Fire stick or Sling

[WarTim 3,456]

Do any of you have experience with either. Cable prices are becoming ridiculous. Thanks in advance. 

[alexava 6,973]

Check on "Kodi". Had it loaded on my new pc. Not used it yet..

[aubearcat 2,137]

If you use a firestick or sling, can you use it for live broadcast such as an AUburn game or NBA finals?

[Barnacle 9,064]

I'll tell you what we did when we decided to cut the cord. 

- We bought an HD Antenna, for like $15.00 off Amazon - it allows us to pick up all of the local networks, plus a couple more in high definition. 

- Then I bought a Roku Stick at Wal-Mart for $40.00. It allows you to download apps for different channels - like ESPN, Fox Sports, TNT, NBC Sports, etc. The catch is that in order to use most of those channels, you have to have an existing subscription through a cable provider, and since we cut the cord we no longer have a subscription. So, we've "borrowed" my parent's DirecTV log-in and password, so that we can use those channels. Now, when Auburn is playing on ESPN, or there is a golf tournament on the Golf Channel, I can click on the respective apps (ESPN or NBC Sports) and stream the event live in HD. It's worked great for us. 

- We also subscribe to Amazon Prime and Netflix, allowing us to choose from many different movies and tv shows. 

Overall, we play $45.00/month for our internet, $10/month for Netflix and $10/month for Amazon (which we use a lot for online shopping and their 2-day shipping.) Still, that's only $65/month, which is less than half of what we were paying when we had cable. 

[aubearcat 2,137]

Interesting. We're are for sure considering an alternative. We pay over $200.00 a month to U-Verse for phone, cable, and internet.

[Barnacle 9,064]

1 hour ago, aubearcat said:

Interesting. We're are for sure considering an alternative. We pay over $200.00 a month to U-Verse for phone, cable, and internet.

That's insane. 

I looked into Sling a couple of years ago, and at the time they had a reputation for spotty service, but they were still new to the market. I'd be curious to know if they've gotten their issues worked out. It seemed like a decent deal.

The thing about what we've done - is that you have to have access to a cable or satelite subscription, either through a family member like we have, or even through another home. For instance, my in-laws have a lake house that they frequently rent, requiring them to have DirecTV for their renters. They could easily cut the cord at their home in Huntsville, and use their DirecTV subscription from the lake house to stream channels through something like a Roku/AppleTV/FireStick at their home in Huntsville, effectively cutting their cable bill in half. 

 

[Barnacle 9,064]

The only thing that I miss about having cable is the DVR, which I miss less and less the more time goes on - and because you can replay shows through most channels apps or websites. Even ESPN offers replays on most of their events through the WatchESPN app. If anything, the best thing about the DVR was the ability to pause, rewind or fast forward through live events. 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

2 hours ago, Barnacle said:

I'll tell you what we did when we decided to cut the cord. 

- We bought an HD Antenna, for like $15.00 off Amazon - it allows us to pick up all of the local networks, plus a couple more in high definition. 

- Then I bought a Roku Stick at Wal-Mart for $40.00. It allows you to download apps for different channels - like ESPN, Fox Sports, TNT, NBC Sports, etc. The catch is that in order to use most of those channels, you have to have an existing subscription through a cable provider, and since we cut the cord we no longer have a subscription. So, we've "borrowed" my parent's DirecTV log-in and password, so that we can use those channels. Now, when Auburn is playing on ESPN, or there is a golf tournament on the Golf Channel, I can click on the respective apps (ESPN or NBC Sports) and stream the event live in HD. It's worked great for us. 

- We also subscribe to Amazon Prime and Netflix, allowing us to choose from many different movies and tv shows. 

Overall, we play $45.00/month for our internet, $10/month for Netflix and $10/month for Amazon (which we use a lot for online shopping and their 2-day shipping.) Still, that's only $65/month, which is less than half of what we were paying when we had cable. 

