Finally Cut the Cable!

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: cjcride
Wise move. Too often nothing worth watching.


If I watched TV, I would think it was worth it. I rarely turn the TV on.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: 99Saturn
Wish we could get our hands on a $14.99 internet. Cablevision down there, and the cheapest plan I see is $50 for new customers.


I hear that. It's the same in the Buffalo area. Out where I live, your only choice is TWC, verizon DSL or satellite for internet. Cell service is very sketchy at the house because we live in a valley. My total cable bill is $164/mo for TV, internet and land line phone. I can dump the TV, but the savings is nominal. I'm always looking for options..

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: 99Saturn
Wish we could get our hands on a $14.99 internet. Cablevision down there, and the cheapest plan I see is $50 for new customers.


I hear that. It's the same in the Buffalo area. Out where I live, your only choice is TWC, verizon DSL or satellite for internet. Cell service is very sketchy at the house because we live in a valley. My total cable bill is $164/mo for TV, internet and land line phone. I can dump the TV, but the savings is nominal. I'm always looking for options..



Being an apartment dweller in this particular city my
Cable Options are: Time warner.

Internet Options: Time Warner , FIOS

FIOS is a lot more expensive than what I would like to pay. When I get a house, I may get satellite.

TW has some sort of agreement with my City where they can be the only provider of cable television service ... so, they are the only provider right now.

 

[dlundblad]

We haven't had TV here for about 12 years. I honestly don't miss it one bit. I occasionally watch it at the girlfriends house and am later reassured I am missing absolutely nothing.

I like my internet, movies and occasional video games.

 

[hattaresguy]

I haven't had TV in years, don't have any trouble watching what I want online.

 

[The_Jeff]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
An antenna is the bate deal around. Pair it with an OTA DVR, like this one:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Magnavox-HDD-DVR-and-DVD-Recorder-with-Digital-Tuner-500GB/20710258

And you'll be pretty happy. Even with only just the Baltimore channels, I can record more TV than I can watch.


I have this $37 bad boy:

http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HW-150PVR-HomeWorx-Converter-Recording/dp/B00I2ZBD1U/

Best thing is the files are "open" and I can edit them in my PC for whatever dastardly deeds I can imagine. Could make fantastic DVDs for example.

The DVDs you buy of a TV series are not always the same as first run-- music licensing being a top reason. They might also be the syndication edit, missing some stuff.

It's all legal if you don't sell or give away "your copy" as decided in the 1984 Betamax lawsuit.

I suspect many cable subscribers got hooked by their "Free PVR" that bricks itself when you stop paying your bill.

 

[The_Jeff]

Originally Posted By: Miller88


Being an apartment dweller in this particular city my
Cable Options are: Time warner.

Internet Options: Time Warner , FIOS

FIOS is a lot more expensive than what I would like to pay. When I get a house, I may get satellite.

TW has some sort of agreement with my City where they can be the only provider of cable television service ... so, they are the only provider right now.



If you see to the south (southwest in the northeast and vice versa) you can set up a dish in a window or on a balcony. There are certain FCC laws that your landlord cannot supercede about setting up a dish and cabling it reasonably.

 

[earlyre]

or you could just put a tuner card in your win7 PC for the same functionality. it's built into windows Media Center (which was integrated in vista and 7, separate purchase for win 8)
the only complaint i have with said set up is file size... it's files are about 4GB/hr-ish..IIRC, i've not had my tuners set up since i rebuilt my pc last summer.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Got home from work and ... no Internet! They "accidentally" disabled my cable modem.

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: Miller88


Being an apartment dweller in this particular city my
Cable Options are: Time warner.

Internet Options: Time Warner , FIOS

FIOS is a lot more expensive than what I would like to pay. When I get a house, I may get satellite.

TW has some sort of agreement with my City where they can be the only provider of cable television service ... so, they are the only provider right now.



If you see to the south (southwest in the northeast and vice versa) you can set up a dish in a window or on a balcony. There are certain FCC laws that your landlord cannot supercede about setting up a dish and cabling it reasonably.


All of my windows and balcony face due east, unfortunately.

 

[dwcopple]

If you look up my past thread, I cut too. I have 30MB internet and got in on Amazon when it was $79/yr. We are satisfied. I use my parents TV log in to stream ESPN on the Roku. I also used their TV log in to stream NBA on TNT during the playoffs. Nice.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Right on! I cut mine earlier this year. It was $105/month for basic cable with a DVR. Didn't want the DVR, but that was the only box available and it cost $10 more per month. Ditched them completely, upgraded my 3Mb DSL to 24Mb, and bought a smart TV. Between Netflix, Amazon Instant, and the antenna, I haven't been missing Time Warner one bit.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

If you aren't in love with any (or all) of the four major sports (MLB / NHL / NBA), then you can live without cable or satellite TV subscriptions.

