Eliminating un-necessary expenditures, starting with cable bill! HD Antenna Q?
 

Hello all, thought i'd ask this question here as we are mostly grown adults here with a more adult attitude! So, im paying 211$ a month for my satillite service which includes 3 HD boxes, and roughly 150Channels ALL OF WHICH I NEVER WATCH ANYMORE!! I just watch my local news when home and thats IT! so upon researching this on the googles, i realized i could purchase a HD Antenna and recieve my local news and minor other channels.... GREAT! So I ordered this ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) That should allow me to get my local news channels, and according to the website they tell you to chk your zip code by, it did in fact say I get up to 52 channels and all my local news channels.... PERFECT! ANyone use an HD antenna before, what are your thoughts?

Next question, I see all sorts of set toop boxes and usb devices for hulu, roku, amazon, netflix, etc.... what are those all about and i understand there is a monthly fee for them, and i have no issue paying for a service, but will something like those allow me to get other channels like TBS, movie channels, etc.....?? I REALLLLLLLLY want to cut the cord here very soon with my cable provider but dont want to till i have all my bases covered...

LAST QUESTION... IS there a way to have a DVR type setup to with no more cable service? I have a spare 2tb hdd, and an external enclosure... can I somehow use this for a dvr type setup?

any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I do antenna tv for local= free
cable for internet/ tv streaming= $35.00
Sling tv with apple tv box for sports and other channels = $40.00

Thats it. It works great for me.

If you have a way to link devices (computer, tablets, phones) to your display, then you have all sorts of options. Plex is a great way to stream digital media from a computer or NAS. My new smart TV has opened up a world of options, but I'm not ready to give up cable just yet.

But what you're looking to do is going to be difficult without laying out exactly what you need minimum. Certain channels or movies are going to be streamed using different services. Find a family member or good friend that still subscribes to cable and ask to use their login to access streaming options that you don't have without a cable subscription. And your DVR options are very limited. There are a few boxes out there, but from what I've seen they are $300-500 per box and still very limited in their functionality.

I will say it sounds like you're getting ripped on your TV coverage. I pay barely $100 per month for 250ish channels most of which are HD and 2 DVR boxes. That includes most every sports channel except most of the Fox regional ones. That's with DirecTV, though I'm on a grandfathered plan that no longer exists since AT&T bought them.

thanks for the replies, looking at my options now.... trying to see what this sling tv is all about

No cable here, just internet. Took it from $155/month to $29/month. Watch very little tv anyhow but anything want to watch is easily available. Used to do the HTPC thing but cut that out. Plex and Kodi are where it's at. You can find local channels on Kodi. There is no reason to pay subscription fees for any of these.

awesome, im loving this research! Gonna do the Kodi / sling tv along with amazon fire stick... see how this works out. My only issue i foresee now is my internet connection. Fastest in my area is what im currently using and thats a 17mb service... Im sure thats on the ragged edge of streaming speed

OTA:
-Look into Tablo, Plex (requires hardware but they have DVR function in beta, I have been using it and it is very good), HDHomeRun

Streaming:
-Top platforms are Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, but most of that is past movies/TV shows. For live/current TV you can look at SlingTV, DirectTV Now, PS Vue, currently PS Vue seems to be the top spot but DirectTV Now just launched this week. Now has a great intro price but currently some teething problems being a new service

Boxes:
-Two main ones are Roku & Amazon, you have the low end which are your streaming sticks but are not very powerful. I have used some and they are great at first but overtime I notice them getting laggy when browsing. The full box, usually 50-100, are much better and will make using better. Final contender is Chromecast, fairly cheap, but must use your phone. Browse an app, find video, throw to the chromecast to play on your TV. I know many who like this as they are already on their phone and it makes it easy to search, pick TV, hit play.

Deals:
-Look into deals & offers with the holidays, DirectTV Now is throwing an free streaming stick if you sign up for 1 month or a free AppleTV if you sign up for 3 months (must pay all up front). Many others like Roku & Amazon will bundle in a few free months of other services if you buy right now.

I'm only using a 15mb service and have no problems streaming to the TV and surfing the net at the same time.

Using the YouTube app on the smart tv it's amazing how many current movies are on there that don't get filtered out through the tv stream for some reason. Just found this out the other day and was pretty impressed!

Awesome thanks!

I've got Dish satellite service. About $40/mo for local and "2nd-tier" channels (Discovery, NatGeo, etc). No premium movie channels - I can wait until a movie hits the video stores or Wal-Mart. I bought the receiver, so no outrageous rental fees (had to buy a new $15 remote on eBay after 3 years). Do you really need three receivers?