Members Lucky Posted December 9, 2011 Members Posted December 9, 2011 I hate Time Warner Cable. I need them for my internet, but neither the bf nor I watch much TV. For him, it's cooking shows and International House Hunters. For me, it's the Daily Show and baseball, in season of course. For that, I have to pay extra for 80 games a week. Not that I watch 80. Just the Yankees. But, we can get the shows we watch on hulu.com for free, and mlb.com will provide the baseball games, for a fee, of course. So, why do I need Time Warner Cable? We tried Direct TV a while back, but the doofusses sent out to hook it up literally had the wires strung along the living room floor to the TV. Cost me $300 to have it all taken out, and the satellite dish still sits on the roof. But I need my internet. That's non-negotiable. Hitoallusa might pay for it just to keep me posting. So, anyone else can their cable TV for the internet shows? How's it working for you? Quote
Members Suckrates Posted December 9, 2011 Members Posted December 9, 2011 I watch alot of shows (ie: american horror story) via Hulu, and its great. No buffering, few commercial breaks, Love it..... Quote
Guest hitoallusa Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 I can't stand commercial breaks. That's why I rarely see TV. Quote
Guest FourAces Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 I kept my Roadrunner Internet service and reduced the TW cable service to the most basic no boxes no nothing. My cable bill excluding Internet went from $140. x month to $20. x month. I kept the very basic services so I can watch local channels once in a while and the news. I use Hulu and Netflix to watch most of the programs I want. With an adapter you can even stream the programs on your large HD TV or if your computer is HDMI ready or your smartphone you can watch on your TV.. Or if you have a new TV it usually is Internet ready. I been doing this now about 6 months and rarely miss anything I want to watch. I also like to stream shows on my iPad if I feel like laying in bed and just relaxing. Hope this info helps. Quote
caeron Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 We just recently did this, about 2 weeks ago. So far, I'm doing fine without all the TV. I used to surf a fair bit, but I didn't really need all the channels, and haven't really missed them. We switched to fiber with the local phone company for internet and all is going well. Now we just pay for netflix on-demand and hulu plus. Quote
Guest FourAces Posted December 10, 2011 Posted December 10, 2011 Another option is to get a Roku or Apple TV box. If you do not use iTunes go with Roku and its about half the price at $50. You can stream quite a bit for free with this box. Quote
Members Lucky Posted December 10, 2011 Author Members Posted December 10, 2011 How does the Roku work? How does it get the programs? Like Hulu does? So I connect this box to my tv, then the tv will show the shows that Hulu shows on my computer? The 2XS seems the best buy since it is on sale, but do I need that much? Rokuku Looks to me like you have to buy Hulu Plus, netflix, and other premium programs to have anything to watch on Roku. Quote
Guest FourAces Posted December 10, 2011 Posted December 10, 2011 How does the Roku work? How does it get the programs? Like Hulu does? So I connect this box to my tv, then the tv will show the shows that Hulu shows on my computer? The 2XS seems the best buy since it is on sale, but do I need that much? Rokuku Looks to me like you have to buy Hulu Plus, netflix, and other premium programs to have anything to watch on Roku. I would think the basic HD version is all you would need. My good friend has this service so I can only speak from when I've used it at his home. Basically think of it as Internet on TV. Basically it streams Internet programming to your TV via services like Hulu. My understanding i s you do not need Hulu plus unless you want their prem content. Just like online. Netflix is a prem online so yes you still need to pay for the service. On channels like Crackle you get free content mostly older TV shows like Seinfeld. When I watch it as my buds house never had any issues. It is smooth easy to use and good picture quality. If you get a chance go to Best Buy as they probably have it setup to where you can try it. Quote
Members Lucky Posted December 12, 2011 Author Members Posted December 12, 2011 I would have gone to best buy but I spent so many hours on computer issues. I probably would have walked out of Best Buy with a new computer. Quote
Guest FourAces Posted December 12, 2011 Posted December 12, 2011 I would have gone to best buy but I spent so many hours on computer issues. I probably would have walked out of Best Buy with a new computer. I understand ... to the point where I starting to become a Apple fanboy. This past year relatives and friends have gotten me hooked on the iPad and most recently the iPhone (gasp). My next purchase will be a iMac as I like a desktop computer. Are these perfect far from it but considering the alternative these days and the thought and quality that Apple applies I am now on board. Quote
Members Lucky Posted December 12, 2011 Author Members Posted December 12, 2011 I called today to cancel the cable TV and was shocked to learn that I was paying $107 a month for it. Each cable box added to the bill, and we have 3. So they are coming tomorrow to claim their equipment. Naturally the guy tried to change my mind, and then, when he couldn't, tried to get me to add their landline phone service at only $7 a month.I declined that too. In the course of the call, he repeatedly mixed up which service we were dropping. He would say "internet" when I wanted to drop cable. Whether this was intentional I do not know. Bottom line is that the Roku TV box looks like a good deal if I am going to be saving $107 a month. I'm off to Best Buy to see it, but will probably buy it at Amazon where there is no sales tax. J/K California tax guys! Quote
