Dropped Cable TV Today

[teej1985]

We dropped AT&T yesterday and picked up Time Warner for internet only. I don't miss it yet. We are saving about $100/month plus whatever electricity is saved by not having 3 cable boxes (and associated TVs) running all the time.

[r2021t]

We cut the cord about a year ago. I installed an omni-directional antenna and we have Hulu, Amazon and Netflix. I also have around 600 movies and TV shows digitized and can access them on my network. Savings per year is about $2050. I don't miss it. Next on my list was Verizon. I cut a line and reduced the amount of gigs available to me in a month and cut my bill in half.

Ron

[bUU]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawg52 We don't all spend money the same way.

Nor do we all spend our time and energy the same way. Often, these are far more critical to such things than money.

[sengsational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational Thanks, I'll check out the Roku. After more research, I saw that Neo TV Max 300SL will do it too. I was kind of hoping for a no-name Hong-Kong device, since those kinds of things are so inexpensive, and probably wouldn't try to bait you into buying stuff when I already have a NAS full of stuff. I actually tried that, but I already have a DLNA NAS...I'm looking for a simple way to play content from it. I kind of figured I could drive the screen from a PC or a phone, but I wanted this to not require to boot up something, worry about getting a call, and stuff like that.

Just a follow-up that might be a nice fitting and cheap part of the puzzle of getting content you already have into your TV...

This doesn't fit my criteria of not going through another device before it shows on the TV, but with Android devices, it's native "Miracast". Just go to device settings, cast screen, done! We have a couple of Android tablets that we can pull content into and then watch on the big screen.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawg52 We don't all spend money the same way.

That's for sure.

The joy of watching OTA television that costs $0.00 and is dependent on no device or service whatsoever beyond the actual TV itself, is such a thrill to me (apparently not to everyone, just me). It's wonderful to just get the broadcast for free, right out of the air like I do using a homemade antenna.

I get a huge charge out of watching 100% free OTA shows right over the air. I do have access to F's Netflix, and Amazon Prime streaming video, but they bore me and honestly I never watch anything on either. There are many other forms of entertainment that I prefer.

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I get a huge charge out of watching 100% free OTA shows right over the air.

WOW! What a great idea and marvelous development. I wonder how long this FREE service has been available and why most people don't seem to know about it. I guess it takes a while for new ideas to catch on and for people to get comfortable with them. Progress is a great thing.

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut I wonder how long this FREE service has been available and why most people don't seem to know about it. I guess it takes a while for new ideas to catch on and for people to get comfortable with them. Progress is a great thing.

It helps to live in an area where you can receive an OTA signal, many of us don't.

[sengsational]

Had the in-laws over on Sunday and they wanted to watch some March Madness. I carried my TV, power cord, and little circle UHF antenna into the living room (our big TV is in another, smaller room). In a couple of seconds we were watching the game. They were amazed at how crisp the picture was (their cable companies apparently are multi-casting lower def signals to save bandwidth).

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R ... using a homemade antenna.

To get the above crisp picture without pixilation, I did have to raise-up the UHF antenna (taped it to a broom handle)

[hnzw_rui]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 It helps to live in an area where you can receive an OTA signal, many of us don't.

+1 on this. Lots of areas don't have decent OTA signal and might be living in apartments, condos or townhouses that have restrictions on antenna placement. I dropped cable a long time ago. Alas, I redirected money saved on the cable subscription towards computer hardware (Windows 7 Media Center HTPC on every TV + shared SiliconDust HDHomeRun tuner).

[W2R]

I guess I'm just lucky to live in an urban area. Here's a photo I just took showing my reception (great HD), and my antenna which is sticking up behind the TV on the left side. So easy, so FREE.... it feels like winning the lottery or getting a door prize, every time I turn on the TV.


OK, I should move my router and Wii U from in front of the TV so they won't be in the way. I'm so used to them that I don't notice any more.

[Dawg52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I guess I'm just lucky to live in an urban area. Here's a photo I just took showing my reception (great HD), and my antenna which is sticking up behind the TV on the left side. So easy, so free.... OK, I should move my router and Wii U from in front of the TV so they won't be in the way. I'm so used to them that I don't notice any more.

I get great reception too. Only 11 channels however, but all that is available to me. Price you pay living in a small town. I do get all the major networks including PBS.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawg52 I get great reception too. Only 11 channels however, but all that is available to me. Price you pay living in a small town. I do get all the major networks including PBS.

