"Cable" TV - what's the secret? [rant]

[widebody911]

My g/f is moving in, and as such, I have to get cable TV so she can watch her shows; I've not had any sort of TV since everything went digital a year or so ago, and frankly, I don't miss it. For the record, I wouldn't be getting TV service if it weren't for the g/f. I didn't watch this schidt when it was free, and it rubs me like 24grit with salt to think I'll be paying for it.

They all seem to suck to varying degrees. She had previous bad experiences with ComCast, as have other friends of mine, so that's out. SureWest sez they don't have service in my area, despite watching them string fiber on the poles right outside my house, and seeing their service vans on my street, and their placing little advertising thingies on my doorknob from time to time. If they're too stupid to figure their own schidt out, too bad for them.

The g/f has AT&T U-Verse right now. I was going through the pricing stuff on their website, and I'm ready to poke someone in the eye with a sharp stick. I just want internet, phone, and some basic channels. WTF would I want to pay for QVC, HSN, jewelry channel, or any f*cking shopping channel? (looks like there's about 10 of them) or "Buzz" or Los Pendejos Grande or any of this crap? Looking through the listing, I see maybe 3 channels I'd actually want (discovery, history, comedy) - the rest of them can take a flying f*ck in a rolling donut.

Is there a way to get just the stuff I want, or do you have to suck it up and pay for it 300 channels of crap? If we had a la carte programming, 99% of these channels would die a flaming death within 2 weeks.

Then, on to the pricing. I can't figure out what the end cost will really be, as this part and that are 'introductory offers' for 6 months.

Then there's the installation and setup sodomy.

After going through all this, I don't feel the least bit bad for torrenting stuff at all.

[masraum]

You're screwed no matter what. Back in the day, my parents had C-band satellite (remember the 6' dishes?) and they had an ala carte option, but with regular cable, if you want 10 channels, you'll probably be stuck with 300.

The funny thing, my mom canceled her C-band when my dad died and just used their analog antenna. When everything went digital, she got one of the converters. Now she gets 2 or 3 times as many channels as she did before. It seems that there are often 2 or 3 versions of some of the regular channels.

[gtc]

Yes... teach her to use BT or hulu. Wean her from cable.
If you are slick, you can run an output line from a computer into your tv.

[carambola]

have you considered going to satellite tv instead of cable. made the switch about a year ago and won't be going back. just throwing that out there

[Moses]

Originally Posted by widebody911

If we had a la carte programming, 99% of these channels would die a flaming death within 2 weeks.

Absolutely.

[tooms351]

screw giving those greedy prick$ any money! get a digital antennea and introduce the gf to hulu and justin tv. on line.

[dtw]

Same deal for me years ago. Wifey hits the scene, had to have her telenovelas, so in came Dish. No real complaints other than I hated paying for it. We just switched to U-verse this year and are loving it. We got free install, some Visa-debit cards, a year or so of heavy discounts, yada yada. Whole schmeer...fast Internet, lotsa channels, unlimited LD/phone plan.

Six months in, I'm very impressed with what AT&T has pulled off on our household. Between the 3-feature U-verse and our two iPhones, they're probably getting $3-4k/year out of us.

As much as I love the DVR feature, I love torrenting even more. I anticipate making a move to eliminate the U-verse TV soon, and maybe the phone too - give magic-jack a shot, or just stick to the iPhones (reception blows in the house, though).

[emcon5]

Somewhat of a tangent, but repeat after me:

"No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom.""No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom." "No TV in the bedroom."

[Justin@Athens]

"cable theft" isn't really a crime is it?

[wdfifteen]

Maybe don't worry about the cable right now. After she's moved in and experienced life without cable for a couple of weeks she might like it.

[Schumi]

Everything I watch is either bittorrented or on Hulu. We still have FIOS TV but it's my roomate's and he gets a discount so it's not too expensive.

BTW- there are still channels available for free on C-Band dishes. You just gotta get the right equipment and have a spot for the dish...

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by widebody911

My g/f is moving in, and as such, I have to get cable TV so she can watch her shows; I've not had any sort of TV since everything went digital a year or so ago, and frankly, I don't miss it. For the record, I wouldn't be getting TV service if it weren't for the g/f. I didn't watch this schidt when it was free, and it rubs me like 24grit with salt to think I'll be paying for it.

Does this g/f not have a job? Seems a bit presumptuous to be moving into YOUR house, and expect YOU to pay for cable that only SHE watches... You gotta lay the ground rules down ASAP, else you risk getting walked on. Or, in Denis speak: Keep the pimp hand strong!

[porsche4life]

Ya... Shes moving in to your house.... You are letting her paint your house.... She is making you pay for cable..... So what are you getting out of this?

[aigel]

Originally Posted by Eric Coffey

Does this g/f not have a job? Seems a bit presumptuous to be moving into YOUR house, and expect YOU to pay for cable that only SHE watches... You gotta lay the ground rules down ASAP, else you risk getting walked on. Or, in Denis speak: Keep the pimp hand strong!

+1

I just would have said it nicer.

G

[rnln]

Wow, hulu is nice. What BT website?

Originally Posted by gtc

Yes... teach her to use BT or hulu. Wean her from cable.
If you are slick, you can run an output line from a computer into your tv.

[m21sniper]

isohunt.com for torrents.

[rnln]

m21sniper ,
with torrents, you have to download the file to be able to watch, correct?

[Christien]

How about apple TV?

[Gogar]

Ahhhh youth.

Ya... Shes moving in to your house.... You are letting her paint your house.... She is making you pay for cable..... So what are you getting out of this?

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Ahhhh youth.

LOL

Or maybe Sid's just THAT good.