Members MsGuy Posted December 12, 2011 Members Posted December 12, 2011 In the course of the call, he repeatedly mixed up which service we were dropping. He would say "internet" when I wanted to drop cable. Whether this was intentional I do not know. LOL, if we don't hear from you after tomorrow, at least I'll know what to tell Hito when he asks what happened to you. Quote
Members Lucky Posted December 12, 2011 Author Members Posted December 12, 2011 LOL...keep him stress free. BTW, the paper today says that the Ipad3 is coming out in February and is probably worth the wait. I saw the Ipad at Best buy and love it. Someday I will have to stop reading paper books whether I like it or not. And, believe it or not, I got a Best Buy sales person to speak with me and answer a question. Aces, how much HDMI cable does one need for the Roku to get the best stream? Quote
Members lookin Posted December 13, 2011 Members Posted December 13, 2011 Aces, how much HDMI cable does one need for the Roku to get the best stream? Sorry to intrude, but we may have a sales emergency here. If by 'how much' you mean 'how long', get just enough to go from your Roku box to your TV. Common lengths are 18 inches, 3 feet, 6 feet, 15 feet, and 25 feet. The shortest run that reaches will be the best. If by 'how much' you mean 'how expensive', you have clearly been talking to a Best Buy sales person. Their HDMI cables are outrageously expensive, and it's almost pure profit. Best Buy will gladly charge you more than a hundred dollars for a 6' cable, when you can buy a perfectly adequate cable from Amazon for ten dollars. I like Mediabridge cables, and they're highly rated. If you simply can't resist his sales pitch, at least insist he drop by your house for a free hookup. Quote
Members Lucky Posted December 13, 2011 Author Members Posted December 13, 2011 Thanks, Lookin. I actually did wonder on that. Then I went to Amazon, and where Best Buy's cheapest HDMI cable was $24.95, Amazon had one as low as $2.42. I ended up buying their $6.50 one, as well as their Roku which was $10 cheaper than Best Buy. I don't know why they call the place Best Buy. Quote
Guest hitoallusa Posted December 13, 2011 Posted December 13, 2011 Yep MsGuy is my go-to guy if I want to know where Lucky is... Lucky usually announces his absence if he is going away for an extended period of time so I rarely worry about him but there were times he was MIA without any notice.. I do get worried if that happens.. I don't watch TV a lot these days so sorry I can't be any help to you Lucky.. LOL, if we don't hear from you after tomorrow, at least I'll know what to tell Hito when he asks what happened to you. Quote
Guest FourAces Posted December 13, 2011 Posted December 13, 2011 Sorry to intrude, but we may have a sales emergency here. If by 'how much' you mean 'how long', get just enough to go from your Roku box to your TV. Common lengths are 18 inches, 3 feet, 6 feet, 15 feet, and 25 feet. The shortest run that reaches will be the best. If by 'how much' you mean 'how expensive', you have clearly been talking to a Best Buy sales person. Their HDMI cables are outrageously expensive, and it's almost pure profit. Best Buy will gladly charge you more than a hundred dollars for a 6' cable, when you can buy a perfectly adequate cable from Amazon for ten dollars. I like Mediabridge cables, and they're highly rated. If you simply can't resist his sales pitch, at least insist he drop by your house for a free hookup. Thanks Lookin I had a long day Quote
Guest FourAces Posted December 13, 2011 Posted December 13, 2011 Thanks, Lookin. I actually did wonder on that. Then I went to Amazon, and where Best Buy's cheapest HDMI cable was $24.95, Amazon had one as low as $2.42. I ended up buying their $6.50 one, as well as their Roku which was $10 cheaper than Best Buy. I don't know why they call the place Best Buy. If you use it in a sentence you will understand better. You BEST BUY this overpriced item from me or else I will get in your head your TV will blow up Quote
Members Lucky Posted December 13, 2011 Author Members Posted December 13, 2011 It probably takes a poker player to deal with Best Buy to get a deal. Quote
Members Lucky Posted December 13, 2011 Author Members Posted December 13, 2011 We just recently did this, about 2 weeks ago. So far, I'm doing fine without all the TV. I used to surf a fair bit, but I didn't really need all the channels, and haven't really missed them. We switched to fiber with the local phone company for internet and all is going well. Now we just pay for netflix on-demand and hulu plus. One of the advantages of a community forum- someone has gone forth ahead of you to shine the way! Quote
BiBottomBoy Posted December 14, 2011 Posted December 14, 2011 Hulu only works in America so I use eztv.it and download the shows I want to see to my flash drive which I can then stick into the USB port on my television. I am pissed though that Ringer has been off the air for two weeks now. They better have a fucking new episode next week! Quote
caeron Posted December 14, 2011 Posted December 14, 2011 One of the advantages of a community forum- someone has gone forth ahead of you to shine the way! And for much the same reason. We realized that we were paying ridiculous amount for TV that was kinda nice to have, but which we really didn't watch much. I've changed my TV habits a bit. I usually would surf a bit before bed, now I just pick a TV show from Hulu and watch that. Doing Angel which I never saw when it was one now, but tons of other shows to watch so I don't think I'm running out any time soon. What we lost and miss was HBO's boardwalk empire. We will probably be regretting it when HBO's game of thrones season 2 starts. But it just doesn't seem worth all the cost to us. Quote
BiBottomBoy Posted December 14, 2011 Posted December 14, 2011 You can download or stream all the Boardwalk Empire you want here: http://eztv.it/shows/411/boardwalk-empire/ Quote
Guest EXPAT Posted December 14, 2011 Posted December 14, 2011 Hulu only works in America so I use eztv.it and download the shows I want to see to my flash drive which I can then stick into the USB port on my television. I am pissed though that Ringer has been off the air for two weeks now. They better have a fucking new episode next week! Ringer doesn't return until January 31. Quote