You are doing great! I get between 25-35 channels; I forgot how many and I am too lazy to re-count them right now. My best guess is 27. But honestly, I only watch about a half dozen of them, pretty much the ones you listed plus a couple of others.

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational Had the in-laws over on Sunday and they wanted to watch some March Madness. I carried my TV, power cord, and little circle UHF antenna into the living room (our big TV is in another, smaller room). In a couple of seconds we were watching the game. They were amazed at how crisp the picture was (their cable companies apparently are multi-casting lower def signals to save bandwidth).

There's the problem, at least at our house. While you were watching the game available on CBS OTA, there were 3 other games taking place on cable. Naturally, our team's game was on one of the cable channels.

I'm not a sports junkie, but I'm hooked just enough that while I can easily afford cable, I prefer not to give up a big chunk of the sports coverage I enjoy. Otherwise, the OTA stations easily available at my suburban Chicago location would more than satisfy our TV cravings.

I give the cable guys credit...... they figured out that sports was the hook to keep subscribers and they went out and paid whatever they had to to secure the contracts leaving the traditional OTA networks with little.

[redduck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R ... I do have access to F's Netflix, and Amazon Prime streaming video, but they bore me and honestly I never watch anything on either. There are many other forms of entertainment that I prefer.

Let's not forget another form of entertainment that you prefer. (Taken from another thread):

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R ... for entertainment I spend a few minutes just standing in the water, enjoying the feel of it, singing in the shower, scratching my back with my back scrubber/scratcher brush just for fun, and well, you get the idea! TMI!!

[trapperjohn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redduck Let's not forget another form of entertainment that you prefer. (Taken from another thread):

I pass my OTA signal thru Tablo to record it for later viewing. The downside to this is when I'm viewing realtime. I get occasional pixelation or the "buffering" symbol for a few seconds. it happens enough that it's frustrating. And it's frustrating enough that we keep our cable for realtime viewing.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trapperjohn I pass my OTA signal thru Tablo to record it for later viewing. The downside to this is when I'm viewing realtime. I get occasional pixelation or the "buffering" symbol for a few seconds. it happens enough that it's frustrating. And it's frustrating enough that we keep our cable for realtime viewing. ...

I had this problem with my Mediasonics OTA DVR. It seems that the box is just putting noise on that pass-through signal.

I fixed it by adding an external splitter, so a separate signal goes to the recorder and TV. That cleaned it up. Might work for you.

Our DVR feeds the TV through an hdmi cable (has other outputs as well), so no real need for a pass-through.

-ERD50

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trapperjohn I pass my OTA signal thru Tablo to record it for later viewing. The downside to this is when I'm viewing realtime. I get occasional pixelation or the "buffering" symbol for a few seconds. it happens enough that it's frustrating. And it's frustrating enough that we keep our cable for realtime viewing.

My OTA Tivo Ramio unit exhibits no such problems, thankfully. It's four tuners can all be working hard and there is no difference in what I am watching and what I am recording.

[tulak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trapperjohn I pass my OTA signal thru Tablo to record it for later viewing. The downside to this is when I'm viewing realtime. I get occasional pixelation or the "buffering" symbol for a few seconds. it happens enough that it's frustrating. And it's frustrating enough that we keep our cable for realtime viewing. Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

Is your Tablo hard wired to your network or do you use wifi?

I have a 2 tuner Tablo and never experience any pixelation.

[easysurfer]

Come 4Q 2016, Magnavox is gonna have 3 new OTA DVRs to choose from .

Quote:

Magnavox just announced plans to launch three digital video recorders (DVRs) by the end of this year. However, these aren’t the type of DVRs you’d hook up to a pay TV service with crazy monthly fees. Instead, the company has specifically designed each DVR with cord cutters in mind.

Magnavox to Make DVRs for Cord Cutters - EH Network

I have one of their older models as my DVR which I like (the beauty is it is simply and works kinda like a VCR ), but the drawback is the DVR is not High Def. If these new models are High Def, come Christmas time, I might have to look a little closer!

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 It helps to live in an area where you can receive an OTA signal, many of us don't.

+1 We have had our Dish satellite service on vacation while wintering in Florida. Since we have it principally for our locals I'll go with their $20/month Welcome Pack as a trial and see if we can live with that. However, once you add in the equipment costs for a DVR and access for four tvs the total cost is more like $62/month but better than the $102/month we paid under our previous programming which was more expansive (and more expensive).

That welcome pack doesn't include some of the cable stations that we like but I think we can watch those shows via Amazon Prime or Netflix. Worth a try for $40/month savings.