by "Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
Published 05/23/2017 at 18:17
by "Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
Published 05/23/2017 at 18:17
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STARS: 0
For a person my age (think within spitting distance of Clarkson) I have a pretty good handle on technology, but this is beyond me. Time Warner (now Spectrum) is the only option in this building for reasons to complicated to explain - no FiOS, no nothing else. I want to cut my $159/month bill down by a lot.
I have: a Pioneer plasma 42" dumb TV with a Mac Mini attached to it; a PS3, a TIVO Roamio, and a decent sound system. I would need to keep Spectrum internet, and they have provided me with a modem and a channel tuner, both of which I rent.
I have HBO Go because I pay for the cable service - it is accessed through the TIVO. I also have, through that device, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime video, YouTube, and a couple other things. I have a feeling HBO Go might be able to be converted to a monthly pay account, but probably not available through the TIVO.
I have heard about some sort of flat antenna that I can hook up so I can watch the Jets lose (CBS, Fox) but I generally don’t care about those sorts of channels. I’d like to keep BBC-A and the PBS channel, but it’s not a requirement. Cinemax and whatever channel The Americans is on can go - I’ll just find that content elsewhere.
Help me Oppo - you’re my only hope. How do I configure this mess so I can get content spending under control? Alfa for your time.
"Little Black Coupe Turned Silver" (littleblackcoupe)
05/23/2017 at 18:27, STARS: 1
HBO Now (same as Go, but the stand alone version) can be done through the Mac Mini. Just use the Mac to use the HBO website and then go full-screen. That’s the only one I can help with.
"Thomas Donohue" (tomonomics)
05/23/2017 at 18:41, STARS: 0
Do you have a (very) friendly neighbor on either side of your apartment? One person keeps their service and adds a second box, the other cancels their service. You split the bill.
In addition to coax, you would also need a CAT5 cable between the two apartments, or a good access point for wireless on the other side of the wall.
If you aren’t that friendly with the neighbors, then look into an external antenna (not sure if any of your boxes have an HD tuner) as well as YouTube TV (aka Google TV). $35/month no contract.
https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
05/23/2017 at 18:44, STARS: 0
Eww, I haven’t had cable for years. I just you online services.
"ZHP Sparky, the 5th" (e30s2k)
05/23/2017 at 18:47, STARS: 1
You can buy a digital antenna for like $20 to plug in to your tv to get free to air channels – PBS, ABC, local channels, etc. You can keep your Netflix etc. as you already have it. For HBO you can get HBO Now like someone else mentioned, which is basically the same as HBO Go. Only difference is that HBO Go is typically bundled with a cable subscription. HBO Now is specifically for cord cutters- exact same content, just don’t need a cable service and you can log in through any compatible web-enabled device (laptop, roku, etc.)
We cut the cord a long time ago and have basically this same
set up…antenna plus roku (where we pay for Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu…I’d
like HBO too, trying to kick out one of the others if possible). Various other
providers are also working towards web-based live TV channels…believe YouTube
is working on a package where you’d get various channels delivered through
youtube (so you just need an internet connection) with unlimited “DVR”
recording through YouTube…believe they’re shooting for like a $40/month price. Also,
if you have a family member or friend with a cable subscription who is willing
to share their login credentials with you, a lot of channels also have app/online
versions where you can watch recent episodes and even live programming in some
instances. For channels we don’t care about but are nice to have (my wife likes
HGTV but we’d never pay for it) we do this with her parents’ cable login.
Given all the crap out there on TV it really isn’t worth paying for a full cable TV subscription unless you REALLY like sports or something like that.
"Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies" (jordanwphillips)
05/23/2017 at 19:00, STARS: 0
Sling will give you BBC-A.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
05/23/2017 at 19:11, STARS: 0
Get internet, you can buy a modem by the way. The modem pays for itself within a year, sometimes 6-7 months. I presume you can still get your Netflix/Amazon/Hulu through your TiVO still. If not you can get an Amazon Fire stick, or a Chromecast, or any number of things that do that. Add an antenna for over the air stuff and you’ll never be without something to watch.
I’ve got an antenna and Netflix/Amazon Prime through a $68 smart Blue Ray player. I’m all-in for under $60/month.
"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
05/23/2017 at 19:18, STARS: 0
Flat antenna and wifi plus a Firestick is what three coworkers have done. They pay for Netflix and HBO through the Firestick and pay the Amazon Prime yearly fee. It greatly reduces the bill. We still have U-verse with all the above but cutting part of our channels to reduce bill.
"itschrome" (itschrome)
05/23/2017 at 19:33, STARS: 0
Raspberry pi plus kody plus 32gb card sd card. Done
"Saracen" (manualdoucheelitist)
05/23/2017 at 20:30, STARS: 0
I cut the cord a long time ago. I watch all content between my chromecast, samsung smart TV apps, and PS4.
You can add the HBO channel to your Amazon Prime account for something like $15 per month.
I watch football between a combination of the free streams (Twitter, Yahoo), a cheap and powerful HD antenna that mounts flat on the wall behind my TV, and NFL Sunday Ticket. Sunday ticket is great because I can watch on any wi-fi network on my phone or iPad, or cast it to my TV.
I also found Hulu to be unncessary at some point. Netflix and Amazon are what I mostly end up watching. Hulu lost a lot of content to Netflix recently so I decided to give it the axe.
YouTube TV is looking seriously good though. I may subscribe to that.
"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
05/23/2017 at 23:26, STARS: 0
Handmaid’s Tale is on Hulu right now, so I’m stuck for now.