Dropping Cable

[DawnM]

No, it isn't. I can certainly tell a difference, but I can even tell a difference between OTA HD and cable HD.

Dawn

I can never tell the difference. DH insists he can and he ALWAYS turns to an HD channel when a football game comes on. I think it's the power of suggestion!

 

[My2Pixies]

We dropped cable at the beginning of the year. We have a digital antenna and have been using our PS3 to stream Netflix and Hulu Plus. I will admit that I do miss my DVR, since I work evenings and often miss shows. Yes, I can watch them online but I don't really like to. But, for the price it's alright. I am hoping that eventually more people will do the same and the price of cable will drop drastically.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

We dropped cable at the beginning of the year. We have a digital antenna and have been using our PS3 to stream Netflix and Hulu Plus. I will admit that I do miss my DVR, since I work evenings and often miss shows. Yes, I can watch them online but I don't really like to. But, for the price it's alright. I am hoping that eventually more people will do the same and the price of cable will drop drastically.

Sounds like Hulu Plus is worth it. I know I can't live without my Netflix. I'm going to check Hulu right now.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

My daughter loves NCIS. It's not on HP so she uses our Dell Studio laptop and connects to the big flat screen TV via HDMI cable and she watches it that way. That's the only TV show she does that way. Kind of a pain, but it's a work around.

I am getting frustrated with HP, I have to say.

Much of what I wish to stream says, "online viewing only" and most of those I can watch on the website of the show.....particularly things like CSI, NCIS, and CBS shows.

I want to watch them on the larger TV screen, NOT on my computer!

Dawn

 

[Mom_Rides]

I moved out of my parents home 17 years ago and haven't had cable since. When I met DH and he moved in, we tossed it around but decided against it because of the money that it costs. Here we are 8 years later and we still haven't got it. We do have Netflix now but we've only had that about a year and only do the streaming feature.

Most of the shows that we watch are on regular TV. We did have to get a converter box and we have rabbit ears on the top of our entertainment center but they aren't extended at all and are very unnoticeable. With that, we get the 4 major networks plus PBS. All of the major networks in our area have at least two stations (one has 3, as does PBS). Finding something to watch between regular TV and Netflix is never an issue for us.

 

[carissanboys]

One other thing I wanted to mention. There are some shows that I can't watch during the regular season since we no longer have cable. But they all come out on DVD eventually and many are available through Netflix instant streaming. I also end up watching shows that I hadn't before that have many seasons available. Like others have said, there is always plenty to watch!

 

[runwad]

Just an FYI for anyone who might not realize it -- You can get HD for free from the airwaves with an antenna. I was shocked at the crispness of the picture with our antenna. And it's nothing fancy. Just one that cost $40 at Radioshack. Some people say the picture is better with an antenna than with cable.

So for an extra bedroom that has a tv but no cable I can just go to radio shack and get this antenna for it? Do I need the converter box too?

 

[carissanboys]

So for an extra bedroom that has a tv but no cable I can just go to radio shack and get this antenna for it? Do I need the converter box too?

Is it an old TV or a flatscreen? I'm not very tech savy (thank goodness for the hubby!) but if it's a new TV you don't need anything but the antenna. Not sure about older TVs. I'm sure someone else here could answer.

 

[runwad]

Is it an old TV or a flatscreen? I'm not very tech savy (thank goodness for the hubby!) but if it's a new TV you don't need anything but the antenna. Not sure about older TVs. I'm sure someone else here could answer.

Ya it's a real old tv. A little 13 inch was my DH's grandfathers. It's hooked up to a vcr and she watches old video's on it. Just wondering if an antenna would work. We have pretty cheap cable cause my town competes w/TWC but I don't want anymore holes drilled into my house for the cable lines. We don't have digital or the box' the old stuff works fine and is cheaper 25 bucks a month for 70 channels.

 

[puakinikini]

We have not had cable in 5 years. We stream netflix and watch a lot of movies. We really do not miss it, but we were never super into TV. So, I am not sure we are a very representative sample of people!

 

[blondietink]

We have Directv and wish we could get rid of it. We love the variety and quality, but the price is getting out of hand. We tried the digital signal with antenna, but could not get moe than one channel, which is why we went to satellite 25 years ago (the old Prime Star days). There is no cable service or FIOS service where I live, so we cannot stream Netflix or anything else. We have satellite internet, so we can't use up all the time allotted on watching TV over the internet. It's the price we pay for living in a rural area. We are lucky on any given day to have a clear signal to use the cell phone. If anybody has a solution to our problem, let me know!

 

[adoucet]

Bump! I'm dropping my cable as well. I only watch a few channels & shows.

 

[DawnM]

Yes, you would need a converter box if you want OTA channels.

Dawn

Ya it's a real old tv. A little 13 inch was my DH's grandfathers. It's hooked up to a vcr and she watches old video's on it. Just wondering if an antenna would work. We have pretty cheap cable cause my town competes w/TWC but I don't want anymore holes drilled into my house for the cable lines. We don't have digital or the box' the old stuff works fine and is cheaper 25 bucks a month for 70 channels.

 

[momof3ds]

We have 11 months left before we can drop our dish satellite service. Then, we plan to subscribe to hulu and netflix. Instead of $170 a month, we will be paying about $70 a month for internet plus the hulu and netflix.

 

[Caitriona]

We just dumped cable (we were with Charter) and it cost us $200 to get out of our contract but we were thinking of long-term savings and we cut our phone, internet, cable bill down by $100/month by ditching cable.

Most of everything we watch is on Netflix (streaming) or online - we don't miss it at all (even though the bill after we cancelled cable was pretty big and not fun to pay.

 

[DawnM]

$170 is outrageous!

Is there a lesser package you can downgrade to in the meantime?

What is the early termination fee? I know with Directv it was $200, but it was also pro-rated based on what time you had left in your contract, so in your case, the termination fee for DTV would have been a bit less than $100.

It might be more economical to cancel.

Paying another 11 months will cost you $1,870!!!!!!!

Dawn

We have 11 months left before we can drop our dish satellite service. Then, we plan to subscribe to hulu and netflix. Instead of $170 a month, we will be paying about $70 a month for internet plus the hulu and netflix.

 

[blondietink]

YIKES! You pay $170.00/mo for satellite? What kinds of extras do you have? We get most every channel, and one premium service (StarzEncore package) and our total is $90.00/mo. We also have the DVR included.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

We unplugged the cable just to see what happened. Without any antenna, we picked up 12 channels. All networks and a couple of news. I am SO tempted to leave it like that, but DH can't give up his cable shows. This is all without any antenna! It's crazy! We were paying $164 with WiFi and no premium channels. It's amazing how many options there are out there for getting tv channels. I don't know what we are going to do, but hasta la vista cable as soon as we figure out exactly where to go from here. Thanks everyone!

 

[bdoyledimou]

I am getting frustrated with HP, I have to say.

Much of what I wish to stream says, "online viewing only" and most of those I can watch on the website of the show.....particularly things like CSI, NCIS, and CBS shows.

I want to watch them on the larger TV screen, NOT on my computer!

Dawn

if you have a ps3 you can download a program called Playon.tv it runs on your pc and allows you to view online only content on your tv through the console.

 

[DawnM]

No, I can't. We have only Macs now!

Playon works with Roku too, but not if you don't have a PC.

Dawn

if you have a ps3 you can download a program called Playon.tv it runs on your pc and allows you to view online only content on your tv through the console.