Join Early Retirement Today
Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-10-2015, 08:57 AM   #121
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Chuckanut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West of the Mississippi
Posts: 17,169
$15 a month for HBO is to much. If these guys price their services like that they will make the cable companies look like discounters. Maybe that is the plan.

I will stick with my free OTA TV, Netflix streaming and one Netflix disk. I have more than I can watch.

OTOH, if I lived outside of OTA TV, I think choosing Netflix and one former cable only network, might be a good deal.
__________________
Comparison is the thief of joy

The worst decisions are usually made in times of anger and impatience.
Chuckanut is offline  
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 03-10-2015, 09:04 AM   #122
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,819
Quote:
Originally Posted by audreyh1 View Post
I think I'll avoid BitTorrent.
The torrents are fantastic for legal use (downloading copyrighted material you don't own is of course, not legal). I used it recently to download the latest Xubuntu OS ISO. The torrent client was so much more sophisticated than any downloading I've ever used, it makes everything else seem like a fax machine.

It downloads from multiple sources simultaneously, so you never have an issue with a single 'pipe' getting clogged. And it grabs whatever piece is available that it doesn't already have, until it has everything. And you can actually schedule the DL, and tell it to limit the bandwidth (important for us, our ISP isn't super-high speed, so a big DL slows up other uses, and especially interferes with the VOIP phone call).

It's a shame that all these options are 'stream only'. I'd prefer to DL (at night so as to not interfere with our other uses) and be able to watch later, pause, rewind, FF w/o having to wait for the dang thing to sync up again. That's painful on a not-so-speedy connection.

In fact, if I were heavy into this, I might be inclined to pay the streaming fee, and then do the 'illegal' DL, just so I could watch off-line. Not legal by the letter of the law, but I'd have a clear conscious - though if I got 'caught', I doubt my explanation would hold water, w/o many $$$ in legal fees.

-ERD50
ERD50 is offline  
Old 03-10-2015, 12:32 PM   #123
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Austin
Posts: 1,378
We plan to dip a toe in next week (Spring Break). I have an antenna that I'll connect for over the air. We already have netflix and amazon prime. The plan is to use the one week free offer for Hulu Plus and Acorn. The remainder we'll stream directly from the networks websites, where available.
big-papa is offline  
Old 03-10-2015, 12:55 PM   #124
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 335
We cut the cable too. We use Tablo with four tuners for over the air DVR service, 3 Rokus, Netflix and the occasional Redbox rental.
davismills is offline  
Old 03-10-2015, 01:21 PM   #125
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Chuckanut's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West of the Mississippi
Posts: 17,169
Quote:
Originally Posted by davismills View Post
We cut the cable too. We use Tablo with four tuners for over the air DVR service, 3 Rokus, Netflix and the occasional Redbox rental.
What do you think of Tablo?

It looks interesting for OTA TV viewing and recording.
__________________
Comparison is the thief of joy

The worst decisions are usually made in times of anger and impatience.
Chuckanut is offline  
Old 03-10-2015, 02:00 PM   #126
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 335
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuckanut View Post
What do you think of Tablo?

It looks interesting for OTA TV viewing and recording.

I like it and it's very easy to use and install. It basically pulls OTA stations via an antenna I installed in my attic and redistributes the data/video over my local area network. I use the four tuner model.

I use a Roku 3 on each of my three TVs to provide network capability to each TV. You create a private Roku channel on your Roku called Tablo. I also connected a 2 TB powered hard drive to my Tablo to store recordings.

If you open a few ports on your router you can even watch your recordings off site...much like a Slingbox capability. The Tablo will stream to Roku, Android, Chromecast...pretty much anything with a network connection.
davismills is offline  
Old 07-11-2015, 12:20 PM   #127
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
steelyman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NC Triangle
Posts: 5,807
I finally took my Comcast cable/DVR box to The Ancient Burial Grounds For Overcharging For A Billion Channels You Don't Watch this morning. That's a sacred place.

