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Topic: Fuck Comcast unto death. Help me cut the cord! (Streaming TV options) (Read 88099 times)
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MisterNoisy
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1892
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Well look at me. Not even 2 years later and I finally cancelled my TV package. The HD DVR I had went bad and wouldn't reboot. We literally almost never use the TV there, so I bought a Fire Stick and an HD antenna, then returned the box today. Xfinity rep tells me I have to bring a cable box home with me (I knew this was going to happen, so I was prepared). I told him I didn't want it. I have a cable card, and that is the only TV receiver I really need. He insisted I must have at least a basic box as 'primary equipment', which is just fucking clownshoes stupid, and also completely bullshit. There is literally no technical reason for it. They just want a foothold in my house.
So I said "Well, let's just cancel it then. Keep the internet, but dump the TV. I will return my cable card". He was mildly shocked, and kept recommending more ways for me to give them money. I told him I had plenty of streaming devices and would be just fine. God that felt good.
So- now I am going to be experimenting with streaming trials. Anyone have favorites? I would like a DVR of some kind (cloud based it fine). Looking at YouTube TV, Hulu Live TV, and Sling TV as my first trials.
You probably have Amazon Prime, so there's that. You can sub and unsub from a browser as needed to HBO, Cinemax, Starz and Showtime as part of your Prime sub and you won't get some fucking retention asshole trying to convince you that you need to keep something you no longer have a need for. Beyond that, my brother has been very happy with Google TV to add the 'regular' networks.
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XBL GT: Mister Noisy PSN: MisterNoisy Steam UID: MisterNoisy
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Hoax
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8110
l33t kiddie
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My old man just refused to ever get cable, he's got one of those paddle antennas for broadcast channels, a roku that he uses to manage various apps and get some random jank, a hulu sub, amazon prime & netflix and he still get's 1 bluray from netflix.
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A nation consists of its laws. A nation does not consist of its situation at a given time. If an individual's morals are situational, then that individual is without morals. If a nation's laws are situational, that nation has no laws, and soon isn't a nation. -William Gibson
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WayAbvPar
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Cancelled Hulu Live TV (keeping streaming), going with Sling TV next. Hulu didn't have NFL Network or Red Zone, plus the live TV interface was garbage. Having the freedom to switch at a moment's notice makes dumping cable all the more satisfying.
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When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM
Always wear clean underwear because you never know when a Tory Government is going to fuck you.- Ironwood
Libertarians make fun of everyone because they can't see beyond the event horizons of their own assholes Surlyboi
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Slayerik
Terracotta Army
Posts: 4868
Victim: Sirius Maximus
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I'm using a service called Philo for 16 a month for like 40 channels. It has enough of the channels I like (Discovery, Science, History, Comedy, etc) and enough that my GF likes (ID, A&E, OWN) and allows us to install all the individual channel apps for on-demand. I watch it on my fire stick, but have to use the clunky Silk Browser if I want to watch the channels live. Since you get 2 devices, I hooked up a Roku 2 downstairs.
Add on Netflix for 11 bucks and I have what I need for 27 dollars and 45 for comcast internet service. 73 dollars for internet and TV. Solid.
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« Last Edit: August 20, 2018, 08:26:03 AM by Slayerik »
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"I have more qualifications than Jesus and earn more than this whole board put together. My ego is huge and my modesty non-existant." -Ironwood
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Mandella
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1236
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I'm using a service called Philo for 16 a month for like 40 channels. It has enough of the channels I like (Discovery, Science, History, Comedy, etc) and enough that my GF likes (ID, A&E, OWN) and allows us to install all the individual channel apps for on-demand. I watch it on my fire stick, but have to use the clunky Silk Browser if I want to watch the channels live. Since you get 2 devices, I hooked up a Roku 2 downstairs.
Add on Netflix for 11 bucks and I have what I need for 27 dollars and 45 for comcast internet service. 73 dollars for internet and TV. Solid.
Damn. That does seem like a good deal. I hadn't looked at them before (so much for their marketing), but it looks like everything I would be interested in is available in their base package even. I didn't see it mentioned on their site, but any idea if they have an app for XBox or PS4? And how well is the pure PC experience?
