Sling, Hulu etc.

[ronald hannah]

We are contemplating cutting the cable umbilical cord and going with online streaming (wife just bought a smart tv). Any advice, comments, reviews etc. from you technically astute folks?

[Andy Ross]

I haven't had a TV for at least 10 years. Not sure how people have time to watch much of anything. We do get the shows with Amazon prime so I occasionally watch a movie or show on the computer.

[Humphrga]

Do it. A lot of package deals come with TV but you can get the deal and then request to remove the service for a little money back. But we don't use TV at all.We have hulu, amazon prime, and netflix.

[colin]

I bought my parents, who are 70, the Amazon Fire Stick. It just plugs into the USB port on the side of their tv. They have struggled in the past with...everything. lol. This stick is super easy. Gives you access to amazon, netflix, et cetera.
If yours is a smart tv then it already has all that built right into the tv though. So then you just need to set up your amazon and netflix accounts and log in...Is that what you are asking about?

[wkluender]

I haven't had cable for probably 8 or so years. Netflix and Hulu are great. I also have HBO Now for game thrones and a few other series though. Between the 3 services we have, there's not much that's lacking. Netflix has older shows aswell as thier own series. Hulu generally has more current episodes of shows still on TV. My favorite part of all of them: nearly commercial free. Hulu does have certain shows that still have an ad or 2 in them however.

[Omni Cubed Larry]

It depends on what things you like to watch.

With Dish and Directv, you can "pause" your service for 6 months. That way you could keep your current plan and pricing and not have to go through the whole sign up process again. Then try these other options like Netflix, Hulu, etc. to see if it fits you.

I like Amazon Firestick because we have Amazon Prime (many shows are free, but not all). We have that as a supplement to Directv. This is mainly because we do NOT have unlimited streaming, so we can only watch it occasionally. We take it on vacation with us which is nice.

[olesmokin]

I recently cut off direct tv, I hooked up an antenna outside on the old satellite pole and have like 40 channels for free....I bought a tivo for 299 bucks which has a guide and can record shows and pause just like with direct tv.....I have amazon prime and netflix and am trying out hulu for 30 days free.....the antenna gets all my local channels in HD crystal clear...i picked up an antenna from lowes for 90 bucks......only thing missing is the sports networks which I am going to get with sling tv....Bought a roku fr 29 bucks at walmart and it comes with 2 months free ( 50 dollar value ) of sling tv....So Im spending some up front money now but will soon be reaping the benefits of not having that 130 dollar a month dtv bill....

good luck

[ronald hannah]

Now, that’s what I was looking for. Thanks Richard!

[Justzack]

I use sling and it is pretty nice, but news is limited to cnn.
As an amazon prime member you have access to amazon video which has a ton of content.
I have no regrets of loosing the cable bill.

[Stone Dude]

A little late, but it's been 5+ years since we have had cable service. I have the internet only, through our local provider. I also have Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix. Then with Hulu, we added Showtime as an add-on for a prorated price, HBO channel through Amazon for an additional fee, we buy/rent movies here and there from Amazon and I am still not near what I was paying for cable without access to any of those.

Also, Amazon, Netflix and Hulu are putting out original content that will shame 95% of anything that has ever been put out before. Absolutely incredible shows.

[crobb]

My wife and I decided to cancel our TV back in the summer of 2012. We basically agreed that we would try it for 3months and if we just couldn't live without it; we could just sign back up. Well, it has been 6 years, we don't miss it at all. Sure, we don't always know whats hot at fast food places or even know about movies currently in the theatres. At first, we just watched Netflix on a Roku player, then we signed up for Hulu and Amazon. Lately, we are watching more Youtube videos than the other services. We do a lot more stuff outside, we are more productive and I honestly feel we may even be healthier. We don't just mindlessly watch what is on the TV. We have to look for it, sometimes it sucks - sometimes you go do more productive things.

We also figured if we wanted to rent a newer release movie from Amazon or another streaming service, they cost about $3.99 for an HD rental. We could rent a movie every night of the month and still not be close to our current bill from the cable company. Honestly, we don't have 2-3 hours to watch a movie every night anyway. So whenever we really want to watch something that is not on our streaming service, we simply pay to watch it. We also split our streaming services with our family, so the costs for all three services are split between us and our in-laws, even more savings.

Also; binge-watching on rainy days with a good show is amazing. The original content from Netflix and Hulu are totally next level.

[raymond7m]

Little late to the game but we cut the cord a long time ago as well. Never a regret since. The biggest thing that friends of ours have struggled with after they attempted was getting certain channels that they watched daily. The streaming world and access to premium channels (ie, espn, big ten network) has gotten much better over the past few years.

We have an HD antenna on our roof for the local channels (CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC), which get the local news, football games in the fall and 1 or 2 shows that we watch.

For ESPN and BTN, we stream Hulu with the live TV feature. You can turn it on and off as needed to cut costs; I use it typically from September through January for football season, then switch back to the $12 package for streaming shows. Hulu has really become our go-to since most of what we watch is accessible the day after it airs. With the HBO add, access to newer movies and some really good shows as well (game of thrones, the wire, silicone valley).

Best advice; determine what shows/content that your family cannot live without. Then focus a search on how to stream that content to your devices. Be aware that not every device streams the same content, especially for Hulu. My PS4 gets different things than the LG smart TV, which is also different than the AppleTV.

[ThomasGraniteTopsIRE]

We have what’s known in Ireland sometimes as a ‘Dodgy box’

Essentially an android box you buy off someone and they’ve loaded a steaming service on it that gives you access to, well just about everything!

Pay him €20 a month and he gives you a code to input to keep it active! We’ve all the sports channels, movies, box office and a ton of other stuff I’ll never watch plus 1000’s of movies that constantly update