Cable no More!!

[chasineyes]

Looking for some advice. We are thinking of dropping cable. I am planning on getting a cheap antenna system for the garage. Realize I watch TV out there for about 10 hours a year. NOT worth the 120$ a year for the "box". Now IF we dump cable and have a "fancy" antenna for our 2 main home TV's does anyone have any suggestions? THEN I'm wondering what type of streaming system people do. Most nights my kids are watching Full House (from 1983) so I know that can be streamed from something. I'm guessing you would get a Roku, or can you stream shows through the Wii with Netflix?

I'm terrible with this kind of technology. Any input would be awesome!!!

[MN Mike]

I did just that last summer, put up an traditional TV ( over the air ) antenna for local channels and stream whatever else over Roku. I started streaming through a Sony BluRay DVD player but I found it much easier to do on Roku, so I use that.

Amazon FireTV is very nice too, voice search is nice but only works on Amazon Prime right now.

Keep in mind, most of the streaming boxes like Roku, Amazon FireTV, Apple TV and Chomecast can be run via a smartphone / tablet device with an app which makes it easier, not sure about other streaming via dvd players, Wii, XBox and what not, I don't know if they can be controlled via smart devices.

So, you have options if you don't want to buy a streaming box for each tv in the house.

If I were to pick one service out of the shoot to subscribe to,it's Netflix, free trial to check it out. after that it costs $8 for 1 device per month, $9 for 2 device per month with HD streaming, $12 per month for up to 4 devices with HD Streaming.

Keep in mind theres a lot of free stuff out there too, more so on the Roku, FireTV, Chromecast and Apple TV than on the other devices.

More TV than I have time to watch! For people that have access to high speed internet, it's the future of TV in my opinion, it's come along way in just the last couple years.

Mike

[delcecchi]

Looking for some advice. We are thinking of dropping cable. I am planning on getting a cheap antenna system for the garage. Realize I watch TV out there for about 10 hours a year. NOT worth the 120$ a year for the "box". Now IF we dump cable and have a "fancy" antenna for our 2 main home TV's does anyone have any suggestions? THEN I'm wondering what type of streaming system people do. Most nights my kids are watching Full House (from 1983) so I know that can be streamed from something. I'm guessing you would get a Roku, or can you stream shows through the Wii with Netflix?

I'm terrible with this kind of technology. Any input would be awesome!!!

I have a roku and a chromecast. Actually two rokus and a chromecast. And a wifi enabled smart blue ray player.

The big question is how much you like to watch live sports, besides what is on the networks.

If sports aren't an issue, get an HD antenna and a roku. or several rokus (one for each tv), Netflix and amazon prime. Look at HULU plus. And if you want some of the traditional cable channels, there is sling tv.

You need at least moderately good high speed internet, depending on how many people will be watching streaming video at the same time.

[aanderud]

Lots of options out there, and I think I have a bit of everything. Some devices just have "smart" features built in -- for instance, I have bluray players and smart tvs that stream stuff. The bluray players seem to have slower CPUs for the most part and the user interfaces are slow. The xbox will do it but it's by far the loudest component in the family room and I don't like it on unless it has to be. My smart TV has a nice fast UI and I actually use the native apps on it (it has netflix, hulu, plex, amazon prime, etc).

Firetv stick is slow and the remote is an RF remote (since it's behind the TV). That means it won't work with your average run of the mill universal remote. So, it's on the 4 season porch. It has netflix, youtube, amazon prime, etc. This is my least favorite streaming device, well maybe a step up from the xblx.

The favorite, by far, is the roku. It has a fast user interface, all the apps and channels you could ever need, does HD, etc. As Del said, couple this with an HD antenna for local channels and you've got a lot of content. Not much for sports.

All that, and we still have DirecTV so we can watch the wild, the twins, and occasionally the twolves. Oh well.

[leech~~]

Now I'm confused? What if your cable company also provides your internet with a package and you get rid of them how will this work?