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WayAbvPar
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On the horns of a dilemma. SlingTV has a much better interface and more channels than HuluTV. But the streaming fucking blows. I get error messages and big buffer pauses constantly, and only through Sling. All my other streaming stuff works great. Free week runs out in a day or two, and I am leaning toward DirectTV streaming. Except Sling has NFL Red Zone and DTV does not. RZ is a complete must have for football season (at least the first month until my fantasy teams are completely off the rails). Do I hope that Sling gets their streaming shit together? Or do I try DTV? I think I might do a week trial on DTV and see how it goes before the season starts. I can always go back to Sling for opening weekend. At any rate, the freedom to bounce around as I see fit while not sending Comcast any cable money is
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When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM
Always wear clean underwear because you never know when a Tory Government is going to fuck you.- Ironwood
Libertarians make fun of everyone because they can't see beyond the event horizons of their own assholes Surlyboi
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schild
Administrator
Posts: 60350
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Get ps vue, dude.
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42659
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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I keep looking at streaming options (especially now that I looked at how much money I'm spending just on my TV service). What's always held me back was sports - I don't watch sports live, I DVR then to watch later the same day. I'd need a service with some decent DVR capabilities as well as major network feeds, lots of sports channels especially soccer and a good mix of cable channels. Fubo and Sling look like the best options but I'm not entirely sure if the DVR capabilities on them is worth a shit. Any testimonials?
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01101010
Terracotta Army
Posts: 12006
You call it an accident. I call it justice.
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Get ps vue, dude.
Had that for the world cup. Was nice... but we don't watch enough of the channels to keep the sub to it. If we didn't have the packaged basic tv with Verizon to get a low cost on the Fios and just got a cheap fiber option, I'd probably keep Vue.
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Does any one know where the love of God goes...When the waves turn the minutes to hours? -G. Lightfoot
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ynotgolf
Terracotta Army
Posts: 37
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Day 3 of PSVue trial, ... wish I would've cut the cord months ago now. 3 of the big 4 channels (NBC, CBS, FOX, with ABC On Demand). I thought ABC On Demand was going to be a big negative with Wifey, but so far, she's game. As long as she has her HGTV to fall asleep to, I think I'm okay. PSVue is definitely the priciest of the streaming options I considered but it hits all the sweet-spots for us. HGTV, check. Golf Channel (don't judge), check. NFL Redzone, check. Big four networks, check. Intuitive DVR with Live playback, double check!
Compared to : YouTube TV (no HGTV) Hulu + TV (WayAbvPar steered me away, saved me the 5 day trial) DirectTVNow (no NFL Redzone) SlingTV (can only stream the Orange channels on one device, fuck that noise, I've got kids) Philo (was intriguing, at $16/month. If it was just my wife, and I didn't need to watch NFL or Golf on occasion, I would pushed for Philo and OTA antenna)
Currently my son is playing Fortnight in the living room, my daughter is in her bedroom streaming something on Netflix and my wife is next to me in bed falling asleep to HGTV, flicker free and I have yet to experience any buffering issues.
YMMV, but I'm sold.
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WayAbvPar
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I keep looking at streaming options (especially now that I looked at how much money I'm spending just on my TV service). What's always held me back was sports - I don't watch sports live, I DVR then to watch later the same day. I'd need a service with some decent DVR capabilities as well as major network feeds, lots of sports channels especially soccer and a good mix of cable channels. Fubo and Sling look like the best options but I'm not entirely sure if the DVR capabilities on them is worth a shit. Any testimonials?
2 weeks in a row (HuluTV 1 week, SlingTV the next) I tried to record the Seahawks game. Neither one recorded. Hulu definitely had my local affiliate channel, but for reasons unknown just ignored my request (I checked beforehand to make sure I had set it up). It also wouldn't even give me the option of recording the Sounders on ESPN (which I ended up watching mostly live, and which was quite worth it). Sling doesn't have my local affiliate, but did have NFL Network, which broadcast the game as well. Again, set it up so the option said it would record, and nothing. So yeah. My experiences with Cloud DVRs so far is not heartening. I do the same thing as H- record live sports and watch them later the same day/evening. I hesitate to give Sony any money for many reasons, foremost among them the roughly $10,000 worth of TVs I have owned from them that completely died early deaths. Not really excited about giving them my billing information either, judging by the network security in the past. But I may give them a shot if ynot can give me a solid recommendation (since our viewing priorities are probably a single circle on a Venn diagram).
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When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM
Always wear clean underwear because you never know when a Tory Government is going to fuck you.- Ironwood
Libertarians make fun of everyone because they can't see beyond the event horizons of their own assholes Surlyboi
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Draegan
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10043
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Everyone just get ps Vue. It's how I watch the NFL. DVR is amazing too.
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WayAbvPar
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I went out of town and missed the deadline to cancel my Sling sub by about 4 hours, so I am stuck with it for a month. Sigh.
