Please educate me about streaming (vs. cable)

[MizMojoLaveau]

And what is this "Hulu" you speak of? I am totally behind times in the realm of TV viewing. We do not have a TiVO or DVR (are they the same thing?) and I am moving and would like to break from the cable company's $200/month (for a bundle including internet). I know I can call and say I'm cancelling and renegotiate a rate for the new house, but are others happy with other options? My husband LOVES things like sports, History channel, and Military channel and thinks the only way to get those are with cable. Kids would like any kids shows, I think. I only really like Mad Men and HGTV (and rarely watch those). Is negotiating with the cable company my best option? What about streaming? We do have a 2 year old nice flatscreen LCD TV.

[katydid1971]

I've looked into getting a Roku (which allows you to stream right onto your tv) and replacing our cable but the big thing we would lose is sports. DH loves sports and its his only vice so I wouldn't want to take it away from him. I do have to say I am much happier with DirecTV than I was with Comcast.

[MizMojoLaveau]

The DirecTV Choice Xtra pkg. for $34.99/month for 2 years looks pretty good and seems to have the Military and History Channels. Does anyone want to comment on how much satellite signal can be lost (during storms, etc)? Had a dish years ago and didn't lose it much. Though DH would differ with me on that point. There should be no tree interference in the new house (on a hill with no large trees if that helps).

[elbenn]

The DirecTV Choice Xtra pkg. for $34.99/month for 2 years looks pretty good and seems to have the Military and History Channels. Does anyone want to comment on how much satellite signal can be lost (during storms, etc)? Had a dish years ago and didn't lose it much. Though DH would differ with me on that point. There should be no tree interference in the new house (on a hill with no large trees if that helps).

We have dish network, and I'm very pleased. We do lose the signal in bad weather, and I think that is true of any satellite tv, but it usually has to be a pretty bad storm to lose the signal, and it usually comes back pretty fast.

[nellonello]

Sports is the only reason we are keeping cable. I would love to just be able to stream Hulu etc. through our Roku.

[zukeypur]

We currently have Uverse and are in the same boat. We love HBO and sports, so I need to find the most economical way to keep those.

[annex]

I don't know about other sports, but my DH bought the MLB streaming subscription. He hooks up our iPad to the tv to watch it. I don't know the exact cost, but maybe you could price out the online options for the sports your DH values to see if you replicate those for less than a full cable/dish service.

For military and history shows, your local public library may have DVDs you could borrow for free? I use library DVDs to watch premium cable shows like Game of Thrones, etc since I'm not worried about seeing them right when they first air.

[katydid1971]

We've had DirecTV for almost 2 years (it will be 2 years on July). I can't think of anytime we have lost signal because of weather. FWIW we do get blowing rain storms but not much snow (maybe once or twice a year). I think we have the Xtra package you listed. DH who is a huge sports fan is very happy with the amount of sports he gets.

[wendmatt]

We do not watch sports and I have been thinking about cancelling cable for ages, but like you am a bit scared of how Hulu works. Netflix basic is totally crap, only really old stuff. I think if you upgrade to the $16 pm you would get more. I guess Hulu and Hulu plus would be the same. I like to record stuff (we do have dvr) and watch it later and fast forward the ads, it is my understanding that you cannot do that with hulu (not sure if I'm correct but had heard/read that somewhere). Sorry I'm not much help! I tried Netflix to see if I could cancel cable with it and definitely could not, but I think Hulu gives you more tv options (please correct me if I am wrong).