deejStuff Is Here!! (Part Four!)

[Poeia]

My biggest problem is not having the good internet and no solution in sight (unless I want to go back to Time Warner.)

I've never had Netflix. One of these days I will get a Roku box.

I'd add "a good HD antenna." I have the Mohu Leaf.

 

[TravTech]

Oops, forgot... Many "Smart" TV's & Blu-Ray / DVD players have their own built in apps, similar (in some cases identical) to Roku apps. Some of them also offer free content, others (including on Roku) are a subscription type service usually in the range of $1.99 - 3.99 per month.

Personally I've never felt compelled to subscribe to any of them, but do use many of the free ones.

 

[FranC]

I have a Blue-ray,Amazon Prime and Netflix.

 

[TravTech]

My biggest problem is not having the good internet and no solution in sight (unless I want to go back to Time Warner.)

I've never had Netflix. One of these days I will get a Roku box.

I'd add "a good HD antenna." I have the Mohu Leaf.

Yes, that's also another great option for even more free (local) content. Especially if you don't have a PC connected to your TV.

Personally I don't use an antenna, mostly because I can get enough local info through my PC. But also because I'd much rather stream stuff at my convenience, rather than having to view something at a specific air time / day. Though most people are programmed to do just that and don't have a problem with it.

However, an antenna is also a must have for emergency or disaster type situations if you have electricity but no internet.

 

[TravTech]

Crap, another big one I forgot. Free TV Shows and Movies - Watch Your Favorite TV Episodes and Movies Online | Hulu

Completely free, tons of content. It's internet only so a PC would be needed to bring it to your TV. But for free cable cutting content, it's like the mother lode.

It's like an online lite version of Hulu Plus. Even has some BBC!

 

[1LastShot]

Morning Clowder.

To make the transition easier and reduce withdrawals, my personally recommended "Cut the Cable Kit" Would include the following:

Roku Box: - $80-$100 one time.

Tons of Apps / Channels with movies, sports, news, weather, music (and music videos) etc. Many TV networks have their own Roku apps, some let you watch latest episodes for free.

There's also hundreds of special interest type channels /apps including things like religion, cooking, exercise, home first aid, arts & crafts, politics, and lots pertaining to particular movie genres / eras.

Hulu Plus $7.99 per month.
Hulu takes care of most needs regarding recent TV. It has most all major TV networks covered. It has pretty much anything that airs on TV / cable available for streaming the next day. It generally keeps the last 5 or more episodes available as well. Some shows have many more episodes available up to and including the entire series. Hulu also has it's own selection of Movies, documentaries, and also airs many "TV Specials", it also has some original programming that's not too bad.

Netflix $7.99 per month.
We all know & love Netflix. Good selection of movies and lots of TV series. I consider this my "TV Archive" for when I want to catch up on a TV series I haven't seen before, being how they always keep the entire series available. Or if I feel like re-watching a full series. Also has some great original programming with more on the way.

Amazon Prime(optional) $99 per year.
Personally I would NOT recommend Amazon Prime unless you're also taking full advantage / in need of the free 2 day shipping. Most of the free (with prime) programming on Amazon can be found between the 2 services listed above or by other means.

If money's an issue and you "need" Amazon prime, I'd sub it for one of the above depending on your needs. However, even if you did do all of the above, it would still be much cheaper than most cable bills if broken down to a per month basis.

Also, you'd probably be surprised how much can be found that's streamable for free from the internet. Convenient if you have a PC or laptop connected to your TV. For example, my preferred local TV station has the 3-4 most recent local news reports available for free online 24-7. So whenever I get up, I can watch the 8 & 9am morning news broadcasts regardless of what time it actually is.

I tried Amazon for 1 year and let it lapse. But with just the above I'm never at a loss for things to watch. In fact I'd say your viewing habits tend to adapt to what you have available. So why pay for a bunch of crap, shoveled at you by the cable company, you're not watching anyway?

All you need s a good reliable semi-fast internet. For reliable streaming without a bunch of buffering, I'd recommend a minimum of 10Mbps. In fact you'd be hard pressed to find a slower service even being offered these days. Most places you'd probably have to ask for it.

I personally have a Roku (2 actually) and just amazon prime. Unfortunately, around here Comcast has a choke hold so the only way to get decent Internet that's not too expensive is to get cable as well. The cable never comes on though. I forget we have it lol.

Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk

 

[NGAHaze]

Wow! Thanks Trav and everybody, that was exactly the type of information I needed!!!

I wasn't sure where to start honestly but I'm dead set on cutting the cable for a variety of reasons. For starters I think it is overpriced for someone who only watches sporadically and probably more importantly, I am entirely fed up with the programming and the overwhelming predominance of commercials. I mean seriously, what is now, you get maybe 20 minutes of actual content in an hour long program nowadays? Even with the best shows it's all I can do to make it through the entire hour!

