Soon I'll discover if I miss anything

[carbonel]

My DirecTV bill is currently $98 monthly. That's ridiculous, especially considering that I'm paying another $25 or so per month for Netflix (the three-DVD-at-a-time package). And that's without any premium channels, just TNT and similar non-premium cable channels.

I finally got my act together to call DirecTV. When the automatic voice asked me what I wanted, I remembered the magic word: "retention."

That got me to Melissa, who switched me to DirecTV's "Select" plan, which is $49/month. It trims out a lot of channels, but I think the ones she listed are all the ones I watch, and the ones I'm losing are the ones that clog up the list when I scroll through. As I said in the subject line, I'll presumably find out if there's anything I forgot about that I'll miss.

I'm also currently eligible for a DVR upgrade, but I'm not sure I see the need. I never fill up the unit except when the Olympics are on, so that gives me another couple of years.

I'd been dithering about buying the Chromecast/PlayOn/PlayLater combo, mostly because I just purchased a Craftsy class, and then was annoyed to discover I couldn't watch it on my TV -- and possibly could, with that setup. Since the cost for that is $69, two months of savings will cover it. I doubt it'll be a complete substitute for DirecTV, but I'm willing to give it a try. (laurel, didn't you have a post about dumping cable providers entirely? I thought I bookmarked it, but I can't find it.)

I did try Plex, but it didn't work very well for me. I hate the interface, and I think my broadband may not be broad enough.

But at least now I'm looking at other options.

Comments

[bibliofile.livejournal.com]

I'll be interested to see how this goes for you.

AIUI, Netflix streaming plus a Roku box can give you many options.

replyhazy & B have a Chromecast thingy on their TV. I used it to watch the first episode of the Outlander series (on the Starz site), and the quality was pretty good. (Hmm, are you LJ friends? Dunno. Let me know if you want an email address.)