Cutting the Cord

[Enigma X]

Since so many TV viewers are finding untraditional ways of viewing TV, and many of us are getting rid of cable and mix and matching services to fit our viewing habits and budget better, I decided to created a topic where we can discuss and compare our options.

Cable finally financially broke me. I have had Netflix and Amazon Prime for years and have recently decided to pick up Hulu. I just did some research and have also picked up HBO Now, and Sling (blue). Trust me, this has placed me well below what I was paying for cable and has left me with channels that I actually watch.

List of Standalone streaming services

Amazon Prime

HBO Now

Hulu

Netflix

Playstation Vue

Roku

Showtime

Sling TV

Starz

Vudu

YouTube

This list of standalone streaming services is by no means exhaustive. It is just informational. Please add or correct any service that I have missed, and I will add it to or correct this list.

 

Edited December 1, 2016 by Enigma X

[navelgazer]

I've been Internet-only because the apartment I live in had never had a full-time occupant before me.  My landlord had never needed to equip the place with a cable hookup.  Besides that, he would've had to pay the local CLEC -- the rural monopoly Internet/cable provider  -- to lay the cable from the road, 150 feet or so, and he's rich, so he's cheap.  

With that, I never bought a TV, so I wore out about five of those old mini-DVD players.  Then about five or so years ago, I happened by accident across two of my favorite movies full-length on YouTube, Damage and The Count of Monte Cristo (Caviezel version), in sequential 10-minute clips I could just start and let play just like I had a real TV.  This was before YT got so uber-efficient at copyright enforcement.  Once I started getting the little red frown all the time, I heard about a couple or three different places on the 'Net to try and I found all of Gilmore Girls and Babylon 5.  I was ecstatic.  

I even bought an Gyration air mouse that I can use to click my next show while lying down.  

[Enigma X]

Oh yeah YouTube is where I get my Scottish Gaelic shows.

I had been wanting to cut the cord for years, but--other than Netflix--that whole world seemed scary to me. Not world-changing scary but I felt as if I might miss out on something. It is so weird, I was willing to give up TV all together (no cable or nothing) rather than venture into the "scary" world of streaming services.

Part of my problem was trying to figure out what streaming services offered what and how to compare them against each other. I hope those of us who took the dive can come here and share our experiences with others who are thinking about it.

Edited December 1, 2016 by Enigma X

[WendyCR72]

Hi! There is already a topic for this in the TV Hardware forum! Feel free to discuss in there. So I'll lock this.