Cordcutters

[TenaciousBe]

For those who don't know, cordcutters are people who have ditched traditional cable/satellite TV packages in favor of less traditional, often more tech-savvy methods of watching their favorite shows. Myself, I haven't had cable now in probably the last 4 to 5 years, which really only started on accident as my roomie at the time liked to run up the cable bill with PPV movies, and we got behind on the bill and our service shut off. But when they shut us off, a whole world opened up to me in the form of Netflix streaming, Hulu, and various other less "legal" methods of watching TV shows. So after several years of this, I thought I'd share my current setup and see if anyone else is doing the same kinds of things.

First off, my TV. In some ways, this requires a newer HD style TV, though not necessarily if you have all the right adapters / hookups on an older TV (you definitely get a better experience with an HDTV though). I'm currently using a 52 inch DLP Zenith that I picked up on Craigslist for a paltry 35 bucks. Deal of the century, methinks. Into the TV, I have 4 main inputs - VGA (my laptop), HDMI1 (Roku), HDMI2 (Blu-Ray Player), and coax cable. I sort of lied when I said I don't have cable -- I tried running a splitter on the line into the house, and borrowing the line that goes into my cable modem to run it into the TV. Lo and behold, I do get basic cable through this (though I don't think I'm supposed to). I don't really use it all that much, but I do like having the coax in as it helps to pick up the digital OTA (over the air) channels in my area in stunning HD. I also have both the laptop and the Roku running into my surround sound system, though the laptop only uses 2 channel stereo.

The latest and greatest addition to this lineup is the Roku - specifically a Roku 2 XD. A Roku is an example of an STB (set-top box), an independent box that runs most if not all of your streaming applications. Through my Roku, I have my Netflix account, Amazon Prime (which they gave a free one month trial with the box), Hulu Plus (which I don't really use, don't have a subscription), Crackle (free movies and TV with ads interspersed), Plex Media Server (which is a program that runs on my laptop and wirelessly streams my locally downloaded files to the Roku), as well as a handful of other, more minor, apps that run various other things. For instance, CBS Sports (free highlights and fantasy football shows), TNA On Demand, NBA Game Time (free game highlights from NBA.com), HuffPost Live, NASA TV, Vevo (runs music videos for the old school MTV experience, plus LOTS of live/documentary programming). You can also run some straight music apps like Pandora, Rdio, and newly added Spotify. I've had the Roku for less than a week and I can't say enough good about it. Especially with the Netflix and Amazon streaming, it's really made a difference in the way I experience these movies, since the old method of running it through the laptop/VGA didn't give me the full surround sound.

So, what's everyone else using these days? Anyone else fully cut the cord from the cable companies and consume your media more on-demand?

[AB23]

this is a good thread. i wish i was tech savvy at all. id be lying if i said i understood all of this, but i love hearing innovative ways that people save money. i dont think i have a good enough tv to do any of this...

[Jhenrid]

I just seen a newspaper ad for Roku and meant to look into it, is it more of a one time fee or a monthly thing? Also do you need a Roku for each tv?

[abw1987]

I wouldn't worry about the cable company finding out about you using their lines to get basic cable. They know that those signals are broadcast across all of their copper. It's really just a replication of the OTA signals anyway, as you mentioned.

[QwikSand]

Brian for years I've been pretty much doing the same thing minus the Roku. I use my PS3 for everything - Neflix, Hulu+, Amazon, Plex, Youtube and it's all plugged into my receiver out to the tv. Whatever else I use like karaoke, Spotify, etc... its all done through the laptop the same way. I used to do everything through a Mac Mini but the PS3 works better. Getting rid of the home phone and cable package saves me easily $125 a month, even with the costs of Hulu+ and Amazon. For live sports I find those on the web to watch and sometimes I use the MLB At Bat app on my phone or ipad to listen to the games.

I work a lot and have a pretty busy life so this has cut tons of wasted time out of my tv watching because I don't channel surf when I'm bored and I have a ton of content waiting for me whenever I want it. I don't need to watch stuff right away so I find nice gems on Netflix to get into when the regular tv seasons are over. For instance, I found the shows Eureka and Jericho on Netflix and got hooked and watched them all. They were great shows. Hulu+ is frustrating because the content licensing keeps changing and there's no CBS shows on it, but it does have some pretty good stuff too. Most network shows you can watch right on the networks website including stuff like Conan and Fallon. Redbox is now rolling out their streaming service as well. Amazon Prime has a lot of the same stuff as Netflix but they also have current episodes for rent and eventually some of that stuff becomes free too. I've had the Prime shipping for years anyway so this was a nice bonus. There's a ton of ways to watch whatever you wanna watch legally and free if you look around. This has been a huge hobby of mine for a while, it's cool to see others here wanting to do this too.

[TenaciousBe]

Very nice! Yeah, I forgot to mention the live sports thing, which is the one downfall. I've had MLB.tv for the past couple seasons, and if you want a quick easy way to bypass the local area restrictions on live games, I downloaded the program at http://www.unblock-us.com - basically a VPN service, an extra $5 a month that's fully worth it. I don't know if they have a PS3 version, but it definitely works on the laptop. I've thought about getting NBA League Pass, but haven't quite gotten that far. Otherwise, I mostly watch crappy online streams at http://www.thefirstrow.eu.

[abw1987]

Oh man, I am jealous of you guys. I would love to cut the cable TV cord, especially since I'm only home on weekends. When I'm on the road, I watch Netflix almost every night. And at home, I have an HTPC that I built, which obviously I can use to watch anything over the internet - Netflix, all of the TV networks' websites, YouTube, and even live TV via my TV tuner card.

Problem is, my girlfriend needs Food Network almost as much as I need Alter Bridge , so that wouldn't really work out. Plus, if I got rid of cable TV, then my cable internet rate would go up, so I wouldn't really save that much money.

[QwikSand]

That is a big factor to consider, a mate. I'm currently single so I only have to have what I need but having someone else and their viewing habits changes things. Also, I do have the very basic cable which is like $15 so I can watch the network channels in HD and see live football and also my internet rate is good because of having that. There's so many options but it can all easily be done, however the spousal factor is a huge one to consider.