# Confessions of a Lapsed Cord Cutter



## Reaper

I cut the cord about a year ago from Dish for purely financial reasons -- the now "ex-Mrs. Reaper" (AKA xmR) raked me through the coals pretty good.

Frankly, I hated cutting the cord -- I loved Dish and the Hopper. But once I did it, I was glad I did. It helped me to have more money when I needed it, and I didn't feel that I was really missing anything.

I already had an OTA antenna, and bought a Channel Master DVR+ to use with it. I've loved this EchoStar manufactured device; there's no monthly fee, the industrial design is sleek and beautiful, and the UI is clean, modern and minimalist. The only downsides are that there's no whole home, and switching inputs from my Roku to the DVR+, while not difficult, was an irritant because everything else I watch on my Roku. I've thought about getting a Tablo DVR, because it would be whole home and interface through the Roku...

I have a couple Roku 3 streaming media players. For subs, I of course have Netflix streaming. Also Amazon Prime, primarily for the free 2-day shipping, but the exclusive streaming content and originals are very nice perks.

I'm an Anime geek so I subscribe to Funimation. So good. Their library is massive, and they offer English dubs for lazy slobs like me AND original Japanese audio for purists. Resolutions up to 1080p. Beautiful.

Lastly, I subscribe to the private SugarDVD Roku channel, which touts itself as the Netflix of porn, and delivers. (I'm a man and I like porn. Shocking! Deal with it. Do you hear me xmR?!?!) But I digress...

I primarily use VUDU for pay VOD, sometimes Amazon Instant Video if VUDU doesn't have the content I want.

I also have a Netflix by mail plan for content that I can't get otherwise.

Also tried Hulu a few times. Hated the repetitive, unskippable commercials. Didn't keep it for long.

Had Sling TV for the 14 day free trial, plus a month. Really liked it. No DVR, but the VOD implementation was sweet and mitigated the need for a DVR IMO. The problem was that not all of their content agreements provide for VOD, so it's not available for all channels. :-(

Ironically, or perhaps by design, Sling TV was most effective at wetting my appetite for traditional pay TV...

If you add up all the subs I've listed, it was about $65/month at the end, which was definitely creeping back into traditional pay TV pricing territory.

I watch a lot of TV. Trust me, it's a lot, by anyone's standard. A couple of week's ago a had a small heart attack. Not because I watch a lot of TV; it's a genetic thing. But shortly after I said, "F*** it, life is too short. When I watch TV, I want to watch what I want and not have to settle." I had DIRECTV installed a week ago, with the top Premier package, plus the HD extra pack. Got an HR44-200 and 1 Mini client.

While the installer was hooking up the Genie, he couldn't take his eyes off the stunning PQ delivered by the OTA DVR+, and he was amazed by the beautiful industrial design. I know the HR44 is DIRECTV's smallest HD DVR, but that thing's a suitcase compared to the DVR+.

Speaking of, after a year of faithful use, I sold my DVR+ on eBay for what I paid for it new. Winner winner, chicken dinner.

My first impression of having satellite TV again: holy crap, that's a lot of channels. After being off the tit for a year, it was truly overwhelming. Thank goodness for Favorites.

I took a chance with DIRECTV and the Genie. I'm an out of market Steelers fan and it will be nice to have NFLST free for a season. I haven't had it since I married xmR in 2008. (I suspect you may be seeing a pattern developing here...)

Premium channels: holy crap but DIRECTV has a lot of them in HD! And, holy crap, there's diddly I'm interested in watching on them. I'll most likely be dropping them and the HD extra pack forthwith.

Equipment: the HR44's quick, thank goodness, but the industrial design is cheap compared to the Hopper IMO. The Hopper with Sling offers seemless integration with, well, Sling -- which is better than Genie Go IMO and doesn't cost an extra $100 bucks. Though I enjoyed having Sling, I won't be getting a Genie Go.

I think the UI is also inferior to the Hopper's, which is more polished and graphics-rich IMO. I do like the dark theme of the DIRECTV guide though, much easier to read for me than the Hopper's. However, I think the asshats at DIRECTV who think ads in a purported premium service's guide are a good idea should be hunted down, dunked in honey, and staked out over a fire ant hill. Seriously. No, really.

The Mini's cool. I didn't have a Joey before and so can't compare.

I wondered how long it would take me to not be able to find something on DIRECTV that I wanted to watch. 5 days. 5.

But that's okay; I'm keeping all my streaming subs, except Sling TV naturally, so I'll not lack for stuff to watch.

Mariners baseball: aw yeah. I live in Seattle and missed out on watching last season's upswing (stupid MLB.tv and its blackout restrictions). Several odds makers have the Mariners as favorites to win the whole shootin' match this season. Even if that doesn't happen, I think they'll have a great season and don't want to miss watching it. I wouldn't have gone back to traditional pay TV if I had another (legal) way to watch live Mariners games in the comfort of my home.

