Pulling the plug

I will be canceling my cable next month. I hardly ever watch TV, but it will be harder on my 6 and 7 year old kids. I tested netflix on our Wii and it works great, pretty big kids selection. All I ever really watched was some shows on Discovery (Man vs Wild, Deadliest Catch) but I can get those from the web. I waited for the World Cup to end and I know Football season will be a bit tough but I look forward to saving some money. I have ripped about 40 hours of video and put it on the network and we use xbmc media center to watch it.

Anybody else cut the cord? I know it is a growing trend. Also, any suggestions on how to best rip DVD's to avi/mpeg?

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Comments

Kaminsky

I remember years ago at university, friend and I hadn't watched tv in over 2 years. Went around a friends house who had a tv and were completely trasnfixed by it. There was some cr*p showing on it at the time but we couldn't take our eyes off it. So bizarre.

I hardly watch it even to this day which works out well when the wife owns it after the kids have gone to bed. TV is the debil even more so now the different channels synchronise their advert breaks. It sucks you in and turns your brain into mush.

I could happily get rid of it tomorrow but the wife and kids would probably divorce me.

Hyper-Me

So 40$ for cable is a big deal compared to 15$ for netflix and 10+$ for hlu every month?

Guess i'm not so worried about 15$. but i COULD stand to be less distracted and get some things done

Pash

Kaminsky wrote: »

I remember years ago at university, friend and I hadn't watched tv in over 2 years. Went around a friends house who had a tv and were completely trasnfixed by it. There was some cr*p showing on it at the time but we couldn't take our eyes off it. So bizarre.

I hardly watch it even to this day which works out well when the wife owns it after the kids have gone to bed. TV is the debil even more so now the different channels synchronise their advert breaks. It sucks you in and turns your brain into mush.

I could happily get rid of it tomorrow but the wife and kids would probably divorce me.

Very well said. I could honestly watch only top gear (which can be streamed from iplayer anyway), Formula 1 and that is genuinely it.

donnamarie

Dear Mr. Plugless,

Hello. I am with ya! I don't have TV and use the internet or dvd for media enterntainment. I will tell you life is so much more enjoyable by not pumping all that in the head. It allows for others things to take your time up that are more meaningful. Maybe your football games will go online the day after that fact.

Take care,

Another TV-Less Fan.

exampasser

I've lived without cable for several years now. When the DTV switch started to happen I set up an old CB dipole antenna in the attic and connected it to the existing coax in my house. It's worked great for the most part.

Pash wrote: »

Absolutely. It does get a bit annoying though when you receive letters from online retailers making sure you have contacted relevant parties to get your tv license paid for. I do have a TV in the flat, never turn it on though.

I've heard about the tv licenses in the UK. That's total BS, but that sounds a hard to enforce law though.

Psoasman

I've gotten to the point where I just stream what I want, haven't had a TV for years.