Cutting the cord

[Joe]

No, I'm not talking about the umbilical cord I'm talking about cable TV. I decided today after reviewing my finances that I'm getting rid of cable TV.
(I would have gotten rid of cable internet if this site didn't depend on it.) It's just too damn expensive.

I had HBO, an HD DVR and all of the rest of the basic channels and I was at like $230 a month. That seems like a shit load of money for something that does nothing but prohibit me from doing anything productive. This wasn't really a planned out decision. I kind of just looked at the bill, called them and said fuck you. I figured a $50 a month internet bill would be ok, but oh no that shit cost $80 a month!! Apparently their super internet plan costs $80 (16MB) and the regular plan costs $70 a month so I went with the regular. (6MB)

So now I'm wondering what the hell I'm gonna do now without stuff to watch (other than online porn). Does anyone belong to any of these online services that allow you to stream TV? I really loved the Xfinity app from Comcast on the Xbox, but that just went away with the cable.

[Chip]

I don't have cable.
When I did, I had the full package from U-Verse, with internet it was about $180.
And that was with every movie channel.
Now I only have internet, 6mpbs for $25, it'll go up to $43 I think after a year.

I have a Boxee Box.
With it I can stream all the DVDs I have stored on my computer (about 300 of them).
It has apps, like Netflix, HBO Go, Vudu (which is like PPV ondemand), NHL Gamecenter, and a ton of other stuff.
For online streaming, I won't go under 6mbps.
Shows like Game of Thrones and Dexter I can download minutes after they first air, and play it wirelessly through it.

I almost went with a Roku, it has the same apps, plus Hulu. But doesn't stream my DVDs, it's pretty limited in the file types it supports.

[LeNeve]

I don't really like watching movies. There are really not many shows that are on a can't miss list either. I have to have basic cable. My thing is just sitting flipping around all the channels. watch a little of this watch a little of that, I'm pretty happy like that. Not sure if that is ADD or what, but I can't hardly sit through a show without changing the channel.

basic cable is only 50 bucks or so a month. I do cancel it during the summer months, because I don't want people hanging out there all day watching tv, while I suffer at work. I also don't watch it much during the summer either.

[Joe]

Chip, I have a WD Live Hub with 1TB of storage and a bunch of online services like Hulu, Netflix, Vudu, Pandora, Cinema Now and a ton more. Which service are you using to get Game of Thrones? I know I can get that stuff through torrents if I go through a proxy, but that's a pain in the ass sometimes.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=570

[Joe]

So even though they took away On Demand the XBOX app for Xfinity still lets me watch shows on channels that I no longer have. :grin:

[NussieT]

When Jim and I moved out on our own we didn't have internet or cable tv. It wasn't until 2008 that we got a satellite dish... to make a long story short though... A friend dumped his girlfriend, girlfriend move to different province and I get free satellite. If she ever cancels or doesn't pay her bill though we will most likely won't ever get cable tv again.

[Beckster]

We had HBO and Cinemax for a spell, but never really watched them, so we dropped them. We wound up going down to the cheapest package we could get, which is plenty good for us. With internet , it costs about $70/mo.

I watched shows on hulu.com quite a few times and I have a ton of movies on hand, so that's perfectly fine for me.

[Joe]

We had HBO and Cinemax for a spell, but never really watched them, so we dropped them. We wound up going down to the cheapest package we could get, which is plenty good for us. With internet , it costs about $70/mo.

I watched shows on hulu.com quite a few times and I have a ton of movies on hand, so that's perfectly fine for me.

Son of a bitch! My internet alone is $70 and that's for the crappy package.

[Beckster]

My laptop had a HDMI hookup, so I can plug it into my tv and watch youtube vids, hulu, or whatever...

[Donginator]

Get an HD antenna, and you will be able to get a bunch of HD channels from Philly for free

[Donginator]

Why is it $230

Verizon Fios here can get 50/30 internet, 500 channels, & phone for $150

[Chip]

Chip, I have a WD Live Hub with 1TB of storage and a bunch of online services like Hulu, Netflix, Vudu, Pandora, Cinema Now and a ton more. Which service are you using to get Game of Thrones? I know I can get that stuff through torrents if I go through a proxy, but that's a pain in the ass sometimes.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=570

I have a friend who got me all set up with this, I'm not even sure how it all works.
It's Usenet Newsgroups. I have an account at Giganews which I can download 50gb a month for $13. And, I have a couple sites I go to, to get NZB files, which is pretty much just a link to what I want to download. Then I have a program called Newsleecher that opens the NZB file and downloads the movie or what ever.
It's worked pretty good, I've gotten a ton of music and movies. Hacked versions of Windows 7, that still work. Even AutoCAD which is about a $3,000 program.

[Joe]

Chip, I have a WD Live Hub with 1TB of storage and a bunch of online services like Hulu, Netflix, Vudu, Pandora, Cinema Now and a ton more. Which service are you using to get Game of Thrones? I know I can get that stuff through torrents if I go through a proxy, but that's a pain in the ass sometimes.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=570

I have a friend who got me all set up with this, I'm not even sure how it all works.
It's Usenet Newsgroups. I have an account at Giganews which I can download 50gb a month for $13. And, I have a couple sites I go to, to get NZB files, which is pretty much just a link to what I want to download. Then I have a program called Newsleecher that opens the NZB file and downloads the movie or what ever.
It's worked pretty good, I've gotten a ton of music and movies. Hacked versions of Windows 7, that still work. Even AutoCAD which is about a $3,000 program.

I used to work with a bunch of guys that said news groups were the way to go. I just never knew who to sign up with that was trustworthy.

[Chip]

I used to work with a bunch of guys that said news groups were the way to go. I just never knew who to sign up with that was trustworthy.

I've never had a problem.
Like I said, I use <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.giganews.com">www.giganews.com</a><!-- w -->
Then I get my NZB files from <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newzbin2.es">www.newzbin2.es</a><!-- w --> and <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.nzbmatrix.com">www.nzbmatrix.com</a><!-- w -->
newzbin2 is works out to $20 a year, something like that, they always have a really huge sale around Christmas. and nzbmatrix was something cheap like $15 for 10 years.
Between those 2 sites, there isn't much I can't find.

[Pete Nice]

Why is it $230

Verizon Fios here can get 50/30 internet, 500 channels, & phone for $150

Same here, but we get HBO also and only pay $130