Cutting the Cord…

[Braivo]

A whole lot more free time since you won't be able to watch nearly as much TV?

I replaced my cable with an antenna two years ago and have since used the extra time to exercise and practice golf more. I am now fit and healthy and my HI is down 6 strokes.

[saevel25]

I replaced my cable with an antenna two years ago

Ditto. I don't mind the over the air networks. During the fall I get some college football games. I sometimes get a few PGA Tour events. Though I wish ESPN would stop STEALING all the majors.

[Braivo]

Ditto. I don't mind the over the air networks. During the fall I get some college football games. I sometimes get a few PGA Tour events. Though I wish ESPN would stop STEALING all the majors.

That is about to change. Starting in 2017 The Open goes to NBC, with The Masters and the PGA on CBS, and The U.S. Open on Fox. The Saturday/Sunday rounds of all 4 majors will be on OTA networks. Not bad.

I catch the Sunday finish of just about every PGA Tour event using my OTA antenna.

I do miss a few Michigan football games without cable, but the important ones I'll just go to a buddy's house to watch.

I save $80/month and have a ton more time.

[saevel25]

I do miss a few Michigan football games without cable, but the important ones I'll just go to a buddy's house to watch.

There not good enough for anyone to really care about missing a #$!%ichigan game

[Braivo]

There not good enough for anyone to really care about missing a #$!%ichigan game

Written like a true $uckeye, allegiance duly noted.

[nevets88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saevel25

Ditto. I don't mind the over the air networks. During the fall I get some college football games. I sometimes get a few PGA Tour events. Though I wish ESPN would stop STEALING all the majors.

That is about to change. Starting in 2017 The Open goes to NBC, with The Masters and the PGA on CBS, and The U.S. Open on Fox. The Saturday/Sunday rounds of all 4 majors will be on OTA networks. Not bad.

I catch the Sunday finish of just about every PGA Tour event using my OTA antenna.

I do miss a few Michigan football games without cable, but the important ones I'll just go to a buddy's house to watch.

I save $80/month and have a ton more time.

Doesn't ABC rebroadcast some of the Open Championship later on in the day? Pretty sure they did last year or the year before. Didn't check this year.

All of golf's majors have been broadcasted on the major networks iirc, in some shape or form.

I thought many years ago, ABC broadcasted The Open live, but then moved it to ESPN, but then rebroadcasted 3 hours worth on ABC later on in the day.

[Gator Hazard]

My family is like many others here.  We just couldn't justify paying $180 a month for cable and internet bundle when all we really are able to watch is maybe 60 or 80 minutes worth of tv a day.  WE cut the cable 4 or 5 years ago.  Like others we have a roku player and  use that to stream amazon prime, hulu plus and netflix.  Sports is the difficult part, and I am a big college basketball fan especially of my alma mater but even if I had cable I still wouldn't get my games too often so I have gone out and searched for sites to stream the games.  Sometimes they work great and other times its not worth the frustration.  All in all though we are happy we don't pay that much for cable anymore, just was not worth the money.

[Mac62]

I have just about zero interest in movies and watch very few TV shows.  Just about the only thing I watch on TV is sports, and without cable or satellite that would pretty much be a no-go.  I went to DirecTV only because they have the NFL package, which is about 80-90% of my annual TV watching.  I don't like paying the premium for it, but they pretty much don't leave you a choice - it's either that or watch whatever games the network channels are contracted to show, which often isn't a game I have any interest in.

[turtleback]

Been a while since i posted on this thread.

So I have completely cut the cord.  All I have now is Internet and smartphones.

But I have also gotten an OTA HD antenna and I can get all of the networks, so I still have CBS, NBC and FOX for football.

Now I find out that because I have Verizon as my carrier for my smartphone I also have the ability to access many of the games with their NFL Mobile app, and I can mirror the games to my TV through my Sony Blue Ray player using miracast.

The only thing still missing is golf that is not on a network.  And the ability to DVR thing from antenna (yeah, I know I can get an device that allows this but I wouldn't use it that much and the ones I've seen have subscription costs.

So I am pretty happy with how it has gone.  The only streaming services I've used is are Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Kozoom (a European billiard streaming site).  so even if I add another pay site or two I will still be Waaaaay ahead of the game.

Not bad for an old fart.

[nevets88]

Been a while since i posted on this thread.

So I have completely cut the cord.  All I have now is Internet and smartphones.

