Are any of you cord cutters?

[Steve85569]

Well, I hooked up my antenna today and much to my surprise, I get 15 channels. I figured I was out of luck for stations with old TV programs, but again to my surprise, I have several channels where I found, I Dream of Jeannie, Charlie's Angels, some old Western show, The Outer Limits, Murder She Wrote...so it doesn't look like I'll have to go without the oldies. I did discover after much moving of the antenna, rescanning for channels and general fussing around, that the antenna works better with my TV, if I remove the amplifier that came with it. I think I'm going to be very happy with this set up. In case any of you are interested, this is the antenna I'm using.
http://www.1byone.com/TV-Accessories/Paper-Thin-TV-Antenna/OUS00-0568
I got it on Amazon for $29.99.

Strangely enough the amplifiers that are out there are still for analog signal not digital. Digital signal is very directional too so if you're off the beam there's just nothing there.

 

[jules92207]

You need internet for streaming Netflix only. I miss when they had it that you originally paid for renting their DVDs and streaming together. The DVD service was solid.

I have Netflix only for DVD service, I don't do the streaming cause our internet/cell service sucks in our house cause the walls are built with chicken wire.

 

[Arimara]

I have Netflix only for DVD service, I don't do the streaming cause our internet/cell service sucks in our house cause the walls are built with chicken wire.

I'd love to have that instead of streaming my my kid likes to stream her shows... even the ones in spanish, which I can't teach her (on top of relying on subtitles to help me out).

 

[MsHarryWinston]

We are a Netflix home. No cable just Netflix.

 

[amd]

I have NetFlix and Hulu. I rely on FaceBook for local news. Haha! Not really but kind of. I follow the local news channel on FB and get world news on my Stitcher app. I haven't had cable since 2007. It was just crazy to pay $40 per month for the kids shows in the morning and maybe one or two shows a week in the evening for me. When I lived in town I used rabbit ears to get local channels. Didn't work as well when I moved out to the country.

 

[dtalche]

I cut the cord years ago and got my mom to do so as well. A first just had Netflix and Amazon Prime, with some purchases for things I didn't want to wait a season for or new I'd want to re-watch enough not to want to deal with potential loss when the services contracts changed. Mom is on my stuff so I have added Acorn TV (lots of BBC stuff) and just recently Sling TV since she wanted HGTV and Sling lets you get that and several other cable stations like A&E or ESPN without the cable pass their websites require. Sling was $20 and it has a set of per-configured channels that you can then add on extra packages so it works kind of like a mini streaming cable package. Unlike Netflix it is live streaming so there are commercials.

 

[Soapsavvy]

Have any of you out there cut the cord? I've been frustrated with cable for a long time. It's always really bothered me that I pay every month for dozens of channels that I never watch. Grrrrrrr! So I've started taking steps toward cutting the cord. I have Amazon Prime, so that gives me lots of movies and TV shows, too. I got Amazon Fire TV, so that I can watch all of what I get from Prime, on my TV. I'm getting an over the air antennae so that I can get local stations. I was disappointed that there were a few channels that I'd miss, like the Discovery channel, NatGeo, and the History channel, but I discovered that the few "must have" shows from those channels are available to buy on Amazon Prime, and I can get them even cheaper by buying the whole season. This is looking better and better! I was thinking of getting Netflix or Hulu, but I'm not sure I'll even need them. I was wondering if any of you out there might have any tips for me that I've overlooked.

Well partially. What I did do was down grade my cable from the almost $300.00 a month, to just basic cable. I then purchased a Roku and Apple tv. They both have more channels than the cable companies and they're free. Used to be a time when if you wanted some of the premium cable channels you had to have a subscription with your cable company. Not anymore. Now you can have HBO, Showtime etc. I take advantage of the free trials they offer through Roku.

 

[Susie]

Thank you all! You are giving me much needed info to talk to the hubby about cutting the cord! Keep them coming!

