so the economy sucks. i'm not really in any danger of losing my job or anything, but for a number of reasons i'm trying to pare as many costs as possible. as such, i'm looking to cut down on my at-home entertainment expenses.
i currently spend about $80/month for basic cable and high-speed internet. i don't have HD, and my TV is a small (27") piece of shit. i really only watch a few shows (lost, mad men, etc) and live sporting events. but i'm seriously considering ditching the cable and going with naked DSL. i'm pretty confident hulu, downloading, and netflix can scratch my relatively modest entertainment itch. has anyone done this (or even considered it)? am i out of my mind? thoughts?
good to know i'm not completely out of my mind. so why exactly am i throwing money away? the idea of going exclusively to teh interweb has become slowly more appealing over the past few months.
what exactly do i stand to gain if i switch? what will i lose?
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2005 6:30 am Posts: 6116 Location: NC
I actually feel like I just saw an article on the main page of Yahoo about a lot of people doing this.
With most major networks offering all there shows for free, it's a viable option for the moment. If this catches on, i'm sure there generosity will stop.. but I suppose theres always downloading.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:14 am Posts: 37778 Location: OmaGOD!!! Gender: Male
It all depends on what you watch, I guess, and whether you can enjoy TV shows at your computer as much as you can on TV. Personally, I could do it, but my wife hates watching on the computer (she prefers to watch in bed), and with kids I think this would be unworkable.
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Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 3:38 pm Posts: 20059 Gender: Male
punkdavid wrote:
It all depends on what you watch, I guess, and whether you can enjoy TV shows at your computer as much as you can on TV. Personally, I could do it, but my wife hates watching on the computer (she prefers to watch in bed), and with kids I think this would be unworkable.
to extend this argument, for me, it's not as relaxing to watch on computer as on tv
now a series, yeah i could watch on computer, but just flipping thru the channels, that whole possibility is eliminated, and thats one of the freedoms i lvoe
but luckily this is all included in my college tuition so right now i dont even have to THINK about it
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Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:15 pm Posts: 25452 Location: Under my wing like Sanford & Son Gender: Male
I actually went the opposite route since I just moved into a place with free cable. You will miss sporting events if you're used to watching ESPN, but other than that I'd say drop it. Netflix and Hulu are great.
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Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:15 pm Posts: 25452 Location: Under my wing like Sanford & Son Gender: Male
That was honestly the only thing I missed on a regular basis, especially since MNF moved to ESPN and lots of college FB games are televised there and on the regional Fox Sports affiliates. Otherwise I was fine with just movies and occasionally catching stuff on local stations that you can pick up with an antenna. Cable TV is mostly garbage.
_________________ Now that god no longer exists, the desire for another world still remains.
Forgot about sports and other live events; that'd be a big factor.
there are websites where you can find streams of games, at least I know that to be true of hockey.
and football. but there are always sports bars, no?
honestly, i think my only reservation is that i'll be unable to come home and crash on the couch and do nothing for a few hours (although not being able to waste my evenings in front of the TV might not be the worst thing).
nate, how many channels were you able to pick up with the rabbit ears?
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:46 pm Posts: 9617 Location: Medford, Oregon Gender: Male
Remember that analog TV signals are ending so you'll need that box if you want to get over the air signals.
I'm in the same boat. I pay around $70/month for DirecTV (a mid-tier package mind you) including 10/month for the HD stuff, another 5 for some "bonus" HD channels, and three receivers that cost 10/month. I'm over it. I hardly ever watch anything at its regularly scheduled time except CNN and cartoons for my son. Plus, I get my local channels in HD over the air, so I'm going to be canceling shortly. I'm also ditching my Qwest DSL/home phone service and just getting cable internet. I really took stock and all i really need is my cell phone and internet. Between Hulu and Tv torrents, and the ability to stream from my PC to HDTV via Playstation 3, I'm set. The only thing I'd really, really miss is Monday Night Football.
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Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:15 pm Posts: 25452 Location: Under my wing like Sanford & Son Gender: Male
thodoks wrote:
nate, how many channels were you able to pick up with the rabbit ears?
Got Fox, CBS and PBS really well, ABC and NBC not so well. That's pretty much it. Depends on where you live in relation to the broadcasting stations, I guess. I really only watched NFL/College FB games. Ended up watching a ton of movies though.
_________________ Now that god no longer exists, the desire for another world still remains.
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 3:38 pm Posts: 20059 Gender: Male
Orpheus wrote:
thodoks wrote:
nate, how many channels were you able to pick up with the rabbit ears?
Got Fox, CBS and PBS really well, ABC and NBC not so well. That's pretty much it. Depends on where you live in relation to the broadcasting stations, I guess. I really only watched NFL/College FB games. Ended up watching a ton of movies though.
it's like if you could only buy cds at wlamart
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