Anyone cut the Cable?

SoCalTim

@SkinnyV ... Sweetest! I'm on it. Thank you brother!

UrbanForestTurnings

I have never had it or dish. I'm a pbs kind of guy. And it's FREE

NPHuskerFL

DirecTV. Would like to see Google fiber become available in the future. We are out in the woods so it takes longer to get the infrastructure set-up out here. In fact Xfinity is still not available to us.Very pleased w/ DirecTV and we get DSL for internet thru AT&T.

TN_Sister_State

I'm going to cut the cable tv and go with this and an old school antenna for local channels.
still get sports live through streaming. I have all the set top boxes. Roku, chromecast, fire stick, and Apple tv. Actually have two fire sticks.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2015/01/05/espn-goes-streaming-through-dishs-sling-tv-no-cable-required/

Chubbs

I have DirecTV and Apple TV. Mainly use DirecTV for sports, history channel, and things like that. Apple TV gets a workout most nights as we pull up Netflix. I am in the process of lowering my bill by getting rid of some of our boxes in bedrooms. We limit our son to 1 hour of TV a day so it is usually netflix.

cazzy

TN_Sister_State said:

I'm going to cut the cable tv and go with this and an old school antenna for local channels.
still get sports live through streaming. I have all the set top boxes. Roku, chromecast, fire stick, and Apple tv. Actually have two fire sticks.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2015/01/05/espn-goes-streaming-through-dishs-sling-tv-no-cable-required/

Wow...that is some great news! I'm currently at the very beginning of my DirecTV contract, but that may be something we heavily consider when we're done.

DMW

For me, Comcast has me locked to cable, even though Comcast is not my provider. The ONLY way to watch Philly area sports is via Comcast Sports Network or The Comcast Network. Both of which are carried by my local cable provider.

I guess I could drop down to basic over the off-seasons and save a bit.

MelSharples

We dropped Directv January of 2014.  We have Comcast internet with a subscription to HBOGo.  We have an OTA antenna mounted outside the house which gets better HD reception than we ever got with Directv. We have 2 Appletv's and a Roku on which we normally stream Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc.  I have a friend who kindly shares his Verizon username and pw so that I can also stream Watch Espn, Showtime, AMC, and Disney content. Surprisingly, I find watching Watch Espn easier than watching the actual networks as they have all the different channels right there on the home screen to pick from. I can honestly say that we watch the same amount of tv as we did when we were paying $120 for Directv.  You just have to be creative on how, when, and where you get your content. One tip would be to make sure you have a phone or tablet that will stream to your Roku or Appletv (airplay in IOS speak), Appletv doesn't have every channel but you can usually stream whats playing on the iphone or ipad to the tv. I think Roku has a similar setup with Android devices.

NPHuskerFL

Oh yes also have chromecast and some other stuff that I'm not sure of the names etc but, it works nicely. Like the DirecTV genie w/ multiple boxes etc

BoomerTheWeim

I cut it a few months ago.  I am using ooma for my home phone service, the wife insisted that we have a home phone.  For TV,  I use Tablo as an OTA DVR with an Amazon 50 mile HDTV antenna hooked up to it.  To watch live or recorded TV we use the Tablo Roku app.  Although the initial setup  cost a few $, it will pay itself off in two months.

I also have set up Plex Media Server so that I can copy the shows from Tablo, run a program to strip out the commercials, and place them on my media server, which has other shows, movies, pictures, etc.

I still need high speed internet since I work from home 100% of the time, so they are still screwing me, but not as hard. 