Cutting the cord was good; it became a bit of a hobby. Enjoying free, crystal clear, guilt-free OTA was great. Though having to search and switch between content providers to watch all my shows became tedious (there's money to be made by the person who comes up with a unified queue for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant, VUDU, Plex, Tablo, etc, etc.). And, when you watch streaming content, you usually have to be deliberate about what you watch, though Sling TV replicates channel surfing just fine.

Channel surfing is a big deal to me; with everything going on in my life, much of it not good, oftentimes I just want to find a program I'm vaguely interested in and make like a vegetable.

There are streaming platforms that offer more content than even Roku, such as HTPCs and Android boxes running XBMC/Kodi. I'm a bit of a tech head, being specialized in managing design software used by engineers and architects, and I enjoy futzing with gadgets. Still, when I want to veg in front of the TV, I want the experience to be as simple as possible. Drop. Dead. Simple.

In summation, if you want to save money on TV programming, cutting the pay TV cord is the way to go. There are lots of good options available, and these will only increase.

If you like the convenience of having all your recent-ish TV content in one place and are willing to pay for that convenience, stick with traditional pay TV.

I'm hedging my bets some because I'll be filing bankruptcy in a month or two (I should probably be shy about this, not to mention my porn fixation, but who cares). I can strip off the contractual obligation then if I want to leave DIRECTV. Also, I'll be moving to an apartment in the next few months. No direct line of site = no further commitment. The complex I'll be moving into has very little churn and only a few units available, so I may get stuck whether I want to or not.

If I do leave DIRECTV, I'll buy a Tablo OTA DVR and watch everything on my Rokus. If for some reason I don't like the Tablo, I'll re-purchase a Channel Master DVR+.

One last word of advice: if your wife or wife-to-be demands that you get rid of your porn and, even more egregious, access to your home town favorite sports team, you might want to get rid of her instead. There are of course exceptions to the first item though. For instance, if she has a cute girlfriend that she likes to share, burn that porn baby, BURN IT!

Cheers.


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## yosoyellobo

The thought of being rake by an ex Mrs Reaper sends shills down my back. Good luck.


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## Reaper

yosoyellobo said:


> The thought of being rake by an ex Mrs Reaper sends shills down my back. Good luck.


As well it should. ;-)

And thanks.


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## harsh

I much appreciate the thought you put into your post. It covers a lot of ground without being too repetitive (outside of the nagging ex-Mrs. Reaper issue).


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## toobs

Found your post to be funny and informative and this is why at 40, I don't have a "Mrs."


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## mdavej

Great post, Reaper.

You hit the nail on the head. What comes back to bite the cord cutter is they end up paying nearly as much for lots of different services and devices anyway and give up the simplicity of all you can eat.

I consider myself a lease cutter (if there is such a thing). I still have all you can eat, but since I have cable, I can bring my own DVR to the table, saving $30-$50/month in equipment and service fees. With a little tweaking, I've made the end user experience just about equal to DirecTV (minus sports).

I've thought about Tablo, but I could get a used Tivo Premiere with lifetime for about the same price and have a much better DVR in the end, with the option to add back cable later if I want.


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## sigma1914

I was shocked to see someone still pay for porn. :hurah:


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## Eddie501

Reaper said:


> (there's money to be made by the person who comes up with a unified queue for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant, Plex, Tablo, etc, etc.).


Tivo has come pretty close. They just rolled out 'Onepass' which picks up all your shows across OTA, Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, Amazon, YouTube, etc. It's not perfect yet, as it takes the streaming shows a while to show up on the list. But it's a step forward.

I find your perspecive interesting as a recent cord cutter myself. I cut DirecTV not so much for cost savings, but I just began to resent paying for all the commericals and junk programming that makes up most of the 'Choice' packages that I was forced to get, just to be allowed to subscribe to the stuff I really wanted. If they would allow subscriptions only to premium services, I'd still be a customer.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the current options. One fantastic thing I've found is that the few basic cable programs I watch (i.e. Bates Motel, Walking Dead, Mad Men) are available the next day on most pay servcies. But in MUCH higher quality than I was getting the D. Gone is all the screen clutter, I no longer have to look at the station logo in one corner, a hashtag in the other, and a block of text that tells me when the next new episode airs. Just a nice, commercial free 1080p presentation with Dolby Digital Plus sound. I could never justify paying for these when I had D*, but I enjoy these programs much more from streaming services.

So we'll see how it goes. I'm not sure how much money I'll save in the long run. But I do enjoy a lot less time with Flo from Progressive & the stupid Geico lizard.


