Comments | pittsburgh: cheaper I-net and telephone service

dabroots in pittsburgh

cheaper I-net and telephone service

Dec 22, 2008 09:48

I'm thinking about making a New Year's resolution to get rid of my cable TV, as I end up watching just way too much junk. I'm currently paying Comcast something like $145 a month for a combination of cable TV with HBO, cable modem for Internet, and my telephone service. Any suggestions for how I can get simply high-speed Internet service and ( Read more... )

entertainment: tv, utilities: internet

Comments 48

beeporama December 22 2008, 15:53:10 UTC

Several people have mentioned Netflix streaming boxes, so a small aside: if you happen to have an XBox 360 and a Live Gold account, you can stream Netflix through it now. There's only a small chance this applies to you, but, that can save you some money.

marypaintscars December 22 2008, 16:02:13 UTC

We just got an xbox 360, so I'm totally signing up for that next month. I'm having hip surgery and will be stuck at home for a long time, so I figure that will be nice to have. How's the selection of streaming movies?

beeporama December 22 2008, 16:27:46 UTC

Right now, the selection of movies is only mediocre. Apparently the streaming requires special licensing; they should be adding more, but that won't help you next month ( ... )

marypaintscars December 22 2008, 16:35:06 UTC

Well, I've basically given up on games, everything I pick out sucks. My last pick - Viva Pinata - Pinata Party. Not nearly as fun as the cover looks. Katamari for Xbox isn't as good as the PS2 version, either. As far as movies, I gravitate toward classics, TCM type stuff. And I'm hoping that with Netflix I can finally see the last part of The Sopranos, since I watched all of it on A&E, and they conveniently stopped showing it partway through the last season. Ooh, and Britcoms... I hope I can get some of those, too.

Thread 8

nkdlife December 22 2008, 22:50:32 UTC

read books, use the money to invite your friends for a treat once a month. You will see you are not missing much on tv and yes!, your friends would adore you and keep you busy!. Now i have DSL with phone, about 60 bucks.

dabroots December 22 2008, 22:58:29 UTC

Having cable has been a short phase for me, since only July of last year. This past spring, I largely ignored the TV and did a good bit of reading, like I'd been doing for a few decades before. As it is, I often have it going more as background than anything else, but rather expensive background.

nkdlife December 22 2008, 23:12:20 UTC

Congrats!. back to real world!

dabroots December 22 2008, 23:33:11 UTC

Those day-long marathons of House and Law & Order: Criminal Intent can be rather distracting, though.

Are you part of some 12-Step program for recovering TV addicts, by the way? I'm getting the sense that I should call you by an initial or something.

Thread 5

rufushonkeriv December 22 2008, 23:23:58 UTC

DSL is a very nice internet connection. Ignore the commercials with the turtles - I can watch videos, surf the web, play World of Warcraft just fine. Downloads won't come quite as lightning fast as with Comcast, but that's never really been a big deal with me.

morbidlyxyours December 23 2008, 00:50:29 UTC

I also recommend Hulu. It's amazing.
For internet, if you prefer to help out local businesses, I would go with Nidhog. Excellent customer service and never had a problem with them. (:
For a phone, perhaps Skype if you have a cell. It's only $30 a year, but you can't dial 911 on it.