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Said Goodbye to DirecTV
#1
I got an e-mail from DirecTV saying I get Sunday Ticket free for being a loyal customer.

I was going to go ahead and take it, but before I did I needed to clean up some other stuff with them.  First was what I pay every single month to watch a few TV shows.  I used to have the Genie DVR and 3 other TV's hooked up.  In an attempt to save money I had previously taken 2 TV's off the package and then went in an got a smaller viewing package. But no matter what I did, my bill seemed to hover around the same amount. 

So, I call them up today and take a third TV off and then reduced my TV package to their lowest offering.  o I look through my equipment charges and there is a HD charge, a DVR charge and a Genie DVR charge.  I told them since I only have one tv hooked up I shouldn't be charged for the Genie because I couldn't watch the DVR stuff on any other TV because I didn't have a box attatched to them.

They said there was nothing they could do, so I told them to take me to customer retention.  Now, she also said there was nothing she could do to get rid of the charge. So I ask if there is another DVR I can get other than the Genie. She says yes we can send you out our regular DVR for $99. I asked if I owned the DVR if I had to pay for it? No, she say, its just a charge. So I said, You charge me $99 and I get to pay $10 a month DVR fee?  Yes!

I told her that would be like paying cash for a car and then every month you still had to send the car dealership a fee to be able to drive it.  First they charge you for the equipment, then they charge you again to use it. Now, I know it's always been that way, but in the days of streaming video, you'd think they'd come up with a better plan.

The funny thing is they will offer you HBO, Starz, Cinemax for free but they won't cut your bill.  I'm tired of paying through the nose to watch just a few channels.

So, I told her to just disconnect me since I wasn't going to pay for a service I couldn't use nor would I pay for equipment up front if I wasn't going to own it.

She said, you've been with us since 2002, are you sure you want to leave? I said, Are you sure you want a fee that is relatively small to drive me to the competition? Apparently she did.

So, now I'm going to try out some of the streaming services for free then decide on one.  It will cost me way less than half of what my bill used to be.

Any thoughts on what is a better streaming service?  Sling, PSVue, Hulu, DirecTV Now?  Those are just the main ones out there.
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#2
I dumped cable 7 years ago. I have a Roku box and watch Hulu plus , Netflix and Amazon Prime. I have an channel called Plex where I can send my downloaded Viking games or movies etc. and watch them on the big screen. F*@& cable or any other paid service, don't miss it a bit.
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#3
Is p@purpleloki said:
Quote:
I dumped cable 7 years ago. I have a Roku box and watch Hulu plus , Netflix and Amazon Prime. I have an channel called Plex where I can send my downloaded Viking games or movies etc. and watch them on the big screen. F*@& cable or any other paid service, don't miss it a bit.
Is plex just something you download and watch on the computer only or can you send to the TV?  I am not very tech savy.  I have the jailbroken amazon firestick which is OK but still has it's issues - lost or slow streaming.  I was going to try it to watch a Viking game and not buy the ticket this year but I am worried that it will drive me crazy.

So back to Plex - do you watch the Viking games (do you get preseason) on the computer and are their any major issues or is it similar to having the ticket?

Thanks
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#4
Right now and for the next 5 days I'm checking out PSVue.  I can stream on 5 devices and it give me some local channels.  I don't live in Minnesota so getting the Vikings games will be bit more of a hassle, so we'll see.  I'm going to check out Sling and DirecTV Now.  Cheapest and mostly legal (haha) way possible is really what I'm looking for.

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#5
Our DirecTV bill prior to cancelling was $150 a month. All we watched were local channels, HBO, ESPN/ESPN2/BTN/FS1 for live sports, Bravo, Food Network, and AMC in addition to shows on Netflix. So, we cancelled and looked at other options.

