Sling TV
11-27-2016, 11:18 AM
#21
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: southeast Idaho
Posts: 522
Originally Posted by catsden
My son bought me Chromecast for the tv. He came for Thanksgiving and we figured how to hook it up to my older flat screen, have to go thru my laptop. Anyway I think I have decided to go with Sling and Netflex. Sling has the stations that I watch. I have dish, no other options where I live, and have been with them since 2000 so no contract. I am on a fixed income and can save $40 a month doing this. Do any of you have Sling tv and do you like it? Pulling the plug on dish is like giving up smoking, it,s become a habit that I need to break 
.
.
11-27-2016, 12:52 PM
#22
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
Wow, catsden. I decided to do some research after your post and Sling indeed is getting a lot of negative reviews. Here are some comments I found on Cnet: https://www.cnet.com/products/sling-tv/user-reviews/
11-27-2016, 01:27 PM
#23
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: SW, MI
Posts: 827
Originally Posted by romanojg
over a year ago our "main" local cable company came out with these boxes you had to have in order to see anything other than snow. You were aloud to get only 2 without paying, which bites when you have 5 TVs set up. I get only basic cable for about 33 a month but only a handful of channels are worth watching, most are music or selling channels, I decided to check out antenna's needing to cut back. The one that I really like is the flat one that they sell on TV for 1999 for 2, I got one from the exchange here and can see all but 2 of the channels I get on cable. I called the cable company to cancel the TV part and they said that I had a bundle and if I have internet only then my bill will actually go up 61 for both to 64 for just internet, its low level internet. I had gotten the firestick but you need internet to use it. While I enjoy my internet but don't use it that much I now have to decide to cancel all and return my firestick since I won't have internet to get the extra channels. Plus the cable company says they'll start charging for those little boxes in Jan so now my bill will still go up another 10. You can't win for losing. But at least I can get local TV, the Create TV, Ion and Grit and a few others if I cancel internet. Which is what I think I may have to do.
I think the cable company came up with these boxes as a way to have more control on us. When the government passed a law that all TV had to be broadcast over digital which gave access to more via antennas the little boxes allowed them to control what we could see. You have to have them sync your box to your TV, you can't move it to a different TV in your house and you only see what they want you to see. By the way, with that little antenna, I was amazed that the picture was so clear, not like it used to be, snowy on the old antennas
I think the cable company came up with these boxes as a way to have more control on us. When the government passed a law that all TV had to be broadcast over digital which gave access to more via antennas the little boxes allowed them to control what we could see. You have to have them sync your box to your TV, you can't move it to a different TV in your house and you only see what they want you to see. By the way, with that little antenna, I was amazed that the picture was so clear, not like it used to be, snowy on the old antennas
11-27-2016, 03:33 PM
#24
Power Poster
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: home again, after 27 yrs!
Posts: 19,388
Yep, they are all bad for the most part, in one way or another. shame. I had Comcast for years but here we have Dish. I had Netflix for DVDs mailed to my house but stopped that. Now back home i get online and watch things on Amazon or Worldview t.v. channel for $3.99 a month i think. there i get European detective shows that are sub-titled. I love them.
11-30-2016, 05:32 AM
#25
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Norfolk, VA
Posts: 5,397
CINDYB, well, I have finally gotten my solution. I contacted Sprint, I have my cell phone and my house phone thru them. I can get internet on my tablet (plus I qualify for a free tablet) for 25 a month, 20 if I do autopay, its unlimited minutes and has 5gb of free hotspot. That gives me my internet and I can Bluetooth into my smart tv and watch things from the internet on there. I'm also going to check to see how much their data cards are. They have a traveling one that is for your car, one that hooks up in your house and will support up to 10 devices and one that plugs into my laptop. I'm going when I get off work today to check out the options and the monthly cost. At the least I know that I can my laptop for 20 and that'll save me 45, then 55 next month when the cable company starts charging for those boxes. I'm going to BJ's and will check out the antenna they have, its more pricey but is supposed to pick up more, this one will be for my main TV. Then I'll just get a few more of the cheap ones that work so well for the rest of the house.
I'm so happy to be getting rid of this cable company. Especially when I called to cancel jus the TV and she just sounded smug on the phone saying well then you'll be paying more. Like she thought she had me over a barrel. Bye-bye cable company and that extra money that I shouldn't have to pay.