If you want to watch live NBA, NHL or MLB around Detroit and see your local teams live in games, you will need a subscription to cable or satellite. Only the Detroit Lions (NFL) are available on free antenna TV here.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted By: Triple_Se7en
If you aren't in love with any (or all) of the four major sports (MLB / NHL / NBA), then you can live without cable or satellite TV subscriptions.

If you want to watch live NBA, NHL or MLB around Detroit and see your local teams live in games, you will need a subscription to cable or satellite. Only the Detroit Lions (NFL) are available on free antenna TV here.

My Brother doesn't watch/ cant stand any of those. But any show that has to do with Cars or Racing, he's Glued to it. His Direct TV DVR is Filled with 2 types of Programs. Car Stuff, and Paranormal junk. anything from Ghost Hunters to Finding Bigfoot. he loves that carp.

 

[Cutehumor]

you can watch NBA, MLB, and NHL on Roku live streaming apps for a fee.

NFL won't let you stream their games.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
So last night, I was thinking to myself how much money I could save by cutting the cable. By my estimation, by getting rid of cable, I could save about $75 a month.


Not only is the idiot box a money waste, but the average person wastes several hours a week sitting around mindlessly watching it. Imagine all the possibilities for that extra time. You could earn some part time income, go back to school and improve your education, do some volunteer work, etc.

If you are happy about saving 50% of your income for a house, now that you have all that extra time, imagine how thrilled you'll be if you earn some extra income and put that toward your future home.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: Miller88
So last night, I was thinking to myself how much money I could save by cutting the cable. By my estimation, by getting rid of cable, I could save about $75 a month.


Not only is the idiot box a money waste, but the average person wastes several hours a week sitting around mindlessly watching it. Imagine all the possibilities for that extra time. You could earn some part time income, go back to school and improve your education, do some volunteer work, etc.

If you are happy about saving 50% of your income for a house, now that you have all that extra time, imagine how thrilled you'll be if you earn some extra income and put that toward your future home.


I didn't watch the TV much to begin with .. only when I couldn't sleep and it was like 1 in the morning. I really got the best out of it.

Have been looking for a second, part time job. However, I am looking for something out of my industry for part time work.

Been trying oil change joints and tire shops.

I can use a ridiculous amount of bead sealant on tires and I can overtighten drain plugs and oil filters - I should be qualified to work at the local jiffy lube!

 

[jcwit]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Originally Posted By: Miller88
So last night, I was thinking to myself how much money I could save by cutting the cable. By my estimation, by getting rid of cable, I could save about $75 a month.


Not only is the idiot box a money waste, but the average person wastes several hours a week sitting around mindlessly watching it. Imagine all the possibilities for that extra time. You could earn some part time income, go back to school and improve your education, do some volunteer work, etc.

If you are happy about saving 50% of your income for a house, now that you have all that extra time, imagine how thrilled you'll be if you earn some extra income and put that toward your future home.


Being as I'm 70+, I'm sure not looking for a job, part time or otherwise, nor am I looking to going to school to advance my education, by now it's advanced far enough, as far as volunteering, I do plenty of that. Also, my house is paid for, so that is a non-issue

The rest of my time is spent between my hobbies and watching TV, to keep up with world affairs and entertainment. I truly enjoy the entertainment aspect, just as I truly enjoy listening to music.

Just to make it clear, I do not have cable, got rid of that years and years ago, way back when a guy named Charley first had an idea about Dish Network. M bill runs approx. $60 bucks a month for the large package I have, plus premiums & locals.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Cable TV, Internet(at least part of it), Movies ... are entertainment expense(EE). Our EE is about $40-50 a month, it doesn't include power to run the equipments which is less than $10-15 a month.

 

[Dave Hess]

90% of stuff I can watch online for free.

Way too many commercials to pay for cable.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette


Way too many commercials to pay for cable.


That's by biggest peeve.

I'm not one to watch much if any tv. We get in plenty of channels ota here and I still don't watch the popular stuff. But cable can have some interesting stuff on it for sure, especially history, military, some news and finance stuff, etc. it can indeed also hook you and then you can waste a ton of time, which I do t care if you're 7 or 70, isn't good for you if you could be doing something smart and/or active.