I recently made a comment on facebook about how my wife and I cut the cord (cancelled cable) and several friends inquired as to what we did to replace cable.
This post is intended to answer that question. I didn’t have time to get into detail with everyone so hopefully you can find something here that will help with your decision to keep or ditch cable. Since we made the decision to do away with it, we’ve not missed it.
Deciding to ‘get rid of cable’ shouldn’t strike fear into anyone. If your primary goal is to save money then you’ll with this decision. We saved $160 a month. You’ll also be happy to learn that you really won’t miss much (if anything). We did pick up a digital antenna and have found it acceptable in the sense that we can pick up a few of the local channels. Combined with our Apple TV we’ve not missed any of the show’s we enjoy. Keep in mind, most people only watch a few select channels anyway.
The downside to going the Apple TV route is that you’ll need to purchase the content you want to watch. If you only watch a few shows a week, you’ll probably be ahead. If you like a ton of variety, this option can get expensive fast. Luckily, we own every episode of friends and most epsiodes to date of ‘Two and a half men‘. We’ve augmented our Apple TV viewing with a subscription to Netflix This seems to work pretty well for us.
Another option is the Boxee Box. Like the Apple TV, you can stream Netflix movies and TV shows. The benefit to the Boxee Box is that you can do a little more with it – think a bit more flexibility. A great example is the ability to use RSS feeds from your favorite Video website view them on your TV using the Boxee Box. Gigaom‘s NewTeeVee site has a great video on some of the great tricks you can use with the Boxee Box. View it here: Gigaom NewTeeVee Tips
The Rocku is another great offering that provides a bit more flexibility for those less willing to get down and dirty with RSS and some of the other features of Boxee. The really great thing about the Rocku is that in addition to Netflix, you can also subscribe to hulu content from the Rocku device. Aside from that I’m not completely familiar with this device. I’ve read some pretty good things about it however. Your mileage may vary like anything else.
There has never been a better time cut the cord. There are a tremendous amount of options and online resources to help educate yourself. I know from our vantage point, the $160 a month in savings was worth the decision. It’s not that we can’t afford it. Just based on the options we have available in our area, combined with the utter crap on television (aside from ESPN of course) we just decided our money and time could be better spent elsewhere.
I hope this helps. Feel free to drop a question in the comments. Good luck and happy savings!
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