People who "cut the cord"- Do you regret it?

[MikeyLSU]

Kind of funny the thing for me that made cable so good is the exact reason I'm going to cut the cord myself in August when my contract is up.

DVR, I fell in love with DVR when I first got it nearly 10 years ago, made the TV experience so much better. But it also taught me to not have to watch TV live(which I rarely do). That makes it easier to cut the cord because I can eventually watch all the same shows, just a little later.

Then as much as I am reliant on HD-DVRs, they account for a large percentage of my total cable bill. I know with Time warner they charged $22 per month each DVR x 2 + 1 HD cable box was $55 per month for just DVR. I'm now with Uverse who has better prices(but not that much).

All in all, the only thing I will miss is sports, but there are usually ways to watch what I want to watch, I have to do this anyway since a lot of my teams games don't come on in my area anyway.

 

[MrSquished]

During regular season with OTA, you're generally guaranteed 4 games every Sunday. No MNF anymore though, and I don't think OTA gets Thursday games either.

you won't get MNF or Thursday games OTA or with Aereo - unless it's your local team. those always air on local major network even if they are on ESPN or NFL Network also. they air simultaneously.

 

[desura]

I have my indoor antenna up in the attic. I don't have to worry about weatherproofing, grounding, or maintenance since it's not outside. I get every channel within 20 mile radius crystal clear. The same antenna next to the TV would get like 75% of the channels.

I didn't even have to rewire the house. I used the previous Dish Network coaxial line so all my TVs in the house get the same OTA channels from that one attic antenna.

As for sports, it's a trade off. By giving up HD, you get access to every sports game. I think it's a fair trade.

that's pretty ingenius. with a large attic space you could probably fit a very large antenna.

theoretically for OTA you should be able to hook up multiple antennas, no? so you can receive different streams more optimally. and then there's the question of dvr.

 

[SlickSnake]

I cut the cord about 8 years ago. I only miss it when I'm too drunk and lazy to load an app on my tablet, PC or Blu-ray player so I can hunt something down before I pass out. Otherwise, when I'm sober I can usually find what I want to watch elsewhere. And I save about $50-60 a month for other more fruitful endeavors.

 

[MasterOfUsers]

I'm speaking about ditching cable. I'm sick of getting no lube butt pounded by Comcast every month. I was paying $210 a month for a few HD channels, phone and internet. I complained and got it down to $168 a month. That's still too much considering I really only watch a few channels.

At this point I am willing to cancel my subscription with them (even if I have to pay some kind of fee) and get just high speed internet from another local provider if possible. If not, I might still be willing to use Comcast, but just for internet. I've already got Netflix and Amazon Prime, and would plan on buying Hulu +.

Two questions for any of you who have done this:
-Do you regret it? I'll admit, it is nice to just be able to turn on my TV and watch comedy central or whatever else I tend to watch.
-How do I get regular basic cable now? I haven't had to do this in quite some time and I don't know what hardware I'd need. Do I just plug right from my cable outlet into my TV? Do I need a special box or anything before hand? I have a regular plasma TV, and an Onkyo receiver.

Oh i was on board until you mentioned you have an Onkyo reciever, that is just not going to work, you need a Yamaha or Denon reciever.

And two smooth stones to clap together.

I dunno if it works the same as where i'm at but we use the cable modem for any amount of channel, same with basic and other options. It's the same modem and the same company.

 

[TwiceOver]

No. But if it hasn't already been brought up, it should be noted that even though people won't say it 90% are pirating to make up the difference.

 

[Ns1]

No. But if it hasn't already been brought up, it should be noted that even though people won't say it 90% are pirating to make up the difference.

yep.

netflix/amz instant/hulu+ is only going to get you so far.

 

[ponyo]

that's pretty ingenius. with a large attic space you could probably fit a very large antenna.

theoretically for OTA you should be able to hook up multiple antennas, no? so you can receive different streams more optimally. and then there's the question of dvr.

I was going to place the RCA ANT751 outdoor antenna up in the attic but it wasn't necessary. I wanted to pick up KTN and MBC channels for the wife and the indoor antenna up in the attic did the job. The major network channels like ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, etc are really easy to pick up.

You can use multiple antennas but I have no need. One antenna will pickup everything I need and then some. DVR isn't really necessary since I stream everything on-demand. Most of our TV watching is international TV programming through the internet. Chromebox, AppleTV2, and Chromecast all handle that perfectly.

 

[MasterOfUsers]

No. But if it hasn't already been brought up, it should be noted that even though people won't say it 90% are pirating to make up the difference.

Not really, pirating is mainly for getting new stuff. Cable stuff will never even be comparable, you can see a movie in good quality anywhere from -1 - 4 months after it's shown in theatre streamed in HQ from about ten different sites, cable has nothing to offer in that field.

The rest, sitcoms and crap is basically the same and you don't have to scroll through all that crap that is on full cable to find the basic channels which would be what you'd normally watch anyway.

I mean, what are you watching? HGTV? Tickles tackles? Deadly catch? If so then go kill yourself or get a life, a good movie is one thing, this crap is something else, it's the fucking kardashians for rednecks.

 

[MasterOfUsers]

I was going to place the RCA ANT751 outdoor antenna up in the attic but it wasn't necessary. I wanted to pick up KTN and MBC channels for the wife and the indoor antenna up in the attic did the job. The major network channels like ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, etc are really easy to pick up.

You can use multiple antennas but I have no need. One antenna will pickup everything I need and then some. DVR isn't really necessary since I stream everything on-demand. Most of our TV watching is international TV programming through the internet. Chromebox, AppleTV2, and Chromecast all handle that perfectly.

Yeah, and a chromebox, a simple stick will stream anything to HDMI connection, anything you can send to it via wireless from any unit will be streamed.

 

[desura]

yep.

netflix/amz instant/hulu+ is only going to get you so far.

Eh, blu rays are pretty cheap and are far less a hassle than pirating IMHO. Given the sheer size involved.

 

[notposting]

We have been one of those almost but not quite cord cutters since 2008 (will explain).

We did have Limited Basic with Comcast, that was the package that is JUST the local broadcast networks (well, maybe a shopping network, WGN, that sort of thing extra). Piped through our HDHomerun/7MC setup. However over the last two years we ended up dropping that, Comcast has also basically been working on rolling encryption top to bottom, requiring a box/DTA/CableCard for EVERY tuner, and we moved a LOT in the last year.

Ended up trialling Aereo via Roku and seem to be sticking with that for now. Use Netflix, Amazon (mostly Prime), Aereo, couple other Roku channels, and happy enough.

I miss being able to see the Tigers on TV but outside of that I couldn't care less about sports anymore.

I do miss our awesome WHS v1 + HDHR + customized 7MC w/integrated MyMovies, Amazon, Netflix setup, but we hardly spend any time in front of the TV now, so I consider it a win in that regard.

 

[ImpulsE69]

If you aren't addicted to watching guys chase each other around fields, and you realize you are only actually watching 3-4 of 150 channels with any regularity, it becomes very easy to realize you don't need cable. There is TONS of stuff to watch on thet net (at least for now) and many many other things to do in the world that didn't exist 20 years ago.

 

[Ns1]

Eh, blu rays are pretty cheap and are far less a hassle than pirating IMHO. Given the sheer size involved.

Which doesn't do shit when you want to watch last night's top chef.

 

[desura]

On my tablet there's a little app called MLB.tv. I think a season pass is like $150 or so (reduces in price later on in the season). Lets you watch all MLB games streamed over the internet.

The only thing is that cutting the cord often means more money spent in gear and more wrestling with stuff. So count that time and you might not come out ahead...

but then configuring this and that is all part of the fun

 

[desura]

Which doesn't do shit when you want to watch last night's top chef.

True. Ideally I'd be able to get a basic cable package for $30 with top chef and comedy central, etc.

I grew up with like 35 channels, tops, and that was more than enough. Anything more is just overwhelming.

 

[who?]

If you want a DVR with OTA TV buy a Tivo.

 

[stormkroe]

If you only want xbmc, why not go with and ouya vs chromebox? I've been using that combo for 6 months and haven't noticed any limitations. Actually, xbmc is more responsive loading lists and searches on the ouya than my desktop.

 

[squarecut1]

Aero case has gone all the way to supreme court which is expected to rule against it. It will go away

 

[coloumb]

I would like to cut the cord with regards to TV portion of cable internet. Sure - it's pricey but Comcast has been pretty reliable for me [I'd say 99.9% up time in the past 14 years]. The remote/UI is easy to use for the wife/kids...and we MUST have our NHL channel [including the yearly NHL package]

Google Fiber will be hitting the streets in my area in a few years [maybe less] and I may opt for that when it arrives and just tell the wife/kids we need to learn to adapt using a Roku box / stream the NHL package from NHL.com.

 

[poofyhairguy]

and then there's the question of dvr.

Get a tuner (I like the HDHomeruns) and use a PVR backend with XBMC on the frontend:

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=PVR_recording_software

If you only want xbmc, why not go with and ouya vs chromebox? I've been using that combo for 6 months and haven't noticed any limitations. Actually, xbmc is more responsive loading lists and searches on the ouya than my desktop.

An x86 XBMC box is more compatible with the many video plugins, and has the ability to use a larger assortment of resource intensive skins. Plus if a user wanted to the Chromebox (especially with 4GB of ram) could run your MySQL server, your sickbeard installation and your sabnzbd installation, maybe a PVR backend, the hardest flash sites or whatever else you wanted all while running XBMC as well.

More power is sometimes nice, not always needed.

 

[NutBucket]

No regrets here and I love sports. Htpc is wife approved too.

 

[DigDog]

haven't watched TV since 1998.

 

[z1ggy]

Get a tuner (I like the HDHomeruns) and use a PVR backend with XBMC on the frontend:

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=PVR_recording_software



An x86 XBMC box is more compatible with the many video plugins, and has the ability to use a larger assortment of resource intensive skins. Plus if a user wanted to the Chromebox (especially with 4GB of ram) could run your MySQL server, your sickbeard installation and your sabnzbd installation, maybe a PVR backend, the hardest flash sites or whatever else you wanted all while running XBMC as well.

More power is sometimes nice, not always needed.

Will a celeron powered CB be able to run 1080p? Not sure if it'll be worth spluring for the ASUS version with the i3 in it or not.. But that version comes with more RAM, the i3 (obviously) and a wireless mouse and keyboard for $400 on amazon. Celeron is ony $180 with only 2GB RAM and no wireless keyboard and mouse...

 

[ProchargeMe]

I haven't had cable in maybe 2 years, and the only thing I miss is the sports broadcasting.