Getting rid of my DirectV

[Blue.Fairy2]

I would love to get rid of our Dish. I need some help understanding what you've got set up.

So you have an old fashioned antenna to get locals? I did not think you would be able to get good reception this way. I understand the blu-ray and netflix. How are you using the Tivo....what exactly can you Tivo...the local channels and whatever you get from netflix (I guess this part does not make sense to me - if you are getting something from netflix, why wouldn't you just get it at the time you want to watch it)? And what is a slingbox/slingcatcher and what do they do?

Thanks for any explanations you can provide!

your reception and availability depends on where you live and the obstacles in the path of your reception.

http://www.dtv.gov/

We get over the air signals for the kitchen TV the bedrooms and main TV are on DTV.

The reception in the kitchen is as crisp and clear as the DTV but we only get about 10 channels because of topographical obstacles in our area.

Would love to lose the DTV but DH can not give up his soccer.

 

[ericamanda01]

We turned in our cable box last Sat. and don't feel like we are missing anything. We have our Netflix set up and our Hulu account logs all the shows we love. DH is a bit of a computer nerd so he built a computer for the living room tv and it works great. I love the idea of saving over $900 a year.

 

[Ava]

For those of you who got rid of cable/satellite completely, what type of Internet do you have? I keep our cable mostly for the Internet; we only have the basic package for TV, which gives us the networks plus a few extras.

 

[Esteri]

For those of you who got rid of cable/satellite completely, what type of Internet do you have? I keep our cable mostly for the Internet; we only have the basic package for TV, which gives us the networks plus a few extras.

We have internet through Comcast (no TV). We pay extra to upgrade to the small business account. Easy to justify since we don't have any TV expenses. So, it's even faster. Yeah, we're spoiled. But if you're serious about streaming high quality video you need something pretty fast.
.

 

[DVCBELLE]

I have a DSL line and we have been really happy with how quickly the movies download.

 

[mamo-4-wdw]

Wow, this thread is really making me think about changing my tv watching system.
I currently have cable, get basics and hbo and showtime. Shows I like are on hulu, I usually watch hulu when I miss the shows on tv. I had never thought about watching them on hulu first!
I am going to ask my DS28 & DS20 to fix me up with your idea and start saving $100 a month!!!!!
You all are brillient!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[hipchickie]

OP, What bluray player did you get?

I was researching the netflix site just last night, and it said you need a bluray for samsuung or lg to get netflix. There is one on sale at walmart this week
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11080822
but it doesn't say anything about streaming youtube or hulu - do I just assume that if it it netflix ready, I can play things off those sites as well?

 

[DVCBELLE]

I got the Samsun BD-P1600 - it was on sale the week before Christmas for $130.

Now - if you get a TIVO - you can get netflix through them. I haven't hooked up my tivo yet but I can say that I know I tried to watch tv this week without my DirecTV - (I haven't disconnected yet) and the picture is FAR SUPERIOR on my antenna but I can't stand not having the DVR capabilities.

 

[zoemurr]

going to stay free or are we going to have to pay for it?

Is there anywhere to watch HGTV? That's the only thing I would really miss.

 

[81felgs]

going to stay free or are we going to have to pay for it?

Is there anywhere to watch HGTV? That's the only thing I would really miss.

Ditto this. I spend $$$ every month and the only channels we watch are Fox News, HGTV, Sprouts, Nickolodeon and the Disney Channel.

 

[zoemurr]

Ditto this. I spend $$$ every month and the only channels we watch are Fox News, HGTV, Sprouts, Nickolodeon and the Disney Channel.

some HGTV shows on hulu but not many. I would think that since they were recently dropped from Cablevision that they would start streaming..

 

[Willow1213]

What a wonderful way to save money for your family.

I had a slingbox before, so I just wanted to share my experiences. You must have really fast internet on both ends for this to work with any type of quality. Since it basically takes your dad's tv and streams it over the web to your tv, you will have to watch the same thing he is watching. You will have the ability to change channels, but only one person can be using the box at the same time. I found this VERY annoying when trying to watch on the go on my phone. I ended up returning the slingbox since the quality was so bad.

 

[Esteri]

going to stay free or are we going to have to pay for it?

Is there anywhere to watch HGTV? That's the only thing I would really miss.

Try Fancast. We found a lot of our favorites (We're FoodNetwork fans) that weren't on Hulu on Fancast.
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[Gleek]

I'm wishing I had seen this a little sooner! We had Comcast for years and I can not stand them! We switched to Dish Network last month and are saving around $70/month plus I love that I can access the DVR from either tv.

I saw the netflix thing when we were trying to decide what to do. We don't have an HDTV so I don't think the blu ray thing will work for us. Will a bluray player work on a regular tv? will it play regular DVDs? I'm guessing no to that one! We do have a Wii. I guess I should look in to options with that. I was thinking that maybe I'd buy one of the Roku boxes and do the Netflix thing rather than subscribing to premium channels like HBO. I am finding we rarely find anything to watch on those channels anyway! I am looking forward to Big Love but I can get that on iTunes if it isn't available anywhere else.

 

[DVCBELLE]

I'm wishing I had seen this a little sooner! We had Comcast for years and I can not stand them! We switched to Dish Network last month and are saving around $70/month plus I love that I can access the DVR from either tv.

I saw the netflix thing when we were trying to decide what to do. We don't have an HDTV so I don't think the blu ray thing will work for us. Will a bluray player work on a regular tv? will it play regular DVDs? I'm guessing no to that one! We do have a Wii. I guess I should look in to options with that. I was thinking that maybe I'd buy one of the Roku boxes and do the Netflix thing rather than subscribing to premium channels like HBO. I am finding we rarely find anything to watch on those channels anyway! I am looking forward to Big Love but I can get that on iTunes if it isn't available anywhere else.

Yes - you can watch Blu-Rays on a regular tv and you can also watch DVDs on Blu-Ray - the quality is better on there!!

What a wonderful way to save money for your family.

I had a slingbox before, so I just wanted to share my experiences. You must have really fast internet on both ends for this to work with any type of quality. Since it basically takes your dad's tv and streams it over the web to your tv, you will have to watch the same thing he is watching. You will have the ability to change channels, but only one person can be using the box at the same time. I found this VERY annoying when trying to watch on the go on my phone. I ended up returning the slingbox since the quality was so bad.

We do both have fast internet but I am starting to rethink the slingbox. I need to buy a slinglink now to hook him up and we are completely fine without it right now. If my kids really want to watch something - then they can just go over there and watch it!