Cable / Direct TV

[SPSUEngineer]

get an HDTV antenna and get free HDTV. Doesn't cost a dime and you get 36 stations in Atlanta right now granted some of them are spanish, cartoons, etc.

I ditched cable and thought I would miss it but I really don't. Now I go outside and play more often. I had to keep my high speed internet though....can't live without that!

 

[snickerd3]

we pay $130 a month for cable w/HD channels, internet, and local phone. The trial period was $120. The hubby's work pays us back for the internet part of the bill though.

 

[Supe]

My Time Warner cable and roadrunner install date is set for July 3rd. I opted for the HD upgrade (no brainer) and the DVR (kind of pisses me off that it's not included). $148 due for first month including install, and I think 120somethingish after that? If it sucks, I'll drop the cable and go DTV.

 

[picusld]

I am very proud of something that I did and wanted to share it with the group...

I have officially dropped cable and home phone.

I now only have the high speed internet, netflix, and hulu bill which is about $60 cheaper than what I was paying. Got fancy rabit ears for my tv that seem to produce a better pic in 1080p than cable did for local tv.

It has been 1month now and I don't miss it a bit.

The thing that I was most worried about was my 3 year old's reaction, but he does not seem to care either.

 

[snickerd3]

cell phone coverage is too spotty by us to cut the landline.

 

[snickerd3]

^^ you are a good man Sap!!! your kindness will come back to you 10 fold.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

^^ you are a good man Sap!!! your kindness will come back to you 10 fold.

$200 per month?

 

[TouchDown]

I'm usually the one trying to save money in the house, so surprise, my wife was the one to bring up dropping cable and doing netflix and rabbit ears...

If it wasn't for sports... I'd cave and agree, but I dont' think I'd like missing ESPN / FOX sports / etc.

And since we have a package deal of phone(VOIP), internet, and cable... just dropping cable - what does that do to the overall amount? Don't know.

We need a land line of some sort - but we were considering getting an additional cell line on our plan for our house $10/month and just leaving it there for anyone who's in the house (babysitter / etc.).

 

[snickerd3]

extra cell phone does not equal land line. In case of emergency the cell phone doesn't help with determining location for police/fire/ambulence people

 

[snickerd3]

Magic jack is less than $20/yr or says the commercial. The device is like 40-50 bucks from the store though.

 

[FusionWhite]

I switched from cable to DirecTV when I moved 1.5 years ago. I think it has a better selection of HD channels and it works better then cable does even during bad weather.

The biggest con's are cost (a little more expensive then cable) and Im limited to 5 total boxes (2 HD-DVR's and 3 regular "mini-boxes"). So we are maxed out on the number of TV's we can have in the house at this point.

Overall I dont see myself going back to cable anytime soon.

 

[MA_PE]

extra cell phone does not equal land line. In case of emergency the cell phone doesn't help with determining location for police/fire/ambulence people

I disagree, cell phones may not be on the 911 system but all cell phones have GPS and can be tracked these days. If you have signal to make the call then it's on the grid and can be located to pretty good accuracy. I know a fair amount of people that have given up their land lines.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I know a fair amount of people that have given up their land lines.

I do, too.

I'm surprised my parents haven't ditched the ladlines. They have cells, and they've been to Europe and are amazed at the lack of landlines there. You'd think they'd go with the obviously superior European way, wouldn't you?

 

[snickerd3]

extra cell phone does not equal land line. In case of emergency the cell phone doesn't help with determining location for police/fire/ambulence people

I disagree, cell phones may not be on the 911 system but all cell phones have GPS and can be tracked these days. If you have signal to make the call then it's on the grid and can be located to pretty good accuracy. I know a fair amount of people that have given up their land lines.

at a first aide training we had given by paramedics from firedept they said the cell phone alone only gets them to the closest cell phone tower.

