Life Without Cable or Satellite TV Is Easier Than You Think

[RLJSlick]

Hmmmmm interesting:

http://gizmodo.com/5366161/life-without-cable-or-satellite-tv-is-easier-than-you-think

[ArgMeMatey]

Yeah but don't forget that the mainstream consists primarily of people who want to sit on the couch for hours on end, with occasional bathroom and food breaks.  

Most of them are not interested in saving $50-100 a month if it involves using the brain for something other than deciding on pizza toppings.

[Matt Heebner]

WOW..I kinda resemble that remark.

[Bebop]

I have been without subscription service for over a year. I use a WD TV Live to stream what ever are recorded or down loaded to my computer to my HD TV.

One doesn't needs to get a new HTCP if their computer is already capable of recording OTA.

http://www.wdtvlive.com/products/wdtv_live#highlights

[beeper]

The first conclusion of that article is that a lot of people pay a lot more than they could be for cable or satellite service.

Some bundled phone, internet and TV packages are O.K. until the introductory pricing ends.

Not everyone is in the situation that is made example of in that article.
It would cost me much more to get TV via broadband, while getting lesser quality.

Where I live, within the city limits of brewtown, we never had DSL available.
Now we have U-Verse, but to get U-Verse internet you have to bundle the U-Verse TV.

The basic U-Verse TV cost alone, is double what I pay for DISH for 98% of the same channels that I watch. The basic U-Verse internet is 2-1/2 times the cost of dial up.

And Roadrunner is out of the question as soon as the introductory price ends.

For over five years, I have used a MCE PC for recording both OTA and DISH.

I also borrowed a 3G wireless modem and tried some of the online TV viewing.
All of it was sub par quality and prone to buffering.

[ArgMeMatey]

Now we have U-Verse, but to get U-Verse internet you have to bundle the U-Verse TV.

Check again; two options ...

1.  They may be offering it by itself now.  

2.  Otherwise there are threads on dslreports.com reporting that you can order the 200 or higher TV service in addition to internet.  Then call to get the TV service canceled within the trial period, and keep the internet service.

[BennyDK69]

I agree thats what I did had Uverse TV  and net canceled the TV and have been rocking uverse internet for $30 a month at the second tier speed I think only thing I sacrifice on is quality I think on some of the  shows that I have to watch via hulu like Psych on USA (I love that show) all the locals I record ota for shows I want, trying to set up another pc with HD tuning at the moment but the graphics card is being a pain as it only has PCI commections lame!! but the point I've save 50-75 bucks a month without cable and I didn't miss it much after the initial shock

[beeper]

Check again; two options ...

1.  They may be offering it by itself now.  

2.  Otherwise there are threads on dslreports.com reporting that you can order the 200 or higher TV service in addition to internet.  Then call to get the TV service canceled within the trial period, and keep the internet service.

I had already been aware of option #2 from U-Verse reps when it was first promoted, but the fine print has been changed to, "If you cancel, you must cancel all services".

I was also aware of dslreports  posts stating that you can now get just the internet, if you order online and pay a $149 installation fee.

No thanks. I'll wait for a free installation promo.

I also noticed that the Express 1.5mbs $25 per month plan has been dropped from advertising.
The basic (Pro) U-Verse internet has already been increased $5 to $35. 3-1/2 times dial up.

In my situation ($37 per month for satellite & internet), the loss in picture quality and the various viewing inconveniences for other family members getting TV on the internet isn't worth it.

Right now at my home, one person can watch satellite, one person OTA and one person can watch time shifted Sat. or OTA, all at the same time. No log jam in front of the PC.

[ArgMeMatey]

I had already been aware of option #2 from U-Verse reps when it was first promoted, but the fine print has been changed to, "If you cancel, you must cancel all services".

Hmmm.  Thanks for the update.  Here's my assessment:
1.  Margins on TV programming are far better than on internet service.
2.  They are trying to attract bandwidth hogs who are willing to pay the installation fee.
3.  They aren't interested in migrating customers from DSL.  Why should they?  The DSLAMs are a sunk cost.  
4.  They figure people who have high-cost cable/internet packages from competitors won't be deterred, since they would be unlikely to cancel the TV portion.  

Still, most businesses would rather have some of your business than none of it.

[ScottyB]

My family has been without cable for over a year now and we haven't looked back.  All Milwaukee stations come in fine OTA, and we stream video to our HDTV via a dedicated computer.  There is enough available online and Netflix to keep us busy for decades.

With cable, try calculating how much you are paying per show you watch.  And not the ones you watch just because they are on, but the ones you really want to watch.  It's outrageous.

It's not that we can't afford cable - I just got so sick of paying for the 99% crap that we never watch.

Scott