 

[navigator9]

My TV won't let me watch PBS shows. I think I need Hulu for that and I'm not crazy about them.

The only shows I've tried go get on Hulu have all been a bust. Maybe it's my rural area in Virginia, but I've paid for shows I couldn't watch -- endless buffering, can't get through more than about a minute without them quitting on me

paillo, you should be able to watch PBS online at www.pbs.org

 

[Soapsavvy]

Oh, I forgot to tell you that I also have 2 HD antenna's and I do subscribe to Netflix. No way I'm going to miss House Of Cards!!!!

 

[snappyllama]

Oh, I forgot to tell you that I also have 2 HD antenna's and I do subscribe to Netflix. No way I'm going to miss House Of Cards!!!!

Kevin Spacey is soo good in that. I love/hate him in every episode... cannot wait for the next season.

 

[CaraBou]

We haven't had cable in 9 years. Just various combos over time of OTA, Netflix and Amazon Prime. Our TV crapped out in December and we haven't even bothered to replaced it yet. There are so many other things to do with time -- and money!

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Getting ready to do this myself.

We've had an antenna for years and get good signal from local broadcast, but the OTA DVRs were seriously lacking until recently. (I don't watch anything when it's actually on because I want to skip commercials.) Recently, however, several decent options have appeared in this area. I'm probably going to go with the Tablo DVR and Amazon Firesticks at the TV's - though I'm still researching the TV-side devices, largely because I want one that works with my Harmony universal remote and will interface with my sound system.

We already have Netflix and Prime, so those are sunk costs, and OTA obviates a Hulu subscription. We'll probably add Sling for $20, so at the end of the process I'll save about $75/month.

 

[IrishLass]

Never had cable, so no cord to cut here. We don't use any of the other paid subscription services either. We've always just watched whatever broadcasts over the local airwaves for free, which in our area is actually plenty. We're able to pick up more than enough channels to waste our time with. :razz: We DVR all our TV favorites to watch at our leisure..... and to be able fast forward through all the commercials, of course. lol

We've found a good handful of channels to watch on YouTube as well.


IrishLass

 

[navigator9]

Getting ready to do this myself.

We've had an antenna for years and get good signal from local broadcast, but the OTA DVRs were seriously lacking until recently. (I don't watch anything when it's actually on because I want to skip commercials.) Recently, however, several decent options have appeared in this area. I'm probably going to go with the Tablo DVR and Amazon Firesticks at the TV's - though I'm still researching the TV-side devices, largely because I want one that works with my Harmony universal remote and will interface with my sound system.

We already have Netflix and Prime, so those are sunk costs, and OTA obviates a Hulu subscription. We'll probably add Sling for $20, so at the end of the process I'll save about $75/month.

Yes, I was also thinking about how I would miss the ability to record shows when I wasn't home, or just to keep, so I looked into a DVR. This is the one that I was leaning towards, in case you want to take a look. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J05QJPG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Now, I'm off to check out the Tablo.

 

[Deedles]

Last week I finally signed up for the Netflix trial. So far we're loving it. I'm still learning how to navigate it and have stumbled across some great shows. The only thing I miss about commercials is potty breaks and quick household chores!

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Yes, I was also thinking about how I would miss the ability to record shows when I wasn't home, or just to keep, so I looked into a DVR. This is the one that I was leaning towards, in case you want to take a look. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J05QJPG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Now, I'm off to check out the Tablo.

That Channel Master would be my choice if I only had one TV. But we need to feed programming to three or four sets around the house. That Tablo sends video across Ethernet/Wifi to a Roku/AppleTV/Chromecast/etc device.

 

[navigator9]

That Channel Master would be my choice if I only had one TV. But we need to feed programming to three or four sets around the house. That Tablo sends video across Ethernet/Wifi to a Roku/AppleTV/Chromecast/etc device.

Good to know, thanks George!