I do the same thing with my Roku 3. The only irritating thing is switching between games isn't seamless whatsoever. So I have to pick and choose what games are more important on Saturdays in the Fall. Also, CBS doesn't have an app that streams live events(at least they didn't as of last Fall), which drives me crazy. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

1 minute ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

I do the same thing with my Roku 3. The only irritating thing is switching between games isn't seamless whatsoever. So I have to pick and choose what games are more important on Saturdays in the Fall. Also, CBS doesn't have an app that streams live events, which drives me crazy. 

No, CBS doesn't, but I swear I found a CBS web page that you could stream their SEC games through last fall - even though I just use our HD antenna to watch CBS.

Yeah, switching through games isn't seamless, that's definitely true, but at the end of the day I'm happy that I'm saving $100/month.

[AUBwins 10,074]

I have sling and love it.  I cut the cable so to speak but kept the Internet because it is actually the best Internet option in this area.  I also hard wire the Internet to the Roku 3 have been pleased overall. 

Sling has actually just added a cloud DVR service for an extra $5 which will help persuade some that may be hesitant.

Sling is live TV (maybe a slight delay based off the aufamily Game threads. I am a few plays behind but that is to be expected with any streaming service). I love being able to watch a game on my phone while the kids are watching nick Jr. You can stream up to 3 devices at once, which was an upgrade about a year ago. The only restriction is Disney owned companies only allow a single stream.  That includes ESPN channels, Disney, and Free Form per Disney's terms, but I can watch Espn while someone else is watching FS1 for example.  Just can't watch one/two of the channels mentioned in the group above at the same time.  Thank goodness the family has kind of stopped watching Disney and moved to Nick Jr haha.  

Anyways, everyone had their preference but Sling is perfect for me. Also as long as you do not change your subscription, you get to keep your pricing when it increases.  I still pay a $5 sports package despite it moving to $10 with all the new additions recently. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

10 hours ago, AUBwins said:

I have sling and love it.  I cut the cable so to speak but kept the Internet because it is actually the best Internet option in this area.  I also hard wire the Internet to the Roku 3 have been pleased overall. 

Sling has actually just added a cloud DVR service for an extra $5 which will help persuade some that may be hesitant.

Sling is live TV (maybe a slight delay based off the aufamily Game threads. I am a few plays behind but that is to be expected with any streaming service). I love being able to watch a game on my phone while the kids are watching nick Jr. You can stream up to 3 devices at once, which was an upgrade about a year ago. The only restriction is Disney owned companies only allow a single stream.  That includes ESPN channels, Disney, and Free Form per Disney's terms, but I can watch Espn while someone else is watching FS1 for example.  Just can't watch one/two of the channels mentioned in the group above at the same time.  Thank goodness the family has kind of stopped watching Disney and moved to Nick Jr haha.  

Anyways, everyone had their preference but Sling is perfect for me. Also as long as you do not change your subscription, you get to keep your pricing when it increases.  I still pay a $5 sports package despite it moving to $10 with all the new additions recently. 

What do you pay in total a month?

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

Many Thanks to all who have provided context/perspective here.

Actually wandered in here prepared to discuss comparative attributes of tools for vermin control and small-game acquisition.

That would have been embarrassing. 

[AUBwins 10,074]

3 hours ago, Barnacle said:

What do you pay in total a month?

$40 for the Orange + Blue package (basically every channel in the base packages) -- getting both is the only way to get multiple streams and ESPN/ Disney channels
$5 for the kids package
$5 for the Sports package (This would be $10 now if you get both Orange and Blue)

$50 total (Just for Sling packages - I pay $50 or so just for the high speed internet with my cable provider, which is a bit much IMO)

They now have a combo package with kids, lifestyle, news, and one more for $10 - 4 packages for the price for 2. 

[AUBwins 10,074]

2 minutes ago, AUld fAUx@ said:

Many Thanks to all who have provided context/perspective here.

Actually wandered in here prepared to discuss comparative attributes of tools for vermin control and small-game acquisition.

That would have been embarrassing. 

That would have also been entertaining.

[Barnacle 9,064]

30 minutes ago, AUld fAUx@ said:

Many Thanks to all who have provided context/perspective here.

Actually wandered in here prepared to discuss comparative attributes of tools for vermin control and small-game acquisition.

That would have been embarrassing.