But I have also gotten an OTA HD antenna and I can get all of the networks, so I still have CBS, NBC and FOX for football.

Now I find out that because I have Verizon as my carrier for my smartphone I also have the ability to access many of the games with their NFL Mobile app, and I can mirror the games to my TV through my Sony Blue Ray player using miracast.

The only thing still missing is golf that is not on a network.  And the ability to DVR thing from antenna (yeah, I know I can get an device that allows this but I wouldn't use it that much and the ones I've seen have subscription costs.

So I am pretty happy with how it has gone.  The only streaming services I've used is are Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Kozoom (a European billiard streaming site).  so even if I add another pay site or two I will still be Waaaaay ahead of the game.

Not bad for an old fart.

Good on you @turtleback ! That's pretty darn good for anyone of any age.

I use a Mac Mini to record OTA, but that's not exactly a cheap option, even if you buy it used.

There's this: http://www.channelmaster.com/Antenna_DVR_s/336.htm

This thread is 1/2 year old but has some suggestions: https://www.reddit.com/r/cordcutters/comments/2y5gkm/ota_dvr_without_subscriptions_fees/

[turtleback]

Quote:

Originally Posted by turtleback

Been a while since i posted on this thread.

So I have completely cut the cord.  All I have now is Internet and smartphones.

But I have also gotten an OTA HD antenna and I can get all of the networks, so I still have CBS, NBC and FOX for football.

Now I find out that because I have Verizon as my carrier for my smartphone I also have the ability to access many of the games with their NFL Mobile app, and I can mirror the games to my TV through my Sony Blue Ray player using miracast.

The only thing still missing is golf that is not on a network.  And the ability to DVR thing from antenna (yeah, I know I can get an device that allows this but I wouldn't use it that much and the ones I've seen have subscription costs.

So I am pretty happy with how it has gone.  The only streaming services I've used is are Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Kozoom (a European billiard streaming site).  so even if I add another pay site or two I will still be Waaaaay ahead of the game.

Not bad for an old fart.

Good on you @turtleback ! That's pretty darn good for anyone of any age.

I use a Mac Mini to record OTA, but that's not exactly a cheap option, even if you buy it used.

There's this: http://www.channelmaster.com/Antenna_DVR_s/336.htm

This thread is 1/2 year old but has some suggestions: https://www.reddit.com/r/cordcutters/comments/2y5gkm/ota_dvr_without_subscriptions_fees/

Thanks, @nevets88 .  I looked at those DVRs but for the amount we would use it even without subscription fee it is more than I'm willing to pay.

[acerimusdux]

But I have also gotten an OTA HD antenna and I can get all of the networks, so I still have CBS, NBC and FOX for football.

This is the main problem I've got. I'm pretty much just out of range, over 80 miles, from the nearest cities with TV towers for most networks (Orlando to the north, or Palm Beach to the south). There's only two stations (ABC and MYTV) close enough to give me good reception (both about 45 miles away). So I'm probably stuck with cable just for network television for now.

And could maybe do without it with a little more sports programming elsewhere. Would love to see the Golf Channel made available streaming somewhere. If Sling TV would add that to one of their packages that might tempt me.

[Braivo]

This is the main problem I've got. I'm pretty much just out of range, over 80 miles, from the nearest cities with TV towers for most networks (Orlando to the north, or Palm Beach to the south). There's only two stations (ABC and MYTV) close enough to give me good reception (both about 45 miles away). So I'm probably stuck with cable just for network television for now. And could maybe do without it with a little more sports programming elsewhere. Would love to see the Golf Channel made available streaming somewhere. If Sling TV would add that to one of their packages that might tempt me.

Yes! If golf channel comes to Sling then I'm sold.

[turtleback]

Quote:

Originally Posted by turtleback

Quote:

Originally Posted by nevets88

Pretty much all these devices, their browsers are limited. Meaning, Hulu will recognize it's not a "real" browser and not play. You have to attach a computer to the TV.

Raspberry Pi. Computer on a stick.

It isn't the Hulus of the world I am concerned about, as any streaming device will have Hulu support built in.  I want to access streaming video from sites that are too narrowly specialized to have specific support in the streaming device.

I have since learned that my Sony blu-ray player has a primitive built in browser.  Unfortunately it is barely usable - cannot see where on the screen the cursor is and waaaaay awkward using the blu-ray remote as the input device.

