BGR: The future of cord-cutting looks grim right now. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwi56HwTo
...So do you think this means that no Fox and FX shows—regardless of whether recorded via DVR or watched on-demand—can be fast forwarded?...
BGR: The future of cord-cutting looks grim right now. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwi56HwTo
BGR: The future of cord-cutting looks grim right now. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwi56HwTo
May be. I figure I might was well strike while the iron is hot, and save $500-$600/yr vs cable/satellite now. Waiting might result in getting the worst (value) of both worlds...BGR: The future of cord-cutting looks grim right now. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwi56HwTo
BGR: The future of cord-cutting looks grim right now. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwi56HwTo
All good points, though PS Vue recommends 10mb or more. Not 25mb or more. Firestick recommends 5mb for HD streaming. It's a real bait and switch to have 10mb, then you try it and be told, Oh, you really need at least 25mb. This is one of the problems I have with these cord cutting ideas, everyone tells you how easy it is, then you find out it's not quite so easy.I'm sure the cable companies will figure out new and fun ways to charge people more.
2 years on Playstation Vue. Great DVR and On Demand functionality from day 1.
Some facts:
1. 10mb internet might work, but it will not be the best. 25mb and up is recommended
2. Your router matters. Think about an upgrade and ways to improve signal strength
3. The Box version will always perform better than the Stick version. Expect a Stick to work but be slower. Amazon Fire TV boxes are zippy fast. The Stick works fine, but there is more lag and buffer time.
4. Expect internet to keep going up. If you have 2 or more competitors, expect to bounce around trying to capture new customer discounts.
5. See how many simultaneous streams you need. Playstation Vue is 5. Others are 1-4. Don't be surprised if you can't stream on 3 or 4 TVs with some of the solutions.
6. All are "no contract" which is part of the cord cutting. Be able to fire your provider at any time for any reason.
7. The hardware (Roku, FireTV, Apple TV, etc) will continue to get better and faster, but that means upgrading every 2 years or so to capture the increases. This isn't free, but is nowhere near cable box fees.
I'm sure the cable companies will figure out new and fun ways to charge people more.
2 years on Playstation Vue. Great DVR and On Demand functionality from day 1.
Some facts:
1. 10mb internet might work, but it will not be the best. 25mb and up is recommended. 10 mbps for one stream in HD, plus 5 mbps for each additional stream - but I'd agree at least 25 mpbs is best for more than one stream. 4K/UHD will require a lot more. And make sure you check your data cap too, not just speed. DW and I using 500-600GB per month, but our cap is 1TB. We'll use less in Spring, Summer and Fall (Winter sucks).
2. Your router matters. Think about an upgrade and ways to improve signal strength
3. The Box version will always perform better than the Stick version. Expect a Stick to work but be slower. Amazon Fire TV boxes are zippy fast. The Stick works fine, but there is more lag and buffer time.
4. Expect internet to keep going up. If you have 2 or more competitors, expect to bounce around trying to capture new customer discounts.
5. See how many simultaneous streams you need. Playstation Vue is 5 (yes but unless there's been a recent change (could be), only 3 simultaneous TV's at a time with PS Vue, plus mobile devices for the other 2). Others are 1-4. Don't be surprised if you can't stream on 3 or 4 TVs with some of the solutions.
6. All are "no contract" which is part of the cord cutting. Be able to fire your provider at any time for any reason.
7. The hardware (Roku, FireTV, Apple TV, etc) will continue to get better and faster, but that means upgrading every 2 years or so to capture the increases. This isn't free, but is nowhere near cable box fees. Agreed, I know the difference between the early 2017 and early 2018 Roku model lineups was very significant - much better performance and remotes.
Roku is the greatest thing since slice bread. I cut the cable cord 6 yrs ago because of the customer service and cost of cable tv. I have more stuff to watch on roku than I will ever watch. Love watching the BBC channelThis thread really interests me. I've always wanted to "cut the cord" and will be doing something along those lines in the near future when we move. No sense messing with it now. I have to admit, I don't know much about the alternatives. My wife is a TV fanatic. One of our big costs is the number of TV's we are running (5) which requires additional set top boxes and digital adapters. We're at $194/mo for TV, internet and phone. Plus we have Netflix and Amazon which puts the monthly bill at about $212. Will probably eliminate phone when we establish new residency. Wish I knew more about Roku, etc. Keep talking folks--I'm listening.
It has been my experience that On Demand shows cannot be fast forwarded through, but shows you record yourself you can fast forward through.
