Canceling Cable options

[shownomercy]

Getting tired of paying ~150 a month for services I don't use, I watch a couple shows but honestly could stream them a day or so after they premier each week with no issue. Mainly use internet only.

Anyone have experiance with roku/netflix or other internet tv options?

[Pit Crew]

I have 2 Roku 3s, Amazon prime, Hulu, And Netflix. Can watch everything I want except for Baseball.

[SS RRR]

Researching this as well.
Here's a digital receiver recorder if you want to go the HD antenna route:
http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HW-150PVR-HomeWorx-Converter-Recording/dp/B00I2ZBD1U/

"All in one" type package:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/tivo-roamio-ota-digital-video-recorder-black/8758098.p?id=1219364357147&skuId=8758098

Chatter about Fire Stick and Roku seem to be on the positive side too.

[shownomercy]

Pricing that comes with that stuff?

[harner]

I cut cable a few years ago and strictly watch Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Google Play Store, and Youtube.

For streaming, I have Chromecast on my main TV and AppleTV on the bedroom TV. Netflix is what I use the most. Hulu has all the light night shows and BS stuff that my girlfriend watches. Amazon streams The Walked Dead episodes a day after it airs, so that is a plus - I think it's $2-3 an episode. I really don't watch the movies and stuff on Amazon Prime as it's pretty much the same as Netflix.

I pay like $16/month for Netflix and Hulu. I bought Prime for the year but only for discounted shipping - the other features are just perks.

Antennas have come a long way for local stations. I might be picking one up just for ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox stations.

I really miss the car shows on Discovery, but with all the reality stuff tainting everything, I'm not missing anything. I don't watch sports so who cares. What I really miss are commercials. When I watch TV at my parents or a friends, I find myself watching them more than the shows/games.

[shownomercy]

I mainly watch the walking dead and street outlaws, can I watch these with the streaming services?

[harner]

Also, I don't use remotes anymore. If I can't turn the TV power on/off, change inputs and volume, or stream shows from my phone or tablet, I don't use the service. That is primarily why I don't watch shows on Prime, because every time I try to find a droid app for their service it directs me to their primary Amazon app. Screw that.

I'm still waiting for a good Internet streaming media receiver/alternative (with compression) that has local stations available and has the look and feel of cable/dish.

[harner]

I mainly watch the walking dead and street outlaws, can I watch these with the streaming services?

Yes for TWD. I don't watch Street Outlaws, but I'm sure you can as well. If you can wait, Netflix and the others usually have entire seasons available.

[blackbirdws6]

As discussed, check out sling box.

[shownomercy]

Called cable company and basically fuck them. Its absurd how they can be a monopoly.

Roku or firestick, go go go!

[seymour buttz]

Time Warner recently took over in my area, shortly followed by a bill increase and shitty internet. Ive been on the verge of dumping them a few times, but i gotta have the sports.

[superspirit]

I dont do sports, I ditched cable 5 years ago, I have 2 smart tv's, and a Roku in my grandaughters room, my complaint with Roku is you cant activate it without a credit card. after you buy the unit you have to give them a credit card # to activate it so your kids can click and buy all they want. thank god my grandaughter obeys the rules. I have an HD antenna that gets 11 channels on it and I stream netflix alot. the only cable I pay is internet, it's the best here. we do have amazon prime, as others have said thats more for the shipping as netflix is a better deal with more options. I also have a big DVD and Blu ray collection.

[shownomercy]

Looking at either a chromecast, roku, or a firestick.

So far my archaic MechE mind is grasping that they all offer you acecss to streaming services which then you pick based on shows you want to watch?

So what app would allow AMC and Discovery?

[harner]

Not really sure, but if there is an AMC or Discovery app for your phone and has streamable content, chances are you can stream it to Chromecast.

If you're an iPhone guy, the AppleTV has some really cool features. If you're a Droid guy, buy a $30 Chromecast and close this thread. lol

Roku and Slingbox are nice, though. I'll stick with my Chromecast, personally.

[shownomercy]

Bought a chromecast cause well, it was $35 bucks and down the road, sooo working on upgrading my laptop from Vista lulz...

[harner]

LMK if you have any Q's or issues. Google is also your friend. I've been using one since they first came out.

[shownomercy]

Managed to cast my phone screen to TV and watched Star Wars off a link I emailed myself to open on phone, baby steps here.

[SexyTransAm]

all iv got is internet, netflix, and hulu. my brother in law gave me the password to his hulu and i gave him mine for netflix. i also have a chrome cast for the tv in my living room and my bed room. so i can stream anything from my phone to the tv.

