cutting cable Netflix?

[funkychunkymonkey]

Ok so I relized im paying a small fortune for cable (and they pissed me off). Im thinking of giving up cable. Does netflicks work well for you all? How do you get it on your tv? Also can I hook my laptop (dell inspiron 1501) up to my tv and watch shows off the internet?

also how do you watch current shows eppisodes? Such as Chicago fire, Blue bloods, Hell's kitchen and Being human

 

[automaticsoap]

I gave up cable a couple years ago, and I haven't looked back. I make up for it through a Netflix streaming subscription in addition to renting or buying from Amazon Instant Video. I bought Roku to stream Netflix on my tv -- you can also stream Hulu Plus and other network websites through Roku. Quality is excellent.

I'm also able to hook up my Macbook Pro with an HDMI cable to my TV, and the streaming quality is also very high through that method. For example, I've streamed the Superbowl and March Madness games this way and it looked great.

 

[geckodani]

We use a combination of Hulu Plus (7.99 a month) and Netflix. To stream to your TV on Netflix you'll need a compatible device (internet connected Blurays, XBOx 360, PS2 etc.) Same for Hulu (although not everything is available on Hulu).

We've been pretty happy with the set up.

 

[wiigirl]

I would suggest a Roku...love mine.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

tell me more about this roku thing, what is it? Also Ps2? How do I connect mine to the internet? I have a ps2 and could so use that, cause I just got a new power cord for it. So therotically I can use my ps2, turn it on and stream my shows through it? this sounds too easy!

 

[pocomom]

tell me more about this roku thing, what is it? Also Ps2? How do I connect mine to the internet? I have a ps2 and could so use that, cause I just got a new power cord for it. So therotically I can use my ps2, turn it on and stream my shows through it? this sounds too easy!

You can, but I feel like the interface with the Roku was worth the purchase- heck you probably pay more for cable a month than the box would cost you. We had Amazon prime already for the shipping, so we get amazon movies, netflix which we already had, and we signed up for Hulu which if you buy the roku you'll get cards good for 2 free months. We are quite happy and find there is nothing to watch just about as often as there was before and we love the money we are saving! On Amazon there is alot you have to pay for if you want to watch - we also have alot of other channels but those three, the news channel and our PLEX channel (where we stream digital movies from DH's computer) are the ones we use the most. Our Roku is hooked up to our home wireless.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I gave up cable a couple years ago, and I haven't looked back. I make up for it through a Netflix streaming subscription in addition to renting or buying from Amazon Instant Video. I bought Roku to stream Netflix on my tv -- you can also stream Hulu Plus and other network websites through Roku. Quality is excellent.

+1.

If you're looking for CURRENT runs of TV shows, you might want to look at HuluPlus. Netflix usually has the previous season, but not so much the current season.

And just FYI, HuluPlus (which we tried and cancelled--I just watch on my computer with regular Hulu) doesn't eliminate the commercials.

 

[BabyFu18]

I love Netflix but I couldn't give up my cable, I use them both! If you do give up your cable I suggest using Netflix and HuluPlus together, also you can watch a lot of current tv shows on the major channels website the day after they air.

I stream Netflix and Hulu from my AppleTv and/or BluRay player so either of those work well for streaming (video game systems, ruku boxes, etc. also stream content).

 

[charliesmom86]

We just Netflix and still have cable as well. We watch Netflix on our computer, on our Roku, on our Wii and on our XBOX 360. Its awesome on each of those devices. And its only 7.99 so its a steal for what you get. The best thing about it for us is that we miss tv shows a lot because of the times they come on so being able to watch it on Netflix means we can watch a show from the very beginning and catch up to what's on tv. Its awesome!

 

[Ariel484]

Hulu Plus + Netflix + MLB.tv + AppleTV for us. We have wireless Internet in our house and the AppleTV connects to our tv through an HDMI cable and streams that way, similar to a Roku. We beefed up our Internet speed and have gone from $120/month for cable/Internet to $60ish/month. We like it so far!

 

[wallawallakids]

We gave up cable for the same reason and I do not miss it at all. I still get to watch all the shows I love (Law and Order, Modern Family, The Middle) on Hulu for free off my computer. I can watch Real Housewives off Bravo for free and Criminal Minds off CBS for free. We also got Netflix live stream. We have Apple TV so we watch Netflix off that. The only thing I will say is that my husband misses sports. He hates trying to refresh the computer for live scores. But that has been our only complaint and even he admits that it isn't worth the price to go back to cable.