Out of college football/basketball season, I could live with OTA alone. But I'd want to be able to record it easily, including multiple shows at once. I actually have 3 going on in one slot tonight at 10pm, which my old Dish receiver handles. Stores them forever, or at least until I run out of room or the box dies, and I can forward through commercials.It wouldn't be enough for me, or especially DW - but as others have mentioned earlier you could get a lot of TV for free
For now PS Vue + PBS Passport is the least we can accept. We're happy saving $500-$600/yr, but we could save another $600/yr with the two sources above...
- using OTA for local major channel networks and
- it's surprising how much is on Pluto TV as well.
If you're talking Dish satellite, when I cancelled them in Jan, they offered to let me go dormant for up to 9 months in case I wanted to come back - it was either $5 or $9/mo IIRC. I didn't take them up on their offer, but FWIW.Out of college football/basketball season, I could live with OTA alone. But I'd want to be able to record it easily, including multiple shows at once. I actually have 3 going on in one slot tonight at 10pm, which my old Dish receiver handles. Stores them forever, or at least until I run out of room or the box dies, and I can forward through commercials.
Maybe I can find another product that does this, but for at least football season, and preferably basketball season, I want sports channels too, and Dish handles that well for me. I don't think it's worth switching recording systems for these next few months, and I'm not sure whether Dish would let me hibernate for a few months. So I just downgrade to a lower package and live with it.
Yeah, I think I've seen that, now that you mention it. Not worth it to me to figure out a different system for 5 months. I'd save about $45-50 per month. That's something, but not a big enough fish for me to do something about. I do watch non-OTA channels once in awhile, so it's not just money going down the drain for nothing.If you're talking Dish satellite, when I cancelled them in Jan, they offered to let me go dormant for up to 9 months in case I wanted to come back - it was either $5 or $9/mo IIRC. I didn't take them up on their offer, but FWIW.
Out of college football/basketball season, I could live with OTA alone. But I'd want to be able to record it easily, including multiple shows at once. I actually have 3 going on in one slot tonight at 10pm, which my old Dish receiver handles. Stores them forever, or at least until I run out of room or the box dies, and I can forward through commercials.
For OTA get a Tivo. They have a variety of DVR's from the low-cost Roamio OTA which is often sold with lifetime guide service to the more expensive Bolt models that will handle 4K and newer TV features.
The OTA machine has four tuners so tonight you can record 3 while you are watching a fourth. Not bad.
I don't mean to keep moving the bar but another factor is that I have a 3 room setup on 3 different floors that I can run off of one receiver, so I can watch what I've recorded from any room without moving anything. It took some extra HDMI cabling and splitting, but it works great. I just need 3 IR/UHF remote controls (I forget which goes thru walls). This isn't even with the Dish Hopper, which I could do but I don't want to pay the extra hopper fees.
I'm not looking to change. I mean, I'm open to it, but I've got a good working system and I don't want to compromise to save a few bucks. I just revived this thread to post what I found trying an experimental run with a Firestick and internet bandwidth that meets the requirements that some might try using to cut the cord. As was pointed out, you should probably expect to pay more for equipment and bandwidth than the minimum requirements. So, my finding is that most of these solutions won't save me as much money as I was thinking. YMMV, especially if you already have faster internet.
I do appreciate the suggestions, lest anyone think I'm just trying to shoot everything down. Information is good. I just want to make more clear where I'm at.
Sounds like that would work for me for the offseason. If it weren't for sports, I'd have cut the cord long ago. But I have the issues I mentioned before with the choppiness at my bandwidth level, wanting multiple streams (I have 3 TVs in my lower level TV room -- I don't like calling it a man cave though that's what it is -- that I watch football and March Madness on), and not being able to quickly change channels that are not easily overcome. So I don't want to redo the TV hookups and buy extra equipment for just the offseason. I do like the idea of wifi over cabling though, for sharing recorded content anywhere in the house. I'll file that away. If my bandwidth ever gets a lot better, I will look at the Tablo or similar + PS Vue + a stick on each TV.We have one antennae, one Tablo and 5 TVs. TVs are either Roku TVs or have a Roku stick. We do not move anything from room to room. Roku sticks can frequently be found for $25. The Rokus have a Tablo app that allows us to watch OTA TV or whatever we have recorded on the Tablo. It is beamed over WiFi.
For OTA get a Tivo. They have a variety of DVR's from the low-cost Roamio OTA which is often sold with lifetime guide service to the more expensive Bolt models that will handle 4K and newer TV features.
The OTA machine has four tuners so tonight you can record 3 while you are watching a fourth. Not bad.