Times are tight. Like so many I’ve been looking for places to cut expenses. One of our biggest monthly expenses is cable TV. I’m sure it’s the same with you. We’ve got a ton of channels, and they all look really nice on Verizon FiOS. But looking at the channel line-up and looking at the bill, we’ve decided to experiment with cutting the cable cord. I don’t make any decisions like this lightly so we’re looking at all options.
I put the word out on Facebook, and got a lot of great feedback. The obvious and most suggested options were Netflix and Hulu, and they’re on our list. Vudu was suggested as a better alternative to Netflix. A lot of friends recommended Amazon Prime. Some are fans ofApple TV. Apparently ABC also has a great app. There’s alsoRedbox, though I lament the demise of the local video store! I’m a Chargers fan so I need to see some football. ApparentlyESPN has a lot of live spots on the web options.
In our house we’ve got 3 HD flat screen TVs of varying sizes. They’re nice TVs but not “internet ready.” We use the Wii on one to stream Netflix, but the others are plugged straight into the cable boxes. We can supposedly watchYouTube via FiOS, but it always seems to lock-up or crash for us. We have dumb TVs so we’ll have to hook laptops into our TVs via HDMI. That was the plan…the testing is ready.
What makes a TV smarter? Smart TVs can connect to the Internet, access media libraries, use social media, share photos, music, allow you to play games online and access Web content. Basically a ton of entertainment options are opened to you.
Overall, there are many options out there.
You could go with a connected TV that connects to the internet. You’ll have a smarter TV right out of the box. A new TV can be expensive, though there’s quite a price range and TVs for every budget. You will have to pay for subscriptions to services like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, and the like. Keep in mind that your yearly subscription fees to several of the streaming services will be much less than you’ve ever paid in a year for cable TV.
Set top boxes use your home Internet connection to stream media from the various services. Services like Roku and Apple TV seem to be the top choices here. Remember though, these are for streaming services, not for live TV viewing. Costs also include subscription fees.
You can go the home theater PC route as well. We’re so used to watching a lot of media online now anyway, so connecting our PCs or laptops to the TV is a viable option. You’re going to want a PC or laptop with an HDMI connection to connect to your HD TV so your shows and movies look great.
You can stick with cable. This is probably the most convenient, but expensive option. Cable, satellite or telephone companies often offer bundle packages to save you some money. So far most of the cable boxes don’t have the internet capabilities they could or should have, especially for the price. Some have limited web app access, but the interface is annoying, and they seem to be prone to crashing. AT&T has no web video option, and only a few web apps.Verizon widgets include Facebook and YouTube, but they’re difficult to navigate via a TV remote. Remember though, cable services are pricey, and the price is the reason a lot of us are moving away from cable.
What will we pick? Who knows? Probably some bizarre hybrid of several options. Just know that there are MANY options out there and Geeks.com can hook you up as usual!
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