I'm so happy to be getting rid of this cable company. Especially when I called to cancel jus the TV and she just sounded smug on the phone saying well then you'll be paying more. Like she thought she had me over a barrel. Bye-bye cable company and that extra money that I shouldn't have to pay.
11-30-2016, 10:43 AM
#26
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Michigan Thumb
Posts: 1,956
Originally Posted by magpie
If you like British shows try Acorntv, Lots to choose from comparable to Netflix
I have a Roku box and Netflix, plan to cancel my Dish in a few months. I only watch the Hallmark channels and the DIY shows, does Acorn have anything to compare to those channels.
I do have an outside antenna for locals and PBS. The secondary channels have a good choice of older shows to watch. Really like seeing the Little House on the Prairie shows again, also Murder She Wrote.
Any more input on shows and movies would be most helpful.
11-30-2016, 11:12 AM
#27
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Michigan Thumb
Posts: 1,956
Originally Posted by whatever
I went with HuLu what you need is a good antenna I have little trouble when the weather is bad
Does one sign up under Roku or HuLu.
11-30-2016, 07:21 PM
#28
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
farmquilter, you can probably add subscriptions right on your Roku. Go to the Roku home screen, find the Roku Channel Store (I think you just scroll down on the left side of the home screen), and click on Hulu or whatever else you want to add. Or you can go to hulu.com to sign up. I think you can also go to the Roku Channel Store online and sign up there: https://channelstore.roku.com/browse after logging in with your Roku ID.
My dh and I don't use Hulu, but my daughter and her boyfriend use it. You can see what shows are on it here: http://www.hulu.com/start/content (note there are 191 pages there! be sure to check the "currently on air" filter to get it down to 11 pages). Unlike Netflix, Hulu shows include commercials and there's no easy way to fast forward through them.
My dh and I really like Acorn, which is only $5/month. There are quite a few different shows and the accents vary. You could try it out for a month and cancel if you don't like it. We found a lot of shows there to watch, including some from New Zealand and Australia (those accents tend to be harder to understand than British, but we got used to them). Acorn does not have anything like what is on the Hallmark channel or the HGTV, though. I think you would have to subscribe to Sling to get those channels.
My dh and I don't use Hulu, but my daughter and her boyfriend use it. You can see what shows are on it here: http://www.hulu.com/start/content (note there are 191 pages there! be sure to check the "currently on air" filter to get it down to 11 pages). Unlike Netflix, Hulu shows include commercials and there's no easy way to fast forward through them.
My dh and I really like Acorn, which is only $5/month. There are quite a few different shows and the accents vary. You could try it out for a month and cancel if you don't like it. We found a lot of shows there to watch, including some from New Zealand and Australia (those accents tend to be harder to understand than British, but we got used to them). Acorn does not have anything like what is on the Hallmark channel or the HGTV, though. I think you would have to subscribe to Sling to get those channels.
Last edited by Prism99; 11-30-2016 at 07:24 PM.
12-01-2016, 02:41 PM
#29
Power Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Southern USA
Posts: 15,896
I love Acorn TV. All British shows and movies.
The main thing is you have to have great wi fi reception and fast streaming. If you don't, you have freezes, buffering and constantly being kicked offline.
PBS channel is free also about a hundred more channels are free. Anything you are interested in there is a channel for it. Amazon Prime and Roku has all the premium channels you can subscribe to, HBo, Starz, Showtime, Acorn, Hallmark, etc. Also with Amazon Prime you can rent the new releases if you don't want to wait for the free viewing.
The main thing is you have to have great wi fi reception and fast streaming. If you don't, you have freezes, buffering and constantly being kicked offline.
PBS channel is free also about a hundred more channels are free. Anything you are interested in there is a channel for it. Amazon Prime and Roku has all the premium channels you can subscribe to, HBo, Starz, Showtime, Acorn, Hallmark, etc. Also with Amazon Prime you can rent the new releases if you don't want to wait for the free viewing.
Last edited by Onebyone; 12-01-2016 at 02:52 PM.
12-01-2016, 03:43 PM
#30
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 1,265
I just wanted to clarify that Hulu and HuluPlus are different things, or at least they were when we subscribed to HuluPlus. Hulu is free on the internet, but HuluPlus requires a paid subscription and offers much more than Hulu.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