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## Reaper

harsh said:


> I much appreciate the thought you put into your post. It covers a lot of ground without being too repetitive (outside of the nagging ex-Mrs. Reaper issue).


Thanks Harsh. I did want to give a good overview off my journey from Dish to OTA+streaming to DIRECTV over the past year without focusing overmuch on any one topic. I'm glad that came across.


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## Reaper

toobs said:


> Found your post to be funny and informative and this is why at 40, I don't have a "Mrs."


Thanks Toobs. I'm glad you got the humor. I'm not sure everyone did.

Your a smart man. At 49, I've been through the ringer twice. Each divorce was incredibly destructive in its own special way. Ah, memories...


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## Reaper

mdavej said:


> Great post, Reaper.
> 
> You hit the nail on the head. What comes back to bite the cord cutter is they end up paying nearly as much for lots of different services and devices anyway and give up the simplicity of all you can eat.
> 
> I consider myself a lease cutter (if there is such a thing). I still have all you can eat, but since I have cable, I can bring my own DVR to the table, saving $30-$50/month in equipment and service fees. With a little tweaking, I've made the end user experience just about equal to DirecTV (minus sports).
> 
> I've thought about Tablo, but I could get a used Tivo Premiere with lifetime for about the same price and have a much better DVR in the end, with the option to add back cable later if I want.


Thanks mdavej.

I think another thing to understand is that there is no one size fits all solution. For instance, as I mentioned, I love Anime. I don't watch it all the time, but I don't regret the $8 per month sub fee for Funimation, especially not when I'm in the mood.

Roku has a Funimation channel. Apple TV and Fire TV do not. These are fine devices, but I'd rather have a dedicated channel for content I watch often than have to mirror it from a tablet or laptop.

But this is just an important consideration to me, and maybe a minority of others.

You're obviously okay with TiVo. I'm not a fan. But, again, this is simply a matter of personal preference.


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## Reaper

sigma1914 said:


> I was shocked to see someone still pay for porn. :hurah:


Like Netflix streaming, it's about $8 per month for their very deep collection of full-length features, with chapter marks, catering to many tastes, much of it in HD. Check out the European genre, and especially the Russian titles. Many of those girls are drop dead gorgeous, with nary a blemish.

I hadn't paid for porn in years either. Again, it's about convenience. Plus, in this case, quality.

For $8 per month, I thought, "What the hell, I'll give it a whirl." I'm glad I did because it's an insanely great value. I for one will never watch low res snippets again.

And hey, porn stars gotta eat too.


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## Reaper

Eddie501 said:


> I find your perspecive interesting as a recent cord cutter myself. I cut DirecTV not so much for cost savings, but I just began to resent paying for all the commericals and junk programming that makes up most of the 'Choice' packages that I was forced to get, just to be allowed to subscribe to the stuff I really wanted. If they would allow subscriptions only to premium services, I'd still be a customer.
> 
> Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the current options. One fantastic thing I've found is that the few basic cable programs I watch (i.e. Bates Motel, Walking Dead, Mad Men) are available the next day on most pay servcies. But in MUCH higher quality than I was getting the D. Gone is all the screen clutter, I no longer have to look at the station logo in one corner, a hashtag in the other, and a block of text that tells me when the next new episode airs. Just a nice, commercial free 1080p presentation with Dolby Digital Plus sound. I could never justify paying for these when I had D*, but I enjoy these programs much more from streaming services.
> 
> So we'll see how it goes. I'm not sure how much money I'll save in the long run. But I do enjoy a lot less time with Flo from Progressive & the stupid Geico lizard.


I hear you. When I dropped traditional pay TV service a year ago, I posted about how much more enjoyable shows were without the promos, banners, bugs, commercial interruptions, etc. Again, the primary driver for me was live local Seattle Mariners games. Other than that I never would have gone back. There are other conveniences though. One simply cannot get all the content available with a traditional pay TV service with the streaming options available today -- at least not nearly as conveniently or timely. One has to simply decide what is most important to you. In my case, that changed over time, and I'm sure it will again.

I don't know if it came across or not, but it was my intention to not denigrate any service. There are things I like about all of them. Well, except for HULU Plus. As a cord cutter, I for one would pay a 50% premium for a commercial-free HULU experience. Without this option, thanks but no thanks.

For the shows you mention, I suggest you check out Sling TV. They recently added AMC to the $20 per month base package and will be adding A&E, History, H2 and more before the end of the month. The PQ is pretty darned great. One word of caution: not all channels have VOD, meaning that you have to watch your shows live (yeah, like that's gonna happen). So check first. The 14-day free trial is great, and $20 for a subsequent full month will really help to inform you if it's for you or not. If it is, it will likely cost significantly less than purchasing individual episodes on VOD services like VUDU. But, again, the premium for an ad and bug-free experience may be worth it to you.

