Different Options for TV? How Good Is Online TV like HULU??

We are a geeky household, so we have a Mac Mini hooked up to our TV as an HDMI input. We have Hulu Plus and Netflix. Hulu does not have shows from CBS, CW, or the more popular cable channels like Discover, TNT, and USA. It does have the other major networks, SyFy, and some web programming like Keifer Sutherland's new series.
We also use a program/device on the computer called EyeTV, from elgato.com. This turns your computer into a TV receiver, so you can get the over-the-air TV on your computer. It also has a DVR capacity, so you can tape those shows just like a DVR (skipping the commercials), and you can watch on your iPod, etc. as well as the TV.
We also watch a lot of podcasts: there is a great Sesame Street one, that has a 5 minute show for each letter of the alphabet, and a Dragonfly TV one that is a great little 10 minute science show for older kids. For the grown-ups, there are TED talks, a local feed from the weather channel, and the national nightly news shows are available the next day.

2 moms found this helpful

I almost did something similar. But when I called to cancel the satellite company talked me into their very basic programming only 14.99 a month. It has more than just regular cable channels, like TBS, Hallmark, Food Network, TBS, AMC, and the comedy channel. And quite a few more I can't think of. It was well worth the downgrade. We lost the MTV & VH1 channels and all the disney and nickelodeon channels. But we haven't missed either. My girls have so many kid videos anyway.

We ditched regular TV last fall, and really haven't missed it. We can watch full episodes of PBS kid and adult programs online. We use Netflix instant play and DVD service. And we do watch hulu from time to time. While Netflix doesn't give you the current season, you can get a lot of TV on Netflix - we watch a lot of HBO and BBC series, as well as Discovery Channel. You can get any series that has gone to DVD. And we stream the Netflix directly to our widescreen TV via a wireless connection, so we're not stuck with four people trying to watch on a computer monitor.

The only thing my husband misses is football, and this last fall his work schedule would have prevented him from watching anyway.

We get Netflix with 1 video in the mail at a time and instant streaming.
We also have Hulu Plus.
The 2 services together are like $20, we have ZERO shows that we miss, we have been able to see all the movies we are interested in and we do not have regular television at all.
We do not use Comcast, Quest, Dish, none of them, we do not even have an antenna, and we are saving SO much money.
We love it, Netflix with Hulu Plus = awesome.
I highly recommend it, especially if you have a Wii or PS3 so that you can watch the Netflix movies or shows and Hulu shows on your tv.
My 6 year old knows how to navigate Netflix and find stuff, and I never have to worry about bad channels or commercials trying to sell her stuff.

We have cable and we have high speed internet as well. As a family we do like a lot of our options on cable but I also have seen (we got cable somewhat recently) that shows get repeated A LOT. I don't think we would want to give up our cable as we like the options including on demand but I love what I get for free on hulu and if I didn't have a cable bill to boot I would probably strongly consider getting Hulu plus. From what I have seen that gives us a whole lot more options to view as well. Since you made me think of it I think Hulu plus is a much lower cost option to cable or satellite but it does make me wonder if once more people catch onto it if the cost will soar accordingly

We use netflix. I love it! There are many devices you can use to get it. We have an apple tv. (small box about the size of a coaster and a bit thicker than a deck of cards)

Added** http://www.netflix.com/NetflixReadyDevices?cid=Game+Consoles

HDMI cable from your computer or PS3, Xbox, Wii or Blueray player. Netflix is 7.99 a month streaming and 9.99 a month for streaming and one dvd at a time, as soon as you return the dvd a new one on your list will be shipped. It can also be accessed from any of the listed systems. It has movies, and TV episodes on it. I went that way rather than pay for cable, when the one channel i want is at the end and cost like $100+. PS3's system needed for netflix is currently down. Around the same time a movie is released, it is released on Netflix, whether it is for dvd or streaming.

We ditched the cable company almost two years ago. We use hulu, netflix, and the stations' websites (aetv.com, tnt.tv, etc), as well as youtube. Kids also watch pbskids.org and playhousedisney.com

The only thing I miss about not having tv (we don't even have an antenna for local stations) is my college team's football games (coverage on tv has only been iffy anyway) and the occasional live event. But more and more of those are being streamed via the internet, too.

We have HULU Plus and Netflix...we have been cable free for 7 ish years and so happy without it. When we really want to see a new release sometimes we will redbox one. Other than that I have not felt deprived and neither have my kids, when we figured how much we saved the first year by going cable free we vowed never to go back.
We use our regular computer to watch netflix streaming or Hulu, but we can also watch Hulu plus and netflix streaming on our regular television with Playstation 3 or xbox 360...there are tvs that you can buy that are not that high that allow you to watch without the addition of the game systems.

We canceled TV and use hulu and netflix. We can watch them with our PS3, but we also bought Roku (www.roku.com) players for our other tv's so we don't have to have it hooked up to a computer! It's great to watch things without commercials or at leasted a limited number, and we don't miss our shows! We love it!

We cancelled our satelite ($45/month) early this year. We bought a $60 antenna and get local channels pretty good, even had a Super Bowl party! We pay about $20/month for Netflix and Hulu Plus. We stream Netflix through our Wii and get one DVD at a time. We watched all the past seasons of a show we never got to watch commercial free.
We hook our laptop to our plasma with an HDMI cable and watch Hulu that way. We subscribe to the shows we like and when there is a new episode they put in our queue and send us an email to let us know it's there. We thought we might miss our DVR, but I doubt we'll ever go back to satellite!

