Dumping Cable But Somehow Keeping Internet...

[REWahoo]

W2R, I'm impressed. We were unable to go "cold turkey" and switch directly from satellite TV to OTA only. But OTA, Neflix and Amazon Prime has been able to totally meet the requirements of three distinctly different consumer segments in this household: me (DVR supplemented OTA and Netflix), DW (Netflix, Amazon Prime, & OTA) and the grandkids (Netflix & Amazon Prime).

Made the change in January and not one complaint from any of the above audience members...

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo W2R, I'm impressed. We were unable to go "cold turkey" and switch directly from satellite TV to OTA only. But OTA, Neflix and Amazon Prime has been able to totally meet the requirements of three distinctly different consumer segments in this household: me (DVR supplemented OTA and Netflix), DW (Netflix, Amazon Prime, & OTA) and the grandkids (Netflix & Amazon Prime). Made the change in January and not one complaint from any of the above audience members...

That's great!!!

Thank you. Part of the reason it has been so easy for me, is that honestly I get bored watching movies and I have a lot of other entertainment available to me. Most people would probably need or want Netflix, Hulu, and so on.

Also, I went for years with no TV at all, back in my LBYM days, and it is not that much a part of my life I guess. I *must* have my American Idol fix, though! I enjoyed watching it OTA last night, along with local news and the Tonight Show. That is exactly what I would have watched even with cable.

I have Amazon Prime but other than half of one episode of Downton Abbey, I haven't ever actually used it. It's there if I want it, but for now I just like the free two day shipping.

[pb4uski]

W2R, one thing to consider might be to get TiVo or some DVR capability. Some friends of ours live in an area with good OTA and went with OTA and Tivo and Netflix and love it and the dramatic reduction in cost.

Unfortunately we live in a spot that has no OTA reception, but even if we wnere able to go OTA there is no way I would give up DVR and watch commercials.

On another topic, since we don't have OTA reception we have Dish and upgraded to the Hopper on Monday and have been very happy with the new technology, especially PrimeTime recording and Auto-Hop over commercials.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb4uski W2R, one thing to consider might be to get TiVo or some DVR capability. Some friends of ours live in an area with good OTA and went with OTA and Tivo and Netflix and love it and the dramatic reduction in cost. Unfortunately we live in a spot that has no OTA reception, but even if we wnere able to go OTA there is no way I would give up DVR and watch commercials. On another topic, since we don't have OTA reception we have Dish and upgraded to the Hopper on Monday and have been very happy with the new technology, especially PrimeTime recording and Auto-Hop over commercials.

I know that a lot of people really love DVRs, but I just have to be different. For over a year I paid a monthly charge on my cable bill to rent a DVR, but for me it was an abysmal failure. It turned out that I used it only a handful of times. Sure, ads are obnoxious but I customarily mute the ads and go to the bathroom or get up and do things during commercial breaks. So from direct experience, I know that for me the purchase of a DVR would be a complete waste of money, unfortunately.

Even though you don't get OTA, you probably have a lower population density and more peace and quiet than areas that do. That's very cool and a nice lifestyle to have. Glad the Hopper is working out for you.

Different strokes for different folks, and all that.

[kimcdougc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daylatedollarshort We still have cable Internet. We have competing cable companies and we are wired for all of them, so every 6 months or so we just cancel or threaten to cancel and get the new customer rates. We switched to Ooma for phone so usually the best high speed Internet only rate is around $40 - $55 a month depending on who has the best special. Right now we have basic cable on one TV, too, as it cost the same as Internet alone. But the living room just has the lap top set up.

You know you can do away with that wire hooking up to the tv. Just get a chromecast plug in and you can serf, watch netflix etc on your tv wirelessly. Only $35 bucks. Works great. You have to download google chrome to use it but it is the best if you don't have a smart tv.

[daylatedollarshort]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kimcdougc You know you can do away with that wire hooking up to the tv. Just get a chromecast plug in and you can serf, watch netflix etc on your tv wirelessly. Only $35 bucks. Works great. You have to download google chrome to use it but it is the best if you don't have a smart tv.

I looked at that on Amazon and I did consider that option. The description on Amazon had phrases like "recommended modem" and "select content" and only working with Chromecast, so we went with the cable for greater choice of browsers and content, less Google prying eyes, and less of a possibility of another failure point with something more complex than a simple cable, which we already owned and wouldn't have to pay extra for. The lap top sits on the entertainment console with the TV, so the wire is just one more added to the collection of other devices wired to the TV, like the Roku and DVD player. Plus my kids had the HDMI cable set up on their TV in a different room, so I knew in advance that would work with our current router and if I had any problems setting it up they could help me fix it.

The wireless keyboard and mouse keep us from having to string any cables across the room.