And I like Flo; she's hot in a geeky sort of way. ;-)


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## Reaper

Eddie501 said:


> Tivo has come pretty close. They just rolled out 'Onepass' which picks up all your shows across OTA, Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, Amazon, YouTube, etc. It's not perfect yet, as it takes the streaming shows a while to show up on the list. But it's a step forward.


That's cool.
.
Imagine you have a Roku and a bunch of stuff in your Netflix Watch List, your Amazon Instant Video queue, your Plex and VUDU libraries, on your Tablo DVR, and etc. Imagine an app that aggregates all of these queues and libraries, sorting by title, category, etc. You find something you want to watch, and click Play. The native content app is launched and your selection begins playing.

Aw yeah, money...


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## mdavej

Reaper said:


> You're obviously okay with TiVo. I'm not a fan. But, again, this is simply a matter of personal preference.


Actually, I'm not. Got my parents one. I use Windows Media Center and extenders myself. I've got a cheap little PC connected to a 6 tuner Ceton and 5 Ceton Echo extenders. Don't want to give anybody the wrong impression.


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## Reaper

mdavej said:


> Actually, I'm not. Got my parents one. I use Windows Media Center and extenders myself. I've got a cheap little PC connected to a 6 tuner Ceton and 5 Ceton Echo extenders. Don't want to give anybody the wrong impression.


:lol:


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## Nick

Imagine a world... where streaming movies appear in your head, behind your eyes -- no screen, no
speakers, no wires, no remote. Enjoy full XUHD 16K resolution, full 360.24 surround,10 hz - 25k hz
audio response. Imagine you're auto-driving at over 100 m.p.h., hurtling through space and time while
watching the most exciting, action-packed movie you've ever experienced. No HUD and it's all in your
head. Imagine.

Just imagine...


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## Rickt1962

Well I am "LOL" King Cable Cutter because of Direct TV outrageous fee's not allowing you to own your own equipment to save money ! I fired up my 8' Dish get all networks use my PC to record them which it does Using Microsoft Media Center and it even removes all the commercials using MCEbuddy then Use XBMC/Kodi to stream all my media in HD to all my TV's from my Hard Drive on the Ethernet. Only pay for Verizon DSL added to my phone bill is another $ 25.00 month. And if you have a lot of content like I do on My network drive using pseudotv live with XBMC/Kodi GIVES YOU the same Cable/DirectTV experience  with Channel guide and all


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## Laxguy

Too many upper case letters!! 

So, you sound very proud of your setup. Not a sports fan? Don't care for HBO, Show, etc. Etc.?


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## Wilf

Laxguy said:


> Too many upper case letters!!
> 
> So, you sound very proud of your setup. Not a sports fan? Don't care for HBO, Show, etc. Etc.?


Not being a sports fan is a huge blessing for cord cutters!


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## joshjr

Rickt1962 said:


> Well I am "LOL" King Cable Cutter because of Direct TV outrageous fee's not allowing you to own your own equipment to save money ! I fired up my 8' Dish get all networks use my PC to record them which it does Using Microsoft Media Center and it even removes all the commercials using MCEbuddy then Use XBMC/Kodi to stream all my media in HD to all my TV's from my Hard Drive on the Ethernet. Only pay for Verizon DSL added to my phone bill is another $ 25.00 month. And if you have a lot of content like I do on My network drive using pseudotv live with XBMC/Kodi GIVES YOU the same Cable/DirectTV experience  with Channel guide and all


I own all of my DVR's including my HR44 and I have never worked for D* either. It can be dont if you want owned and are willing to do your homework to get it.


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## Reaper

Wilf said:


> Not being a sports fan is a huge blessing for cord cutters!


Word. If I could have gotten live local MLB games with MLB.tv, I wouldn't have gone back to pay TV. That being said, I also welcome "backgound" TV, and it's nice to not have to chase around after some of the more obscure shows I enjoy.

I was a little nervous about going back to pay TV, but I'm glad I did; I'm enjoying it quite a lot.


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## Rickt1962

Laxguy said:


> Too many upper case letters!!
> 
> So, you sound very proud of your setup. Not a sports fan? Don't care for HBO, Show, etc. Etc.?
> 
> Have 1000's of Channels to get sports on my Dish using C/ku band from soccer games in Brazil to Baseball in LA don't forget they have to send those games up to the satellites and a lot of them are not scrambled anymore because most people jumped on the bandwagon with Dave/Charlie LOL
> 
> Any new Movies you can stream them in HD so why pay for HBO ?