I dumped them for Internet in 2011.

Between Ooma and Roku (+ Prime & Hulu) over AT&T and Comcast, it's a more financially-efficient future for me.

The last DVR-recorded thing I watched over this morning's coffee was "The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz: Making Of A Movie Classic", hosted by Angela Lansbury, a documentary I highly recommend and would like to see again. I recorded it off TCM, probably the one channel I'll miss.
__________________

steelyman is offline  
Old 07-11-2015, 01:27 PM   #128
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Mulligan's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 9,343
I didnt drop this week but I did negotiate them down. Got $10 off from ATT, $10 off from Direct Tv, and an additional $5 off for combining the 2 bills. Not as good as deal as a new subscriber, but they threw me a big enough bone to make me feel like I am not the highest paying idiot that they laugh at.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Mulligan is offline  
Old 07-11-2015, 08:26 PM   #129
Moderator Emeritus
W2R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,472
Between dropping cable TV and dropping my landline, I'm saving around $1750/year without missing a thing that I happen to care about. That has me grinning like the Cheshire Cat just from the thought of it.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.

Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
W2R is offline  
Old 07-12-2015, 04:54 AM   #130
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
audreyh1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,001
It's been almost a year and a half since we dropped the cable. We haven't missed it at all. We watch mostly Netflix and a little Hulu and some Amazon Prime video. We never did get OTA working well but found we didn't care enough about it especially as we prefer watching things on our own schedule.
__________________
Retired since summer 1999.
audreyh1 is offline  
Old 07-12-2015, 06:18 AM   #131
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Atlanta suburbs
Posts: 633
We dropped cable about 3 years ago, Internet only since then. No regrets about that. However, given that Internet service is a duopoly in my area (Comcast/AT&T), the Comcast Internet charges keep increasing (current bottom line monthly cost $77.65). And we have to watch Internet usage so as to not cross the monthly 300 GB limit.

Sometimes I wonder whether there is any real competition.
DEC-1982 is offline  
Old 07-12-2015, 06:34 AM   #132
Recycles dryer sheets
Mo Money's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: .
Posts: 382
It's been a bit over a year since dropping Comcast cable, and like audreyh1, we use Prime and Netflix.

We had the full Netflix package of 3 DVDs at a time along with streaming, but dropped down to one DVD at a time and streaming. This saved us ~$10/month at Netflix, and we used that $10 to pay the cost of subscribing to Prime. What a deal!

Our Comcast internet remains. Its cost creeps up (of course) and we are paying $78.95/mo. including taxes. But it is fast internet.

I'm sure there's a thread on that topic. (Cheaper internet.) Why can't we have real competition, or a community based ISP?
__________________
“We always may be what we might have been.” -- Adelaide Anne Procter
Mo Money is offline  
Old 07-12-2015, 07:24 AM   #133
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Dawg52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Central MS/Orange Beach, AL
Posts: 9,067
I dropped cable last year. I can pick up 10 local channels with an antenna and subscribe to Netflix. But I admit to missing a few channels like espn, TBS, AMC, Travel etc so I gave Sling TV a try. For $20 not a bad way to go to pick up an additional 20 channels or so. The picture quality is right at HD and my internet speed is just 3mpgs. The lowest speed Comcast offers. So I'm spending $28/mo as opposed to $75 for cable. Of course one could argue its really more with internet, but I would have that anyway.
__________________
Retired 3/31/2007@52
Investing style: Full time wuss.
Dawg52 is offline  
Old 07-12-2015, 07:28 AM   #134
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,375
Quote:
Originally Posted by easysurfer View Post
I'm spoiled with pausing a game on my DVR. That is so convenient to chase play a game. Let the game record for about an hour, then advance past the commercials and half-time to catch up to the live game near the end.
I think this is the gist of it. Cruising thru this thread, folks here that are cutting cable aren't listing how they legally get their sports junkie stations in the high quality and ability to speed thru them that I want. If I wasn't interested in sports - about half of my viewing - I too think the options folks here are raving about would be the right thing to do.
gerntz is offline  
Old 07-12-2015, 07:38 AM   #135
Moderator Emeritus
W2R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,472
Quote:
Originally Posted by gerntz View Post
I think this is the gist of it. Cruising thru this thread, folks here that are cutting cable aren't listing how they legally get their sports junkie stations in the high quality and ability to speed thru them that I want. If I wasn't interested in sports - about half of my viewing - I too think the options folks here are raving about would be the right thing to do.
I'm not interested in watching sports, so that is not an issue for me. I get dozens of local channels OTA for free, including the major networks, and that provides enough for me.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.

Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
W2R is offline  
Old 07-12-2015, 07:44 AM   #136
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
steelyman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NC Triangle
Posts: 5,807
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawg52 View Post
I dropped cable last year. I can pick up 10 local channels with an antenna and subscribe to Netflix. But I admit to missing a few channels like espn, TBS, AMC, Travel etc so I gave Sling TV a try. For $20 not a bad way to go to pick up an additional 20 channels or so. The picture quality is right at HD and my internet speed is just 3mpgs. The lowest speed Comcast offers. So I'm spending $28/mo as opposed to $75 for cable. Of course one could argue its really more with internet, but I would have that anyway.

This made me think about Sling again. Boom! There it is: TCM! Plus a few others I watched on Comcast (IFC, Sundance, ...)

Thanks!
__________________

steelyman is offline  
Old 07-12-2015, 07:46 AM   #137
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,375
Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R View Post
I'm not interested in watching sports, so that is not an issue for me. I get dozens of local channels OTA for free, including the major networks, and that provides enough for me.
I think that's what I said.
gerntz is offline  
Old 07-12-2015, 07:49 AM   #138
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
ziggy29's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: North Oregon Coast
Posts: 16,483
Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R View Post
I'm not interested in watching sports, so that is not an issue for me. I get dozens of local channels OTA for free, including the major networks, and that provides enough for me.
I'm a sports fan, but not enough of a sports fan to spend over $100 a month just to watch sports. That said a lot of the cable networks are getting more and more into original programming and new series that seem interesting, and that seems to be their response to cable-cutting. There isn't much of a profit model in just syndicating old shows any more, since a Roku box with Hulu, Netflix and/or Amazon Prime can usually meet that need for cable cutters and dish ditchers.

I am intrigued by Sling but the lack of pause/rewind or lack of recently archived content on many of the channels is currently stopping me. If those were resolved, I'd probably be in for it. I am too spoiled by a DVR and the ability to pause, rewind and FF most content on Roku.
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
ziggy29 is offline  
Old 07-12-2015, 07:55 AM   #139
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
steelyman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NC Triangle
Posts: 5,807
I am among the sports fan crowd. I don't feel I've missed an inning of baseball this season because of realtime score updates through the MLB AtBat app.

If it was a game I really, really wanted to see "live"... I've been known to frequent sports bars.
__________________

steelyman is offline  
Old 07-12-2015, 07:57 AM   #140
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
easysurfer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 13,130
Getting an OTA DVR/antenna set up that I was satisfied with plus Amazon Prime streaming, I'm pretty much set. I've even managed to not get Prime 2-day deliveries all the time to build up enough credits for movies, so they feel like free.
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
easysurfer is offline  
Closed Thread


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Dropped Cable Today audreyh1 Life after FIRE 200 12-21-2014 06:48 PM
Price of gold dropped $84 /oz. today haha FIRE and Money 63 05-09-2013 08:49 PM
Wow my auto ins just dropped~ due to many folks using online functions mickeyd Other topics 6 06-18-2006 07:33 PM
Interesting! - My personal rate of inflation has dropped! Cut-Throat FIRE and Money 62 04-26-2006 02:25 AM
Lost or dropped? cute fuzzy bunny Other topics 23 04-01-2006 12:22 PM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:45 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.