Has anybody got rid of cable or satelite?

Also, my Samsung HDTV is a smart Tv so can it pick up our laptop signal and we can stream tv from the laptop onto the TV?

 

So chiming in here. I go rid of cable initially. After saving a ton of cash through 18 months, I decided to splurge and get satellite. That lasted for a week and now I'm back to no cable/no satellite.

I installed an HD antenna on my house. Yes they are not stealthy, but I have my antenna mounted on the side of my house behind the fireplace area (not sure what it's called) so it is hidden from view. I really don't even notice it. A coax from the antenna goes to my crawlspace where it re-enters in the garage and is hooked up to a coax amp. The amp sends the OTA signal to the TVs in the house and to a HDHomeRun by SiliconDust.

This allows me to watch HD OTA from any TV or computer in the house which covered network TV and major sporting events. I have a PS3 and Xbox hooked up to the TVs for movies from Netflix, VUDU, etc.

Only real gap here is ESPN and local sports. To solve that problem, I put a slingbox at my parents' house up the road. Yeah it's definitely not HD but it gets me by.

So I've invested about $100 for antenna and wiring to get me to this place. Add optional items such as another $100 for the HDHomeRun and $200 for a Slingbox which totals $400. Finally $10/month to have a dedicated cablebox for my Slingbox. My computer is able to DVR any show I want. Essentially you can fill in the gaps with minimal cost.

Cable used to cost $100/month. I have a separate rant I could throw about Comcast but that's for a different thread. There is a noticeable benefit to my pocketbook now.

The biggest benefit I've noticed is a change in how I watch TV. I used to sit there and watch a show, surf during commercials, etc. Basically watch a lot of CRAP. Now I never watch commercials and watch only what I want to watch. I realized that what I really want to watch is a lot less that what I was watching. I never looked back and find myself wondering why I used to waste so much time on TV. It sounds like a leap of faith but if you go for it you might be surprised how little you even want to fill in the gaps.

 

I know our laptop won't act as a dvr b/c I think its about 5-6 years old probably. It doesn't have HDMI port either so I'm assuming its pretty old. Do all new laptops come with dvr capabilities?

 

Same. Love my free HD channels

There's a little bit of a wait period on when the shows show up on Hulu, but it's usually not that bad IMO. It's the same show whether I watch it now or in a few days.

Yes, you'll need an antenna. I actually have my antenna installed in my attic, so no problem with house aesthetics. The channels are all digital and all of the major network channels are in HD.

Depends... if your laptop and TV both have WiDi then yes, if not then no.

 

Which is better hulu or netflix? Also, will my HDTV pick up any channels without an antenna hooked up to it?

 

Probably not. Depending on where you live, you may have enough signal strength to use a smaller HD antenna indoors or an antenna in your attic. Tough to know until you try. Check here to start getting an idea:
http://www.antennaweb.org/

Hulu and Netflix have different purposes. Hulu is in partnership with the networks and have much more current shows but not many movies.

 

No. Most will require software. Windows Media Center has worked well for me to record shows (which used to come free with Windows in many cases until Windows 8). It's $10 with Windows 8.

 

If you have internet through a cable company try hooking up your tv to the cable, I pick up like 20 channels.

 

Cable free for most of 8 years now. With the Roku 3 we get Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon etc.
Planning on a dedicated computer to the TV soon to stream my Duck Dynasty

 

Same with the Xbox360.

 

Going on about 6 months without cable. I pulled a lot more stations while stationed in Ft. Bragg YMMV, Netflix keeps the kids happy with cartoons.

 

Been thinking bout doing this.

 

Hulu streams tv episodes the day after they premiere on tv. So if you have a new episode of the show you like premiering tonight, it will be on hulu plus tomorrow. Netflix has movies that came out five years ago, and very rarely anything newer then that. And they have tv shows, but only up to about two seasons ago usually. I like netflix, but watched most of the stuff that interests me so I bought hulu plus for 8 bucks a month and watch all the seasons of shows that look interesting.

 

Here's my take: if you can pickup the remote at any random time of day and find something you really want to watch, then you should probably keep cable/satellite. If you pickup up the remote, see 286 channels of shit and walk away, then shut it off.

If you're already paying for internet, with just an antenna and a roku or any current blu-ray player, you can get everything... except real-time network programming and 'premium' sports for $15/mo (hulu + Netflix).

We just (temporarily) turned satellite back on and the ONLY things I'm watching I can't get on the web/netflix are shitty local news reports about things I already saw online and freaking car chases. It's pathetic.

All the major networks have web broadcasts, so unless you're addicted to sports or getting specific shows right when the network chooses to air them... you probably won't miss it.

 

No cable, no satellite, no television channels at all actually, and no problems

Go do something else.

 

...with all the money you save.

 

Satellite TV seemed OK for the first few months but I quickly realized it was just a lot of jesus channels, infomercials and sports; the 3 things I LEAST want to watch. Canceled it about 2 years ago and got Netflix instead. Now when I try to watch the news I get fucking pissed because of all the commercials. I've already become used to never seeing commercials when I watch TV.

 

I downloaded the Hulu Plus (its not a trial or I haven't paid for the service) and I got up there just to browse and Days of our Lives(wife) and Duck Dynasty both say that they aren't authorized or previledged yet on a Xbox 360. Said I could watch on hulu.com on a computer.

I would keep our internet through the cable company so, does that mean I could still connect the coax cable to the back of the tv and get the local channels for news?

 

Also, I use Netflix through the apple TV and Torrent all the latest seasons of shows I like onto my computer. My wife watches "The Voice" and they air the show through NBC the next day. Stream it to the TV.

Torrent all the movies I want to watch use airplay to watch them on the TV. Makes life a hell of a lot easier and it also keeps us from turning on the TV and channel surfing for a few hours on a Saturday morning. Easy to do when DirecTV offers 200 channels of mindless crap.

 

I actually chose to pay the early contract cancellation fee and it was the most liberating thing I've done in a long time. Got an extra $100 in my pocket every month and I don't watch all the useless shit because I can. We have netflix and internet. Which we still manage to waste plenty of time with.
There's a reason they call it Programing.