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## mexican-bum

Rickt1962 said:


> Too many upper case letters!!
> 
> So, you sound very proud of your setup. Not a sports fan? Don't care for HBO, Show, etc. Etc.?
> 
> Have 1000's of Channels to get sports on my Dish using C/ku band from soccer games in Brazil to Baseball in LA don't forget they have to send those games up to the satellites and a lot of them are not scrambled anymore because most people jumped on the bandwagon with Dave/Charlie LOL
> 
> Any new Movies you can stream them in HD so why pay for HBO ?
Click to expand...

Your setup sounds very neat but for most people not practical. Also by sports most people mean follow their favorite team, not some random sport.

To me an FTA setup is like what some of my family says about the dollar tree.(why shop anywhere else) I have some family members that "literally" buy everything there, food, dishes, silverware, toiletries, shampoo, batteries, gifts, motor oil, tools etc etc, Heck its only a dollar for anything in the store, that works for them but for me and many others we require a little more quality vs quantity.

But to each is own


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## Rickt1962

mexican-bum said:


> Your setup sounds very neat but for most people not practical. Also by sports most people mean follow their favorite team, not some random sport.
> 
> To me an FTA setup is like what some of my family says about the dollar tree.(why shop anywhere else) I have some family members that "literally" buy everything there, food, dishes, silverware, toiletries, shampoo, batteries, gifts, motor oil, tools etc etc, Heck its only a dollar for anything in the store, that works for them but for me and many others we require a little more quality vs quantity.
> 
> But to each is own


Ummm with out doing homework You cant name one game to one movie I cant view with my setup  Sorry I will not spoon feed people on how to achieve this. But it can be done


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## J Blow

Rickt1962 said:


> Ummm with out doing homework You cant name one game to one movie I cant view with my setup  Sorry I will not spoon feed people on how to achieve this. But it can be done


Herein lies the problem and specifically with sports viewing. Of course you can always find a way. Many ways are a combination of poor video, illegal, and several steps to achieve versus simply turning on your tv. I'm pretty sure everyone would love everything free but the payoff for me is convenience, video quality, and remaining free versus jailed and/or paying large penalties.


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## Wilf

At least one cable company seem to be a cable cutters friend: http://goo.gl/EPZVmR


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## Laxguy

What is "a digital antenna for free local broadcasting and access to WiFi hotspots in its service..."?


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## Reaper

Laxguy said:


> What is "a digital antenna for free local broadcasting and access to WiFi hotspots in its service..."?


Two different things. A comma before the "and" would have made it clearer.


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## Laxguy

Thanks. But what sort of "digital" antenna are they contemplating?


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## coolman302003

> [...] According to the Cablevision announcement, the company is now offering users a "cord cutting package" that includes 50 Mbps broadband service, a free $70 Mohu Leaf 50 indoor HDTV antenna, and access to Cablevision's Wi-Fi hotspot network for $50 a month (plus a $5 modem rental fee).
> 
> [...] Cablevision also announced it's offering users a second, "Every Day Low Price" package that includes 5 Mbps broadband, access to Cablevision's new Freewheel Wi-Fi calling service, the same free antenna and access to Cablevision's network of hotspots for $35 a month (plus $5 modem rental fee).


More details: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Cablevision-Lures-Cord-Cutters-With-Free-Antenna-Promo-133509


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## Reaper

When I posted here 6 months ago after coming back to satellite TV after being a cord cutter for a year, I mentioned that I had an out -- moving to an apartment where I could have opted to not have satellite line of sight, thereby voiding my 2 year commitment. This potential escape option was a key enabler for me to take the plunge back into pay TV, because I didn't know if it would be right for me or not. I'm pleased that I've enjoyed having DIRECTV again as much as I have, and I made sure to get a rental unit with line of sight, into which I'll be moving tomorrow.

It had been probably a decade since I last had DIRECTV full time. After that I went to Dish, then FiOS, back to Dish again, and then to OTA. I still think Dish has far superior DVR hardware and software, but I'm happier with DIRECTV's content offerings, and that's more important to me.

My Genie has performed well. My major nit is the old school interface. In this age when one can get beautiful UIs in free products like Plex and Kodi, DIRECTV's interface seems ugly, cheap and dated. That being said, there are some things I really like about the Genie, such as being able to access favorite channels with the up arrow. Also, being a Steelers fan, I recorded last night's "opening night" NFL game. When I went to delete the recording, I noticed the "Record Season" option and was easily able to use it to schedule recordings of all Steelers games for the season. Nice.

My Genie Mini has functioned less dependably. Often when changing channels or playing recordings, I lose audio. Switching to another channel and then back again usually clears it up, but it's irritating. Also, I have to be deliberate with key presses on the remote (read: slow) or commands are sometimes missed. I've had this problem with two different Harmony remotes, neither of which I've had problems with on the main box.