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When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM
Always wear clean underwear because you never know when a Tory Government is going to fuck you.- Ironwood
Libertarians make fun of everyone because they can't see beyond the event horizons of their own assholes Surlyboi
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Chimpy
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10628
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Just put in my order for fiber internet. Installation is on Tuesday.
After that, SUCK IT COMCAST.
(though I will need to figure out how I am going to network shit now that I won't have a cable modem in my office, guess I can just put my router in the basement and put a switch in my office)
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'Reality' is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.
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WayAbvPar
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All I hear about is how densely packed the industrial area 3 or 4 miles from my house is packed with datacenters and shit, but god forbid anyone run some fucking fiber around here. Jealous!
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When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM
Always wear clean underwear because you never know when a Tory Government is going to fuck you.- Ironwood
Libertarians make fun of everyone because they can't see beyond the event horizons of their own assholes Surlyboi
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42659
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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I'm starting my research binge on cutting the cord again, and thinking that Fubo.tv is my best bet for most things (soccer and most network shows). Anyone had any experiences good or bad? Also, what do you guys who have cut the cord use for streaming your local TV station programming (like local ABC/NBC affiliates)?
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Draegan
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10043
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Read the fucking thread! This page!
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WayAbvPar
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I'm starting my research binge on cutting the cord again, and thinking that Fubo.tv is my best bet for most things (soccer and most network shows). Anyone had any experiences good or bad? Also, what do you guys who have cut the cord use for streaming your local TV station programming (like local ABC/NBC affiliates)?
DirectTVNow carries local affiliates, so I get my local news fix through them. I also bought an HD antenna for my family room- it picks up a surprising amount of channels over the air. I still find that 80% of my non-sports TV watching is done via Hulu/Prime/Netflix, but DirectTVNow works for the rest of it. Get my cable news, local news, and nerdy shit like SCI and NatGeo, plus nationally televised sports (several ESPNs, NBCSports, CBSSports, FoxSports1, etc). Would definitely like a bigger cloud DVR, however.
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« Last Edit: January 30, 2019, 12:22:05 AM by WayAbvPar »
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When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM
Always wear clean underwear because you never know when a Tory Government is going to fuck you.- Ironwood
Libertarians make fun of everyone because they can't see beyond the event horizons of their own assholes Surlyboi
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42659
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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The weird part I'm finding in the research is that no service is complete. It looks like if I want Comedy Central, I may end up subbing to a service just to get it. I'm mainly trying to make sure I don't lose anything I actually watch but also pay less money by enough to make the effort worthwhile.
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Jimbo
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1478
still drives a stick shift
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I wish they would make it that anywhere you lived you had access to fiber optic w/unlimited data. I have Comcast here in Gallup, New Mexico (since there isn't any other as fast as them). They sold me there fast service which is 50 Mbps (other towns around here get 75 or 100 Mbps), but forgot to mention there was a data cap! WTF! Spectrum back home in Indiana was 100 Mbps and unlimited data and cost way less (almost half of what Comcast is charging). I could switch back to DSL from Century Link, but that is slow going, plus there are two of us in the apartment I'm renting (we both stream and game).
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WayAbvPar
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Comcast here has a 1 TB cap. I have run up against it a few times, but the only time I ever went over was December...we had a lot of new games to download from Christmas and Steam sales
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When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM
Always wear clean underwear because you never know when a Tory Government is going to fuck you.- Ironwood
Libertarians make fun of everyone because they can't see beyond the event horizons of their own assholes Surlyboi
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42659
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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It's been almost a month since I cut my cable subscription so I figured I'd update you guys with my reviews. I went full nerd on making the choice of what services to go with - I essentially created an Excel spreadsheet with the channels I knew that I would care about watching, then tried to find the one service with all of them. Guess what? There wasn't one service. None of them had everything, and I'm not even talking about everything I had - I just wanted the channels that I actually watched. The one that got closest to my list was actually YoutubeTV, which surprised the shit out of me because I never considered them a contender. However, it was literally missing 5 channels that I wanted - Comedy Central, Weather Channel, A&E, NFL Network and maybe the Cooking Channel (don't remember which one - it's one my wife would watch more than me). So I got 2 services and finding the other landed me on DirecTV Now, mainly because it was the only one that had Comedy Central. Seriously, CC is only on like 2 or 3 goddamn services and I really wanted that. I need my Daily Show in the morning and I can't be assed to go find clips.
I did end up having to buy a new Roku to use both services. Thankfully, Roku had been running a sale on the Roku Premiere for $30.
