Electronics

[gardenman]

I'm in the process of switching from cable to Sling for my TV. Comcast just went up $20 for me here and I gave them a call about getting a lower rate and they basically said no. I checked out the streaming services and discovered the Sling orange/blue combo has all of the cable channels that I watch. (I have an antenna for local channels.) My first month of Sling is $25 then $40 a month after that.

With Comcast, I'm paying a couple of $8+ fees (one for local channels one for sports programming) plus a couple of bucks for the cable box rental, which is about $20 just in extras on top of the cable package costs. I'll be giving them a call later to cancel my TV service but keep the Internet. If anything my picture quality is higher through Sling. I can watch it on every set as long as there's a Roku or Fire Stick connected instead of just the TV with the cable box. This just makes more sense for me. I even pick up an extra channel I've been wanting but refused to pay an extra $12 a month for through Comcast.

My Roku is pretty neat. It has a Sling button on the remote. I just press that and it turns on my HDTV (an element Fire TV), switches it to the Roku input and brings up Sling with just one push of the button. Handy. Then I just use the Sling program guide to find what I want to watch. It's easier than the Comcast menu system. I've been playing with Sling for a few days now with no trouble at all and haven't even touched the cable remote. So, no more cable TV for me.

If Comcast sets the price of the Internet too high, I can get that through Verizon FIOS which has finally made its way here. I should save a few bucks and get more of what I want.

[queendiva]

I pay just under $70.00/ month for basic speed Internet & basic cable for 1 TV as it was cheaper than net alone. Also provide my own router for additional savings.

TVs in the LR & BR are Roku. Not sure what he did, but I share the Hulu account with DS & DDIL. I think that's about $53.00/ month. I pay 3 months (Jan-Mar ) and (July-Sept) to them. Still comes out to +/- $125.00/ month.

Cable TV where I live stinks and is $$$, therefore Roku. No premium anything for me, and still this is the price. Cut the cable just means cable TV, not internet service.

[Nuttmeg]

@gardenman

Verizon FIOS may give you a deal being a new customer. 

[gardenman]

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@Nuttmeg wrote:

@gardenman

Verizon FIOS may give you a deal being a new customer. 

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FIOS Internet has a few decent deals right now. They're bundling one year of the new Disney streaming service with their Internet packages starting at $39.99 a month (plus $12 for the modem) for 100/100, $59.99 +$12 for 300/300 or $79.99 with no extra modem fee for their gigabit (actually 730-930 mbps) with a $100 gift card and a locked in price for three years. If I sign up online they waive the install fee also. I'll see what Comcast counters with, but we'll go from there. It's nice to have options.

[springers]

We have had all services except Direct
We cut and stream via Fubo. Gets all channels and had large dvr storage
I think basic is 60 we pay 80 for larger dvr and 3 screens. We can watch away from home. My son wanted nfl red zone and my
Husband wanted outdoor sports channels
The only channel it doesn’t get is abc/espn. I put a small antenna in our bedroom if there is something I want to watch (never happens)
We access Fubo thru firestick. Gets local channels.

[springers]

Fubo also has on demand for watching past episodes

[jellyBEAN]

People say this is easy, but I am thoroughly confused.

Hulu, Roku, Fire sticks, Sling, Leaf, Amazon.  I've only had cable since it came into being in the 80's.  No satellite.  No more antenna.  I live in a small rural town where I barely have cell phone reception, not sure how anything else but cable would work.

I'm not sure about my TV's either.  If you don't have a smart TV are you out of the loop with all this stuff?  I don't have a smart phone either.  Not sure what streaming is.  If I didn't have internet and TV I'd feel awfully isolated.

[Nuttmeg]

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@jellyBEAN wrote:

People say this is easy, but I am thoroughly confused.

Hulu, Roku, Fire sticks, Sling, Leaf, Amazon.  I've only had cable since it came into being in the 80's.  No satellite.  No more antenna.  I live in a small rural town where I barely have cell phone reception, not sure how anything else but cable would work.

I'm not sure about my TV's either.  If you don't have a smart TV are you out of the loop with all this stuff?  I don't have a smart phone either.  Not sure what streaming is.  If I didn't have internet and TV I'd feel awfully isolated.

@jellyBEAN  Enjoy your  service. 

[gardenman]

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@jellyBEAN wrote:

People say this is easy, but I am thoroughly confused.

Hulu, Roku, Fire sticks, Sling, Leaf, Amazon.  I've only had cable since it came into being in the 80's.  No satellite.  No more antenna.  I live in a small rural town where I barely have cell phone reception, not sure how anything else but cable would work.

I'm not sure about my TV's either.  If you don't have a smart TV are you out of the loop with all this stuff?  I don't have a smart phone either.  Not sure what streaming is.  If I didn't have internet and TV I'd feel awfully isolated.

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Let's start with the basics. Streaming is simply a way of delivering content (music, video, TV, etc.) over the Internet. To watch those streams on a TV you need either a separate device (Fire Stick, Roku, etc.) or a smart TV, and a provider of the stream (companies like Sling, Hulu, Playstation Vue, etc.) Each provider offers a different mix of channels, often at different prices, so you have to find the provider that offers the channels you want at the price you want to pay. 

I already have multiple streaming devices, so for me, it was just a question of which provider offered the channels I wanted at the best price. The Sling orange and blue package combo for $40 a month gave me the best possible option. I also have an antenna for my local channels so that wasn't an issue for me. To watch a cable channel now I simply hit the Sling button on my Roku remote which turns on my HDTV (A 55" Amazon Fire TV made by Element) sets it to the right HDMI input and up pops the Sling interface. Sling lets you set up favorite channels and those pop up on the menu, so finding your favorite channel is a snap. They also offer a grid showing all of the channels if you want to watch something else. Their program guide isn't the greatest, but I can live with that. When you find the channel you want to watch, you simply click on it and up it comes. Easy-peasy. If I want to watch something over the air instead of through Sling, I simply pick up my TV remote and switch the input to the antenna and then find the channel I want, click on it, and I'm watching it.

Now, my cable company was Comcast and their box was actually a bit more time-consuming and annoying to use. Unless you memorized your favorite channel numbers (I didn't) you had to access their program grid that defaults into all fo the available channels and not just the ones you've subscribed to. If you want to see just the channels you subscribe to you have to hit the menu button a second time and then opt for that option. Then you have to scroll through the hundred-plus channels to find the one you want to watch. Their voice remote and I don't get along all that well. I'll ask to see NBC and it'll show me MSNBC, NBC Sports, or something totally irrelevant and I eventually resort to using the menu. If I'm watching a sporting event they put up an overlay when I flip back and forth advising me that clicking on some button will bring up their sports app showing the latest scores. If I use the menu to go to a channel an overlay will pop up obscuring part of the screen advising me to just use the voice remote the next time (even though it seldom takes me where I want to go.)

To watch Comcast on any other television in my house I have to add additional cable boxes or use their clunky app. Each cable box rental is $2.68 locally and I'm paying $8.25 a month for their "Broadcast TV fee" and another $8.25 a month for the "Regional Sports Fee." When you add in the various taxes and fees, I'm paying close to $25 each month just in service fees, box rental, and taxes. That's before paying for any of the channels I'll be watching. For $40 a month I get all of the channels I want through the Sling orange and blue service, picture quality that's actually a bit better than cable, and I can watch it on every TV in my house at no extra charge.