I posted this in the Sports Bar but it didn't get too many hits so I thought I'd start an OT thread here.

Does anybody here have Apple TV or Roku 3? I'm sick of traditional cable since I only watch a few channels. I'm wondering how much it will cost me in subscriptions if I have the free stuff + Hulu, a couple of news channels, History, stuff like that. All I really need is 10 of the pay channels tops. The pricing is a little hard to find online and I think I'm reading conflicting info.

Any advice or reviews/comparison is greatly appreciated.

You won't find any of the traditional channels available to those without a cable/satellite TV subscription (or someone's login to their pay TV subscription). You can find some online only stuff, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime... and streaming radio.

I just dumped DirecTV last week.

I have an Amazon FireTV. I don't recommend it. It is actually pretty awesome, but its app support is not on par with what you get with the Roku. There are a lot of apps I can't get with the FireTV yet that are available on Roku. I can't even get HBO Go on it yet.

I signed up for a television package with Time Warner that basically has a lot of throwaway TV channels (only locals), but since I'm a subscriber for "cable" they can offer me HBO.

I pay $80/mo for one of their fastest tiers of internet + 20 local channels + HBO (and HBO Go access). Hulu is 7.99/mo and Netflix is 8.99/mo (I think).

The key is really sharing. Find some friends or family to share these subscriptions with. Lets say you get HBO, give them HBO Go access in exchange for Netflix / Hulu.

My parents still have TWC, so I use their password to watch a lot of content on TV station channels that require you to log in with your cable provider info to watch content. In exchange, I give them HBO Go, Netflix, and Hulu access.

If you get a Roku, you can download SkitterTV, which can allow you to subscribe to CBS Sports channel for like $4.99/mo without cable.

So basically for $95/mo, I get very fast internet, Hulu (FireTV, Computer & Xbox 360), Netflix (FireTV, Computer & Xbox 360), HBO (Computer & Xbox 360), Watch ESPN (FireTV, Computer & Xbox 360), FXNow (Xbox 360), Fox Now (Xbox 360), History Channel (Xbox 360), National Geographic (Xbox 360), and a handful of other channels.

With DirecTV + Internet (and no HBO), I was paying a little over $150/mo.

I have Apple TV.

The only weakness to cord cutting is the limitation on sports programming.

If you do cut the cord, you may need to set up an antenna for local television.

I subscribe to Netflix streaming and blu rays for about $17/month. I do not subscribe to Hulu+.

(08-14-2014 12:16 PM)chess Wrote:  I have Apple TV.

The only weakness to cord cutting is the limitation on sports programming.

If you do cut the cord, you may need to set up an antenna for local television.

I subscribe to Netflix streaming and blu rays for about $17/month. I do not subscribe to Hulu+.

That works for me. The only sports I watch are ecu, panthers and hornets. I should be able to get ecu on ESPN3 and panthers and hornets over the air.

Fwiw I've read that amazon fire app is awesome. Basically sounds like Hulu and Netflix plus a lot of amazon purchasing perks.

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(08-14-2014 12:25 PM)blunderbuss Wrote:  

(08-14-2014 12:16 PM)chess Wrote:  I have Apple TV.

The only weakness to cord cutting is the limitation on sports programming.

If you do cut the cord, you may need to set up an antenna for local television.

I subscribe to Netflix streaming and blu rays for about $17/month. I do not subscribe to Hulu+.

That works for me. The only sports I watch are ecu, panthers and hornets. I should be able to get ecu on ESPN3 and panthers and hornets over the air.

Fwiw I've read that amazon fire app is awesome. Basically sounds like Hulu and Netflix plus a lot of amazon purchasing perks.

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Hornets are not over the air. They are on Fox Sports South. If you guys are getting them over the air in your area, but we're not in Charlotte, then we're getting screwed down here. NBATV exists on pretty much all streaming boxes though, so you could always just subscribe to that for a season anyway.

All the boxes have MLB and NHL apps as well.

Crap I was hoping they'd be over the air. I just moved to concord... Actually still in a hotel right now. Hornets used to be ota back in the day.

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(08-14-2014 12:25 PM)blunderbuss Wrote:  

(08-14-2014 12:16 PM)chess Wrote:  I have Apple TV.

The only weakness to cord cutting is the limitation on sports programming.

If you do cut the cord, you may need to set up an antenna for local television.

I subscribe to Netflix streaming and blu rays for about $17/month. I do not subscribe to Hulu+.

That works for me. The only sports I watch are ecu, panthers and hornets. I should be able to get ecu on ESPN3 and panthers and hornets over the air.

Fwiw I've read that amazon fire app is awesome. Basically sounds like Hulu and Netflix plus a lot of amazon purchasing perks.

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Amazon fire is awesome. You don't need a Roku or Apple TV, or anything like that. All you need is a $5 micro HDMI to HDMI cord and you need to learn how to sideload schit because the Amazon app store is useless and the device cuts you off from being able to get the Google Play Store. The device is pretty proprietary, but not as bad as Apple. There are workarounds.

I watch local TV on my AppleTV, but I was fortunate to have purchased
an Elgato EyeTV before they discontinued it in the U.S. Market.

It’s basically a receiver for my Mac. It picks up local over-the-air HD broadcasts
and with the help of AirPlay I can stream that content through my AppleTV.

Yes, I do miss Braves games, but baseball is one of the
few sports that is enjoyable via radio broadcast.

(08-14-2014 12:37 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  Amazon fire is awesome. You don't need a Roku or Apple TV, or anything like that. All you need is a $5 micro HDMI to HDMI cord and you need to learn how to sideload schit because the Amazon app store is useless and the device cuts you off from being able to get the Google Play Store. The device is pretty proprietary, but not as bad as Apple. There are workarounds.

I suspect that the fire will continually get new apps going forward as companies will develop for it.

As far as the Amazon Prime that was mentioned before, that is what I use. I used to have Netflix but found Prime to be as good for my tastes and since I already used it for the 2 day shipping it was an easy choice.

I have Xbox360's on all my TVs since I can stream WatchESPN and Amazon, and I use a media center PC for my DVRing and pay TV delivery. No cable box fees, just $2 for my cable cards that plug into my HDHomerun Primes. There was some money outlayed up front (for the HDHomerun's) but I saved that money in the first year and now have paid for all of those hardware costs. I also watch craigslist looking for people dumping their xb360's for cheap so I have spares around my house (or if I decide to add a new TV to my house). Makes for a great distribution system.

(08-14-2014 12:31 PM)blunderbuss Wrote:  Crap I was hoping they'd be over the air. I just moved to concord... Actually still in a hotel right now. Hornets used to be ota back in the day.

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My Wife has family in Concord.

The Quaker Steak & Lube has the best hot wings in the Canberra area.

An important caveat is that much of the programming on AppleTV won't be available without a cable subscription ... even over the air stuff like ABC won't play without logging in through your cable provider and giving it a code. WatchESPN, HBO Go, ABC/Disney properties (if you have kids), and some others don't work without bundled cable and internet (so, even if you pay for some of the channels, if you have a different company for your ISP, you may not be able to log in to WatchESPN, at least in some cases).