[tmm99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb4uski W2R, one thing to consider might be to get TiVo or some DVR capability. Some friends of ours live in an area with good OTA and went with OTA and Tivo and Netflix and love it and the dramatic reduction in cost. Unfortunately we live in a spot that has no OTA reception, but even if we wnere able to go OTA there is no way I would give up DVR and watch commercials.

I bought AverTV (~$45) and a remote so I record OTA TV shows on my laptop and the laptop is connected to the TV via HDMI cable. I can watch recorded OTA TV shows using my remote as if I have a TiVo or something. I can skip commericals and everything.

[someguy]

How does the real-life quality of OTA HD compare to cable HD? I realize different CATV providers may have different codecs or compression ratios, but most HD CATV I've seen is similar in quality.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by someguy How does the real-life quality of OTA HD compare to cable HD? I realize different CATV providers may have different codecs or compression ratios, but most HD CATV I've seen is similar in quality.

To me, it looks about the same. Bear in mind that I am not the most discriminating viewer since my vision is not great. Still, I can definitely tell the difference between cable HD and not-HD service, and the OTA looks identical to the cable HD to me.

From what I have read, OTA HD is supposed to be better than cable HD. If that is true, I could not see it.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R From what I have read, OTA HD is supposed to be better than cable HD. If that is true, I could not see it.

I can definitely see the difference. My OTA HD clarity is definitely sharper than the picture I was getting with DirecTV.

Here's why:

Quote:

Broadcast HDTV delivers by far the best-quality HD pictures, because cable and satellite bit-starve the digital pictures in order to decrease the bandwidth they occupy.

TVTechnology: Are Viewers Rediscovering Over the Air TV?

[jimbee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by someguy How does the real-life quality of OTA HD compare to cable HD? I realize different CATV providers may have different codecs or compression ratios, but most HD CATV I've seen is similar in quality.

If the OTA signal strength is good, OTA picture quality is as good or better then cable or satellite TV.

[Stillninetofivin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbee If the OTA signal strength is good, OTA picture quality is as good or better then cable or satellite TV.

And you can be far away from the signal too. Prior to 9/11 I was pulling in quite a few HD channels off the north WTC tower, 38 air miles away.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stillninetofivin And you can be far away from the signal too. Prior to 9/11 I was pulling in quite a few HD channels off the north WTC tower, 38 air miles away.

+1

I'm 42 miles away and get a great signal even though my antenna is in the attic, not outdoors.

[tmm99]

I was pleasantly surprised to see how clear the pictures were on OTA. I live near a military base and every time a plane is flying nearby my screen gets choppy. Something I didn't know could affect the reception...

[Kaufmanrider]

This has probably been mentioned, but I think if you cut cable TV and keep cable internet you still get some basic TV channels, i.e., local TV at no additional cost. When I went to California to work last year I didn't want to pay for TV, just internet in my apartment. The On-site Manager told me to hook up a splitter to the cable line, one end going to my cable internet box, the other end to my TV. I had ABC, NBC, Local FOX, CBS, ION, etc. I had Brighthouse Cable Interenet (Bakersfield) and paid $31 a month.

[W2R]

Around here most apartments include a certain basic level of cable television in the rent, so you don't have to pay the cable company directly unless you want more.

Cox Cable told me that I will still have basic cable, until they physically turn it off. However, I would have to actually get up from my very comfortable chair this morning, walk across the room, and screw the coax back into my TV in order to see it.

It's not worth the effort to me, since I am very happy with my over-the-air HD reception.

[bUU]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaufmanrider This has probably been mentioned, but I think if you cut cable TV and keep cable internet you still get some basic TV channels, i.e., local TV at no additional cost. Quote: Originally Posted by W2R Around here most apartments include a certain basic level of cable television in the rent, so you don't have to pay the cable company directly unless you want more.

Even for private homes, it's often a wash: Most MSOs give a $X discount for having both television and Internet services, and not coincidentally $X is the same price they charge for regulated basic television service.

[Mo Money]

As a follow up to my original post a month ago about my outrageous cable bills: Free at last, free at last, TGA, free at last! Got a $20 increase in THIS month's bill -- on TOP of the increase that led to my post a month ago.

So I finally got off my duff and called Comcast to cancel their greedy as*. Turning in cable boxes this week. Kept "Blast' internet for about $80/mo with tax. No contract. Will dump that if I can find reliable internet that's more competitively priced. Cut my Comcast bill in half. It's Netflix and Chromecast from now on.

[rodi]

I cancelled my cable (video) last week. Since I have tivo - I had to turn in a cable card and tuning adaptor - took over 40 minutes in line at the Time Warner office to do that. Makes me dislike them even more.

As retention they offered to reduce my rate by $5/month for 6 months. I wonder how many people settle for that lame of an offer.

[Meadbh]

I cut cable almost two years ago and I don't miss it one bit.