I've made some streaming changes. A few months ago I checked out Kodi with the Genesis add-in, and was blown away. Now, I like to think I'm a morally upstanding guy, at least in most things, but I don't feel bad about using Kodi/Genesis because I still pay for everything else I would anyway: Netflix streaming and discs for my young sons, Amazon Prime for the free 2-day shipping and exclusive streaming content, And, of course, DIRECTV. Why? For local and national news, live local MLB games and NFLST, for channel surfing, and for TV in the background. Also, I like obscure shows on ufology, cryptozoology and the like and these are rarely available on Genesis in HD. On the other hand, I've had a few missed episode recordings with my Genie, and it's been nice to be able to "catch up" with Genesis. I'm also able to watch the current season of El Rey's From Dusk Till Dawn in HD with Genesis whereas it's only available in SD on DIRECTV. In other words, I use Kodi/Genesis as a supplement rather than as a replacement. 

To be clear, I understand that the entertainment industry supports a community of creatives and craftspeople alike. I'm happy to pay my share for the fruits of their labors, and encourage others to do the same. Again, I only use Kodi and Genesis as a convenient supplement to the services that I continue to pay for.

To my eyes, Kodi does a better job of rendering my library of DVD ripped content than Plex did too.

Using Kodi necessitated a change from the Roku 3s I had to Amazon Fire TVs. Overall, I'm very happy with them, though they don't have the Funimation or Sugar DVD apps that I enjoyed on Roku.

Re the cord-cutter movement, whether or not to pay for TV is a value judgement based on convenience. I have a couple debilitating medical conditions and so watch a lot of TV. For me, having the convenience of a pay TV service like DIRECTV is worth it. Your mileage may, of course, vary.


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## coolman302003

Reaper said:


> On the other hand, I've had a few missed episode recordings with my Genie, and it's been nice to be able to "catch up" with Genesis. I'm also able to watch the current season of El Rey's From Dusk Till Dawn in HD with Genesis whereas it's only available in SD on DIRECTV. In other words, I use Kodi/Genesis as a supplement rather than as a replacement.


_*From Dusk Till Dawn*_ Season 1 is actually available in HD via El Rey On Demand (1341) on DirecTV. You do have to subscribe to a base package of Ultimate or higher to receive El Rey though.


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## bidger

Reaper said:


> It had been probably a decade since I last had DIRECTV full time. After that I went to Dish, then FiOS, back to Dish again, and then to OTA. I still think Dish has far superior DVR hardware and software, but I'm happier with DIRECTV's content offerings, and that's more important to me.


Agreed. If you can't view/record the content you want, equipment is of no consequence.


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## Reaper

The title of this thread should now be Confession of a *No Longer* Lapsed Cord Cutter. :grin:

The DIRECTV installer came by for the install at my new apartment last week. Right off the bat he seemed down on the install. First he doubted that I had line of sight, but I did. Then he pointed out how much of my balcony the 3' x 3' sled would take up (I didn't care, but I don't think he wanted to haul the sled up to my 3rd floor apartment). He complained about the cable run I was asking for for my wired Genie Mini. Then he pointed out that the property manager likely wouldn't allow him to drill through the vinyl siding. He was right about that, but I pointed out that he could run the cable under the door of my storage closet on the balcony and then drill through the drywall inside to route the cable into my apartment. The property manager approved this.

Then the installer told me that I would need to relocate my (160 LB) TV to the opposite wall. This wasn't entirely true -- he could have run the cable above a door opening. But after I thought about it for a minute, I realized that the room layout would work better if I did that very thing. So I rescheduled my install to the following week.

He also insisted that I would need a wireless Genie Mini for my second TV, at an additional cost of course.

Later that day i was in the rental office and the property manager told me she got in trouble with her boss because he told her that they were not to allow any penetrations by residents of external walls. I could have still gone through with the install as it was already in process, but I didn't because:

The installer had really, really turned me off
I want to have a good relationship with property management and this was a good opportunity to foster that
Money's tight so going back to OTA was not without its charms
So I cancelled the install, asked for my service to be disconnected, and for boxes to return the equipment. Technically, I have to pay the early termination fee but I have an out for that, which I won't go into here for personal reasons.

Once I decided to go back to OTA, I needed to settle on an antenna and a DVR. For the antenna, I purchased two amped Winegard "flatennas" similar to the Mohu Leaf. I oriented them in different directions to get full coverage of the transmission towers, combined their signals with a splitter and viola, received all the local (Seattle) OTA channels.

When I was a cord cutter before, I had purchased a Channel Master DVR+. I loved it, the industrial design and interface were sleek, modern and minimalist, and the PQ was pristine. However, presently the DVR+ doesn't have a whole home solution or mobile apps. Also, and this may seem petty but I'm all about convenience, I had grown tired of switching TV inputs between my OTT box and the DVR+, and wanted to have everything on a single device. So this time I bought a 2-tuner Tablo Wi-Fi DVR. I like it, a lot. Now I only have my Amazon Fire TVs connected to my TVs, and both Fire TVs connected to my router wirelessly.

