Switching from cable to Roku & Chromecast

[TenaGoble]

I am planning on in September to get rid of my cable TV service, but keeping my internet and phone through Suddenlink. I have a Chromecast and a Roku Stick. For streaming TV bundles, what is my best bet for the money: Play On or Sling TV? And how can I get channels from Canada and UK?

 

[JTBenson]

Play On only pulls videos off of websites. It will still require subscriptions.

Here is my suggestion. Get Sling TV, Hulu and CBS. That will get you the major sports and shows from all 4 networks. The total cost is about $35/month. Also get Netflix for about $10 more a month. Also, HBO and Showtime have their own streaming. Be aware that Sling TV only allows one stream at a time and Suddenlink has a limit. Mine is 350Gb for the 75Mbps.

 

[lparsons21]

I'm sorry, but SlingTV plus CBS won't get you much sports at all. Sure you have ESPN and some from CBS, but that would leave huge, gaping holes in sports coverage.
IF sports is a big thing, then cutting the cord makes no sense at all.
If I gave up sports, here's where I would end up if I was a cord cutter:
SlingTV = $20
Movie Pack for Sling $5
World news sling $5
Lifestyle sling $5
HBO $15
Showtime $10
Hulu $8
Netflix $8 (I'm grandfathered for the time being)
CBS $7

Total : $83/month.

Dish right now :
T250 - 1st 12 month w/Hopper = $52
T250 - next 12 month = $97
All premiums about $40/month or less w/various deals

So here's the math for 24 months of both :
Cord cutter = $83*24 = $1992
Dish = 960+624+1164 = $2186

$194 difference or $16/month more with Dish. Get more channels, more sports, recording, and video on demand. Wouldn't be worth it to me to switch. But for those willing to go with much less, it could make sense.

 

[osu1991]

Most people looking to drop pay tv are not looking to get every single online service. 1 or 2 streaming services along with OTA is all many want or need and can be done for much less than a monthly pay tv subscription. All depends on what one needs and wants.



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[JTBenson]

Most people looking to drop pay tv are not looking to get every single online service. 1 or 2 streaming services along with OTA is all many want or need and can be done for much less than a monthly pay tv subscription. All depends on what one needs and wants.



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Agreed. Plus with pretty much every streaming service, you can cancel at any time. Not so with Dish. You will have a 2-year commitment with that package. It all depends on what you want. There are 3 big reasons I am not dropping dish:

1. Hopper
2. Fox Sports - not available on Sling or stand-alone streaming
3. I have over 500 movies recorded on EHD's that would be lost if I canceled.

However, there are lots of options for those that are not big Sports fans or are happy with just watching what is on ESPN or Big 4 Networks and ok when game is not on one of them.

 

[TenaGoble]

I did have a satellite dish, before I switched to cable and I can't go back to satellite because of electrical lines being put underneath the ground in front of my apartment. And I can't mount it on the roof either. So, in my case, it's cable or streaming services for where I currently live.

 

[Albiondon]

Also if your interested in sports the NFL Sunday Ticket is available on the Roku if ya live in an apartment,condo or townhouse that has restrictions on Dishes for 49.99 a month for four months if you qualify.

 

[BarbaraW]

I cut the cord 3 years ago. There is so much I can watch with my Roku 3 that I don't have enough time to watch it. What you need depends on how you watch tv. Sling is good I suppose ( don't have it, don't need it) IF you want to watch some live stuff. There are too many quality issues for me and too many add on . If you want a particular news channel, oh that will be $5 more. No thanks. I noticed that no one told you about Play-on. I have that , have had since day 1. I would not give it up for anything. It is the best, and from what I hear it will be getting better this fall because of a major update/overhaul. With playlater and playmark it can't be beat. I get my local news from Livestream, , I have Netflix, Hulu, and at the moment Amazon Prime, also Acorn tv for British stuff. I also pay an annual fee for Live 365 for no commercial music stations with just about any kind of music you can imagine. My total bill per month is less than $34. I may end up dropping Amazon, as I hardly ever use the video portion, and shipping to where I live usually only takes 3-4 days anyways. I haven't even mentioned Plex which is similar to Playon, but not as extensive with channels but has some different ones. If you look around there are a lot of options for a lot of channels for both as well as all the channels on Roku. Good luck, hope this helps.

 

[harshness]

I wouldn't recommend going with sticks. The conventional STBs (the Rokus boxes in particular) aren't that much more expensive and they are easier to work with. Chromecast, in particular, is significantly overrated in terms of what it brings and how it works.

 

[harshness]

Most people looking to drop pay tv are not looking to get every single online service.

Alas, each online service is pretty specialized in what they offer. None of them offer much more than 1/3rd of what you probably need. Netflix is getting to the point for me that their originals are half of what they offer.

 

[darrengs]

Also if your interested in sports the NFL Sunday Ticket is available on the Roku if ya live in an apartment,condo or townhouse that has restrictions on Dishes for 49.99 a month for four months if you qualify.

There is also NFL Game Pass for $99. However, you can't watch the games until after the late games are done.

 

[andy_horton]

There is also NFL Game Pass for $99. However, you can't watch the games until after the late games are done.

Does Roku have the MLB season pass? I think they do and how much is it?

 

[Troch77]

Does Roku have the MLB season pass? I think they do and how much is it?

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/index.jsp?product=roku

 

[harshness]

A kinder, gentler alternative to LMGTFY.

I wonder if they handle blackouts more accurately than the other carriers.

 

[andy_horton]

For me, mlb I can get on roku. I have OTA, Netflix, and I'm thinking about getting sling TV. So 9 for Netflix, and then 25-30 for what I want on sling, off season mlb. About 40 and then 60 for net and phone comes roughly to 100 for all that. But it's really up to the individual and their needs.

 

[andy_horton]

I'll add I have no data cap, so that helps!!

 

[R0ss]

If sports is an issue and you don't already have dish, they are offering the best deal I have ever seen, $49/ month lock for two years includes a hopper, no hidden fees, includes HD and RSN. My wife is thinking about it for the cable news, given that this is an election year....personally I'm happy with out it.


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