I've mentioned before that since the kiddo moved out to go to college we have reduced our COX Cable services. We now do the 'No Surprises Bundle' of HD Cable with DVR, High Speed Internet and telephone. I think its about $125.

We are considering cutting that down even more, but wondered if anyone else is using alternatives to cable. Sure, we could just stop the services and "live without it" but that will not meet our needs. We basically only watch local channels for entertainment and get our news online. We don't need a phone line (except for the alarm system) and we must have Internet.

I've unplugged our TV's from COX and tried a digital antenna and it picked up the stations very nicely. The problem is we really need a DVR.

I've considered cutting cox down to just high speed Internet (about $60/month). Putting digital antennas on all the TV's and then installing EyeTV on my 27" iMac. That would allow me to DVR all local over the air stations. We would then continue our NetFlix and Hulu+ subscriptions for movies and most TV series and stream them to our TV of choice via our PS3.

The EyeTV would not only let us record shows that are not available on Hulu+, but also makes it easy to load those recorded shows to our Laptops, iPad, Smart Phone, or iTouch devices and take the shows with us to the gym etc.

The initial investment for 4 antennas and the EyeTV would be $222

The monthly cost would go from $125 to about $75. It would take 5 months to recoup my investment and I would save $600/year.

Thoughts? Anyone done anything similar?

I'm thinking of pulling that trigger with a home theater PC/central home server setup.

However my LCD TV bit the dust so I need to replace that first.

However my LCD TV bit the dust so I need to replace that first.

We get all our TV's from the returned section of Sam's Club. We've gotten TV's at 50% off that way - 2 36" LCD, 1 46" LCD and a 48". This time of year they always have a few that have been brought back. They usually put them up at about 20% off and the longer they sit the cheaper they get. The only problem is before Christmas they tend to get bought at the first markdown.

They will tell you you can't get an extended warranty on returned items and they are not covered by the manufacturer, but that is not true. I always call the manufacturer while at the store and give them the serial number. They have always told me it was covered and just to keep the receipt. Also, if your receipt does not say "Clearance item" for the TV (90% of the time it doesn't) then you can return to customer service within 15 days with the receipt and buy the extended warranty (best part is the warranty price is based on the price you paid which makes it very cheap).

Also, the returns often are marked "As-Is, No Return." Check with the store. The MWC location gives you 7 days to return the item anyway.

I bet we've bought thousands of dollars in the return area.

Thanks for the heads-up!

i'm probably going to do this next month. i will keep cox internet and landline phone and ditch television altogether. i have a home theatre pc and watch all television shows on my own schedule using that... so for me, no need for an antenna or for a dvr. next fall, i *may* subscribe to television just long enough to get college football... but other than that, cable tv is a waste of money for me. -M

I think I'm going to try out the Roku, was hoping the Apple TV would fit the bill, but it sounds disappointing without offering the app store or Hulu support.

I think I'm going to try out the Roku, was hoping the Apple TV would fit the bill, but it sounds disappointing without offering the app store or Hulu support.

I wold imagine that's coming.

FWIW I run a Mac Mini as a HTPC. I use Plex as a front end. Works wonderfully, and I also have a full browser there for those streams that aren't supported by Plex (like NBA League Pass). I have an old Mac upstairs that is hooked to a Drobo with about 3tb of movies and TV shows that are streamed around the house.

i'm probably going to do this next month. i will keep cox internet and landline phone and ditch television altogether. i have a home theatre pc and watch all television shows on my own schedule using that... so for me, no need for an antenna or for a dvr. next fall, i *may* subscribe to television just long enough to get college football... but other than that, cable tv is a waste of money for me. -M

Check out ESPN3.com for your college football/basketball needs.

check out espn3.com for your college football/basketball needs.

thanks for the heads up... i'll have to look into that! -M

I think I'm going to try out the Roku, was hoping the Apple TV would fit the bill, but it sounds disappointing without offering the app store or Hulu support.

I have a Roku and use it with netflix and occasional Amazon videos. It works fine for that.

I've really considered the Roku XDS but not sure it will deliver much more than my PS3 already does.

