Cutting the cord

Looks like I have a few options since Sling now offers a choice between getting ESPN and other Disney-owned channels and FOX-owned channels, plus PlayStation Vue is $30 for the channels I want.

 

I'd love to make the switch -- I'm paying something like $130 a month for DirecTV -- but the quality just isn't there yet for me. I did the one week free trial of Playstation Vue. It has virtually every channel I want for a fraction of what I'm paying. Unfortunately, the video quality just wasn't good enough. It would glitch every few seconds -- nothing terrible, but it would freeze for a fraction of a second. The picture was good but the movement was poor. Also, navigating Vue is a fucking nightmare. They have it set up like it's Netflix. You have to go to a submenu to get a live TV guide, and moving through it was a pain in the ass.

And, from all I've heard, Vue is much better than Sling.

Bottom line -- if it's a choice between Vue or nothing, Vue is a pretty great service. Otherwise, Vue is a pretty huge step down from DirecTV.

 

Was hoping this was another abortion thread.

 

We have Dish ourselves but a couple of weeks ago, in order to save money not to mention the rude awakening we got on our taxes, I made the decision to lower our bill and got rid of the sports package.
I've got the most bare-bones package now, and that also means no ESPN. I'm a huge baseball fan and hate that I am not seeing a bunch of games on TV now but I am coping fine without it. Football season may be a different story.
On that note, we are looking at getting Sling. It would be cheaper and I would get the ESPN channels.

 

Threadjack, I guess..

We have Dish, but looking to move on.

Anybody have xfinity? My neighbors tell me that's the way to go. No gaming needs here, just TV.

I hate dealing with this stuff. I haven't paid attention in quite a while so I know nothing about all this.

On a related note, I need a landline at home (faxes, believe it or not) and I can't believe I'm paying $80.00 a month for it.

 

I have this streaming box called a G Box that was given to me for free. It's available on Amazon.

You need to be comfortable around computers because it took (for me, anyway) some time to set it up. It's based off of an Android system. But now I can watch any sporting event around the world (and I do mean any ... I watched some cricket match between Australia and England not that long ago, just because I could) for free, and that includes MLB, NHL, etc. I also can watch any TV show or movie that's ever been released in some form (including some that still are in the theaters). While the picture for most things isn't in high definition, I will accept that for not having to pay for a cable box.

 

I don't care if it's free. Even if they want to pay me, I'm not sitting through a cricket match.

 

Few months ago the promotional U-Verse period ended for me. Was thinking of going back to cable (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) to see if I could get a better deal. Then looked into Dish ... then into Sling.

Sling sounds great if you have only one TV/device you want to watch at a time ... but if you want to watch more than one, you have to have additional accounts. Further, you can't get regional sports networks (e.g., Foxsports Southwest, which is 95% of my summer viewing). As I understand it there is also limited record/pause/fastforward functionality. So, tempting, but not good enough.

Right now, with what I watch and want to watch, I will probably simply take the U-Verse thrashing ($100+ a month) I am getting. I may try the "I want to cancel because I am cutting the cord ..." to see if I can get any reduction, but it will be a hollow threat.

 

I just can't get past the fact that those Android boxes (that Corky refers to) are basically theft machines. At some point, someone has to pay for that content.

 

I have xfinity. The one complaint is that the On Demand can be extremely unreliable. To the point where it works maybe 50-60 percent of the time, tops. First world problem, sure, but I'm paying a decent chunk of change for the service and I'm rarely home to watch shows when they air, so On Demand is a really big priority when it comes to my service. The internet service has been great.

 

Piracy boxes are more trouble than they are worth. Developers pull their apps why they feel like having a hissy fit.

Tried the "I'm cancelling" dance with AT&T, but the offer still was too pricey.

FYI, Sling now offers regional sports and allows for three streams. You have to choose between the one-stream plan with ESPN and other Disney-owned channels, or the three-stream plan with FOX channels.

 

Really? Oh, hell, I am going to check that out!