[popo8]

meissen

[shownomercy]

So looks like I can cast from a hardwired PC as long as its on the same network as the Wifi, anyone have any luck with this?
blackbirdws6

[Mystery Bird]

Been using Roku for three years now. I to grew sick of paying for channels I don't use. If you want to get fancy and spend some money you can project your laptop/PC with wireless signal to a smart tv. Actually I've done it before with Windows 8.1 which has built in WIDI.

[blackbirdws6]

So looks like I can cast from a hardwired PC as long as its on the same network as the Wifi, anyone have any luck with this?
blackbirdws6
You need to be on Wi-Fi to cast of course. The need for a hard wire doesn't make sense.

[shownomercy]

You need to be on Wi-Fi to cast of course. The need for a hard wire doesn't make sense.

A PC without Wifi makes a good candidate to cast ;)

Which you can do AFAIK, will be trying that out tonight.

[blackbirdws6]

Well yes you can cast without Wi-Fi but it's silly I meant to say.

[meissen]

Sadly, I haven't cut cable yet. BUT - I can definitely put a dime into this convo. :lol:

I have a dedicated media PC hooked up to my TV through HDMI. My media PC holds about 6 terabytes worth of TV shows and movies. Legalities -- judge ruled that the ones who UPLOAD/RECORD the content are the ones who are breaking the law, you can't be held responsible for downloading content that was made available to you. As long as you're not sharing your content with a ton of people or re-uploading the content, you're safe. I literally have never heard of someone getting in trouble while using my method. It's far safer than torrents because with torrents you're allowing people to upload pieces as soon as you download it (re-sharing it).

There are 5 main pieces to the puzzle:

Usenet: For the media PC to work, you must have a subscription to a Usenet service. That's where all the files are stored that you download. This is your only monthly fee. I use Supernews.com which gives me unlimited download limits for $10 per month.

SickBeard: It's a web-based application that oyu install on the media PC and then "program" which TV shows you want to watch. I have exactly 100 shows which I'm currently following - tonight's line up is Black-ish, Empire and Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Tomorrow's line up is How It's Made and NBC's new show The Player. Friday I have Showcase's (Canada) Continuum, ABC's Last Man Standing, Shark Tank, Animal Planet's Tanked, E!'s the Soup. Saturday - BBC's Doctor Who and Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures.... Just to give you an idea of the wide variety and range of shows that I follow. Some for the wife, most for me.


CouchPotato: It's the movie equivalent of Sickbeard. You tell it what movies you want to watch and it finds it.


SABnzbd: When SickBeard finds a TV show available to download, it hands the NZB file over to SABnzbd. SABnzbd connects to the usenet groups and downloads all the broken up pieces of the TV show, puts the pieces together and then places the finished file into your media library.

Kodi: Last, but not least, Kodi is the front end for the media PC. It's what you watch your TV and movies through. You could also alternatively use Plex Media Server which would allow you to stream your content where ever you want.

So to tie it all together ...

You go to SickBeard and add Fast'n'Loud. Sickbeard goes out to TheTVDB.com (the TV equivalent of IMDB.com) and downloads all the episode information. Sickbeard then knows that Fast'n'Loud airs on Mondays at 9pm. Monday after 9pm, Sickbeard will automatically go out to indexing websites and try to find a match for new Fast'n'Loud episodes. When it finds a match, it passes the NZB file over to SABnzbd.

SABnzbd then connects to the usenet server and downloads all the little pieces of the TV show and puts it all together. Once completed, it passes the file into your media library and tells Kodi that there's a new episode available to watch. Kodi then updates its library info so you can easily access it to watch.

Meanwhile, you sit back and within an hour or so of the episode airing you'll get a message that Fast'n'Loud's latest episode downloaded and is ready to watch. :thumbsup:

[BLK95-Z]

I still have cable, internet and a land line on a package deal for $99. Then I added a $15 sports upgrade to watch Supercross. I also have Netflix for movies and travel.

Its around $150 a month. When I move the cord is getting cut

[shownomercy]

Sadly, I haven't cut cable yet. BUT - I can definitely put a dime into this convo. :lol:

I have a dedicated media PC hooked up to my TV through HDMI. My media PC holds about 6 terabytes worth of TV shows and movies. Legalities -- judge ruled that the ones who UPLOAD/RECORD the content are the ones who are breaking the law, you can't be held responsible for downloading content that was made available to you. As long as you're not sharing your content with a ton of people or re-uploading the content, you're safe. I literally have never heard of someone getting in trouble while using my method. It's far safer than torrents because with torrents you're allowing people to upload pieces as soon as you download it (re-sharing it).

There are 5 main pieces to the puzzle:

Usenet: For the media PC to work, you must have a subscription to a Usenet service. That's where all the files are stored that you download. This is your only monthly fee. I use Supernews.com which gives me unlimited download limits for $10 per month.