I've got an older one, wireless and I think HD but maybe not. It's hooked up to a 52" and seems to be fine in that respect. No PS3 or DVR but a DVR is on my list to do something about.

Check out ESPN3.com for your college football/basketball needs.
Only if your internet provider is part of it. I have TimeWarner Cable Internet and we do not get ESPN3.

There's also atdhe.net. They're a bit hit-and-miss, but for me, they've been more hit than miss.

There's also atdhe.net. They're a bit hit-and-miss, but for me, they've been more hit than miss.

The quality is also pretty crap usually. If you want near HD quality streams check out veetle.com...they usually have some quality streams of most popular events.

Only if your internet provider is part of it. I have TimeWarner Cable Internet and we do not get ESPN3.

Oh yea, I forgot about that part. Yet another reason to ditch your cable company, even for internet. I have Clear, but I don't think it is available in OKC yet.

Nope, considering going to Clear here in Austin.

FYI - I went to the Apple Store at Penn Square the other day and bought an EyeTV Hybrid to connect to my 27" iMac (works on Windows computers too). I bought this to replace my DVR if I cancel COX Cable. So far, so good. It picks up all the over the air local digital channels really well. Like a traditional DVR I can watch, pause or rewind live TV and I can record a show or an entire series.

Unlike by current COX DVR, with this I can send the recording to a TV in my house or even to my iPad or iTouch anywhere in the world! Also, I can edit the recordings to remove ads or select say a specific news story. I can then automatically have the show saved in an ideal format for Apple TV, DVD or idevice. Also, I can set recordings remotely from my idevice. Looks to be a DVR killer for me and my needs.

I will most likely return this though and buy the EyeTV 250 that is a bit better (hardware encoding as opposed to software encoding).

We cut off our cable two months ago, and do not regret it one bit! We bought a Hauppage tv card for our PC and an HD antenna for a total of about $140. We pick up a lot of stations, and use Windows 7 as our DVR. The picture is super crisp and clean, way better than we ever had with Cox! We still use them for internet, so we get ESPN3, which we stream through our Xbox 360. The DVR works great. It's much more intelligently coded than Cox's crappy DVR box.

For you cable cutters - check out www.channelsurfing.net Get all the sports (every NBA game) and network progams you can watch for free. I think you have to install the player (can't remember if I did or not) but I have never gotten any virus from it and Norton tested the site and shows it to be bug/virus free. When you start watching a program the picture is pretty small but if you right clink on it you can toggle to full screen (or sometimes there is full screen button on the bottom right). The picture gets a little fuzzy in full screen, but hey - its free.

Oh, there is an ad bar for 'singles in your area' but if you just clink the 'X' it goes away.

For a nice HD DVR Sony used to make the DHG-HDD250 and for higher capacity DHG-HDD250. There's always a few used ones on ebay going for over $200. I suppose getting a HD tuner that hooks up to your computer would be better.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Cox have a package of local stations only that is not advertised but they have to offer? It seems like it's subsidized some way and is dirt cheap. You have to ask for it though. If you're keeping Cox for internet, you might look into this if you don't want to go into all the antenna purchase, installation, etc. Makes cutting the cord a bit easier by snipping it rather than completely cutting it. :)

Ahh.....here it is....$11.75 a month....they throw in a few extras (WGN, CSPAN, etc.)

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/8351/starterb.jpg

But a little 'ol indoor antenna for $5 will get all the local digital stations. $11.75 a month adds up after a while and you may still be getting cable fare you're not interested in watching. Further, does Cox offer all the various sub digital channels from the terrestrial stations under any plan? Channel 14 KTBO has as many as 4 of them, but all religious. Now if all the digital terrestrial stations could be allowed to use all their sub channels for cabel channels, like putting on Fox, CNN and so on, that would be super cool. But darn, then I guess they couldn't be in HD, just SD.

But a little 'ol indoor antenna for $5 will get all the local digital stations. $11.75 a month adds up after a while and you may still be getting cable fare you're not interested in watching. Further, does Cox offer the various sub digital channels? Channel 14 KTBO has as many as 4 of them, but all religious. Now if all the digital terrestrial stations could be allowed to use all their sub channels for cabel channels, like putting on Fox, CNN and so on, that would be super cool. But darn, then I guess they couldn't be in HD, just SD.