 

[MA_PE]

Technology keeps getting better at it. It looks like the carrier needs to provide the GPS coordinates to the emeergency personnell. Not exact but in the vicinity. It looks like worst case would be to the towers with potential information to get them closer depending on transmission details in the vicinity.

911 wireless service

 

[roadwreck]

We need a land line of some sort - but we were considering getting an additional cell line on our plan for our house $10/month and just leaving it there for anyone who's in the house (babysitter / etc.).

I think I mentioned this somewhere else, but I bought an Ooma a few months back and have been very happy. You have to pay for the device upfront, but after that there are no monthly service fees, you just have to pay taxes and regulatory fees which vary by location (for me they are $3.40 per month). For that you get unlimited US calling, Free calling anywhere in the world to another Ooma user, voicemail, caller id, 911 address service, etc., etc..

All that is required is a high speed internet connection (DSL or better).

Here's their website for more info

http://www.ooma.com/

I bought a refurbished Ooma Hub (their older device) for $99 and have been very happy. It allowed me to go to a much less expensive cell phone plan so I'm pretty happy about saving money every month and having the flexibility to talk as much as I want.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

We need a land line of some sort - but we were considering getting an additional cell line on our plan for our house $10/month and just leaving it there for anyone who's in the house (babysitter / etc.).

I think I mentioned this somewhere else, but I bought an Ooma a few months back and have been very happy. You have to pay for the device upfront, but after that there are no monthly service fees, you just have to pay taxes and regulatory fees which vary by location (for me they are $3.40 per month). For that you get unlimited US calling, Free calling anywhere in the world to another Ooma user, voicemail, caller id, 911 address service, etc., etc..

All that is required is a high speed internet connection (DSL or better).

Here's their website for more info

http://www.ooma.com/

I bought a refurbished Ooma Hub (their older device) for $99 and have been very happy. It allowed me to go to a much less expensive cell phone plan so I'm pretty happy about saving money every month and having the flexibility to talk as much as I want.

If you get one of those VOIP boxes, can you transfer your current landline number to it? One of the reasons I still have my landline is that I have had the number for a really long time, and I'm hesitant to give that number up if it is the only number someone has for me.

 

[roadwreck]

If you get one of those VOIP boxes, can you transfer your current landline number to it? One of the reasons I still have my landline is that I have had the number for a really long time, and I'm hesitant to give that number up if it is the only number someone has for me.

You can, with Ooma there is a one time fee ($30-$40, I can't remember exactly what it is - the cost will vary by provider) to port a telephone number over. I didn't have to deal with this though, I have a Google Voice number, so I can have that ring all my phones (home, cell, office, etc.). That meant I didn't have to worry about porting my number, I just directed my google voice number to ring my home phone line too. I actually have no idea what my actual home phone number is. I can look it up, but I can't recall it off the top of my head.

P.S. - Google Voice rocks! :bananalama:

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

extra cell phone does not equal land line. In case of emergency the cell phone doesn't help with determining location for police/fire/ambulence people

I disagree, cell phones may not be on the 911 system but all cell phones have GPS and can be tracked these days. If you have signal to make the call then it's on the grid and can be located to pretty good accuracy. I know a fair amount of people that have given up their land lines.

This all depends on the capacity of your local 911 call center. Most rural and even quite a few suburban police stations dont have this technology. Not everyone is advanced as whats shown on CSI or NCIS.

 

[snickerd3]

I still like the peace of mind the landline has in an emergency if something happens to me with just minisnick around if he can just simply dial 911 without being able to fully tell them what is wrong they will still be able to find me.

I guess i speak from experience. when I was probably 5 yrs old, my mom slipped and went tumbling down the stairs while she was going down with a laundry basket in hand. It took some doing, since the phone was wall mounted, but I managed to get the phone and call 911. Then got the address book and called a friends mom. She had dislocated her shoulder in the fall and couldn't get up because the basket had sort of pinned her in the 3'x3' area at the bottom of the steps.