Life without Cable and Still get all the TV & Movies you want.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack HD is pretty spectacular to watch, by comes at a high price. If I'm missing it, let me know...

You are in Chicagoland, hook up an antenna to your HDTV, you will get spectacular HD quality for free.

Between that and Netflix (with instant watch available for some things), plus my kids showing my wife were to watch some on-line (legal) content, she has stopped bugging me to get cable.

-ERD50

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by e86s54 Anybody else do this?

Spouse has pretty well addicted herself to HGTV, with occasional fixes of A&E and Discovery. Even if we got a la carte pricing she'd probably still pay $50/month for HGTV.

TiVo now rules our house and has ceased all arguing about teen TV watching. Our kid takes great pleasure recording "I Love Lucy", "The Cosby Show", and the occasional network show. She still has her Netflix account and also watches a lot of online content.

At least we don't have to see MTV or "America's Next Top Model" anymore when "there's nothing to watch"...

[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha Could you explain in more detail how this is done, how much it costs, etc? I don't want to do without ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports, etc. Also I would like Bloomberg TV and CNBC.

You could probably get all of those over the Internet but it might cost more than cable. CNBC, for example, offers CNBC Plus that gives you live streaming of their US, Asian and European feeds plus access to archives. BUT, it costs $14/mth - no thanks.

[cardude]

I dump my cable every summer when the kids are out of school to get rid of the temptation to veg out all day. Funny thing happened this summer-- they turned off the billing but forgot to turn off the cable. I have not reported it yet. I feel bad.

[e86s54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustNtime Well, the cable folks are coming down my street now replacing their cable and digging up my yard! They must think they have a future...

They do have a future. CableTV is turning into an IP based network...or essentially a bidirectional data pipe. So now they can carry all kinds of traffic.
CableTV system have the advantage of having a Gigahertz of bandwidth over the coax/fiber system today vs less than 30 Megahertz over phone lines.

So Cable systems future is bright and new services will more than offset the reduced TV services.

Regards...

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cardude Funny thing happened this summer-- they turned off the billing but forgot to turn off the cable. I have not reported it yet. I feel bad.

"Your report is important to us! Someone will be with you in just... twenty... nine... minutes. Please press "one" to continue in English. Para "dos" por Espanol..."

Enjoy the karma rebalancing as long as it lasts.

It's a great dose of schadenfreude to watch cable companies do to themselves what they've been doing so well to their customers for so long.

[Independent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by e86s54 You are correct about the legality of some of the content. I personally don't mind paying for content, however I don't want to drive to Blockbuster (10 miles away) to rent a movie and return it later (or even worst find out that it's not available). We don't have a movie theater nearby so that's out. Pay per view content requires cable/satellite (which we no longer have). So frankly, the availability of these service are not at all convenient for us. So the movie companies and distributors have a really big problem and we are all awaiting a workable solution. Also, there are ways now of downloading content that is spyware/malware safe and keeping the internet police off your back...but that's another topic. Regardless, cable TV as we know it is dying fast. Hell my new Panasonic TV allows me to watch internet TV, youtube, etc, directly without a PC or media server!

I think NetFlix is a solution to the problem you describe. Your solution may be cheaper.

[JustNtime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cardude I dump my cable every summer when the kids are out of school to get rid of the temptation to veg out all day. Funny thing happened this summer-- they turned off the billing but forgot to turn off the cable. I have not reported it yet. I feel bad.

When I discovered the tv content on my cable internet, I read up on something 'they' refer to as 'passive theft of cable content'... It boggles the mind, but they can actually take you to court and have you fined/etc. for using content w/o paying for it -- even though it was their mistake...

So I told them the content was there and was rewarded with a free visit from a technician who updated the filters and connections and wallah/wahoo a stable internet connection. I can now stream the content I want from the internet reliably and I don't really miss the cable/satellite content...

Surprisingly, the cable guys digging up my front yard for their new cable did an amazingly good job of filling in their waist deep holes and removing their shoulder high piles of clay/rocks/roots/etc. We'll see how many plants survive their ordeal and whether the seed they spread actually does anything but feed the birds... Buttt... Thanks ditch digging cable guys! -- you had me a little worried...

[unclemick]

$142/month - boy oh boy have I drifted a long way from my more frugal days.

VIOP phone, speedy internet, cable tv with sports but not the 'super' sports package.

I'll be reading this thread more than once - when my 'cheap gene' kicks in.

Thanks everyone!

heh heh heh - .

[e86s54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustNtime When I discovered the tv content on my cable internet, I read up on something 'they' refer to as 'passive theft of cable content'... It boggles the mind, but they can actually take you to court and have you fined/etc. for using content w/o paying for it -- even though it was their mistake...

I personally never take that stuff seriously. From an optics standpoint, it would be a major public relations disaster to go after a paying customer.

Or to look at it in another way, how many successful prosecutions (or even attempts to prosecute) have they had...my guess is zero! In my 8 years in CATV, I have never seen one. I remember I guy who was going around to his buddies places and replacing tap filters (that trap out specialty channels) with ones that had the filter removed. He was caught, but the police and cable company did not have the inclination to pursue the theft of services. Never even talked to the households that had them installed.

Regards...

[e86s54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclemick $142/month - boy oh boy have I drifted a long way from my more frugal days. VIOP phone, speedy internet, cable tv with sports but not the 'super' sports package. I'll be reading this thread more than once - when my 'cheap gene' kicks in.