That's a good point about the sub-channels. Do any of our OKC stations have RetroTV or anything like it on a sub-channel? I love classic TV.

When I lived in Stillwater, I couldn't get the local channels very well over-the-air, so I did the $11.75 package. My wife was home alone when the tech came to install it. When I got home, we had full basic cable plus movie channels...:ohno:

ive done the 11 dollar package from cox for a on/off for a few years, was always pretty happy with it for the price. they dont mention it on there but you also get some hd channels like food network and a few others although they would sometimes freeze up because of buffer issues.

with the college football season over i called dish and took off the local sports package, i asked what lower packages they had and they mentioned that they just came out with a 14 dollar package that had everything from comedy central, WE, usa, TMC, local channels, and quite a few other noteworthy channels. im going to stick with my 120 package for now, but after the intro goes away i might downgrade to that.

didnt read through the entire thread, only thing i have to say is dont be one of those people who ends up spending 300-400 dollars to build this elaborate system to get around cable, i know a few people who did and the stuff they bought was either blocked or obsolete within a year or so. looking at recent history i almost did that with hulu and came up with a system to have a seamless hook up to my tv and this great antenna to get local channels, 6 months later they are now charging for hulu. 10 bucks for hulu, 12 bucks for netflix, dvr's for 300 something, indoor/outdoor antennas for 70+.......

easier just to pay and have something guaranteed to work for more than a year and the more popular it becomes to sneak around the cable monster the more likely that internet providers are going to start blocking massive data streams for people who dont also have tv service with them.

with all that said and if my wife agreed i could easily go back down to the cox base package or the new dish package. really for under 15 dollars for either of them you get quite a few options and looking back if i wanted to watch tv i could always find something on.

You can avoid cable for a reasonable rate. We bought $10 antennas at Ross (I know, odd Ross item), EyeTV for our existing computer for $150 and the computer becomes the DVR. We do the cheapest NetFlix and Hulu+ for about $20/month and stream them through either our PS3 or iPad.

LOL CuatrodeMayo

Oh yea, I forgot about that part. Yet another reason to ditch your cable company, even for internet. I have Clear, but I don't think it is available in OKC yet.
Do you have the Clear Home + On The Go package? That is what I am looking at and dropping the Time Warner Cable internet. If so, does the Home work well?

Our antenna is an HD one and was only $45, so 4 months worth of the basic cable package. All I need I can get broadcast, or streamed from ESPN or Netflix. We're using our current PC that's 6 years old with no problems. Sometimes ABC gets a little iffy, but that is the only channel we have had problems with.

If cable had an a'la carte option, we'd go for that. There are a few channels I miss, like HGTV, Food Network, and the NHL channel, but it's not worth it to me to spend so much for so few channels.

When will KOCO 5 in OKC get strong enough for everyone to get without complaiint?

I am a Okc Thunder fan.

How would I watch the Thunder play without cable?

Our antenna is an HD one and was only $45, so 4 months worth of the basic cable package.

You do realize that there's no such thing as an HD antenna? Its just a marketing ploy. You can get all of the over the air HD thats available with a simple set of rabbit ears. If the signal is weak where you live, get an amplified antenna.

I suspect much of the problem for OTA viewers is that all these newfangled not-really-HD antennas are optimized for the UHF band, and KOCO is still on VHF.

Don't have COX but I just got another post card from AT&T stating my Uverse TV package is increasing $5 a month. This is like the 3rd or 4th price increase in the past two years I've had Uverse and I'm fed up with this. I recently downgraded my TV services because it was getting out of control. Might look into digital antenna and watch my shows online a day later.

I am a Okc Thunder fan.

How would I watch the Thunder play without cable?

www.channelsurfing.net

I watch every game for free. Sometimes the feed leaves something to be desired but you get what you pay for.

Do you have the Clear Home + On The Go package? That is what I am looking at and dropping the Time Warner Cable internet. If so, does the Home work well?

We just have Clear. The On the Go package doesn't seem to be worth it to me. Clear is only available in certain areas so you won't be able to drive down the interstate with it. Also, every place now has free Wi-fi there is no need to even use it around town. Why have on-the-go using a USB adpater when the place you are sitting in has free wi-fi anyhow? If you are on the road that much just use Sprint MiFi.