Thanks again, all of this information is a great help!!!!

 

[CES]

I have Netflix and Amazon Prime... (and a 3mb DSL connection- cause that's all that was available without cable)

I agree prime isn't that great- most of the newest stuff isn't prime eligible, but i do find content that isn't available on netflix.

i tried hulu plus, but put it on hold for a couple of months and may cancel it. first because i find watching commercial on during content i've paid for (even if it is very cheap) really annoying, and second because the I find the website is very difficult to browse. It's meh for searching, but that assumes that you already knw what you're looking for and I don't.

 

[TravTech]

Yeah, commercials are an issue with Hulu & Hulu plus. But rather than the frequency or length of the commercials, the thing I find annoying is the repetitiveness.

The commercials themselves I find bearable since they most often only do 3 30 second commercials per break. But they are limited in variety, so you end up seeing the same commercial a few times throughout a show.

I forget, didn't Amazon have commercials too?

However when I consider the options, and cable also having commercials on the majority of it's networks (with much longer breaks), Hulu's variety and price more than makes up for a $120+ per month cable bill IMO.

Oh and their app (on Roku or Smart TV / Disc Player) has much better navigation and searching I feel.

 

[TravTech]

Another useful tool is Can I Stream it: www.canistreamit.com

Put in any TV or movie title and it will tell you what service currently has it available for streaming, and whether it's free or pay. It even worked with Hitbliss which I can't wait for to return.

Not always 100% up to date, but updated I think daily at least and can be very helpful.

Roku has a similar search function built in which allows you to search for things and the results tell you what service(s) have it available.

 

[Poeia]

My biggest problem with Hulu (not prime) is loading. I watch the beginning ads, one segment of the show, then more ads. Then I get dead air. I have to reload and watch another set of ads before it picks up where I left off. Sometimes I get to watch 3-4 pods. And, in the middle of all that, one ad won't load and I'll get a notice about how unfair I'm being by blocking their ads.

I'm getting my money's worth out of prime (in part because I've gotten a lot of free shipping this year.) And they just got most of the big HBO series -- The Sopranos, The Wire, True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, Band of Brothers, Deadwood, Six Feet Under, Flight of the Conchords... Not the series that are still running, but a huge amount of the back catalog.

I think I'm going to start Orphan Black tonight.


ETA: The worst thing about Amazon is trying to find anything. Their filing system is always haphazard but with videos it borders on the bizarre.

 

[Poeia]

I just googled "Cut the Cable" and it turns out that Time had an article on it just last week.

Cord Cutting: How to Cut Cable but Keep Your Shows - TIME


ETA: And don't forget the possibility of Aero
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...e-cord-aereo-supreme-court-decision/10917383/

ETA2: The expression is "Cut the Cord" not "Cut the Cable." I messed up but got the info anyway.

 

[TravTech]

My biggest problem with Hulu (not prime) is loading. I watch the beginning ads, one segment of the show, then more ads. Then I get dead air. I have to reload and watch another set of ads before it picks up where I left off. Sometimes I get to watch 3-4 pods. And, in the middle of all that, one ad won't load and I'll get a notice about how unfair I'm being by blocking their ads.

I'm getting my money's worth out of prime (in part because I've gotten a lot of free shipping this year.) And they just got most of the big HBO series -- The Sopranos, The Wire, True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, Band of Brothers, Deadwood, Six Feet Under, Flight of the Conchords... Not the series that are still running, but a huge amount of the back catalog.

I think I'm going to start Orphan Black tonight.


ETA: The worst thing about Amazon is trying to find anything. Their filing system is always haphazard but with videos it borders on the bizarre.

I have that exact same issue. But not with Hulu Plus since I use the Roku app instead of the website.

Where I have that issue is many of the Network websites. Like AMC for example watching The Walking Dead, or Turn. Or A&E's site watching Bates Motel. And SyFy for Helix, Defiance, and Dominion.

They, and many others, require a cable provider password to access full episodes, yet still have commercials. Not sure if it's the website itself or their embedded video player, but sometimes I go through hell trying to complete an episode. It can be very frustrating, especially after sitting through the same commercial for the 6th time wondering if this time you're going to be able to get back to the spot you left off.

I've found the browser you use can help make a difference. I know you're on Mac, so not sure what options you have. But I find Internet Explorer to be the most buggy in regards to the above. Next in line would be Chrome. I get the best performance through Firefox but even it has similar issues on occasion.

Oh and the commercial breaks on the network websites are just as long as on cable itself LOL. Much longer than Hulu Plus' commercial breaks.

 

[Digimon2k]

Not to break up the streaming convo ( ), but from now until the 4th of July you'll earn Rewards Points at the rate of 25% instead of the normal 10%. No code or any action needed. It'll happen automatically.

On the 5th, the Rewards Points rate will fall back to 10%.

You may now continue your normal conversation...

