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Location: West of the Catalinas East of the Tortolitas
4,922 posts, read 8,574,783 times
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Jen, I feel your pain and angst. I'm so frustrated, too, about TV and technology.
I have no idea how Roku or Hulu or any of those work, either. I work from home full-time and have a desk top computer. I have CenturyLink land line which I need for work and for internet since Directv (my TV service) doesn't have internet. I also have Verizon cell service (200 min/mo no text) as it's strictly for emergencies only and the phone is a no-frills Motorola flip phone I got in 1999. I maybe use 10 minutes a month and I've never texted in my life. Altogether I pay Centurylink (I bundle just to save $5.00/mo) $160/mo Directv unless I'm getting MLB Extra Innings or NFL Sunday Ticket, then it's more. I pay $35/mo Internet and #35/mo phone service plus the fees and taxes and $39.99 for Verizon for a total bill of about $270/mo.
My desktop is not in the same room as any of my TV's, only one of which has an HD DVR box. The other two are in the bedrooms and are 19" on a standard cable box. I can't hook my computer up to the TV as it's an unmoveable desktop, they're about 40 feet apart and in two different rooms. The only 21st century electronic I have is my iPad mini. I do have Amazon Prime, but I've never used the video amenity, I only use it for the shippin. How would I benefit by doing the Google thing or Hulu or Roku? Would I still be able to watch my TV shows on the day and hour they air on broadcast? What about football where I'm not in the same market as my favorite team? I've been asking about these other options for over a year at the Verizon store, from friends who use Roku, online and no one can really tell me what I need to do, how to do it, and how my viewing will change. They assume I understand all this and I don't. It's a foreign language to me as I'm completely Roku/Hulu/Netflix/Google whatever/Amazon prime illiterate.
I need a slow, step by step tutorial geared toward a senior citizen who is still trying to master the remote control and how to record my favorite shows.
I'm very technologically oriented, but I just don't want to work as hard as some of these choices you're pursuing require. I don't want to deal with the perturbations that saving money injects into the mix. I make a qualitative decision - eating out less, never going out to the movies, taking less expensive vacations, making leisure time activity generally be something free or very low cost - so that the limited amount of money I have to spend on entertainment can be used to purchase the easiest to use options - cable and TiVo. I can probably work out some of these other options, but it is worth it to me to sacrifice other things so I don't have to. I suppose if my priorities change, I may have to work a lot harder to be able to have the kind of television entertainment I have now, learning a lot more about new things rather than expecting them to be easy, but I rather doubt my priorities will change.
You can't watch abc.com without a cable subscription code anyway. A lot of the stations are "punishing" the cable dumpers this way.
I have the mohu leaf antenna for my free local channels and an appletv for my internet tv. I also set up a small Bluetooth keyboard in the living room, so we can search for shows without "hunting and pecking" with the remote. The appletv icons I use most are netflix, pbs, and, youtube. There is an amazing amount of free content on youtube. If you like old sitcoms, for instance, every episode of Roseanne and The Cosby Show (and many other shows) are on youtube. I also have amazon prime, but don't use it as much.
You're making it harder than it has to be. First buy or borrow a amplified tv antenna, the set your tv to "air" and you're done. Unless you get a decent laptop, then you could watch movies, tv shows for free on it.
Also, OP, as for "saving" when you eliminate part of a bundle: doesn't always work. I have NEVER used the phone that is bundled with my cable package (Time Warner Cable), so I called about getting just Internet & cable TV in a bundle instead. It was MORE expensive than the "triple play." Ridiculous.
If you can live without cable shows, get a Roku for your smart TV (it shouldn't need one, but my so-called "smart TV" worked HORRIBLY for streaming until I got a Roku) and an $8 streaming deal from Netflix.
You can't watch abc.com without a cable subscription code anyway. A lot of the stations are "punishing" the cable dumpers this way.
I'm being further "punished" because our cable provider is not on abc.com's list, can't use my Uverse internet account # as it is not Uverse TV. I go through a google box to stream & surf and it is "an unrecognizable device not authorized to view content".
Quote:
Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012
an $8 streaming deal from Netflix.
Which from now on for new customers will be $8.99 per month existing customers remain at $7.99 per month for 2 years.
Which from now on for new customers will be $8.99 per month existing customers remain at $7.99 per month for 2 years. [/b]
OK, 9 bucks a month. Sorry, I guess I am not seeing the problem? That is way better than paying for cable, if one doesn't watch TV much in "real time." I have been a Netflix customer for years but recently added the streaming service (8 bucks a month for me). Right now I am in the midst of season 2 of "Grey's Anatomy," which I had STARTED watching for free on amazon prime, then it was suddenly (and without any warning at all) changed to pay-per-episode. For me, 8 bucks a month is definitely worth it (on amazon prime, that would be the cost for I think 4 episodes!).
I wish I could cut the cable cord entirely, but I regularly record programs for my classes, AND there are certain things I like to have on in "real time" (e.g. football games), even if I'm not literally "watching."
OK, 9 bucks a month. Sorry, I guess I am not seeing the problem? That is way better than paying for cable, if one doesn't watch TV much in "real time." I have been a Netflix customer for years but recently added the streaming service (8 bucks a month for me). Right now I am in the midst of season 2 of "Grey's Anatomy," which I had STARTED watching for free on amazon prime, then it was suddenly (and without any warning at all) changed to pay-per-episode. For me, 8 bucks a month is definitely worth it (on amazon prime, that would be the cost for I think 4 episodes!).
I wish I could cut the cable cord entirely, but I regularly record programs for my classes, AND there are certain things I like to have on in "real time" (e.g. football games), even if I'm not literally "watching."
There is no problem I was just posting Netflix is now $8.99 a month except for existing customers which it remains $7.99 for 2 years. I watch it enough that I would have gladly paid the extra buck if I had to but I don't & I will keep watching it.
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