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Bill[_12_]

Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/27/2018 5:06 PM, John H. wrote:
On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 17:04:59 -0500 (EST), justan wrote:

John H. Wrote in message:
On Tue, 27 Feb 2018 13:08:01 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/27/2018 12:57 PM, amdx wrote:
On 2/26/2018 11:48 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/26/2018 12:38 PM, John H. wrote:
On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 12:35:02 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/26/2018 12:26 PM, John H. wrote:
On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 11:52:26 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/26/2018 11:34 AM, John H. wrote:
On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 11:26:30 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/26/2018 11:18 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 08:00:25 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/26/2018 7:48 AM, justan wrote:
"Mr. Luddite" Wrote in message:
On 2/25/2018 10:33 PM, wrote:
I am really serious about cutting the cord. My wife says
after the
olympics but that was today.
I am already transitioning to streaming, I am working my
way through
the Amazon Prime documentaries They have just about
anything that PBS
ever aired. I talked about the American Experience show
about the MLK
assassination the other day. Today I am watching Frontline
season 27
ep 8. This is contemporary with the 2009 crash and it is
pretty
interesting, carving through some of the myths we may have.

I occasionally watch something from Amazon Prime's
inventory. My large
HD TV is not "smart" (connected to the Internet) so I use
the Sony PS4
to stream stuff from Amazon. Their prime account entitles
you to many
movies and archived shows as you mention for free.

I can also access Hulu, Netfix and other sources but I don't
watch
enough to bother with them.

Smart tvs are cheap nowadays. I paid 800 for a 60 inch smart
plasma tv at good old Walmart. A side benefit is that I
can heat
the house with it.

Mine can become "smart" if I buy a Roku wireless streaming
stick that
plugs into the TV's USB port. It's a 65" and I bought it
before having
Internet connectivity became built-in on most TVs. Accessing
the 'net
via the PS4 is just as effective and it works fine. I just
don't watch
TV enough to warrant buying another TV just for built-in Internet
connectivity. Most of the time I just use a little 23" HD TV
that sits
on my desk beside my computer monitor.

Just hook an old PC to it. With a 2.4gz wireless mouse you end
up with
a TV that is a whole lot smarter than the ones sold as smart.
We have
both here. The PC connected wins every time in every category.
The best combo seems to be my "travel" laptop connected to some no
name TV. When the lap top turns off the TV goes to sleep and I
have it
set to hibernate when you close the lid. Open the lid, the pc
comes to
life and the TV comes on.
You can get to any streaming service that way along with being
able to
play music or look at your pictures using whatever PC app you
like.

I don't collect or save old PCs. When they crap out or become so
obsolete they can't run current apps efficiently I buy a new
one. I
"do" have an older Win 7 laptop that I no longer use regularly
but I
keep it as a backup or possible traveling computer. Somewhere I
have an
old XP laptop as well but it is painfully slow compared to Win 7
and Win
10. I wouldn't even bother with it.

Besides, the little Roku thingy is much smaller and easier to
mess with.

I still don't really understand how people who want to get rid of
services like Comcast cable TV and Internet and go to streaming
only are
going to have access to the Internet.

I think I posted the results of the tests I did that compared
download
speeds of AT&T's 4G WiFi service that I have in my truck and the
download speeds of the Comcast (cable) WiFi router in my house.
Comcast
was consistently 3 to 4 times faster, sometimes even more. The AT&T
test (I did several for each) often reported that although web
browsing
would be ok, videos may be slow, especially if more than one
device was
connected to the WiFi server. The Comcast speed report consistently
said that it's speed would allow web browsing and HD video
downloads to
several devices at the same time.

For me, cutting the cord would be cutting the TV and telephone
cords. The internet cord would stay
whole. The TV cord is over $100/month, and that's without a bunch
of movie channels. The telephone
cord is another $40/month.

How much is your Internet service?

I don't have that problem. I have just have what's called "expanded
basic TV". I can always order something "On Demand" but I can't
remember the last time I did. Forget what it costs but it's cheap
compared to the Internet service. I don't have phone service via
cable.
Just use my cell phone. It's a second account on her cell phone
service and compared to her cell phone bill, mine contribution to it is
peanuts.

I pay $55 for internet.

Ok. I pay a little less ... $49/month. The AT&T WiFi in the truck is
$20/mo. for unlimited service but it's not anywhere near as fast. I
may cancel it. Don't really know why I even got it.

I have buddy the recently switched from Comcast to WOW, because
Comcast wouldn't negotiate their price. Wow gave him internet for
$39.99. He recommended Wow to a friend and the friend got the same
100Mbps service for $29.99. My buddy was a bit perplexed!
Mikek

The problem is that WOW isn't available in many places. In many areas
Comcast is the only game in town.

We now have a choice of Verizon or Cox. I've been with Cox since early
90's, but just about every
year my bill jumps up $40-$50, sometimes more. And then I call, argue
for an hour, threaten to go to
Verizon, and my bill stays around $150-160, with 'promotions'. In
September all my promotions run
out and the lady says my bill would go to $240. We'll see how many
promotions I can qualify for in
September.

Thst's too much to pay for tv. Our fiber cable and internet is
free, but I put up a small OTA emergency antenna and I get about
60 channels with it.

That's for everything. If I don't get the discounts I may try an outdoor
antenna. I've got one, just
too lazy to put it up yet.

I was really surprised how many digital channels (many in HD) were
available when I set up a TV and a cheap, rabbit ear antenna in the
"barn" garage at our previous house. We were well outside of the
recommended range being almost 40 miles south of Boston and even further
from Providence, RI, yet still got 50-60 channels. I tried a couple of
antenna types and the best one had a built-in RF amplifier. It was only
about $19.

Our problem is we are in a valley. I am about 140’ above the valley
floor, but still the hills limit a lot of signals.