Online streaming services to replace Cable

[KallDrexx]

I only saw one other thread while searching, and it was a year+ old Boxee thread that was more about boxes then streaming services.

I finally convinced the wife to get rid of cable, and we'll be handing in our DVR boxes this week.  Now the question is what to replace it with.  We are going to use my PS3 in the living room and probably get a Roku for the main room.  My question is more on what streaming services are worth subscribing to.

Amazon prime's website is terrible for figure out what you actually get to stream for free.  Is it worth it at all (free shipping would be a perk but it's def not the deciding factor).  Is Hulu plus worth it?

[Malakili]

My wife and I just have Netflix and it is more than sufficient.  I guess it depends on how much/how often you want to watch.

[Quinton]

I started using Amazon Prime a few years back, because just the discounted shipping easily paid for it (I order a lot of crap from Amazon).

Amazon Instant Video is pretty solid -- I mainly use the PS3 client to watch TV or movies, but their selection is not amazing.  They've definitely got some shows I enjoy for free, and others I end up paying for.   Their HD video streams look good to me on a modern 1080p HDTV.  I doubt I'd pay for Prime *just* for the free videos they offer -- though if there are one or two TV series they have (like all of the X files) that you want to watch, it could work out.

As far as figuring out what's free for prime customers or not, look for "Prime Members: $0.00 Rent: $x.xx Buy: $y.yy" in the price listings for streaming video content.  You can choose Shop By Department / Unlimited Instant Videos / Prime Instant Videos to browse just the free-for-prime content, then narrow the selection by clicking on Categories, Genres, etc on the lefthand side.

[Hawkbit]

My wife and I just have Netflix and it is more than sufficient.  I guess it depends on how much/how often you want to watch.

I get enough from Netflix.  The wife is a sports nut and requires cable, otherwise Netflix would be enough.

[Sir Fodder]

I have an antenna outside and a cheap USB HD TV tuner, works great for over the air locals, better picture than I used to get from cable (probably due to compression). Pretty much the only thing I stream regularly is C-SPAN from their website channels, I go on usagoals for sports fix (crappy feeds but watchable) like NFL playoffs and NBA finals when they are not broadcast.

I need to look into other streaming options for stuff like news and general cultural literacy stuffs.

[Salamok]

I suppose someone has to say it: a large hard drive and a bittorrent client. 

Netflix is good but the selection of streaming content is going to get worse over time as all the retarded content creators think they can set up their own service (because you know building a subscriber list in the tens of millions is easy and all).  So as you start burning through content and they start losing content it will soon become worth less to you than it is at the get go. 

Still at under $10 a month it is pretty great, it also becomes more helpful when you realize that lowering your standards and watching something new yet flawed is more entertaining than watching the same Seinfeld rerun for the 30th time.

[Sky]

You can search for all prime instant video. Just go to Shop by Department drop-down, mouse to Instant Video then click on Prime Instant Videos. Then you can Browse All Movies etc.

I found netflix to be pretty limited, I think Prime is a bit better. All services are very limited for selection of quality stuff, and with Prime you lose out on 5.1 (stereo only streaming), so I hesitate to watch a lot of stuff like that. And like Netflix, a lot of stuff goes into and out of availability seemingly at random.

I have Prime for shipping, but I do use the streaming quit a bit. Working through the Sarah Conner Chronicles right now.

[KallDrexx]

I suppose someone has to say it: a large hard drive and a bittorrent client. 

Yeah my friends have a whole elaborate bittorrent system that automatically downloads videos by polling RSS feeds.  Unfortunately I don't have a desktop so it's not as easy for me to do this, and I'm pretty lazy in my watching habits.  I don't really plan what I want to watch, I really just turn the tv on and decide what to watch so I don't have the patience to search for a torrent and wait to download it.

[satael]

I suppose someone has to say it: a large hard drive and a bittorrent client. 

Yeah my friends have a whole elaborate bittorrent system that automatically downloads videos by polling RSS feeds.  Unfortunately I don't have a desktop so it's not as easy for me to do this, and I'm pretty lazy in my watching habits.  I don't really plan what I want to watch, I really just turn the tv on and decide what to watch so I don't have the patience to search for a torrent and wait to download it.

If you go with RSS feeds in finding stuff then you might as well go with ones that have filelockers as a source so you won't actually be sharing anything yourself...or so I've heard 

[caladein]

I found netflix to be pretty limited, I think Prime is a bit better.

For my needs, there's some stuff that's not on each.  Amazon Prime has a bit more recent-ish TV while Netflix IW has a much better foreign/classic catalog.  You probably want to supplement either service with either a la carte purchases from Vudu/Amazon or a DVD plan from Netflix/Greencine.

Hulu Plus is something else entirely, but if you're looking to replace your DVR with a crappier on-demand version of it, that's where you need to go.

For sports, if you're outside of the local blackout zones for your teams, I can wholeheartedly recommend MLB.tv or NBA League Pass.  Also, look to see if your ISP gives you access to ESPN3.  It's probably the main thing I use my 360 for these days.