Capt7383

We not only ditched direct tv, but i made my antennae. We use netflix and amazon streaming via roku. As for buckeye games and such sportsbar

saluki2007

I haven't had cable for about 3 years now.  I use my brother's username and password for streaming certain things on my ipad and xbox through is cable provider.  I use an antenna for local channels.  You would be surprised how many there are.  I get about 15 channels all HD.  I also have 2 Raspberry Pi.  I would highly recommend anyone getting one of these deceives.  They are very similar to Apple TV and Roku but they are much cheaper and run on a completely open source operating system.  Something to check out is your local video store.  I can get unlimited monthly rentals for $20 a month.  The store is close to where I work, so I can stop on my way home after work and grab something and make a digital copy on my hard drive at home to watch at a later time.  Basically creating my own little Netflix.

cazzy

saluki2007 said:

 Something to check out is your local video store.  I can get unlimited monthly rentals for $20 a month.  The store is close to where I work, so I can stop on my way home after work and grab something and make a digital copy on my hard drive at home to watch at a later time.  Basically creating my own little Netflix.

:ar! :ar! :ar! :ar! :ar! :ar!

cazzy

saluki2007 said:

I haven't had cable for about 3 years now.  I use my brother's username and password for streaming certain things on my ipad and xbox through is cable provider.  I use an antenna for local channels.  You would be surprised how many there are.  I get about 15 channels all HD.  I also have 2 Raspberry Pi.  I would highly recommend anyone getting one of these deceives.  They are very similar to Apple TV and Roku but they are much cheaper and run on a completely open source operating system.  Something to check out is your local video store.  I can get unlimited monthly rentals for $20 a month.  The store is close to where I work, so I can stop on my way home after work and grab something and make a digital copy on my hard drive at home to watch at a later time.  Basically creating my own little Netflix.

Really though, how big are the rips and what software are you using to burn them. Are you able to grab all the audio codecs?

NDG

We are in contract with DirectTV until June 2015 . . . cant wait to drop it, save money, and get rid of the cheap looking plastic dish on our roof.  Hoping the options for sports get more clear. Only live TV we ever watch is sports, but use chrome cast for HBO GO and use PS4 or SmartTV for Netflix/Amazon.  This post is a great bookmark that I will revisit soon.

saluki2007

This is what I'm using: http://www.makemkv.com/  Even the compressed files look great and have not had any issues with audio.  Even the disks where they make dummy files to try and confuse the program, haven't had an issue.  I'm not burning them, just leaving them on my NAS.

Ladeback69

MaC122 said:

@Ladeback69 how fast is the google fiber?

My wireless speed is between 350 mb to 450 mb witch blows my old AT&T away. It used to take me 5 to 10 minutes to upload a photo on my phone to the forum, but now it takes about 10 seconds or so. I need to change the Ethernet on my desktop to get the full 1 gig, but right now it is about the same as the wireless, which is 10 times faster then AT&T. When getting on Amazon Prime, Netflix or others like it is a lot faster. It takes longer to find a movie to watch then to wait for it to start. Picture is great. The TV in our master bedroom is only about a year old and is an awesome picture. I can't wait to get a 1080p projector for my basement. They should be building it out in Austin, TX right now. When they run the fiber drop to your house, don't wait for them to call you to schedule an installation. I could have had mine hooked up a month or more after they did mine. I have also worked on the Google Fiber project for my company so I know a little more how it all works. Go check out one of the offices and check it out. The TV box already has Netflix and Youtube as apps on it.

NC_Egghead

@BoomerTheWeim +1 on Plex. I've been using it for the past couple of years and it's an awesome way to catalog all the video collections. It's not exactly plug-and-play but totally worth the time invested in setting it up..

jonnymack

Not quite there yet. Think about it every year. It's not quite intuitive enough for my wife's shows so we keep the cable and I'm an HBO series junky so access to HBO Go through my TV is worth the subscription alone. I thought I read somewhere that HBO Go is going be sold as a stand alone at some point. We have Netflix and use it a lot but I still do not like the clunky interface and it doesn't have a great selection. I hear Apple TV gets access to Bravo shows (which is what my wife craves) so if I can get comfortable that I can get big sporting events over the digital signal I would cut in a heart beat. 