The only downside to the Tablo is that it doesn't have native pass through, so I can't correct the stretching of 4x3 SD channels on my TVs. A small trade off for the convenience though. Hopefully they'll address this in future.

Cost? $48 for each antenna and $175 for a manufacturer refurbished 2-tuner Tablo from the Tablo website. The total was less than the DIRECTV install would have cost.

Apps I'm currently using on my Fire TVs:

Tablo
Sling TV
Amazon Prime Instant Video
Netflix
MLB.tv
Kodi
So long DIRECTV, I barely knew ye.


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## Eddie501

Lucky you dodged a bullet there! I'm finding I enjoy all the streaming options much more than I ever enjoyed DirecTV. I'm finding I use the DVR less & less now that Hulu has added a commercial free option.

I've been interested in Tablo for a while, but a couple of things holding me back: How easy is it to skip commercials? Is it as easy as a traditional DVR or is it more difficult like on streaming apps? Also, with having to watch through an app does it support 5.1 Dolby Digital audio? Or is it 2 channel only?


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## SayWhat?

Going on 8 months with no TV at all. Haven't missed it a bit.


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## Reaper

Eddie501 said:


> I've been interested in Tablo for a while, but a couple of things holding me back: How easy is it to skip commercials? Is it as easy as a traditional DVR or is it more difficult like on streaming apps? Also, with having to watch through an app does it support 5.1 Dolby Digital audio? Or is it 2 channel only?


I don't really like how Tablo fast forwards or skips -- it essentially pauses the stream. You have to press play and wait for the app to buffer again.I would welcome a Netflix like implementation of FF.

I don't know about the 5.1 -- I've downsized from a sound system to to just the 2 channels on my TVs.


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## Wilf

Reaper said:


> I don't know about the 5.1 -- I've downsized from a sound system to to just the 2 channels on my TVs.


My wife and I watch different streams on his & her iPads, and I use earphones. I have grown to like the earphones better than listening through speakers.


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## Reaper

Wilf said:


> My wife and I watch different streams on his & her iPads, and I use earphones. I have grown to like the earphones better than listening through speakers.


I know what you mean. When I was married, I used wireless headphones when watching my favorite genre of movies, horror, because my wife hated even hearing them. She thought the headphones were a sacrifice on my part, but they really weren't; I could hear the audio clearly and at whatever volume I liked.


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## satcrazy

Reaper said:


> When I posted here 6 months ago after coming back to satellite TV after being a cord cutter for a year, I mentioned that I had an out -- moving to an apartment where I could have opted to not have satellite line of sight, thereby voiding my 2 year commitment. This potential escape option was a key enabler for me to take the plunge back into pay TV, because I didn't know if it would be right for me or not. I'm pleased that I've enjoyed having DIRECTV again as much as I have, and I made sure to get a rental unit with line of sight, into which I'll be moving tomorrow.
> 
> It had been probably a decade since I last had DIRECTV full time. After that I went to Dish, then FiOS, back to Dish again, and then to OTA. I still think Dish has far superior DVR hardware and software, but I'm happier with DIRECTV's content offerings, and that's more important to me.
> 
> My Genie has performed well. My major nit is the old school interface. In this age when one can get beautiful UIs in free products like Plex and Kodi, DIRECTV's interface seems ugly, cheap and dated. That being said, there are some things I really like about the Genie, such as being able to access favorite channels with the up arrow. Also, being a Steelers fan, I recorded last night's "opening night" NFL game. When I went to delete the recording, I noticed the "Record Season" option and was easily able to use it to schedule recordings of all Steelers games for the season. Nice.
> 
> My Genie Mini has functioned less dependably. Often when changing channels or playing recordings, I lose audio. Switching to another channel and then back again usually clears it up, but it's irritating. Also, I have to be deliberate with key presses on the remote (read: slow) or commands are sometimes missed. I've had this problem with two different Harmony remotes, neither of which I've had problems with on the main box.
> 
> I've made some streaming changes. A few months ago I checked out Kodi with the Genesis add-in, and was blown away. Now, I like to think I'm a morally upstanding guy, at least in most things, but I don't feel bad about using Kodi/Genesis because I still pay for everything else I would anyway: Netflix streaming and discs for my young sons, Amazon Prime for the free 2-day shipping and exclusive streaming content, And, of course, DIRECTV. Why? For local and national news, live local MLB games and NFLST, for channel surfing, and for TV in the background. Also, I like obscure shows on ufology, cryptozoology and the like and these are rarely available on Genesis in HD. On the other hand, I've had a few missed episode recordings with my Genie, and it's been nice to be able to "catch up" with Genesis. I'm also able to watch the current season of El Rey's From Dusk Till Dawn in HD with Genesis whereas it's only available in SD on DIRECTV. In other words, I use Kodi/Genesis as a supplement rather than as a replacement.
> 
> To be clear, I understand that the entertainment industry supports a community of creatives and craftspeople alike. I'm happy to pay my share for the fruits of their labors, and encourage others to do the same. Again, I only use Kodi and Genesis as a convenient supplement to the services that I continue to pay for.
> 
> To my eyes, Kodi does a better job of rendering my library of DVD ripped content than Plex did too.
> 
> Using Kodi necessitated a change from the Roku 3s I had to Amazon Fire TVs. Overall, I'm very happy with them, though they don't have the Funimation or Sugar DVD apps that I enjoyed on Roku.
> 
> Re the cord-cutter movement, whether or not to pay for TV is a value judgement based on convenience. I have a couple debilitating medical conditions and so watch a lot of TV. For me, having the convenience of a pay TV service like DIRECTV is worth it. Your mileage may, of course, vary.


