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Cord has been cut..

Just got off the phone with Comcast, cable TV cancelled. I just need to bring my cable M-card to their office so they don't start charging me a rental fee, I'll be bringing it back today.

How I'm doing it/my current setup:

Antenna + MythTV for live and recorded TV. Not really needed, but since I already had everything other than an antenna I decided to buy one. Haven't hooked it up yet, but soon.

Roku (bedroom) - you all know what it is. Over 1,000 "channels" and I haven't even scratched the surface. A lot (mostly?) junk I'd never have any interest in.

Fire TV (main TV)- I don't like the channel layout as much as the Roku, but over-all it's a better fit for me. It really does support everything I'd ever want in terms of streaming.

Hulu+, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video/Prime, and DroidTV (Fire TV only) for streaming services. Works out to about $20 a month plus the yearly Amazon Prime subscription, and Amazon Prime pays for itself (and then some?) in free shipping. I also signed up for HitBliss on my tablet, watching 5 minutes of commercials gets me free Amazon movies and TV shows as well as some things that are HitBliss only.


Between these, I'm not really missing out on much at all, just a couple daily shows the wife watches (Judge Judy and Chelsea Lately). Not only that, I will be saving money AND we have access to a ton of crap that we couldn't watch before.
 

frank_c

lost in the jet stream
VIP
We'll have Judge Judy on at work at 4 am while we're waiting for the 4:30 news to start.

I am getting by with just Prime.
 
I didn't realize anyone actually watched live TV other than news and sports. It's all about the PVR.

Over the winter she worked from home a few times when the weather was really bad, and had the TV on in the background while she worked. After seeing the train wreck of people that come on that show she decided she wanted it recorded and was watching them when nothing else was on. Honestly, after getting the Roku and now the Fire TV I don't think she's watched a single episode, there are dozens of them unwatched on our PVR right now.
 

frank_c

lost in the jet stream
VIP
I just watched Survivor. And I gotta say that listening to the side effects on all the ****ing pharma ads makes me feel justified downloading network TV shows.
 

pejeeper

Ninjas need not apply
VIP
Keep updating this thread. I feel that when I sell my current house and move into a new house, I'm doing just this. I want think that buying another Roku or 2 will still be cheaper than paying DirecTV over time and eventually replace my current TVs with Smart TVs.
 
If by "over time" you mean in a few months, then yes. I don't know what you are paying, but I'd guess it's close to $90+ a month for DirecTV. At that price, three months of DirecTV = $270, two Rokus plus 3 months of Netflix + HuluPlus + DroidTV = ~$260.
 
how do you do all this if one has 8 TV's in the house?
What part?

Something like Plex Media Server to serve up your locally ripped movies is really only dependent on the power of the computer running the server and how many streams you want to watch at the same time. Same with something like MythTV for the PVR, although live TV watching/recording is also limited by the number of tuners you have. I'd guess something like Simple.TV is similar to MythTV, but limited to only 2 tuners and 5 connections at once.

For the Fire TV/Roku at each TV, I suppose you could try moving them around to wherever you need them, but the better solution is to just a Roku/Fire TVs for each. The little Roku Streaming stick is only about $50, but it's wifi only and a bit slower than a $99 Roku 3.

If you own and watch 8 different TVs, you can probably afford 8 Roku or Fire TV boxes.
 

pejeeper

Ninjas need not apply
VIP
If by "over time" you mean in a few months, then yes. I don't know what you are paying, but I'd guess it's close to $90+ a month for DirecTV. At that price, three months of DirecTV = $270, two Rokus plus 3 months of Netflix + HuluPlus + DroidTV = ~$260.
I watch very little "live tv". I'd keep the smallest cable/satellite pkg that gives me my local channels but most of my tv watching would be streamed. I pay almost $90/mo for 1 SD box, 1HD box and 1 HD DVR and the Total Choice Plus pkg with no premuim channels or sports pkgs. Rip-off. I need the higher channel package to get a few Disney channels that aren't included in the lower packages.
 
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...most of my tv watching would be streamed. I pay almost $90/mo ... Rip-off. I need the higher channel package to get a few Disney channels that aren't included in the lower packages.
:puzzled: Sounds like you'd be better off dropping it completely and going streaming only.
 

kthrash

I have Automotive A.D.D.
VIP
You set up an a/v distribution system with control from each room. It's not the cheap route, but if you need 8 TVs, that shouldn't be an issue.
gimme some examples.. Currently I have DirectTV with 2 DVR's, one regular and one Genie, plus 6 more HD boxes, the whole house can watch anything from either DVR.. I also have 3 Apple TV's one in the LR, Playroom and my Bedroom.. If I could ditch DirecTV and only have one "box" in each room and maybe one in my Network closet I would drop it in a second.. I also have wired ethernet behind every TV.
 
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