So first up, YoutubeTV. I originally picked this one because it has all 4 of my local big network affiliate channels live, which mattered as much to my wife as me because she likes to watch the local weather channel when the weather gets shitty. You'll have to check if you local channels are available but if they are, the stream is decent. I'm watching all this in 1080p and other than it taking a little longer to buffer the channel than it would to change the channel on a cable box, it's a solid live stream. Of course, most of the shit I watch isn't live so what I was really concerned about was the DVR. YoutubeTV has Cloud DVR with unlimited space - the only restriction is that the content expires after 90 days. Not only is the DVR playback smooth, you can watch it on any device - computer, TV, tablet, phone (with obvious restrictions based on your phone's data usage). I've actually watched soccer games I recorded on my phone through Wifi and mobile and the quality was goddamn stunning. Nothing like watching Bundesliga while I'm sitting at the goddamn tire place. While I wouldn't watch it on mobile data very much because I'm on a cheap prepaid plan, if you have to, the quality is good. And like any DVR, watch it on your phone, stop in the middle and resume watching where you were when you get to another device. And you can have up to six Youtube/Google accounts linked to that one account with I think 3 devices playing different things at once. For only $40 a month, it has a pretty decent lineup of channels, including stuff I didn't care much about and was only missing a few things. I could have ran my Starz sub through it as well for $8 but I did that through DirecTVNow instead. The way recording shows work is that you do a search (or check the guide) and you can add a show to your library - it will record the show but if there are also episodes available on-demand, it will put those in your library as well so that you will always have access to whatever is on-demand on things you added to your library as well. If you follow one particular sport or one particular team, you can have just that team or everything from that league or sport recorded. It makes scheduling my weekend soccer and rugby games pretty damn easy. Needless to say, I'm actually impressed with YoutubeTV - I'd recommend it especially if you need your local channels and they are available. DVR fast-forward and rewind controls are a little weird at first - on the Roku, they are both controlled like 15-second skips as opposed to true fast-forward or rewind.
As an aside, fuck the CBS execs unto death. I DVR episodes of The Late Show with Colbert but because CBS are the biggest dicks on the planet, I can't actually watch my DVR'ed recording - I have to watch the On-Demand version which has unskippable ads. Thanks, CBS for ensuring I never fucking sub to your All-Access shit and will actively attempt to pirate your stuff if I want to watch it.
As for DirecTVNow, I don't have quite as positive a review of them. I'm paying more and while I think I'm actually getting a few more channels overall, it's not as good a service. The DVR works the same way (though they call recording a show Bookmarks and finding On-Demand versions is a separate click) but they only offer 20 hours of DVR time and they are still calling it BETA. While it does work well and it's controls are a little closer to traditional DVR with fast forward and rewind (and also 15-second skips), not being able to see what you are fast-forwarding through is a little annoying. Streams are good quality all around. I got my Starz and HBO subs through DirecTVNow because HBO was only $5 a month (as opposed to the $10 a month it is as a standalone) and I had to pay a little extra for multiple streams (I think it starts with 2 and I paid $5 for 3 streams). Overall I'm paying about $78 a month for but honestly, the minute YoutubeTV adds the channels I use it for, I'd drop it in a heartbeat, not only to save money but because YoutubeTV is just a better service overall. Oddly enough, I can use the Roku HBO Go app to watch HBO content with this sub, but I can't use the Starz app for it - neither DirecTVNow or YoutubeTV are listed as providers.
So even with having to get 2 services, I'm still going to manage saving about $50-$60 a month, getting pretty much all the content I was using before as well as the ability to watch the content on more devices. I did look at PSVue and fuboTV and probably would have gone with both of them if not for the lack of Comedy Central or the locals. Philo was almost an option for Comedy Central since it would have only been about $20 a month but it didn't have much else to justify it over DirecTVNow. I had thought Sling might be an option but their channel offerings are truly underwhelming. I'm still not entirely sure if it will do for when the NFL season comes around - I'm playing a wait and see game with that, hoping I won't have to do something drastic to watch football.
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Sky
Terracotta Army
Posts: 32117
I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.
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I just watch youtube clips of segments from the late night shows (Colbert/Meyers/Noah). Hell, half the time I just stream them to my earbuds while I'm working.
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Cyrrex
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10603
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Haemish, how much are you actually paying a month for all of that? 120 bucks at least. More?