Forget any site that needs to play videos via Flash. None of the browsers handle Adobe on the devices I looked into.

I know this was a while back, but I just wanted to mention that I found a web browser for droid that has built in flash support that seems to work.  It is called Puffin.

[turtleback]

I also want to add that if any cord-cutters who have Verizon and get the Thu/Sun/Mon and local NFL games streaming on your phone, be aware that you will NOT be able to get those games on a verizon tablet.  This is apparently a big secret because not one of the employees in my local very large and very busy Verizon store was aware of this limitation.

[k-troop]

On 8/5/2015 at 0:21 PM, nevets88 said:

I just have a Mac Mini hooked up to flat panel TV. It works as a PVR as well and serves as an extra computer. Plus it's basically my music player and photo viewer.

Have you found that you can access a lot more content using your Mac Mini than you could through apps?  Also, I was wondering how complicated it would be to use the Mini as a DVR.  I'm a recent cord cutter (since November) and am trying to figure out how to maximize content.  We've got Hulu and Amazon, but honestly I don't like having to use my phone to sling content to my Apple TV.  Some of the networks expand content available online vs. through the apps, and I believe many more will have live streaming soon (even with a cable subscription login, which will always be available so long as suckers keep paying for cable).

(On another note we also have an indoor OTA which is basically useless.  It gets 2 channels if I put it in one spot, and two different channels in a different spot.  Too much of a PITA to move it around.  I'm in a rental and haven't decided to make the leap to a roof-mounted antenna yet.)

[nevets88]

58 minutes ago, k-troop said:

Have you found that you can access a lot more content using your Mac Mini than you could through apps?  Also, I was wondering how complicated it would be to use the Mini as a DVR.  I'm a recent cord cutter (since November) and am trying to figure out how to maximize content.  We've got Hulu and Amazon, but honestly I don't like having to use my phone to sling content to my Apple TV.  Some of the networks expand content available online vs. through the apps, and I believe many more will have live streaming soon (even with a cable subscription login, which will always be available so long as suckers keep paying for cable).

(On another note we also have an indoor OTA which is basically useless.  It gets 2 channels if I put it in one spot, and two different channels in a different spot.  Too much of a PITA to move it around.  I'm in a rental and haven't decided to make the leap to a roof-mounted antenna yet.)

You get TONS more content via browser on a computer vs apps on a streaming device. There are shows you can't play on a streaming device Hulu app you can on hulu.com on a browser on a computer. Other content providers probably cripple their apps as well. There are still many content providers that stream shows on a browser but don't have any streaming device apps available or may not have an app for your device. I think there are more Golf Channel videos you can stream from a computer browser than on any of its streaming apps.

I record shows from OTA via an EyeTV usb tuner stick. The picture is better than the compressed picture you get via a cable box. Tuner connects to Mac's usb port and antenna attaches to other end of USB tuner and there's an app to schedule recordings. If you record, get a big honking hard drive. 2TB is minimum. 4TB is better.

If you're tired of moving your OTA antenna around, you could buy an extra antenna, a splitter and more coaxial cable, place each antenna appropriately and no more moving antennas. You can't do anything about the helicopter hovering over your house though.

 

[k-troop]

32 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

You get TONS more content via browser on a computer vs apps on a streaming device. There are shows you can't play on a streaming device Hulu app you can on hulu.com on a browser on a computer. Other content providers probably cripple their apps as well. There are still many content providers that stream shows on a browser but don't have any streaming device apps available or may not have an app for your device. I think there are more Golf Channel videos you can stream from a computer browser than on any of its streaming apps.

I record shows from OTA via an EyeTV usb tuner stick. The picture is better than the compressed picture you get via a cable box. Tuner connects to Mac's usb port and antenna attaches to other end of USB tuner and there's an app to schedule recordings. If you record, get a big honking hard drive. 2TB is minimum. 4TB is better.

If you're tired of moving your OTA antenna around, you could buy an extra antenna, a splitter and more coaxial cable, place each antenna appropriately and no more moving antennas. You can't do anything about the helicopter hovering over your house though.

 

Cool info--thanks. I was thinking of using the mini as a media server and downloading content to it and streaming over my local network. That seems like the best way to access the most content through a single device. I may PM you for advice if/when I decide to get one. will have to make a call before football season next year. I might subscribe to sling just during football season.