Who here has ditched cable for Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, etc.?

garrett

garrett

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Jul 27, 2012
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The promotional rate on my cable service is coming to an end, so it's time to consider the options. Cable is expensive!

I'm entertaining the option of switching internet companies (great 12 month promo rate available); keeping Netflix and adding Hulu Plus to cover a lot of movies and most TV; adding Amazon Prime for a la carte TV and movie purchases; and getting a Kindle Fire to manage it all (and add mobility plus other stuff). Oh and an HD TV antenna for regular broadcast stuff.

This all seems a bit convoluted, but it would save me money, plus the added benefits of the Fire. We watch practically everything when we want on DVR anyway. I'm a bit surprised the cable companies haven't lowered their prices in order to compete; I guess they're still making out pretty good clinging to enough customers.

Who has converted to the on-demand entertainment model? Benefits? Drawbacks? Is Amazon Prime worth it?
 
The Cable and Sat Co's know most people WON'T change once they get them.... I had the same service for 8 years until I woke up.
Now we play the game... Take the promo rate and SWAP to another service at the end of the term. It's a hassle but when you do the math there is a lot of $$$ to be saved there! Oh and some of them will match the "promo rate' if it will keep you... They will deny it until you call to turn OFF the service. The "customer retention department" can do stuff the regular agents can't... I'd guess it costs a lot less to KEEP somebody than get a new customer. If you LIKE the cable but are truly ready to cut it - call and see what they offer. :D

I've dabbled with some of the on demand stuff but it never seems like what I want to watch is offered. We did NetFlix and it was nice until they doubled the price - dropped it the same day.

We're on DirectTV right now and like it with the DVR service. I did it to get NFL Sunday Ticket, we'll do something else when the contract runs out...
 
Rango said:
Now we play the game... Take the promo rate and SWAP to another service at the end of the term. It's a hassle but when you do the math there is a lot of $$$ to be saved there! Oh and some of them will match the "promo rate' if it will keep you... They will deny it until you call to turn OFF the service. The "customer retention department" can do stuff the regular agents can't... I'd guess it costs a lot less to KEEP somebody than get a new customer. If you LIKE the cable but are truly ready to cut it - call and see what they offer. :D
Click to expand...

Exactly! We have Comcast and AT&T facing off here in ATL. My wife and I bought our house a year ago and Comcast was going to charge us to relocate the service, plus they wouldn't match the cheaper offer from AT&T. On top of that, they tried to pressure me into buying their security system, even though my house already has a good ADT system. It was easy to say "Goodbye Comcast!" But their promo rate on internet-only handily beats AT&T now, so I may end up switching back to save money. *SIGH*

I have to call AT&T later this week to see how badly they want to keep my business. The service is great, but it's tough to swallow that bill, considering it's almost purely entertainment.
 
Gone - Hulu, Netflix and wifi are all I need to literally watch everything I like besides sports and to be honest, its better ot watch sports at the local pub with a few friends than home. I'll never go back!

I use a WDTV unit from Western Digital - its a hub that stores movie files on a hard drive but also streams a lot of media apps such as Netflix and Hulu. Its a great all in one.
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330
 
We just went through the same thing. I ditched cable about three months ago, but still use Comcast for internet. This weekend, I got a call from Comcast, offering the "upgraded" speed internet access, basic cable, OnDemand, and their version of Netflix for $5 more per month than the "basic" internet price for one year. AND, they included HBO free for two years.

I wasn't looking to play the game, but did. With a two-year-old at home, we don't watch much TV, but the combination of OnDemand and another Netflix type product may come in handy.

The quotes around the internet speed comments are there because I have gotten faster than promised speeds from the basic package and have not seen an increase since I re-upped. We'll see.

Good luck. I definitely think it was worth it to drop them. We'll see about adding it back. The price is definitely better!
 
Ditched cable, but I don't really care for sports. If I can't find it on the computer, I figure I don't need to watch it.
 
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