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Has anyone given up cable / satellite for internet based tv?

S

swbsam

Platinum Member
I'm pretty shocked by how high our directv bills have been lately, and am thinking the extra $125 a month could be put to good use. I'm thinking about just hooking a computer up to my tv and/or getting a few more xboxes for the house (plus a media server) and think the minimum expense can be recouped in a few months...

Has anyone done this? What would be the easiest way to do this? I'm mostly concerned with making this set up easy for the rest of the household, and as seemless as possible.

Thanks!

P.S. I do have access to a cable line for local channels and have a spare usb tuner thingie.
 
tversity + xbox 360. own lots of dvds. rent lots of dvds. download shows we like & stream to the 360.
 
Probably 80% of the shows I watch are available on various video sites now. The other 20% I could live without.

But I don't watch much TV to begin with, so YMMV.
 
I'm considering this change as well but the biggest hurdle for me is dealing with ESPN. I guess I could always just go to the local Wild Wings or a friends house if it is a must see sporting event.
 
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
I'm considering this change as well but the biggest hurdle for me is dealing with ESPN. I guess I could always just go to the local Wild Wings or a friends house if it is a must see sporting event.
Click to expand...

Yea it seems most people pay $XX or even $XXX for cable and and 90% of the time its only 1 channel they can't get over the air. Probable why cable/Sat companies are fighting against alacart option.


Me and my wife watched HGTV but that was about it. I watch ESPN, TBS, etc... every now and then but that was all.
In our new house I just bought a large antenna and we don;t pay anything and really don;t miss cable either. I don;t miss the bill either. 😉
 
We went 4 or 5 months without anything & never watched tv. My wife decided to resubscribe to directv about a month ago. One night last week, the two of us were home alone and spent 3 consecutive hours watching television together - it was the first time in a lonnnnnnng time that we spent 3 hours in front of a television. What'd we watch? 3 consecutive reruns of CSI. When I went to bed last night, the remote wasn't in our room. I painstakingly started going from channel to channel. I started on Ch 2. About 250 channels later, I came across Mission Impossible 2. Perfect! It bored me to sleep within 15 minutes. A few nights ago, I watched a little bit of Young Frankenstein before I fell asleep during a commercial. And, one day, I sat there watching two James Bond movies simultaneously, on two consecutive channels. Those two networks commercials were out of sync. I don't think I missed more than an aggregate of 10 minutes of either one of them. Of course, they were both reruns as well, and I even think I have them on DVD.

My conclusion: what on earth am I paying Directv for?
 
You DirecTV bill is $125 a month? Do you get all the movie channels or something? Mine is just $86 and that's with HDTV and four DVRs.

Anyways, if I could get my wife's shows over the internet, I would switch in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, she likes to watch all those crime shows on channels like A&E and TRU. I haven't figured out a way to get those over the internet and stream it through my 360s.

The only thing I would miss is ESPN. Especially with the South Eastern Conference making a deal with ESPN to show their sports there.
 
My channels consist of Discovery HD, Scifi HD, Science HD, CNBC HD. All others I really don't watch or care to have.
 
I am in the process of trying out a HTPC to stream Hulu and maybe Netflix. I'll still have basic cable with my internet and I'll just buy the HBO/Showtime shows we like on DVD.
 
use the free time for other hobbies. we catch some prime time tv during dinner, have a blockboster/netflix subscription for a few movies a month. We get the free sports that come on the networks and go out for any must see games. Otherwise I'm busy with a bike or a project.
 
Originally posted by: Queasy
You DirecTV bill is $125 a month? Do you get all the movie channels or something? Mine is just $86 and that's with HDTV and four DVRs.

Anyways, if I could get my wife's shows over the internet, I would switch in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, she likes to watch all those crime shows on channels like A&E and TRU. I haven't figured out a way to get those over the internet and stream it through my 360s.

The only thing I would miss is ESPN. Especially with the South Eastern Conference making a deal with ESPN to show their sports there.
Click to expand...


mine is significantly lower as well about 75 for total choice plus + hbo/cinemax and 2 HD-DVRs
 
Originally posted by: mchammer187
Originally posted by: Queasy
You DirecTV bill is $125 a month? Do you get all the movie channels or something? Mine is just $86 and that's with HDTV and four DVRs.

Anyways, if I could get my wife's shows over the internet, I would switch in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, she likes to watch all those crime shows on channels like A&E and TRU. I haven't figured out a way to get those over the internet and stream it through my 360s.

The only thing I would miss is ESPN. Especially with the South Eastern Conference making a deal with ESPN to show their sports there.
Click to expand...


mine is significantly lower as well about 75 for total choice plus + hbo/cinemax and 2 HD-DVRs
Click to expand...

You do know that is still about $1000 a year just for TV.
 
HTPC->Windows Media Center->Free DVRservice (up front cost is a bit steep) ->HD antenna + internet = saving a shitload of $/month.

I also have a sub to BlockBuster, 3 out at a time, in store exchanges for my online rentals.

I just finished my obligation with DTV and canceled the service.

I'm gonna miss it all when the mega volcano hits 🙁
 
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