can more than one TV use a single NETFLIx/HULU acct? If I am reading right I can so long as I have a ROKU for each TV you, just not the same TV show at the same time>

That cost is insane.

Cancel cable, get a Roku, and then subscribe to Netflix, Hulu +, and maybe Amazon Prime...You will have so many options for TV that you'll never miss cable...for less then $30/month...< $20 for only NetFlix and Hulu.

NetFlix is great for the variety of movies and old TV...Hulu is great for NEW network TV and many new cable series. Amazon sorta fills in any gaps and you get some other benefits like free shipping upgrades. So, if you order a lot of Amazon stuff, it may be worth it...otherwise, check out what they offer.

I would think most everything on TCM is probably on NetFlix. The TLC shows, I'm not sure about. Hulu covers mostly the big networks and some shows on Syfy and such.

I will say again that what you are paying for cable is crazy...I pay $50/month for satelite and I'm thinking of cutting it down to the basic + Hulu and maybe Netfli.

Also, the apps on the newer TV's are good enough that you don't really 'need' a Roku...I have a newer Samsung, and it works great...

I am seriously contemplating canceling the cable, buying myself a Roku and calling it a day There are so many old shows that I watch already up on you tube or available through HULU and NETFLIX. Just with the free HULU alone I have access to tons of old scifi, think Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, One Step Beyond etc.

The only thing stopping me is ONE I am nursing a serious addiction to TLC and TCM- Turner Classic Movies. I watch stuff like Say Yes to the Dress, 19 kids and counting, and Sister Wives. Though I could always buy the latest episodes of 19 kids and counting through Amazon Prime, the older episodes are available on you tube.

Two, I rely on roommates to get by. Basically I feel like if I don't have either cable or satellite tv I pretty much won't have a roommate.

Right now I am paying $230 a mth for cable, internet, and cell phone service. That's not including water/sewer/ electricity/hoa dues etc, car payment, mtg payment, and extraneous payments....

My options are to down grade the cable. which I can cancel at any time, but still even on the moderate end between standard cable. internet, and my cell phone I am $170 a mth easy.

Switch to DIRECT TV SATELLITTE. The down side means a TWO YEAR CONTRACT, PLUS they auto DEBIT your acct.. Year one would have me paying roughly $120 a month between DIRECT TV, INTERNET, and PHONE.

Year two of the contract would see me paying roughly $170 a month. Roughly what I would now with a downgraded cable package.

The final OPTION would to be cut the cable to either the bare bone, $14.95 a month and buying a roku so I can access some of the free streaming services, CRACKLE, HULU, YOU tube, etc. I would probably add in paid HULU an/or NET FLIX. THis should cut down my phone/internet/tv bill to well under $100 a month. I could always get my 19 KIDS and counting fix through AMAzon prime.

Has anyone else done this? Experiences good and bad would be appreciated......

[scarygirl]

Has anyone here had trouble with internet data caps after switching to NETFLIX, digital offerings? I believe my plan is older and unlimited, but on the off chance, similar plans like mine, ala ATT has a 150 gb max usage per mth? What is the chances of using that much content in a month between two computers and two tvs?

[Rick]

Has anyone here had trouble with internet data caps after switching to NETFLIX, digital offerings? I believe my plan is older and unlimited, but on the off chance, similar plans like mine, ala ATT has a 150 gb max usage per mth? What is the chances of using that much content in a month between two computers and two tvs?

The only thing that gives me pause from doing this is my wife. She can barely operate the garage door opener. It would take some heavy duty round the clock training to make this work with her. There are no data caps here, so I'm really thinking of doing it. We don't have a "smart" tv, but we have a Chromecast device on every tv, which is basically the same.

[Monker]

I am seriously contemplating it.I hate the idea of switching to Satellite and being tied down for two years. I hate contracts! My cable is sky high because I have a roommate that has to have SHOW time, HBO, digital tv, Dvr etc. etc. Drives me insane. I probably need a roku though. My TV though HD with HMDI outputs is basic as basic can be. It is an off brand SYLVANIA with no apps. Does anyone here have the ROKU 3? I have heard they have some sort of tech glitch and I should get the ROKU 2 instead.

Can a person switch back and forth between ROKU and over the air channels? My TV picks OTA decently considering. Can more than one TV use a single NETFLIx/HULU acct? If I am reading right I can so long as I have a ROKU for each TV you, just not the same TV show at the same time>

Well...if they want cable with the pay channels, make them pay the bill for cable and you pay the $20/month for NetFlix & Hulu. I think that's fair...especially if you don't want cable.

Yes, you will need a Roku, or something simular. Rick mentioned Smart TV's and that's what I was talking about. When I looked at Roku's a while back, they were about $100. So, is it worth buying a new smart TV instead? I don't know, it's up to you. I needed a new TV anyway and Samsung's online interface was highly rated...so I went for that instead of having yet another device with the Roku.

I would expect a Roku to be able to bring in the local channels...I'd ask at Best Buy or something to have them demo it for you.

You would have to check with whoever you have your DSL through to see if you have limits...it varies between your location and probably your plan.

Yes, you can use assign multiple devices to your Hulu and Netflix accounts. I think they limit you to something like 5 devices. They keep track of it by device, not by the TV, unless it is a smart TV. So, I can have my TV, my Kindle, my computer, my PS3...and each are considered separate devices.

[slucero]

don't forget you can get OTA (Over The Air) local channels in HD, with a regular antenna...

[gdaeb]

I cut the Cable June 2013 & never looked back and/or regretted it.
ROKU is good enough for me, a subscription to Netflix, a menu of the free diverse channel offerings & I'm good to go.
Streaming IS the future, Be part of it!

[AR]

It's not hard to cut the cable cord as long as you aren't that big of a sports fan which I unfortunately am.

Also keep in mind if you have your internet bundled with TV and phone like I do with FiOS that your internet bill will go through the roof if you break up the bundle.

There are ways to find HBO/Showtime original programming without having the channels.

Also I switched my cell phone from Verizon $100+ a month for my iPhone to a pre-paid iPhone with Virgin Mobile and now only pay $30 a month for service. The service isn't as good but it's functional and I don't travel much. Best savings ever. And NO CONTRACT!!!!!

Cell phones are the biggest rip off.