I'm not cheap, but not stupid either. I don't mind paying for fair value...the value of cable TV / Satellite is dropping fast.

BTW, everyone should do a x-check with all TV, phone and cell services available to you, then call your current operator and let them know you'll be moving to a competitor if they don't price match. My experience is that they will price match on the spot! This has saved me $70/month on my total telecommunications services for my household. The push from all these companies is to reduce churn as the cost to acquire customers is high...they don't want to lose them for nothing. For example, I have Sirius radio in my truck...$10/month and I don't really listen to it that much, so I called to cancel. I still have it, but for $4/month and I didn't even ask for a reduction.


Regards...

[JustNtime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by e86s54 I personally never take that stuff seriously. From an optics standpoint, it would be a major public relations disaster to go after a paying customer. Or to look at it in another way, how many successful prosecutions (or even attempts to prosecute) have they had...my guess is zero! In my 8 years in CATV, I have never seen one. I remember I guy who was going around to his buddies places and replacing tap filters (that trap out specialty channels) with ones that had the filter removed. He was caught, but the police and cable company did not have the inclination to pursue the theft of services. Never even talked to the households that had them installed. Regards...

You're probably right, but they did cite successful cases against folks who moved into apartments, never ordered cable, and then used the cable service that was left active from previous tenants... Soo with a little nudging from my saintly wife and my better angels - I notified the cable company of their error. The good karma and/or service call did improve my cable internet performance. So alls well -etc...

I'm sure if one quietly accepts the cable company's 'gift' and doesn't brag too much to the neighbors paying $70-80 for the same service (or publish how to in blogs), then one will likely 'get away with it'. I just know I'm building up those reward points in heaven and some day I just might need them.

But then again, there is that nagging sound in the back of my mind of Penn (or is it Teller) screaming --- "YOU FOOL!!"...

P.S. Penn & Teller -- which one is the ventriloquist and which one is the dummy again?

[Spanky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Independent We've never had cable or satellite. We had three kids, and figured that fewer TV choices made for less temptation to sit and vegetate. (PS. I'm really impressed with the quality of over the air HDTV)

Only DW watches TV. No cable or satellite for us.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by e86s54 BTW, everyone should do a x-check with all TV, phone and cell services available to you, then call your current operator and let them know you'll be moving to a competitor if they don't price match. My experience is that they will price match on the spot! This has saved me $70/month on my total telecommunications services for my household.Regards...

I second this. I have had 25% off my cable internet for at least 6 years. Everytime they threaten to raise me, I remind them I could have DSL for half the price, and they give me the 25% discount again for a few years. If they ever deny the discount, I will indeed switch to DSL. Why not...

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack I second this. I have had 25% off my cable internet for at least 6 years. Everytime they threaten to raise me, I remind them I could have DSL for half the price, and they give me the 25% discount again for a few years. If they ever deny the discount, I will indeed switch to DSL. Why not...

Turn down a 50% discount for a 25% one. Interesting ploy.

[Dennis]

Unfortuantely, being in Rural -Resort area it's either have a 40 ft tower or go Cable.. We have Basic costing us $40/mo and Every Yr for 3 mos , we get Premium to catch up on movies.. afterr that time they're nothing but Reruns over and over again..

We tried HD but Most of the time they just Shrink the picutre and if oyu do that, sure your going to get a Sharper picture..More Lines of Resolution per Sq. inch.. and thus we dumped it after 3 mos and $10/mo for it..

We still use the Old VCR to record most of our Programs to edit out all the Added Commercials , seeing as now your lucky to get 40 min of a Show and 20 min of Commercials..

And in our State ( Wi) we are trying to get Selction Cable.. Allowing us to selct what channels we want to pay for and not their Packged deals forcing us to pay for 50% of the Channels we don't want to support with our $.. Like the Buyers channels for Junk and tattoo, ( INK), Bikers and Cartoon and What used to be Good, was SYFY but is now all Grabage about Ghosts and Old Reruns..

When we has the Kids? There was No TV for them durning the Weekdays.. they had extra things at school till 5-6 pm , then Dinner , then Homework till Bedtime..and Sports on the wknds and Camping during the Summer and they all got Scholorships, so it really paid off .... and they all stayed Thin & Active as well.

Habits they are now doing with their Kids..

Thank Goodness..

They Intregrated some Latino and Black kids into our schools and they couldn't believe how it was such a Different world towards Education/Homework and Participation by the Parents.. I feel sorry for those kids that weren't able to experience that..

[tuixiu]

Options are definitely growing. Some blueray players have builtin netflix streamers, and now even some netbook PCs (like HP mini 311) have HDMI out so you can use one cable with an ultraportable to watch content. Once flash 10.1 comes out that'll be as good as anything else for streaming.

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

For those globetrotters out there, be aware that you cannot view ABC shows, for example, from their website if you are outside of the US--even in Canada. They can tell where you are connecting from.

[tuixiu]

Couldn't you just run your browser thu a proxy in the US?

[DeborahB]

I am still confused. What I've got now is digital cable and netflix, 50" DLP HD TV. What I don't have is Tivo or any DVR recorder.

I hardly ever watch TV as such - but am somewhat addicted to an occasional show. Dollhouse, currently. A lot of them can be watched on my PC monitor but I'd like to watch them on the TV. We watch a LOT of movies from netflix.

What's the best device to get the PC content (last week's show's of Mad Men or whatever) to the TV?

We have competition for cable in our area and they offered me a phenomenal deal when I mentioned switching :-)