Cutting the Cable --- or, um... Satellite!!!

[Sparko]

My only wish is that Netflix and Amazon would put up current movies and TV shows for streaming. For the most part, their selection is a ton of crappy movies, with a few gems tossed in so they can advertize what great movies they have. The TV shows are not too bad, but usually at least a season or two behind.

Netflix does a fairly good job of learning your tastes and letting you know the star rating of a movie based on your previous ratings. Amazon doesn't do that. It just gives you the star rating that is a conglomeration of everyone's ratings, and your specific tastes are not considered. I find it nearly impossible to find anything good on Amazon prime because of that. It is like looking for a diamond among 50 tons of quartz. I get bored searching before I can find anything I want to watch. It is the "500 channels and nothing is on" syndrome multiplied by 1,000.

[Cow Poke]

My only wish is that Netflix and Amazon would put up current movies and TV shows for streaming. For the most part, their selection is a ton of crappy movies, with a few gems tossed in so they can advertize what great movies they have. The TV shows are not too bad, but usually at least a season or two behind.

Netflix does a fairly good job of learning your tastes and letting you know the star rating of a movie based on your previous ratings. Amazon doesn't do that. It just gives you the star rating that is a conglomeration of everyone's ratings, and your specific tastes are not considered. I find it nearly impossible to find anything good on Amazon prime because of that. It is like looking for a diamond among 50 tons of quartz. I get bored searching before I can find anything I want to watch. It is the "500 channels and nothing is on" syndrome multiplied by 1,000.

One of the things I have enjoyed is watching the old TV series IN SEQUENCE.... Like I watched JAG from Season 1, Episode 1, and it fills in a lot of the blanks when a subsequent episode refers to an incident that OTHERWISE would have been "an inside joke", or something you just have to guess at.

[Littlejoe]

My current DirecTV Bill.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2128[/ATTACH]

My first bill after the renegotiation was $78 (down from $111). But this month back up to $98...they added back in something because I am supposed to be getting a $25 credit...sigh, going to order the Homerun soon and continue getting my system set up to drop them...

[Cow Poke]

My first bill after the renegotiation was $78 (down from $111). But this month back up to $98...they added back in something because I am supposed to be getting a $25 credit...sigh, going to order the Homerun soon and continue getting my system set up to drop them...

Yup... they're sneaky that... they outta have a charge labeled "we didn't know what else to call it but we wanted more of your money".

[Sparko]

Yup... they're sneaky that... they outta have a charge labeled "we didn't know what else to call it but we wanted more of your money".

Usually abbreviated something like "access charge"

[Littlejoe]

OK, just got off the phone with Julie from DirecTV --- as soon as you say you want to cancel, they send you to a "retention specialist" who speaks good Engresh.

Julie was SUPER, and when I left the door open a tiny crack for keeping DirecTV with MUCH LOWER COSTS, she started dishing out the credits and discounts and programming....

Apparently, the DirecTV SELECT programming is not advertised, but is available for people in my situation -- -I don't need a lot of sports, I don't WANT the "premium" channels with the extra nudity and profanity, so she suggested SELECT. She wasn't even aware that they had "channel listings" available online, but I found them here, and told her about it.

By the time we got rid of my Whole Home DVR, and extra "Genies", and the special HD programming fees that go with that, we went from $140 a month to UNDER $50 a month, and I have enough credits that my next two bills are COVERED!



So, Mrs CP gets to keep her Hallmark and Lifetime channels, AND she gains some other girly stuff she didn't have before for nearly a THIRD of what we were paying!

Hey CP, I'm about to try to lower my DTV bill again, it was down around $75 (from $110) but now is back up to $100. Last time I was negotiating, they told me if I dropped below a certain plan level, that I would lose the Free HD for Life. I assume that's the special HD programming fees you're talking about? Did they end up giving you HD programming and not charging you?

[Cow Poke]

Hey CP, I'm about to try to lower my DTV bill again, it was down around $75 (from $110) but now is back up to $100. Last time I was negotiating, they told me if I dropped below a certain plan level, that I would lose the Free HD for Life. I assume that's the special HD programming fees you're talking about? Did they end up giving you HD programming and not charging you?

Hmmmm.... good question - I have ONE HD receiver that I replicate throughout the house - pretty sure it's still HD ---- and I pay $48, I think.

[Jedidiah]

I can get rid of the "special" DirecTV remote control, and just use the original remote that came with the TV. (Since my kinds have all moved away)

Is life easier now that your kinds have moved out?

[Cow Poke]

Is life easier now that your kinds have moved out?

Like Jerry Clowers used to say --- they come back, and they bring OTHERS with them!

[Jedidiah]

You missed my point. Or at least you did not admit it. KINDS instead of kids.

[rogue06]

You missed my point. Or at least you did not admit it. KINDS instead of kids.

CP has been kid of slow ever since we were kinds.

[Cow Poke]

You missed my point. Or at least you did not admit it. KINDS instead of kids.

I didn't miss it - I ignored it.

[Teallaura]

Kinda