We subscribe to DirecTV Now and got in early with the big discount. We get all the channels we were watching (and then some) for $30 a month and watch via our Apple TV. For local channels, we have an antenna connected to a home server that runs PLEX. With PLEX's new DVR feature ($100 for a lifetime subscription to all PLEX's advanced features), we can record local TV and play it back directly on the LG TV (or using Apple TV) using PLEX. We also still have Netflix. 

So, ~$160 a month versus ~$40 a month... for the same programming. The only caveat is that it's good to have at least a 20 Mbps internet connection if you plan to stream high quality video to more than one television at a time. We have a one gigabit connection, so we're more than good.
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#6
I'm nipping the cord too Rip...I just sent back two Dish Joey's and replaced em with an Amazon Firestick and FireTV. Only a $14/mos savings, but it's a start. I have a thread out there on it with some good feed-back from forum members, so check it out. 

In the future, I could see this household getting a lot more OTA, App streaming and then really skinning-back on Dish. Go with a Flexpak that'll cut the bill by more than 1/2...

Your on the right track though. All those providers offer an antiquated model to consumers and are sinking ships if they don't change.


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#7
Quote: @minny65 said:
Is p@purpleloki said:

I dumped cable 7 years ago. I have a Roku box and watch Hulu plus , Netflix and Amazon Prime. I have an channel called Plex where I can send my downloaded Viking games or movies etc. and watch them on the big screen. F*@& cable or any other paid service, don't miss it a bit.
Is plex just something you download and watch on the computer only or can you send to the TV?  I am not very tech savy.  I have the jailbroken amazon firestick which is OK but still has it's issues - lost or slow streaming.  I was going to try it to watch a Viking game and not buy the ticket this year but I am worried that it will drive me crazy.

So back to Plex - do you watch the Viking games (do you get preseason) on the computer and are their any major issues or is it similar to having the ticket?

Thanks
Plex is just a free channel you sign up for and allows you to send from your computer to your tv. Great free program!
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#8
Quote: @purpleloki said:
@minny65 said:
Is p@purpleloki said:

I dumped cable 7 years ago. I have a Roku box and watch Hulu plus , Netflix and Amazon Prime. I have an channel called Plex where I can send my downloaded Viking games or movies etc. and watch them on the big screen. F*@& cable or any other paid service, don't miss it a bit.
Is plex just something you download and watch on the computer only or can you send to the TV?  I am not very tech savy.  I have the jailbroken amazon firestick which is OK but still has it's issues - lost or slow streaming.  I was going to try it to watch a Viking game and not buy the ticket this year but I am worried that it will drive me crazy.

So back to Plex - do you watch the Viking games (do you get preseason) on the computer and are their any major issues or is it similar to having the ticket?

Thanks
Plex is just a free channel you sign up for and allows you to send from your computer to your tv. Great free program!
Thanks
Reply

#9
Quote: @minny65 said:
Is p@purpleloki said:

I dumped cable 7 years ago. I have a Roku box and watch Hulu plus , Netflix and Amazon Prime. I have an channel called Plex where I can send my downloaded Viking games or movies etc. and watch them on the big screen. F*@& cable or any other paid service, don't miss it a bit.
Is plex just something you download and watch on the computer only or can you send to the TV?  I am not very tech savy.  I have the jailbroken amazon firestick which is OK but still has it's issues - lost or slow streaming.  I was going to try it to watch a Viking game and not buy the ticket this year but I am worried that it will drive me crazy.

So back to Plex - do you watch the Viking games (do you get preseason) on the computer and are their any major issues or is it similar to having the ticket?

Thanks
Have you updated your version of Kodi?  There has been issues lately but since I updated to a newer version it's been fine.  seems like once a year the update to a new version.
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#10
Does Plex just stream over the air local channels, or can you watch out of market games?

I am closer than ever to ditching them, and going Hulu, or DirecTV Now.

Problem is, I'm in Denver so local channels only gets me Broncos games (which is fine by me as a backup for when the Vikings aren't on!).
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