The cost of media and media related services in the US is still just utterly insane. Now granted, when I cut the cord 3 years ago, I had already weaned myself off of a number of things I thought I needed, but part of cutting the cable cord in my opinion is admitting to yourself that you don't need all of that shit anymore. Live news and network television? Haha, never. Getting rid of regular sports viewing was the hardest pill to swallow, but I find that I don't miss it at all. In fact, I don't miss ANY of it. I now have three streaming services....Netflix, HBO and one called Viaplay (a Nordic thing, I think, it sucks but it sometimes has stuff the others don't), and I pay a total of maybe 35 bucks a month. I have more shit lined up for viewing than I can possibly ever get through, and I add things to the list faster than I consume them. The rare show that comes along that I don't have access to....well, there are other means of getting those things, or I can just temporarily get an Amazon sub or something.
Media access is oddly (and considerably) cheaper here in the land of socialism, and I can generally get everything I want. But the biggest takeaway is to try giving up some of the stuff you don't think you can live without. I think that is the real way to win this game. You will end up filling it with better stuff anyway.
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"...maybe if you cleaned the piss out of the sunny d bottles under your desks and returned em, you could upgrade you vid cards, fucken lusers.." - Grunk
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42659
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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Yes, it's about $120 a month, compared to the $180 a month I was paying for the cable TV services. So I am saving money and if DirecTV Now doesn't improve, that will be the first one to go. AT&T is changing their plans on it, though I think I'm grandfathered in on the plan I'm on now.
Why should I do with less if I don't want to?
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Cyrrex
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10603
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Well, I don’t suppose you have to. My comment was more born from the notion that 120 bucks a month is still actually a lot. You did make clear that you were essentially trying to end up with more or less the same shit, but just pay less, and it sounds like you mostly managed it. For me, it was more about paying a LOT less, and be willing to sacrifice a few things along the way. It is surprising how much one finds one can live without and not notice any real decrease it quality of life. Toughest thing to get over was the loss of live sports, but even that can be solved on a case by case basis. The other thing is just having the TV on as background noise, which is of course, absurd. Don’t do that anymore.
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"...maybe if you cleaned the piss out of the sunny d bottles under your desks and returned em, you could upgrade you vid cards, fucken lusers.." - Grunk
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MisterNoisy
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1892
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Reading Haem's post made me feel kinda sheepish that I pay $13/month for basically everything cable has to offer and barely watch it at all.
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XBL GT: Mister Noisy PSN: MisterNoisy Steam UID: MisterNoisy
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luckton
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5947
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Haem is on the money with YouTubeTV. Switched to them the day they became available here in SW Florida almost a year ago and haven't looked back. Cut Hulu, cut Netflix. And next week I get CenturyLink 1 Gig fiber installed for $65 a month for life.
Good times.
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"Those lights, combined with the polygamous Nazi mushrooms, will mess you up."
"Tuning me out doesn't magically change the design or implementation of said design. Though, that'd be neat if it did." -schild
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schild
Administrator
Posts: 60350
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comedy central and spectator sports are not worth $60+ a month
there's some life questions you've got to ask yourself there
(we have Vue, Shudder, Hulu, Netflix, and something else and don't even crack $100 a month)
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luckton
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5947
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YouTubeTV does have add-on support for premium channels. Showtime, Starz, Shudder, Curiosity, etc. for like $3-$9 extra a month, depending on the channel.
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"Those lights, combined with the polygamous Nazi mushrooms, will mess you up."
"Tuning me out doesn't magically change the design or implementation of said design. Though, that'd be neat if it did." -schild
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42659
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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Yeah, I just got an email this morning from AT&T/DirecTV Now announcing their changes. I can keep my current package but I have to pay $10 more a month. They linked me to a comparison tool of their new packages that I can choose instead - a $40 and a $70 one. The chart shows what's in all 3 packages and HOLY SHIT. Like even the $70 package has removed something between 1/4 and 1/2 of the channels from the lineup completely. The hook for both of them is that HBO is included. So yes, I'm looking to replace DirectTV Now in the next few days because fuck that shit. No telling how soon they are just going to tell me to suck it and take one of these shitty shit shit packages.
In short, fuck AT&T unto death as well.
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Morat20
Terracotta Army
Posts: 18529
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Hold on, I can sense the MBA thinking here.
"We've lost too many customers to streaming services. Best move is to charge more for less!"
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42659
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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I think it's more like "watch these piggies squeal!"
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schild
Administrator
Posts: 60350
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you deserve this for liking spectator sports
and they know it
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42659
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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Oddly enough, I can actually get most of the spectator sports I want on YouTubeTV without having to go to another source. If I felt like it, I could probably be satisfied with the one service but I'm just not going to be arsed to hunt around for clips or pirate stuff when I don't have to. I decided to go with FuboTV to replace DirecTV Now because they just signed a deal with Viacom so eventually Comedy Central will be on there. My wife wanted Weather Channel which is also on Fubo so I'm pretty much good to go.
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