 

[brymolmom]

Gave up cable 2.5 years ago and wouldn't go back. We have an antenna for locals, a PC hooked up for recording (DVR-like) any shows we miss and to watch shows that are on the Internet (love a couple abcfamily shows), and Netflix which the kids love for family friendly shows.

I tell all my friends if you don't need cable for sports - you can do this. We get football on the major stations and all the important stuff that comes on networks....And we weren't big ESPN watchers or anything - so it works for us. I've also heard that you can get some sports games on the Internet - so it might even work well now even if you do love sports.

 

[anniemck]

2 years on the Roku here, we have PlayOn which right now they have a lifetime subscription for $45 and just this weekend I bought the plug in for that for $5 that now allows me to watch almost every cable channel in real time... never miss anything anymore, and since we used to dvr everything and watch it later, watching shows on hulu+ or other plug ins doesn't bother me. Cut from $80 a month for satellite and %60 a month for cable to $18 a month for netflix/hulu+ and the one time purchase of the roku and playon

 

[DawnM]

What PlayOn plug in? What is it called?

Dawn

2 years on the Roku here, we have PlayOn which right now they have a lifetime subscription for $45 and just this weekend I bought the plug in for that for $5 that now allows me to watch almost every cable channel in real time... never miss anything anymore, and since we used to dvr everything and watch it later, watching shows on hulu+ or other plug ins doesn't bother me. Cut from $80 a month for satellite and %60 a month for cable to $18 a month for netflix/hulu+ and the one time purchase of the roku and playon

 

[tasha99]

We gave up cable about 6 months ago. The tricky thing in Alaska is that Internet is metered--so we choose to stream most shows in very low quality in order to not go over our limit. It's not awful, but it's not high def.

We have Netflix and Crunchyroll (for anime). I'm pretty busy, so that's generally enough. My bill went from $170 for cable and Internet to about $110 for Internet, Netflix, and Crunchyroll, so it saves us $60/month.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Please tell me all about the roku. Im confused what it does! Also does anyone know how to hook up though a ps2? Im just missing tv on the big screen

 

[pocomom]

Please tell me all about the roku. Im confused what it does! Also does anyone know how to hook up though a ps2? Im just missing tv on the big screen

http://www.roku.com/
I don't know how to hook up the PS2, (dh's department). but I know my playstation already had everything set up as it was, when we dropped cable... Is your PS2 hooked up to the internet? We just had to go in through the menu and pick Netflix, etc. Just a little more confusing and not as easy to manage and see all your options as the Roku.
Most channels you need to sign up for and activate you box for, either way which just requires inputting codes from the set up screens, and paying for the ones that require, if you don't have it already.
I learned alot from reading the Roku reviews on Amazon- basically it is just for watching tv, movies etc you get a remote with it. It has a channel store where you can add new channels many for free. The shows on each channel show up with screen shots and descriptions which is nice if you are looking for new stuff to watch. Netflix will give you recommendations based on your viewing too.

 

[Kies99]

We have an LG Smart TV and watch Netflix via WiFi through that. No need to hook up any additional components (no Roku, Wii, PS3, etc...).

We tried HuluPlus last week and it was terrible. Constantly freezing and buffering so cancelled well before the free week was up.

 

[Tinkerdreams]

2 years on the Roku here, we have PlayOn which right now they have a lifetime subscription for $45 and just this weekend I bought the plug in for that for $5 that now allows me to watch almost every cable channel in real time... never miss anything anymore, and since we used to dvr everything and watch it later, watching shows on hulu+ or other plug ins doesn't bother me. Cut from $80 a month for satellite and %60 a month for cable to $18 a month for netflix/hulu+ and the one time purchase of the roku and playon

Can you tell me more about Playon? We tried this once but you had to have a computer running - I only have an Ipad. Do you still need a computer?Would also like to know about the plug in for $5 that lets you watch the cable channels. Thanks!!

 

[DawnM]

Yes, you have to have a PC running.

I have one PC, the rest are Apples so I do find it a bit of a pain.

Dawn

Can you tell me more about Playon? We tried this once but you had to have a computer running - I only have an Ipad. Do you still need a computer?Would also like to know about the plug in for $5 that lets you watch the cable channels. Thanks!!