Alternatives to cable tv?

[tyates]

I'm seriously thinking about doing away with my cable tv. I only really have it tuned to CNN/MSNBC most of the weekday mornings before work and after work. After I had my fill of news, there is really nothing that interests me. Not a big sports fan other than the olympics recently and the some Versus programming. If I go down to basic cable, I'll just have local programming. I can't stand watching local news and don't care for any thing else that the networks put out.

Anyway, I'd really like to ditch my cable tv service but I don't know what to do with my tv before/after work.. Any ideas?

 

[kwilkinson]

Netflix.

 

[Brian278]

AppleTV? I don't know much about it, but it is an alternative.

 

[tyates]

I've thought about netflix and will probably do that as for as entertainment purposes go. I'd like to continue watching CNN/MSNBC during the mornings, but it doesn't make any sense to be paying for cable just to watch those two channels.

 

[MetroStyles]

DEFINITELY slingbox. It's tv for your computer. I'm watching baseball right now as I type. It costs about $120, and no monthly fees. Attach it to a cable box anywhere and watch television from anywhere in the world with an internet connections.

I put one in my parents house a couple of states away and they don't have to do anything - it just sits there on a cable box. No fees, no bs. Check it out.

http://www.slingmedia.com/

 

[Jumbie]

I haven't had television for a year. I don't even own one. Of course, I just download the few shows I watch which isn't technically kosher.

If you're just going to watch those two channels, why not read them online instead? Unless you like to just listen in the background while getting ready or something.

Maybe get a Slingbox or something and hook it up at your parents' place or something. I know options would be limited (as in you'd need somewhere to connect it that has cable service + internet) but just throwing it out there.

[edit]

I see I was ninja-ed on the Slingbox suggestion.

[/edit]

 

[todesengel]

Buy a mac mini or some htpc and hook it up to your TV. With that, your alternatives are:
-Netflix
-Downloading (legally or illegally)
-Streaming

 

[whacked]

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

DEFINITELY slingbox. It's tv for your computer. I'm watching baseball right now as I type. It costs about $120, and no monthly fees. Attach it to a cable box anywhere and watch television from anywhere in the world with an internet connections.

I put one in my parents house a couple of states away and they don't have to do anything - it just sits there on a cable box. No fees, no bs. Check it out.

http://www.slingmedia.com/

Nice.

 

[keikun13]

I don't watch much TV, especially when I'm away at school (probably because I don't own a TV). However, I do follow a few shows and I get those on DVD or I stream them from Hulu (http://www.hulu.com/). Check it out, they have a great selection of movies and TV shows.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

For the past four years, I lived without cable TV. I got Blockbuster/Netflix and went to a nearby bar for my sports fix.

 

[Nouveau Pauvre]

No TV here. All the big networks stream their shows now, often going a few seasons back and I have Netflix.

Legal, easy and a lot cheaper.

Also it helps having a bangin' 17 inch screen and altec lansing speakers on my laptop.

 

[merkur]

..

 

[Tarmac]

Originally Posted by tyates

Anyway, I'd really like to ditch my cable tv service but I don't know what to do with my tv before/after work.. Any ideas?
If you really love CNN, there is no way around cable. Same for ESPN for some guys. They would pay $10 a month for ESPN alone but you can't do that. Do you have an HD TV with a tuner? You should just use an aerial antenna. This is what I do. Crystal clear digital TV, a lot of "secret" channels you probably have never heard of. I haven't had cable in about 3 years. I like to think I have saved $1000 with free aerial HD. For news I watch PBS.

 

[Agnacious]

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

DEFINITELY slingbox. It's tv for your computer. I'm watching baseball right now as I type. It costs about $120, and no monthly fees. Attach it to a cable box anywhere and watch television from anywhere in the world with an internet connections.

I put one in my parents house a couple of states away and they don't have to do anything - it just sits there on a cable box. No fees, no bs. Check it out.

http://www.slingmedia.com/

Maybe I do not understand this concept, but don't you still need cable service?

It seems like the OP asked how to get away from cable service and you told him how to have even more access to it. But perhaps I do not fully understand the slingbox concept.

 

[sleekblackroadster]

sounds like you just mooch off of someone else's cable box who would be kind enough to keep paying for their service while letting you attach the transmitting end of this sligbox deal to their cable box.