Pulling the plug on UVerse

[UncleMeat]

Well, we were strongly considering cancelling UVerse because of service issues that keep recurring.  Now, since we are moving and the service is not available at our new address, we have had the decision made for us.

We flirted with the idea of getting DirectTV, but in the end, the possibility of doing stuff with our nights other than watching TV seemed best.

So I picked up a Philips indoor antenna (although I would love something bigger to try and get Chicago station) and a Tivo HD-DVR (we can't go completely independent) and I think we're ready to rock.  Just gotta start scheduling shows and getting adjusted to having about 200 fewer channels.

Wish me luck...  I'm thinking during the summer I will be getting very familiar with Mr Baseball's fishing and minor league stories.

[Tom Snyder]

You're a better man than I am! I can't imagine life without those 200 channels.

I Multitask a LOT and so I'm doing work and other projects with the TV on. But of the 60+ hours a week the TV is on, a good 2/3 of it is cable channels, and I can't imagine life without it.

[Mikey]

Oy, the loss of the sports programming would kill me.

Kill me.

[cjucoder]

I have always been OTA only with my little indoor Silver Sensor antenna and just Milwaukee channels.  With my two DVRs (and I believe your Tivo will more than equate my two boxes) I always have lots to watch when I want to watch TV.  Actually, I never watch live TV, only recordings, just because there is always good stuff there!

I also rotate 4 Netflix discs every week, so that is quite a bit of watchable material.

Besides the issue of cost, I know there is a lot I would really like on those 200 channels.  Frankly, that is what I want to avoid.  That's all I need is more couch potato time!  I'm trying to get my backside less couch shaped as it is :blush: .  Unlike Tom, I like to have music instead of TV on when putsing around doing chores/projects so my streaming iTunes library takes care of that.

Hope it works for you, do something fun with the money you save every month, and wish me luck on continuing to resist!

[Tom Snyder]

Actually on Saturdays and Sundays during "chore and other putzing time" (noon till about 5 or 6) I have music on, too... sometimes it's my MP3's, but often it's channel 832 on DirecTV:  XM Starbucks Cafe Music channel.  We leave music on for the dogs during the day too... just in case they get bored.

About the only time there isn't some sort of electronic noise in and around our house is when we're asleep... :rolleyes:

[bschlafer]

Been there, done that.

It's been almost two years now since I disconnected TWC in favor of (free) OTA broadcasts.  

At first, it was painful.  Especially when there was a Badger or Packer football game that wasn't available on broadcast TV.  And of course there we're the shows on cable that I had been watching for years that I certainly do miss.  

But I have to say, when I look at the cost, it just isn't worth it to go back to TWC.  The lack of HD content is a factor.  But in the end, there were only about a dozen cable channels that I would watch with any frequency.  The other 175+ channels I could care less about, and cetainly didn't like paying for stuff I wasn't watching.

TWC's On-Demand programming was great and I did enjoy the DVR function.  But reading about the Navigator issues and the frustrations others have had with programming, I'm glad I made the move when I did.

The bulk of my TV viewing lately has been PBS.  Channel 36's HD signal is gourgous and people have commented that it looks better on my TV than it does on cable (due to compression, I guess).  

Last time I checked, I was getting about 24 digital channels from Milwaukee stations.  Granted, most of them are snoozers, but free is free and I can usually find something worthwhile to watch.  Otherwise, there's always DVD's and my trusty VCR, with the hundreds of old tapes I've collected over the years.

I'll keep the $100+/month that I would have spent on TWC and put it towards gas for the car.  I may go back to TWC someday, if they ever get their HD and digital cable box issues resolved.  I still have RoadRunner for my net access and that has worked great from day one.  

But now, I have to tune in Me-TV to catch Mork & Mindy.  


*Bill

[UncleMeat]

Thanks for the inspirational words, hehe.

A few things I've already noticed:
- Picture quality rocks.  I noticed the dropoff when we got UVerse, but forgot how big a difference it was with the HDTV picture.  This brings the "wow" back to HD.
- You definitely cannot try to watch the same quantity of TV with OTA compared to cable/fiber/dish/whatever.  There is a lot of BAD programming.  That is good though, less TV time.
- TiVo is pretty cool.  I always see people hyping it up, but  never got wy.  I figured it was just another dvr.  It really is neat.  I like the recomendations, I like being able to record a show just by seeing a commercial, I like getting a dual tuner for OTA.  Worth the money based on the initial impression.
- Fall and winter is going to stink.  I am a football nut and not having ESPN, NFL Network and Big10 network will stink.  I will at least see all the Packer games, but missing Patriots/Cowboy games on prime time will be tough.

Anyway, gotta program our remote to add TiVo and take UVerse off of it.