I think in about 3 years I'll be free.

yogi84

I have fiber internet 1gb/1gb = 50.00 month and for local TV have a hdhomerun hooked up to an antenna .... I also just got slingTV account (20.00).... and to top it all off I have a slingbox at my parents house 

stlcharcoal

When I worked on the ambulance we had the whole DirecTV package--it amazed me how much of the 100's on channels was constant replay/reruns and infomercials.  We would get back from a call at 2-3am, and good luck find anything to watch to decompress as most of the stations were all infomercials at that hour.  During the day, the commercial breaks were more often that network.  I could never fathom why I would pay for TV that is loaded with commercials and infomercials.  Ads are supposed to pay for the programs under that model.......NOT me.  Wasn't that the whole premise of "cable" in the 80's??  No commercials?

So, I have never had satellite or cable at home.  I have an antenna and get about 25 stations on it.  I can pretty much always find something to watch on PBS "Create" or "World".

Go to http://www.antennasdirect.com/ and look at their tool to figure out what stations you can get, and what antenna you need.  I have a TIVO DVR that gives me a program guide and records over-the-air (OTA) broadcasts.  It's $10/month for their service, but I'll probably drop that as I don't really use the DVR function anymore.  ChannelMaster makes one now that doesn't have a monthly fee, but they're about $400.

Roku, Amazon FireStick, ChromeCast, etc. is the way to go if you have good internet.  I have AmazonPrime and have used Netflix.  Seems like they have a lot of the same movies.  Never tried Hulu--seems like that more TV than movies.

cazzy

yogi84 said:

I have fiber internet 1gb/1gb = 50.00 month and for local TV have a hdhomerun hooked up to an antenna .... I also just got slingTV account (20.00).... and to top it all off I have a slingbox at my parents house 

Through google?  I'm jelly!

yogi84

@cazzy Nah.... Its through the City/Muni that I live in.... 

cazzy

yogi84 said:

@cazzy Nah.... Its through the City/Muni that I live in.... 

They're offering 1000 mbps down/up for $50?  Where do you live cause I want to move there?

Hogman348

Check out Amazon fire TV and then do some research on how to side load "xbmc" or new newer version "kodi" onto it. If its above your tech level, search craigslist and you can likely find someone local who will do the install for you. the going rate is $50-80. thats what i did in ATL. FYI-- i got a guy here if interested.

XBMC is a full media browser which you run instead of the normal amazon/google OS. you can also run this for free on any PC. with this installed you can watch any tv show you can think of, any movie both out currently on dvd or cams or screeners on new releases if thats your thing. there are many HD feeds 720 and 1080p. i have been very pleased with the video quality. they also have live tv apps you can load onto it as well. do some research. this amazon/xbmc combo brings everything you want to your fingertips, except for your local channels for news. there are live sports too although the feeds are just so-so in my opinion. it depends.

 once a tv show airs live on tv, you can usually watch it commercial free on xbmc within 30 mins or less of it being over. impressive. its like you have a DVR of everything you can think of.

check out this link for info.

http://kodi.wiki/view/Amazon_Fire_TV

veewt

I liberate all of my comment via bittorrent.  

I estimate it has saved me about 10K+ over the last 10 years.  That's a lot of cheddar! (and booze and whores)

MaC122

@hogman348 I can easily do that. You just sold me! Thanks!

saluki2007

MaC122 said:

@hogman348 I can easily do that. You just sold me! Thanks!

Check out the Raspberry Pi.  Uses the same software (XBMC or Kodi) but allows you to mod the CPU aspect more.  

Here is the bio of how it got started:  http://www.raspberrypi.org/

Reddit has a lot of good info and how to:  http://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi

yogi84

yogi84 said:

@cazzy Nah.... Its through the City/Muni that I live in.... 

They're offering 1000 mbps down/up for $50?  Where do you live cause I want to move there?

http://longmontcolorado.gov/departments/departments-e-m/longmont-power-communications/broadband-service

btw.... I am the Network Engineer on the project...

Hogman348

Raspberry Pi is also an option and i know that Pi 2 is coming out or is out. however, if you do some comparative research, amazon fire tv has the fastest cpu/gpu available which makes it a strong contending for streaming HD streams.

just my 2 cents