As for Clear service - we have been pretty happy. When it was 3G it was far better than the DSL we were getting from AT&T. Now that we have 4G it is WAY better. The only problem we have is that the antenna needs to be aimed at the tower. When the switch to 4G happened our tower start over-heating and would shut down. It resulted in a lot of outages (I called and complained and they gave me a free month but I still had to work from a Paners Bread for 3 days). To stop the over-heating they turned down the power on the tower so our service went way down rendering it almost useless to us. However, I found another tower on the other side of house and we get really good reception from it, but it required me to relocate the antenna. The antenna can't get recption through more than about 2 walls and one of those is the wall to your house. I have mine sitting in a second story window on the back of the house. They are also building a new tower just down the street from us we will have maximum coverage then.

We typically get in the 4mbs range on downloads but it will paek to the upper 7mbs speeds at times. When we watch NetFlix throught the PS3 or Wii the movie starts playing almost instantly and it never stops to buffer like it did with DSL. We have run 2 computers on the interent, watched NetFlix, and played PS3 online at the same time and nothing slowed down. I did buy a new 300mbs router to handle the load here at the house. I run the following devices through Clear and never have a problem other than the tower problem mentioned above:

1 PS3
1 Wii
1 DirecTV HD DVR
1 networked printer
2 PS2
4 Laptops

The new Verizon (data-only) plans rolled out the other day. Right now, it's only available for data plans with use with their USB stick (Netflix is an official partner). The reviews have been drooling....the speeds are incredible. Can't be used for phones yet, but the stick for data is providing super speeds. Oklahoma City is one of the roll-out markets.

http://www.slashgear.com/lg-vl600-lte-modem-review-12119033/

Check this one out:
"Lightning In A Box" A personal review by a journalist at the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
http://www.lvrj.com/blogs/onlineguy/Lightning_in_a_box_Verizons_new_4G_modem_makes_Web _surfing_superfast.htm

Official Site: http://www.verizonwireless.com/4Glte

Industry observers expect data rates will fall dramatically over the next year or two. This is a huge leap.

Times are changing....we'll be explaining to our kids and grandkids what "cable" was.

I have the built-in WiMax on my new laptop, one of the reasons why I was looking at Clear, BestBuy had a $100 off the laptop for signing up but that expired yesterday. One thing holding me back was no 3G through them without the USB modem which which they only have the combo 4G/3G USB modem so that would mean disabling my internal 4G modem and the Sony laptops don't have many USB ports (2 USB, 1 USB/eSATA combo). The 3G is a necessity with them since Clear doesn't have 4G service in OKC or Monahans. I know their antenna is located on a water tower within the view of my front yard, I also have a bedroom window facing that direction so I am not that worried about the signal.

I have looked into the new Verizon 4G service but for some reason Austin is not on the initial roll out, San Antonio is. So I may just wait to move the cell service and internet over to them when it is rolled out here, then the service should work here, in OKC (4G) and Monahans (3G). When that happens we will drop AT&T (home telephone and cell) and Time Warner Cable (internet).

When will KOCO 5 in OKC get strong enough for everyone to get without complaiint?

Should be now, for quite some time already. They removed the old antenna and installed the new one. We watched the action LIVE thru the LiveWire.

You do realize that there's no such thing as an HD antenna? Its just a marketing ploy. You can get all of the over the air HD thats available with a simple set of rabbit ears. If the signal is weak where you live, get an amplified antenna.

Yes I do realize that. I also know that this was the only antenna we tried that actually picked up more than 2 channels. Good ol' rabbit ears gave us barely anything. I cared less about the "HD" part of the antenna that works, and more that is was amplified. Should have been more careful with my wording, but I'm lazy and there are 7 fewer letters in HD. ;)

Anyone know of any bars or restaurants in OKC with the NFL Sunday Ticket package? I knew louies on campus corner in norman had it but was curious what places in OKC carry it?

Anyone know of any bars or restaurants in OKC with the NFL Sunday Ticket package? I knew louies on campus corner in norman had it but was curious what places in OKC carry it?

