Need some advice on cutting the cord...

[Pappy13]

My daughter that lives in Colorado (I live in TX) just had a baby and my wife traveled there to help with the baby. She is going to be gone about a month. My wife and I have been talking about cutting the cord on the cable for years and when she left, since she's really the main one to watch TV, I told her I was turning off the cable and she agreed.

We had Spectrum and after talking with them they talked me into changing my service to use their streaming app instead of the cable boxes that we had. We would still save $100 a month and still have a lot of the channels that we typically watch. So I went that route.

So here's where I need some advice, the biggest issue that I perceive that my wife is going to have is being able to record her shows as we were paying for a DVR as part of our cable package. She'll be able to stream some stuff, but not everything I don't think so how is the best way to handle that? If a show isn't streamable, how's the best way to record it to watch it later? Just buy a DVR? Which one? What features do I need to make sure it has? (I don't use them) Are there online services that can record shows and watch them later? What options do I have and what options are the best?

[Dave Gray]

I don't have a direct answer for you since I don't use DVR anymore, but I'm the cord cutting king.

What shows, specifically, need recording.  Pretty much everything worth watching is streamable. 

I found that I was worried about all the things I'd miss without cable, but most of the stuff exclusive to cable is shit repetitive programming like Pawn Stars and crap like that....and even those, you can stream the old ones.  So, it is likely that her viewing options will change.  Watching TV isn't "seeing what's on" anymore and it becomes much more intentional.

The hardest things to replace are live sports and news.

1) Buy yourself an HD antennae.  That's huge.  It will give you local news and sports in HD, plus things you might not even think about like awards shows, live events, telethons, holiday programming you might be used to, etc.  That's a must.

2) I recommend finding close people in your life to share streaming services with.  I pay for a few things and have my siblings have something...we all trade around.  If you don't have young kids, maybe you don't need Disney+, but it's still nice to have access in case you want to watch one show.  There are LOTS of streaming services and it can get daunting.

3) Even if you are going to cut the cord and go without cable, there are services, like YouTube TV that essentially act as a DVR for you.  It's live TV through the Internet, but anything you want to record, it saves for you.  I don't have this option, but a friend does, so I've seen how it works.

We are in a golden age of TV so there is no reason to watch bullshit just because you're used to it.  Streaming really helped me select and filter out bad TV (I watched a lot of stuff for convenience that is built around commercials, but without that, I've gotten into much better shows).

[EDGECRUSHER]

HuluTV is another option if you want your basic cable along with the Hulu service.

I am the King of Pirate Bay and VPN's so I don't know if I have any more advice you would be interested in.

[Tenshot13]

My daughter that lives in Colorado (I live in TX) just had a baby and my wife traveled there to help with the baby. She is going to be gone about a month. My wife and I have been talking about cutting the cord on the cable for years and when she left, since she's really the main one to watch TV, I told her I was turning off the cable and she agreed.

We had Spectrum and after talking with them they talked me into changing my service to use their streaming app instead of the cable boxes that we had. We would still save $100 a month and still have a lot of the channels that we typically watch. So I went that route.

So here's where I need some advice, the biggest issue that I perceive that my wife is going to have is being able to record her shows as we were paying for a DVR as part of our cable package. She'll be able to stream some stuff, but not everything I don't think so how is the best way to handle that? If a show isn't streamable, how's the best way to record it to watch it later? Just buy a DVR? Which one? What features do I need to make sure it has? (I don't use them) Are there online services that can record shows and watch them later? What options do I have and what options are the best?

SlingTV has most of the channels that Spectrum would have, and they have recording capabilities.  I've been pretty happy with them.  HD antennae like Dave said is a must.  Add in Netflix and Amazon Prime, you can watch almost everything.

[Dave Gray]

The best advice is to literally write out the shows that you WANT to watch....not the shows that you happen to catch.  What would you CHOOSE to watch if you could watch any shows in the world.  ...then work backwards.

In my life, there were some hurdles to find HGTV type stuff and news and sports.  But most of the stuff we didn't have regular access to turned out to be a net positive.

Also, there are free TV options that are ad supported.  You can get apps for Pluto TV, which I sometimes use.  They have tons of movies and shows you can watch for free.  And if you're crooked, like me and EdgeCrusher, nothing is farther than a few clicks away.

[Tenshot13]

The best advice is to literally write out the shows that you WANT to watch....not the shows that you happen to catch.  What would you CHOOSE to watch if you could watch any shows in the world.  ...then work backwards.

In my life, there were some hurdles to find HGTV type stuff and news and sports.  But most of the stuff we didn't have regular access to turned out to be a net positive.

Also, there are free TV options that are ad supported.  You can get apps for Pluto TV, which I sometimes use.  They have tons of movies and shows you can watch for free.  And if you're crooked, like me and EdgeCrusher, nothing is farther than a few clicks away.

Make sure you're using that VPN   

[Pappy13]

Thanks all for the advice. We already have Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu but I think the Hulu is the free version and I think my wife wants to upgrade that to the pay version so that may be an option but we also have the Spectrum app and we get all the local channels and about 15 of the most popular ones like ESPN, NFL, A&E, Paramount+, USA etc through that so there's no issue with watching all the shows, I just don't think that all of that is available for streaming but maybe most of it is and that won't be an issue. Sounds like most people don't use a DVR so there must be a lot of ways to stream stuff so we'll just figure it out as we go. I think what you said Dave makes the most sense, she'll need to figure out what she wants to watch and then decide how to watch it. It's not an issue for me, I don't watch a whole lot of TV and most of what I do watch, I'll watch it live, meaning when it's on. The few things that I might want to watch later, I pretty sure I can find options to watch it.

[masterfins]

I don't use it, but with my TV you can plug in a thumb drive to record TV shows.  Amazon Firestick also has a DVR like box to record streaming shows to watch later.

[Dave Gray]

Not to crap on DVR, but it's backwards looking technology, so I don't think you should plan your TV strategy around it.

Streaming is the present...it's also the future.  Aside from very specific cases, there is no need for DVR...unless you're talking about recording live sports or something...even then, most of that stuff is on-demand.

[Spider-Dan]

Not a fan of streaming.  I save all my stuff locally (except for live sports).

[Dave Gray]

Bump.

Looking for an update, Pappy.  What did you end up doing and how did it work?

[AQNOR]

I had Xfinity for a number of years and they just kept raising the cost of my cable and internet to the point where I was paying over $200 per month.  Meanwhile I kept seeing advertisements for really cheap packages for new customers.   When I went to the store to demand the new customer package for being a long time customer, they essentially gave me the run around.   Then I saw Google Fiber available in my area.  Turns out it's even faster than Xfinity for a fraction of the cost.  I cut the cord and went with Google Fiber and upgraded my Disney Plus Bundle to Hulu with Live TV.   End result, I'm now paying only $140 per month

[Fau Teixeira]

i have Youtube TV and i'm pretty happy with it.

[Pappy13]

Bump.

Looking for an update, Pappy.  What did you end up doing and how did it work?

Unfortunately there's no new information. Nothing has really changed since my original post...except for 1 thing, but I think I'll start a new thread on that. It really deserves it's own topic.

[Dave Gray]

This was 2 years ago, though.  Did you end up cutting the cord or are you still on that cable teat?