DirecTV: less expensive alternatives

[Jeannie]

A couple of months ago, there was a discussion on the WSB about cheaper alternatives to traditional TV services. Now that fiber optic from Clink is starting to show up around West Seattle, can you suggest some smart options? We don’t need 500 channels! Are there special connector boxes that we can use to turn our TVs into computer screens, for instance? How about just getting the basic channels – what’s the best way to do that?

Thanks!

Share This

[HelperMonkey]

Hi Jeannie, I just recently gave Comcrap the heave-ho and have been living with a digital HD antenna purchased at Radio Shack and a Chromecast. The Chromecast is a little dongle that sticks into the HD slot on your tv and will cast Netflix, Hulu, etc from your computer or phone. You can also get a Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire which will all do the same thing. With the antenna we are getting HD-quality which I didn’t even have with Comcrap. I went from paying over $100/ month to paying one time $50 for the antenna, $8.75/each for Hulu and Netflix. Never been happier. I might go for a slingbox once football season starts up just so I can have ESPN but for now I don’t feel like I am missing out on anything other than forking out money for 500 channels I never watched anyway.

Share This

[Mike K.]

We pay almost 100$ a month just for internet, any other options in this area?

Share This

[PangolinPie]

You may be interested to hear that Apple just today announced that they’ll be offering an HBO subscription through their AppleTVs (the price of which is going down to $69!) that you don’t need to be a cable subscriber to use. It will be $15/month. I think this is a great option, and when combined with an over-the-air HD antenna, could encourage a LOT of cord-cutting. Of course you do need broadband internet, but at least you can be paying a lower overall cost if you’re not needing all those crap channels you get with cable TV.

Share This

[clark5080]

I have been eyeing sling tv (see link below) combine it with a netflix or hulu account and a antenna for the local hd and you have a lot to watch at not a lot of money

https://www.sling.com

Share This

[trickycoolj]

Costco often carries a flat antenna just slightly larger than a piece of printer paper. Mounts to the wall or window with 3M strips. $40. Depending where you are in the neighborhood you’ll get about 35-40 channels for free. Costco has a liberal return policy if you are in one of the shadows that has spotty antenna service. You’ll have ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, PBS (x3!), and many sub channels of those.

You can get a number of different kinds of set top boxes to stream Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, iTunes and many other channels. They cost between $20-100 depending on the type. If you have iPhones/iPads get AppleTV. Android Phone/tablet? Get Chromecast or Roku. Kindle user and Amazon Prime member? Fire TV or Fire Stick. If you stick to the TV streaming box that is affiliated with your other devices you’ll have seamless integration between your devices and TV. The most complicated part of setting any of them up is remembering the password to your accounts. They all plug directly in HDMI.

Internet depends what is offered at your address. Fiber is not in my neighborhood and CLink DSL is only 1.5mbps at my address. Comcast does have lower Internet tiers for 20-50mbps for $30-50/mo without TV or with the most basic (antenna is better) TV package. They have a bargain tier they don’t advertise but you can find it on the 5 page rate menu bill they send once or twice a year. As always buy your own modem and router to save the $8-10 rental fee. Costco sells them as does Amazon for competitive prices.

Share This

[Author]

Posts