Goldberg74

... it was a long and hard decision, but my wife and I have agreed to drop our DirecTV service after three wonderful years.

We are trying to get out of debt and are trimming our expenses. By dropping DirecTV ($60/mo) and going our local basic cable ($15/mo), we'll save $480 a year. 80% of the shows I watch are on broadcast television, so it shouldn't be that painful.

It's going to take some getting used to, but I think I'll survive.

Please comfort me through this transition...

... and does anyone know of any deals on a good VCR with Commercial Skip?







... but rest assured, when the debt is gone, I'm saving my pennies for the an HDTV and the accompanying service!

mr899

I have a Panasonic DMR-E85H . It has online TV-Guide from cable (free), Hard drive recording alloes you to skip minute at a time. Here is one on Ebay (not mine) .I have basic cable and love this unit.

http://cgi.ebay.com/PANASONIC-DMR-E8...QQcmdZViewItem

Good luck,
Ron

IamHydrogen1

I pulled the trick where you threaten to cancel your Tivo service, and they reduce your rate. I'm paying $6.99/mo. If you search in the hot deals forum, you can find a thread about this.

Goldberg74

I was paying $4.99/mo for my TiVo service since my reciever was a DirecTiVo.

Thanks for the link mr899.

NC-36

You could get a free SA TiVo just for paying the $12.95 monthly fee -

http://www.tivo.com/2.1.1.0.ws.asp

Just sayin' Giving up Directv would be much easier than giving up my TiVo

Ketamine

Not sure how much money you make per hour at work but with the time you save by skipping the commercials, you could just do an extra hour of work a week to make up cost of keeping your current service. On top of that, you will get more work done which can only help you with your boss. Just a thought.

BigDave

I believe he's on salary so working more won't help.

Nefarious

We're in a similar boat brother. The itch is bad right now as football is gearing back up. Still, with the way things get released on DVD (shows anyway). I can't stomach to pay such high rates for just my live sporting events.

Now broadband...that's something I can't get rid of

Josh H

I had to drop DTV and tivo in December as I moved and couldn't get satellite at the new place.

We do still have cable, so I don't miss the channels, but it did take a while to get used to no Tivo.

I might get one when Comast rolls out their TV units, but I couldn't see paying for their crappy DVRs after trying out a friends and listening to their complaints about it. Then again, I've cut back my non-sports TV watching (and watch sports live) so I'll probably just keep doing without since I too am on a tight budget.

Michael Corvin

Exactly, you can still get a stand-alone tivo and still be saving quite a bit.

Anubis2005X

I've never had Tivo, but have interest. Do you have to use it with Satellite? Can it be used with regular cable?

Nefarious

A stand-alone Tivo can be used with Cable or OTA (over the air) reception.

Jadzia

I think I would rather hustle for money than give up my D*Tivo.

Or maybe just give up some other luxury, like food.

SuperJim88

Have you try brushing every other teeth, shower only half side of your body and switch off on your next shower, wear your underwears inside out, drink water instead of soda, eat potato instead of potato chips, say only every other words when talking on cellphone, move all your activities in your home into one room, and fill your cars with corn oil instead of gasoline?

All kiding aside, giving up Tivo will be a nightmare to you. Tivo is one of those things that once you go black, you don't go back.

RIP Goldberg's direct TV service and Tivo.......

vegasbaby

Here's a thought ...

ever think of robbing banks? pretty good money in that.

I can see the headline now :

'Goldberg tells cops he robs banks to keep tivo up and running in his house'.

zuffy

A couple of years ago when I called DISH that I wanted to cancel because I don't watch TV much anymore. They offered me the local channels package for $5.99 a month. That was a great deal because my DISH receiver is the DVR version so I was able to record my broadcast shows.

The Bus

I dropped about $90/m worth of cable service recently and haven't looked back. Good luck with everything!

Goldberg74

When I called to cancel it, they offered to suspend my account for 9 months so that I could reconnect in May 2007 without the associated fees. I declined.

Alot of yall's posts had me , and I aprreciate the ideas (whether legal or otherwise).

One of the lighter sides of this decision is that this will hopefully help me cut down on my 30+ a week habit of watching TV. Now I have to trim the fat that I otherwise wouldn't watch and see if I feel any different.

I think I'll miss the Food Network and Sci-Fi the most.

I've got the stuff on my PC to act like a VCR, so I might try to figure that out.

We'll see how I survive.

lewisb73

Couldnt live without my D-tivo (all 3 recievers in my house are TIVO) luckily I dont have a monthly fee as I paid the one time lump sum on my first TIVO... still paying around 70 a month for satellite with 3 boxes, total choice plus, and 2 premiums HBO and Showtime (which I WAS going to get rid of until I got hooked on Weeds and Brotherhood

Chew

I wish that were an option with the Vip622 DVR or, even moreso, that DirecTV would allow me to just go with a cheap local package.

Other than a handful of cable shows on three channels, my HD DirecTivo is pretty much local and OTA HD exclusive.

Silly Burrito

Well, it's not exactly Tivo (although you can emulate the sounds), but http://www.gbpvr.com/ is a great site with free software that you can use, and capture cards really aren't that expensive nowadays.

JohnSlider

For the shows that you used to watch with the DirecTV plan you could just have someone Tivo them, and then download the Tivo desktop. They'd probably be willing to give you their Media Access Key so you can download them to your PC and watch them there... If you're that hooked on any of the shows.

Just my two cents.

zuffy

At first, they offer to suspend my account until I am "ready" for TV again. I declined and then they transfer me to the cancellation specialist. She said everyone needs the news and weather, that's when she offered me the local channels package. I guess it helped that I've been with DISH for 3 years before the call.

Goldberg74

My signal fell silent this morning.

:RIP:

... now to call the cable company.

juanmgonzalez

Make sure to tell the cable company that you currently have Satellite and are curious of any deals to switch over.

You might get a better deal (maybe a DVR or two) if you're still running a dish (they don't need to know that its off now)