Netflix. I'm wishing we hadn't updated our satellite service now (we live in a similar situation) but we watch way more on netflix via our XBox than we do on satelliteTV and most of regular TV shows are available about a season behind. When we reach the end of our contract with the satellite we'll be cancelling it for sure -- especially since there is now a HULU channel on our Xbox too.

Hi I am another a Netflix junkie, we got rid of direct about 2 yrs ago. We hook up our laptop to the tv with a HDMI cable get a 10 ft or more cable about $40 + just because you have more cable. You simple hook to your TV. We did upgrade our tv this yr to a flat screen so now we watch all of our fun CBS shows through the laptop onto the big TV.
Others have mentioned Hulu we do use that as well as Infinity with our Comcast cable, lots there to select from. You can find old shows on a lot of different sites, Hulu has Benson, facts of life, and more from the 80's. I saw Infinity now has Happy Days. CBS has a large old selection as well as NBC.com. I have found some classic movies on Amazon on Demand that may cost $2.99 but they are hard to find old disney classics from the 70's. You tube you can find fun old shows as well.
I have found you really only miss the sports right now. We can watch news on Yahoo.com or go to CNN or MSB+NBC for things like Japan or the tornados. All in All the Laptop through the TV is great and less money . We have been watching Bill Cosby, 24, cheers, wings, Army wifes all through netflix. Enjoy!!!

HULU is delayed by a day or more so you don’t see the program until after the original showing and they just started increasing the wait time to encourage you to pay for their service. It is NOT necessary to pay for their service if you can handle waiting a day or two longer.
We canceled all TV about 4 years ago and have loved it. It did take some adjusting but after a few months we really were happy with our decision. The majority of our TV has been watched online on sites like HULU. One of the best things about it is we sit down and watch when we all have time. And even better, we have more time for so many other things. My kids are young so it wasn’t too hard for them either. I have noticed that my little ones have learned to entertain themselves very well. When their friends or cousins come over and there is no TV to ‘entertain’ them they have a hard time and want to go home. I get complements on how well they get along, entertain themselves and make up games and use their imagination.
We have used our desktop and our laptop for TV and just recently got a TV we can run our computer and thus the internet through.
I highly recommend getting rid of TV. I think you will be happy with not only the savings but the brain that has been lying dormant or has just been on auto pilot.

We have time-warner high speed and computers. We use hulu and netflix and you can rent or buy seasons through amazon. They even have a plan where you can have unlimited tv viewing for selected seasons of various shows with a membership you buy. But I don't think the membership is worth it unless you buy a lot through Amazon with shipping. The membership gets most things shipped free or at a reduced price.

You can also watch a lot of shows on the websites for the major networks. Then of course you can watch some things in their entirety on u-tube if you don't mind watching them in 9 minute segments. There's little you can't watch. BUT, it's harder to find and not always out right away. I would do it if I could get away with it. My husband is into upper learning channels, hgtv, and do it yourself shows and my mother hates the computer.

My inlaws use HULU and Netflix. They find that all of the TV shows they watch are on Hulu and they use Netflix ($8 a month) for their movies. All you need is a computer hooked up to your tv and it should be ok.

We live in an area that doesn't even get local channels without a satellite but that 80 bucks per month was killing me. We cancelled the satellite and signed up for netflix. The kids have set amounts of time they're allowed on the computer and they usually watch Netflix-Anni watches her favorite Spongebob, Mikey watches Power Rangers, etc, etc, etc,....(eight kids here). I use hulu or cbs.com to watch my favorite tv shows. Oddly hulu has better streaming than cbs but this was one of the best money saving decisions we've ever made. No one has missed having the tv even once in the year we've spent without it and I LOVE paying just 19.99 to Netflix every month instead of that 89.99 to the satellite company.

We only have Netflix and Hulu Plus. They both stream through the internet and show up on our TV. I think we had to buy a part that was like $80-100 for it to work. If you have a bluray, it might already have it built in. We LOVE it. We have no TV otherwise and don't miss it at all.

As far as we have researched, Hulu and Netflix are great options as an alternative to cable. There is also a thing called a Roku box that you buy once and then use whatever monthly subscription you choose to buy. HOWEVER, if you are a sports fan then cable is the way to go. You also have to decide what shows you regularly watch and do research to find if you can get them without cable (some you would have to wait till DVD).

We ditched cable about a year ago - and feel no desire to go back. We have a laptop hooked up to the TV and do netflix (streaming and 1 DVD at a time for $9 a month), we have an aerial antenna for free over the air broadcast (we even get Sprout that way) and we watch shows online on Hulu and web.
We have a few shows that are not free online, but I don't mind paying $2 an episode for a show I REALLY love once a week on amazon on demand. Beats $70 a months for 300 channels with nothing but... well nothing that we like anyways.
For us it's been nice, I can only recommend giving it a try.

We have netflix & hulu.

For both we mainly stream through the computers (nothing needed but your computer), but since we have an xBox we can also stream directly to the TV (no equipment beside the xbox required). Both netflix & huluPlus have free trials (regular hulu is free). Check out Hulu (regular) right now, and get the free trials before canceling you cable.

If you don't have a gaming system or newer TV, all you need is a HDMI cable to run from your computer to the TV.