I'm not positive - but call Republic at Classen Curve.

What about Brix?

Yeah thanks, we ended up at Brix and it worked out fine. I won't mention their food in this thread...

Anyone know of any bars or restaurants in OKC with the NFL Sunday Ticket package? I knew louies on campus corner in norman had it but was curious what places in OKC carry it?

Pretty sure that Buffalo Wild Wings has it

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Long story short i ended up picking up an antenna for our guest room tv; im not going to pay 5 bucks a month to dish for another box for a room that is rarely used. It works great, im actually really impressed with the great picture and large amount of channels considering it cost 9 dollars and is extremely small.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-Slim-Profile-Digital-Outdoor-Antenna/14554619

for some reason it says outdoor but the box and the description both say indoor, i have it hidden (well more like just hanging there) between the back of the dresser and the wall and it works great.

Got a roku for Christmas, it's worth pulling the cord if you get a Netflix and Huluplus subscription for less than $20 month total

Got a roku for Christmas, it's worth pulling the cord if you get a Netflix and Huluplus subscription for less than $20 month total

We love RadioTime, too; complete with pre-sets. Have you checked out RadioTime on the Roku? Also, don't forget about Roku "private channels." You won't find them in the Channel Store, you need a code. YouTube, for example, is currently a private channel.

ESPN 3 is not on tv, it's on your computer.

ESPN 3 is not on tv, it's on your computer.

It's easily put on your TV by use of third-party boxes that will stream other Internet content.

We love RadioTime, too; complete with pre-sets. Have you checked out RadioTime on the Roku? Also, don't forget about Roku "private channels." You won't find them in the Channel Store, you need a code. YouTube, for example, is currently a private channel.
How do I add my private channels? Where do you get the codes?

Well Cox has lured me back. I'm trying out the Flex Watch package. It's the TV starter package with HBO and Starz. $20 a month.

Is anyone else excited about HBO's announcement to move to being a stand alone service? While I'm hoping that this is the tipping point to ala carte service coming, I think that ESPN is still a big factor in when the momentum really shifts.

Is anyone else excited about HBO's announcement to move to being a stand alone service? While I'm hoping that this is the tipping point to ala carte service coming, I think that ESPN is still a big factor in when the momentum really shifts.

Yes, that could be the start of a big shift.

ESPN is really the only thing that keeps me tied to cable (actually FIOS).

I recently took a hard look at chucking cable but because it's bundled with my high-speed Internet access, it would only save me about $25 a month for a pretty comprehensive HD package. At that price, it's worth it.

I have pretty much cut the cord except during football season, when it's over it will be back to the the bare minimum and my Roku.

Yup. The day that ESPN decides it doesnt' need the cable cos to get into people's homes will be the death knell for cable as we know it.

We enjoy sports - mostly football - around my house, so that keeps us with ESPN, hence cable.

We cut the cord 10 years ago, and have had various solutions for DVR over the years. Current DVR is a Home Theater PC setup. HD cable w/DVR is about $100/mo now once all fees/taxes are included?

I can not wait for this to go nationwide.

Here's what Sony's PlayStation Vue cloud TV service looks like | The Verge (http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/13/7213305/playstation-vue-screenshots)

Wondering if anyone is using anything 'new' to cut the Cable cord since I started this thread in 2010? We went without Cable for awhile, then Cox offered us this great promotion to get us back. We got it extended a couple of times but now they won't budge. We were paying about $130 for basic HD cable with DVR, 2 premium channels (HBO/Showtime), high speed internet, their modem/router and land line. However, without the promotion the monthly fee is over $200.

I'm back to, "it's just not worth it."

I used EyeTV in the past, but its no longer available in the US.

I looked over some DVR/PVR's on Amazon, but the reviews are all over the place.

I was possibly considering Tivo but they have a subscription fee too (though not nearly as high).

Thinking maybe a whole home antennae in the attic with a Tivo in the living room with the ability to send the recorded shows to my office or bedroom.

Anybody using anything new on the market or something tried and tested?

Also looked at the HBO Now service since I have a lot of Apple products. But I honestly don't think I care to pay $15/month for it.