Reaper,

I'm looking at the Amazon Fire stick.

Do you have it, any problems? Better than Roku?

I've been playing with a borrowed raspberry pi, but it is not as straight forward as a roku.

I'd be interested in knowing about Amazon fire, especially the stick.

Thanks


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## Reaper

Eddie501 said:


> I've been interested in Tablo for a while, but a couple of things holding me back: How easy is it to skip commercials? Is it as easy as a traditional DVR or is it more difficult like on streaming apps? Also, with having to watch through an app does it support 5.1 Dolby Digital audio? Or is it 2 channel only?


Now that I've gotten used to how it works, I like the skipping function on the Tablo. It does pause the stream but shows a still image to indicate where you've skipped too, sized about the same as the Netflix FF frames. Now I feel like I can skip commercials efficiently.


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## Reaper

satcrazy said:


> Reaper,
> 
> I'm looking at the Amazon Fire stick.
> 
> Do you have it, any problems? Better than Roku?
> 
> I've been playing with a borrowed raspberry pi, but it is not as straight forward as a roku.
> 
> I'd be interested in knowing about Amazon fire, especially the stick.
> 
> Thanks


I don't have a Fire TV stick but have read that the performance is similar to the Fire TV.

As far as being better than the Roku, that's subjective. I rarely, if ever, had to restart my Rokus - though they occasionally restarted themselves. I restart my Fire TV fairly often. Thankfully, it's a quick process.

Roku has the most content choices. For instance, I miss Vudu, Funimation, and Sugar DVD.

As I understand it, Roku has better video decoders onboard so apps like Plex work better.

Fire TV has a slicker, more modern interface. The Amazon Instant Video interface is killer. You can run Kodi on Fire TV, which is kind of a big deal, but not on Roku.


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## Reaper

Eddie501 said:


> I've been interested in Tablo for a while, but a couple of things holding me back: How easy is it to skip commercials? Is it as easy as a traditional DVR or is it more difficult like on streaming apps? Also, with having to watch through an app does it support 5.1 Dolby Digital audio? Or is it 2 channel only?


I understand what's happening now. The still images are created in a post process once a recording is completed -- they're not available when using the live buffer. That's why I didn't notice them straight away.


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## Reaper

I've gone through some frustrations with indoor OTA antennas. Tried a couple flatennas similar to the Mohu Leaf and an RCA unit that was more substantial and supposedly multi-directional. I also tried combining different units with a coaxial splitter. Still no dice -- no indoor solution I tried provided all the channels I wanted or gave me consistent signal strength.

When I stuck the RCA unit on my balcony, I received much better reception. And then it dawned on me -- because the Tablo DVR only needs to be connected to a power supply, an external hard drive, and an antenna, but NOT to the network router or client box (Amazon Fire TV in my case) -- to these it can be connected wirelessly, I could set up the Tablo in the storage closet on my balcony and use an outdoor antenna. I bought this little beauty for about $30 on Amazon, along with a $30 tripod to mount it on. Now I'm receiving strong signals from ALL the local channels, including one from as far away as 60 miles.

Now with the OTA channels I receive and Sling TV, my live TV wants are adequately met.


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## satcrazy

reaper,

Checked out that OTA antenna on Amazon, read the 1 star reviews first, are you still having good luck with that TaoTronics? How did you mount it since it doesn't come with a base?


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## Reaper

satcrazy said:


> reaper,
> 
> Checked out that OTA antenna on Amazon, read the 1 star reviews first, are you still having good luck with that TaoTronics? How did you mount it since it doesn't come with a base?


Yep, I'm happy with it. I'm receiving one channel from 59 miles away.

Because I live in an apartment, I bought a tripod from Amazon to mount the antenna on.


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