Cable Vs. Internet

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Son_of_Niall

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How many people here decided to rid themselves of Cable TV and go with the internet completely?
What are the advantages/disadvantages?
 
My husband and I did! We are both recent college graduates/newlyweds so money is tight. Not having cable was one of our best financial decisions, and we honestly don’t miss it at all. My hubby is very skilled at finding episodes of our favorite shows online, as well as sports games. We can’t always get everything we want, but I’d say we get it 90% of the time. I will say that some of things we download aren’t procured 100% legally though. The biggest advantage is that we save 100 dollars plus a month. I would say that the only disadvantages are that you can’t just throw on the TV to watch a random show/game when you feel like it… it requires a bit more legwork.

All in all, I think it’s a great way to save money. Look into getting a HuluPlus or Netflix membership as well! Both are great companies that make it easy to watch TV shows without a cable subscription
 
But you still need either a cable provider or AT&T to provide internet. They try to sell packages, rather than just internet service, so you have to be persistent. And it seems nobody is transparent on their pricing.
 
Advantages
  • Far cheaper - If you already pay for high-speed internet, you pay almost $0 extra to watch TV online.
  • Almost everything online is on demand - No having to wait every week for the next episode to appear.
  • Most primetime shows on the major networks are free to view the next day after the live airing
  • Tons of original content online that’s not available on TV - YouTube alone has several professional quality shows, though each episode is usually no more than 15 minutes.
  • A good sense of freedom knowing you aren’t bowing down to some cable/satellite company’s exorbitant fees. You get to pick & choose which shows you want to have access to and which you don’t care about.
Disadvantages
  • Harder to find what you want to watch - No website/company has every show or movie. There is no easy “channel listing” to see all the shows that are available, since every website/company has it’s own library of shows/movies. Sometimes a show you plan to watch gets dropped from the library when the license holder and the website/company don’t renew the contract.
  • Some shows not legally available online - The company that owns the rights hasn’t signed a deal with any online website/company.
  • Very little sports - Most sports channels require you to have a cable or satellite subscription to access their online stream. You might be able to access them through a smartphone or tablet, then stream it to your TV.
That’s all I can think of right now.
 
I don’t watch cable tv. I watch satellite tv, and for me the advantages are obvious. Watch tv on a 12’ screen on your computer which only you can see. Or…

Watch tv on a large screen high definition set that the whole family can see?

I chose satellite on the large screen tv. Seems kind of obvious to me. 🙂
 
I got rid of cable several years ago when I compared how much I watched with what I was paying and figured out the cost per hour. Definitely not worth it for me. I added Netflix streaming and save a bunch of money.

The only time I really miss it is when there are current event type things rather than episodes of TV shows. How important are the Olympics, Oscars, various sports, etc. You may be able to find some of these online, but you may also miss out unless you invite yourself to a friend’s home to watch.
 
One has to look at the “advantages” of continuing in the system.
Local news and weather? We can watch that online.
World and national news? Internet news is far superior. cable news is an embarrassing joke.
Sports? I started boycotting the NFL years ago and I don’t miss it in the least. Non-corporate controlled sports (such as local) are available online, or will be very soon.
Entertainment? Most of what my wife and I watch is on DVD or online.
Educational? I have to admit, PBS is one of the few reasons to still own a TV (am I really writing this?). But even there shows are available online or on DVD.
Bottom line, cable TV is an aged dinosaur that needs help walking into the tarpits.
 
andrewstx said:
I don’t watch cable tv. I watch satellite tv, and for me the advantages are obvious. Watch tv on a 12’ screen on your computer which only you can see. Or…

Watch tv on a large screen high definition set that the whole family can see?

I chose satellite on the large screen tv. Seems kind of obvious to me. 🙂
Click to expand...
I used Direct-TV satellite for a few years, but I recently signed up for DVR programming with them. I absolutely LOVE it! There are good shows I would miss during the middle of the night when I’m sleeping or even away from home. I just set them to record and watch at my leisure, after which I delete them, or save them for another viewing with my friends. I’m wondering why I did without it? It was only $10 more per month, but since I bundled with my ISP, they gave me a $10 refund each month for using DTV in their package.

Just a FYI, the record feature is not like the old programming of a VCR, but has mega storage and works with just a click of a button!
 
Sirach2 said:
I used Direct-TV satellite for a few years, but I recently signed up for DVR programming with them. I absolutely LOVE it! There are good shows I would miss during the middle of the night when I’m sleeping or even away from home. I just set them to record and watch at my leisure, after which I delete them, or save them for another viewing with my friends. I’m wondering why I did without it? It was only $10 more per month, but since I bundled with my ISP, they gave me a $10 refund each month for using DTV in their package.

Just a FYI, the record feature is not like the old programming of a VCR, but has mega storage and works with just a click of a button!
Click to expand...
Do you have to have a land-line to use a DVR? All I have is cell and I can’t do pay-per-view with no land-line. :confused:
 
andrewstx said:
Do you have to have a land-line to use a DVR? All I have is cell and I can’t do pay-per-view with no land-line. :confused:
Click to expand...
No, just a satellite dish that is specially programmed for DVR recording. When I upgraded my service with Direct TV, they sent a technician to change something on my satellite and he gave me a new receiver that does DVR’s. It’s not a pay-per-view at all, totally free except for the small monthly fee for upgrading my service.
 
I would cut the cord in a heartbeat if it weren’t for sports. There’s just no way to avoid cable if you want to watch live sports.
 
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