 

[TravTech]

And if you order now you can get a 1 week free trial of Hulu Plus!

(Actually, if you've never used them before, you can get that just by going to the website. But we can consider it as being included in Deej's generous offer above!)

 

[1LastShot]

I just googled "Cut the Cable" and it turns out that Time had an article on it just last week.

Cord Cutting: How to Cut Cable but Keep Your Shows - TIME


ETA: And don't forget the possibility of Aero
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...e-cord-aereo-supreme-court-decision/10917383/

ETA2: The expression is "Cut the Cord" not "Cut the Cable." I messed up but got the info anyway.

Of COURSE the Aereo thing isn't available in my town lol... Stupid small "city". I have looked into that Freedom Pop thing for Internet (so I can shut off the cable I don't use and just have internet) but it seems like we would need way more data than they could provide. Anyone know any other good interwebz alternatives? We have Comcast and Dish Network that I know of here. Neither great options. I chose Comcast solely based on the lack of contract. Though Dish isn't any cheaper (or faster.... Or more reliable...)

Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk

 

[Poeia]

I have that exact same issue. But not with Hulu Plus since I use the Roku app instead of the website.

Where I have that issue is many of the Network websites. Like AMC for example watching The Walking Dead, or Turn. Or A&E's site watching Bates Motel. And SyFy for Helix, Defiance, and Dominion.

They, and many others, require a cable provider password to access full episodes, yet still have commercials. Not sure if it's the website itself or their embedded video player, but sometimes I go through hell trying to complete an episode. It can be very frustrating, especially after sitting through the same commercial for the 6th time wondering if this time you're going to be able to get back to the spot you left off.

I've found the browser you use can help make a difference. I know you're on Mac, so not sure what options you have. But I find Internet Explorer to be the most buggy in regards to the above. Next in line would be Chrome. I get the best performance through Firefox but even it has similar issues on occasion.

Oh and the commercial breaks on the network websites are just as long as on cable itself LOL. Much longer than Hulu Plus' commercial breaks.

I use three browsers. My favorite is/was Chrome but it's no good for anything with Java any longer. Chrome for Mac is 32 bits or bytes or something and Java requires 64.

My online game site is Pogo and they only support Safari in theory so I use that for most things that use Java. And I use Firefox for streaming from Amazon, etc.

It's rare for me to have them all open at the same time.

I don't mind ads. Your password says you are entitled to watch it on your TV so they'll let you watch it online as well. On TV there would be ads. Okay. That's what pays for the show. I mind watching the same ad 85 times. The worst is if you marathon a show and see 4 ads over and over all day.

thedailyshow.com and colbertnation.com have those shows ad-free the next morning. If you like them, don't bother with Hulu.

 

[TravTech]

Of COURSE the Aereo thing isn't available in my town lol... Stupid small "city". I have looked into that Freedom Pop thing for Internet (so I can shut off the cable I don't use and just have internet) but it seems like we would need way more data than they could provide. Anyone know any other good interwebz alternatives? We have Comcast and Dish Network that I know of here. Neither great options. I chose Comcast solely based on the lack of contract. Though Dish isn't any cheaper (or faster.... Or more reliable...)

Sent from my LG-E980 using Tapatalk

This is where the big monopolies come in. They love keeping your choices as limited as possible, and there's not a lot we can do about it.

In my area we have the dish, Comcast, and Verizon. I don't want the dish because satellite internet service can be very poor performance wise and very unreliable. I had a grudge against Comcast due to some long ago past billing issues. So I've been with Verizon since back when DSL was the best thing they offered.

Back in the day, you had to have Verizon land line phone service just to get DSL. Back then trying to get internet without phone service from Verizon, or Cable service from Comcast was next to impossible.

Had a pretty hard time getting them to let me upgrade to FiOS without keeping the phone service but somehow convinced them. I think they believed I would sometime in the future upgrade to Phone or TV service or both.

Nowadays Verizon is just as much into TV service if not even more so than phone service. It's almost cheaper now for me to get the FiOS with a small selection of TV channels than the FiOS by itself. But those prices are always just introductory and subject to huge price increases over 1-2 years. Between that and my refusal to pay rental fees for descrambler boxes have me staying with what I got for the foreseeable future.

They got me good though when I upgraded my speed not too long ago. See there's this "base service" I get charged for. Then their "speedboost" was only supposed add $10 per month to my bill. But when they added the speedboost they also tacked another $7.99 to my base legacy service.

Funny part is, due to some promotional pricing, if I were to lower my speed to the next level down to try to save some money, the lower speed would actually cost me more?

 

[Fudgey]

Hi everyone Remember me It's been a rough couple of weeks, just got back from out of town for a funeral.

Deej....I placed an order last week and didn't get a chance to tell you before I left town that there is no hurry on it!

 

[cleolove]

Hi Fudgey, nice to see you!! Sorry for your loss