What the Heck is a Roku (or Apple TV or Amazon Fire) and Why Do I Need One?

Dan TynanTech Columnist April 10, 2014

If your TV has spent the past five or 10 years tethered to a cable or satellite service, blissfully unaware of the Internet video revolution that’s been brewing, it may be in for a bit of a surprise. Some of the world’s biggest tech companies — Amazon, Apple, and Google among them — want you to cut your TV’s ties to traditional cable and satellite, and instead hook it up to the firehose of Internet video, using an inexpensive device known as a set-top box.

So if you’re tempted by the notion of telling your current TV provider to take a hike, but you’ve never looked into set-top products like the Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV, then pull up a chair and tune into this primer on Internet video.

[aanderud]

Now I'm confused? What if your cable company also provides your internet with a package and you get rid of them how will this work?

I subscribe to Comcast for internet, but not TV. You usually pay about 10 bucks more per month to do this versus what you'd pay for the internet portion of a bundled package with TV built-in. So maybe instead of $45 bucks for internet, I'm paying $55. Oh well.

Similarly, you can order DSL from a phone company (centurylink for instance) without ordering a land-line. Again, you usually end up paying a bit more than if you just added internet onto an existing land-line, but less than what the combination of a land-line and internet combo would run.

[icehole10]

Check out antenna web, just type in your zip code and it will tell you what type of antenna is best for your location, and what direction the signal will be coming from. I believe they are color coded.

We have too many TV's in our house, and we run all of them off of one antenna. I cut cable a year ago and have no regrets, other than sports and I have learned to live without them, or go to a buddies house. We have both Netflix and Hulu, for about 20 bucks a month and I find myself watching both.

[nofishfisherman]

I cut cable years ago and really don't miss it at all.

We use comcast for our internet and we pay a few bucks a month extra to keep getting the basic channels (NBC, CBS, ABC...) through them.

We have two tv's. One is a smart tv with the built in apps for Netflix, Amazon, etc and the other tv is hooked up to our Wii and we use that for Netflix and Amazon. Really no complaints with that system. Its easy to set up and manage.

The only thing that I miss while not having cable is the sports. But in reality the Twins and Wolves haven't been worth watching for years anyways. Without cable you can still watch plenty of football and all Vikings games. The only thing you really miss is Monday Night Football which is on ESPN. If the Vikings play Monday a local channel will pick it up so you're covered there. If there is a game on cable that I really want to watch I either head to a friends house or head to the bar to watch it. Even after the cost of a couple beers at the bar you still come out ahead if the alternative is paying $100+ a month for cable.

[mrklean]

Cutting cable was the best decision I ever made save me a ton of money each month, went to Century link for cable costs me like $30 a month then I got the Fire TV with Prime and Hulu Plus. If you do some searching online you can find websites that have tons of shows and movies for free. Quality isn't perfect HD but its not horrible either plus its free.

[BartmanMN]

If you have a family member that still chooses to have cable and is willing to give you their logon you are set. I can watch pretty much anything I want with my Apple TV. I can stream CBS Sports, NBC Sports, Big 10 Network, ABC, etc all from my iphone to my Apple TV.

Of course the only thing you can't access is Fox Sports North, which is the main killer for most.

[Big Dave2]

If I could just pay a prorated portion of my cable bill and keep local channels and sports channels only, I would dump the rest. Like mentioned above, it's the sports that keep me hanging on but if I logged my time on any of those channels in a years time it probably is not worth it.

[delcecchi]

If you have a family member that still chooses to have cable and is willing to give you their logon you are set. I can watch pretty much anything I want with my Apple TV. I can stream CBS Sports, NBC Sports, Big 10 Network, ABC, etc all from my iphone to my Apple TV.

Of course the only thing you can't access is Fox Sports North, which is the main killer for most.

I am assuming you are paying a prorated share of the family member's cable bill? You might check out sling tv btw.