Getting rid of Cable TV, OPTIONS?

andrewsmc1

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 3, 2009
Messages
153
Hey men and women of [H].com I am in quite the dilemma here and I was hoping some of you have been through this and can help me and the wife out. So all of our promotions from Direct Tv have expired and we went from paying 38.00 to 90.00. I am also at the end of my contract and can cancel the service without any penalties. I have called the other bigbox in my location, Time Warner Cable and they want the same amount of $. I am kinda at a cross roads here and not because 90.00 is killing me, but because TV is not worth 90.00. It not killing my bank account either, I just don't want to pay 90.00 for TV. So is there a way to get all of my shows that I watch from any other source? I have heard about HTPC software but I have never used it. I wouldn't be against building a HTPC either if I could get all of my shows. I am still looking into a HULU/Netflix/Amazon combination. What is your guys experience with this? There has to be another way?!

Thanks!
 
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If you don't want to go down the complicated HTPC path you should buy a roku.

Roku gives you Netflix and Amazon Prime Streaming and Hulu Plus in a simple little device.
These services have replaced my cable.
 
I'm not sure if you want to cut the cord completely. But I use 2 HDHomerun Primes, I pay just under $90 because of the package I got. It also saves me around $35 a month in receiver fees. I pay $4 month to rent the cablecards.

I use an HTPC as my DVR and bluray player. On top of that I have xbox 360s in the bedrooms as extenders and I get the whole home DVR setup without paying extra monthly.

I'm not sure what shows you watch but I would most of them can been online a day or a week after it airs. Also you can still use an OTA TV tuner on an HTPC and record things off the local channels free.

If you use Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon something like Roku should be just fine for that.
 
I don't think anyone here can know if you will get all the shows you watch in any other way unless you tell us what shows you watch or at least the ones you must have.

Because something's are simply exclusive to cable or satellite TV.
 
I second the Roku. I picked up a Roku 3 when I wanted to move my gaming PC back into the office. LOVE it. It's very snappy, lots of content and extremely easy to setup. I tried using a Sony BD player for streaming, but it was very laggy in the UI. In my opinion, the Roku 3 and a good antenna for OTA is a great combo for attempting to cut the cord.

Edit: we stream Amazon Instant Video and Pandora. Tried Netflix, but was disappointed in the selection of kids shows.
 
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