Cutting the Cord – Making A Decision (Part III)

Cutting the Cord Series – Part III Making A Decision
Alright then, it’s time to make a decision. You have your budget and all costs in front of you. Now it’s time to decide what you want and/or need.

Streaming Service or not
The biggest decision will be whether or not to go with a “live” streaming TV service like DirectvNow (now AT&T TV). Sling, Hulu, etc. If you are used to your old cable stations like FreeForm, ID, Hallmark Channel, etc. then you most likely have already decide who you are going to sign up with. The good news is that pretty much none of them require contracts. They are month-to-month commitments. if you can live with just the four major network channels (ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC) along with a few other channels like PBS and some others, then all you need is a HD antenna and you are on your way.

Purchasing a Streaming Device
As stated in the Cutting the Cord Series – Part II article, there are a lot of choices when it comes to choosing your streaming device of choice.

Smart TV
If you have the money and were planning to purchase a new TV, consider purchasing a smart TV. Smart TV’s come with a built-in OS with all the necessary streaming apps already installed like Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Go, etc. Most of these TV’s also have a network connector to allow you to plug in a wired network cable directly to the TV instead of connecting to your wireless network. Why is this important? One word, Performance. As good and as fast as wireless networks have become over the years, it will never perform as good as a hard wired connection. Now, I don’t want to get all geeky on you but I think it is important to know this as you head out into the cold, cruel technology world and shop for your streaming choices. Of course buying smart TV’s for your entire household is not an option for most of us but there’s nothing wrong with having a Smart TV as your main TV and then having wireless streaming devices like Amazon Fire sticks for your other TV’s. I’ll say one more thing about smart TV’s before moving on. If you are a non-technical person and hat to switch between different HDMI input sources on your TV just so you can watch a Blue Ray, DVD, Tivo, antenna and you get easily confused like my family does, then a smart TV might be the way to go. Most of them have the different input sources built-in to the main menu so if you want to switch to your DVD player, just select DVD Player from the main home screen and it switches you to your DVD. When you want to go back to the home menu, just press the Home button. It can’t get any easier than that.

Wireless Streaming Devices
Again, as mention in the Cutting the Cord Series – Part II article, there are a plethora of choices when it comes to purchasing a wireless streaming device to turn your “regular” TV into a smart TV. I’m going to go through all of your choices here only because new devices and upgrades are being made available all the time. Instead, just Google Streaming Devices for TV and you will have everything you need to make a decision. I will offer the link below to get you started. You really can’t go wrong. it is all about personal preference.

https://www.pcmag.com/roundup/313411/the-best-media-streaming-devices

Purchasing one-time equipment purchase
What do I mean when I say “one-time” equipment purchases. Mostly what I’m talking about is an HD Antenna, or Smart TV. Again, the purpose of these article is not to make recommendations of what type of HD antennas to purchase (if you even want one) or what smart TV’s are the best. The reason for these articles is to help you understand what it takes to free yourself of your cable company, saving a bunch of money while still keeping you entertained and connected to all the TV entertainment you currently enjoy. All I can offer is what I’ve settle on. I did purchase an indoor Mohu 50 mile HD Antenna which works great for me. The trick to getting the best reception you can is to connect it at the highest level in your house, preferably near a window but that is not a necessity. You will need to mess around with the positioning until you get the desired outcome which, by the way, is an absolutely stunning clear HD picture. I recently purchased a Toshiba 4K Smart Fire TV for cheap! I really didn’t need another TV but this Toshiba unit went on sale to make room for the new models and I couldn’t pass up a 4K TV for under $300. I just couldn’t.

That’s it. What are you waiting for? Go get what you need to finally cut the cord and start saving your precious hard earned money. Now it’s time to get your hands dirty and connect everything you decided to purchase and implement your plan in Part IV of our Cutting the Cord Series.