Electronics

[cimeranrose]

We were paying $229 a month for cable and that was just for internet and cable tv (no landline). We got tired (and frankly disgusted) paying that. When I called the cable company and said we were thinking of dropping cable they said they could give us a whopping $20 off our cable bill. Last April we dropped cable and went to Hulu Live TV for just $54.99 a month. We pay $60 for internet. We are still way ahead. We get local abc, CBS and NBC channels and a lot of other channels. DH wanted  ESPN channels and I wanted HGTV  and Turner Classic Movies - we got those and like I said plenty of other channels. We're very happy with HULU Live and we won't go back to being robbed by cable.

[Icegoddess]

I was just looking at Hulu Live.  Can you watch different shows on different TV's at the same time?  And do all the TV's have to be Smart TV's?  

[cimeranrose]

No @Icegoddess , you don't have to have smart tv's. None of our tv's are smart tv's. DH bought a roku for each tv. Rokus are a one time purchase and they aren't expensive. I think you can get them for about $40 at a place like Best Buy. Amazon might have them cheaper. 

You can use Hulu Live on two tv's at the same time. We have more than 2 tv's in our house, and it doesn't matter which tv we choose to use Hulu Live with.

As a side note, I was at Sam's club today. They had a Direct Tv sales rep by the tv section. She asked me what service we use for our tv and I told her Hulu Live. She asked if there was a station I wanted but didn't get with Hulu Live and I told her no, DH and I got all the channels we wanted. She wanted to offer me Direct Tv and said she could give me a $300 gift card if I signed up. She asked what I paid monthly for Hulu and I told her $54.99 and I said we were happy with Hulu and I wasn't interested in Direct tv.

[Jordan2]

@cimeranrose I'm thinking about getting Hulu Live. Is it difficult to access your favorite channels and how exactly do you DVR a show and can you DVR multiple shows at once?

[cimeranrose]

@Jordan2  it's not difficult to access the channels. There's a menu guide that you scroll through and then just select the channel/program you want to watch and click "watch live". To record, you select the channel/program you want to record and select "record". Whether you can DVR multiple shows at once, I'm afraid I don't know. I've only ever recorded one show at a time. Sorry.

The nice thing about Hulu Live is they give you a free 7 day trial. If you don't like it after 7 days, you can cancel (at least it was like that for us and I assume it's still that way). Another nice thing with Hulu Live you're not locked into any kind of contract, you can drop it any time. (Last April before we dropped our cable tv, we tried the 7 day free trial of Hulu Live - we liked it so we dropped our cable tv).

[Jordan2]

Does anyone know much about Locast or have you used it? It’s free local channels, it’s suppose to be live streaming. It is only available in 17 cities ( I live in New York City which I think is included). I think ABC, FOX, etc have brought a suit against them. I’m just wondering if this is too good to be true ( I always think there is no free lunch).

[Mom2Dogs]

@cimeranrose ....how many TV's do you have in the house?

We have several, so what confuses me is how do we watch TV in the other rooms?   Do you have a fire stick for each TV?

[Jordan2]

I am so confused as to what to get. Getting internet and phone, then getting Hulu Live without ads, HBO, and Enhanced Cloud DVR, it’s not that much cheaper than just getting TV, phone, and internet from the cable company.

[glb613]

---

@Jordan2 wrote:

I am so confused as to what to get. Getting internet and phone, then getting Hulu Live without ads, HBO, and Enhanced Cloud DVR, it’s not that much cheaper than just getting TV, phone, and internet from the cable company.

---

You are correct!  I stream using a Smart TV and Apple TV.  There are channels I like to watch you can't get from just a Smart TV.  There are channels I can stream and watch for free only because I have a Comcast subscription.  By the time you add more channels, it can be very costly. 

[gardenman]

It can be more costly, or it can save you money. A lot depends on what channels you watch and what packages they're in. My old TV/Internet combo cost me $118/month at the end and I wasn't getting all the channels I wanted. To get them would add another $13+ to the cost for a total cost of $131 (give or take a bit.) I'm now getting the same speed Internet through a different provider and the Sling Orange and Blue packages with the channels I want for a total cost of $101 ($56 for the Internet and $45 for Sling.) That's a $30 a month savings. My new Internet provider threw in a year of Disney+ for free. I'll save $360 in my first year and get the channels I watch with less of the stuff I don't watch.

The home entertainment marketplace is evolving at a rapid pace. The Peacock streaming service will be starting on July 15th. On 2/20 CBS will announce plans for their new and revised CBS All Access. It's an ever-evolving marketplace right now as everyone tries to get "their share" of the market. Competition benefits the consumer if you're a smart consumer. Low Earth orbit satellites for "low-cost" broadband everywhere are now being deployed. The new 5G wireless service is being rolled out. 

It's not a great time to be an old wired system (Comcast, AT&T, Spectrum, Frontier, etc.) but from a consumer standpoint, it's getting more interesting, and somewhat more confusing, by the day. It's kind of like going from Ma Bell as the sole telephone provider to the chaos that resulted in hundreds of new phone companies suddenly popping up. You can save money, spend more, or stay the same, but now you have options that weren't there a while back. The competition will sort itself out over time and a few new leaders will emerge, but who they'll be is anyone's guess. I like it. Others will hate it. It is what it is.