SickBeard: It's a web-based application that oyu install on the media PC and then "program" which TV shows you want to watch. I have exactly 100 shows which I'm currently following - tonight's line up is Black-ish, Empire and Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Tomorrow's line up is How It's Made and NBC's new show The Player. Friday I have Showcase's (Canada) Continuum, ABC's Last Man Standing, Shark Tank, Animal Planet's Tanked, E!'s the Soup. Saturday - BBC's Doctor Who and Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures.... Just to give you an idea of the wide variety and range of shows that I follow. Some for the wife, most for me.


CouchPotato: It's the movie equivalent of Sickbeard. You tell it what movies you want to watch and it finds it.


SABnzbd: When SickBeard finds a TV show available to download, it hands the NZB file over to SABnzbd. SABnzbd connects to the usenet groups and downloads all the broken up pieces of the TV show, puts the pieces together and then places the finished file into your media library.

Kodi: Last, but not least, Kodi is the front end for the media PC. It's what you watch your TV and movies through. You could also alternatively use Plex Media Server which would allow you to stream your content where ever you want.

So to tie it all together ...

You go to SickBeard and add Fast'n'Loud. Sickbeard goes out to TheTVDB.com (the TV equivalent of IMDB.com) and downloads all the episode information. Sickbeard then knows that Fast'n'Loud airs on Mondays at 9pm. Monday after 9pm, Sickbeard will automatically go out to indexing websites and try to find a match for new Fast'n'Loud episodes. When it finds a match, it passes the NZB file over to SABnzbd.

SABnzbd then connects to the usenet server and downloads all the little pieces of the TV show and puts it all together. Once completed, it passes the file into your media library and tells Kodi that there's a new episode available to watch. Kodi then updates its library info so you can easily access it to watch.

Meanwhile, you sit back and within an hour or so of the episode airing you'll get a message that Fast'n'Loud's latest episode downloaded and is ready to watch. :thumbsup:

Very interesting, I will work on trying to get some better understanding of all that over the next couple days.

First and foremost issue is my damn router blows. Trying to stream a movie from laptop to TV and its laggy as hell.

So, thoughts on quality, economical wireless routers?

BTW, cut all TV and phone today, felt amazing.

[popo8]

I pay 215 a month for comcast/XFINITY. Thats land line... internet... large cable package & monitored home security.

LTXtech.com IS my drug...

[shownomercy]

I pay 215 a month for comcast/XFINITY. Thats land line... internet... large cable package & monitored home security.

LTXtech.com IS my drug...

Yea thats absurd IMO. And is it a true land line, or VOIP?

[popo8]

Yea thats absurd IMO. And is it a true land line, or VOIP?

What is absurd? 215? for all the services I have through them?

And it is a true land line.

[shownomercy]

Close to three grand a year, craziness to me.

[popo8]

Lol... u cant take it with u my man.


But thats not just cable...

Monitored home security does not come cheap either.

And I do watch alot of TV.

LTXtech.com IS my drug...

[shownomercy]

Lol... u cant take it with u my man.


But thats not just cable...

Monitored home security does not come cheap either.

And I do watch alot of TV.

LTXtech.com IS my drug...

No I know, just trying to trim down monthly expenses and unlike you, I watch two TV shows. Close to a 50% savings on that bill? I'll take it.

Home security is meh for me, pretty secluded neighborhood and my neighbor and I hang dead dear to drain come fall. :lol:

[popo8]

Lol... ok.

LTXtech.com IS my drug...

[shownomercy]

Update: Got my external hard drives to source into my new Plex account and have it setup to stream via chrome-cast to TV in other room. Currently starting the rip process of my DVD collection. Hulu+ subscription has been had, and life is good so far :)

Finally getting up to date with technology :lol:

[blackbirdws6]

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/25/cea3583f6ddace22d1b485cc440cd537.jpg

[shownomercy]

Struggling with this ripping thing, got a combo of MakeMPV for ripping to mpv, then handbrake to convert it to mp4 but its not working that great.

Ideas on a good free ripper?

[harner]

DVD's? What are they? Haha, it's been so long since I ripped anything that I forget about those archaic tools. I lectured two of the guys on my team at work (IT) who still burn CDs (data and audio). They still live in 2005 - USB & (Aux or) Bluetooth all the way!

Wish I could help. I used to rip movies once in awhile at my old job, but can't find the name of the software I used. I know Handbrake was one of them, can't remember the other. Probably some off the shelf freeware. Sorry.

[shownomercy]

So far, its been working, albeit slow. Ripping the DVD to mkv is quick, so I have been storing the mkv file local then queuing handbrake to work through em.

So far, loving plex, its a wonderful thing this technology these days :lol: