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+--- Thread: For those who have dropped cable/satellite for streaming... (/showthread.php?tid=119548)
For those who have dropped cable/satellite for streaming... - John B. - 07-02-2011
My DirecTV boxes stopped receiving signal overnight. My troubleshooting so far points to a failure on the dish/LNB (I seem to get 2-3 years from equipment exposed to the elements before the combination of heat/rain gets them, and we've had a good amount of rain over the last couple days).
I've temporarily hooked up an antenna in the attic and an OTA digital converter box to supply basic signal to my TVs. I'm kind of taking this as a "sign" that it's time to try something different, so I'm reaching out to those who have gotten their programming from different sources...what would be a reasonable selection of services to offset most of what you get with cable/satellite?
I'm thinking OTA for the local stations plus maybe a combo of Hulu+ and Netflix? Since it'll likely cost $100 for a service trip to get the LNB changed out, I wouldn't feel awful about picking up an AppleTV, putting the DirecTV account on hold for a month, and trying a couple of streaming services to see if they fit the bill.
Thoughts?
Re: For those who have dropped cable/satellite for streaming... - Maddog - 07-02-2011
Been using OTA, plus TiVO and netflix and really haven't missed the rest of it. I say, free yourself of the burden of too much TV.
Re: For those who have dropped cable/satellite for streaming... - olnacl - 07-02-2011
The only drawback I see would be missing some of the cable channels that aren't available OTA - I watch a fair amount of MSNBC and ESPN, for example. While much of that content is available on the web, I prefer to plop down on the couch to watch it.
I guess my opinion doesn't count because I have not dropped cable for streaming, so, never mind.
Re: For those who have dropped cable/satellite for streaming... - Gareth - 07-02-2011
Just be aware that Hulu+ is pretty much useless for streaming current episodes to a TV. I signed up for a free trial, discovered everything I would want to watch (at least of cable shows) wasn't available to a TV device (my TiVo), and never used it. If you had a computer hooked up to your TV, then you could watch everything via regular Hulu (or Hulu+, which has more back episodes, I believe).
Re: For those who have dropped cable/satellite for streaming... - Wags - 07-02-2011
I'm close to doing the OTA/TiVO route, too. I've got the minimum package from DTV and about half of that is either home shopping or religious. I'm finding that the series I really want to see are available from the library, except a season behind - movies, too. The backlog I'm currently running on my DVR sort of points me in that direction.
Re: For those who have dropped cable/satellite for streaming... - Article Accelerator - 07-02-2011
OTA + Apple TV. It has been great here.
Re: For those who have dropped cable/satellite for streaming... - jimmy d - 07-02-2011
But can you still get your fix of True Blood?
Re: For those who have dropped cable/satellite for streaming... - Forrest - 07-02-2011
I was a longtime DirecTV user and switch over to TivoHD + antenna about 3 years ago - works great. You can get most of the cable only shows thru Hulu (free) and Netflix - though the shows thru these services is at standard definition, not HD. The only show I pay for is Doctor Who, displayed with AppleTV.
In the short run, I would discuss your dissatisfaction with a DirecTV customer representative. I bet you can get your dish fixed for a lot less than $100 and they'll probably throw in a few months of premium content for your trouble.
Re: For those who have dropped cable/satellite for streaming... - deckeda - 07-02-2011
Article Accelerator wrote:
OTA + Apple TV. It has been great here.
Ditto, but mostly because of Netflix which is still relatively new to us.
John B., of course you can have the first 30 days free for Netflix, and use it on a computer if you're not sure you want an AppleTV yet (if that's how it would mostly get used.)
The big caveat to all of this is same as it ever was. Live sports and episodic shows are best with subscription services like cable and sat. That's where those two migrated long ago.
Re: For those who have dropped cable/satellite for streaming... - Chakravartin - 07-02-2011
Maddog wrote:
Been using OTA, plus TiVO and netflix and really haven't missed the rest of it. I say, free yourself of the burden of too much TV.
Ditto. Except for the Tivo.
I record OTA broadcasts on my ancient LiteOn PVR (with OTA analog converter) so I can watch a show while recording a second show.
With a Mini hooked up to my tv, I end up watching more tv now than before I cut the cord. Before, I mostly had the tv on for background noise. Now I watch what I want when I want to watch it.
I sometimes miss cable news channels, CNBC and MSNBC particularly, because my parent always seem to have them on and want me to catch some shows with them. Both stream behind paywalls and it's not worth a subscription for what they offer. (Plus, they still have commercials.)
Bloomberg streams are available for free. Between that for the financial news, local affiliates for local news and BBC World News for legitimate journalism, I get all the news I really need.
There are tv shows that "everyone is watching" on cable that aren't streamed or available for download from mainstream services like the iTunes Store. If you want to catch those shows, you may have to resort to gray-legal means.