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Channelmaster?


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#1 caligirlz

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Posted 02 January 2014 - 10:14 PM

I inherited my dad's flat screen TV last month. And I just bought a blueray DVD player today. But, I'm not connected to any TV/broadcast source. I really don't want to pay for cable, dish or uverse, even though they are all having low monthly cost deals right now. I haven't owned a TV for years, so I don't want to pay a lot of money. I really don't even know what's on these days.  :rolleyes: I'm looking for the most cost effective solution. 

 

I know there have been several discussions here on cutting the cable, and most suggestions from what I recall were around the idea of a Tivo, appleTV, or some other type of device to watch shows off the internet. My neighbors (ex-geeks) told me about the channelmaster. They love it! Apparently, it's a nonsubscriber (free) way to receive TV. All it requires is the DVR+ box and antenna. http://www.channelmaster.com/

 

Just wondering if anyone else has heard of this? used it? has an opinion?

What are you doing to avoid the cable, dish, internet fees? 



#2 menicksmom

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Posted 03 January 2014 - 01:48 PM

We have a ChannelMaster too and get great reception, with the exception of Ch. 10 occasionally. I just re-scan the channels again & it usually kicks in. 

 

I used to have a condo in Utah that I didn't want to pay for cable for (because we were rarely there) and I just scanned the channels (didn't hook up an antenna). I believe that some of the newer tv models can receive reception without an antenna, but you'd have to double-check….I'm a girl &  consider that "guy stuff". You can give it a try yourself without an antenna. Usually click on "menu" on your remote, then "scan air channels". It's worth a try.



#3 caligirlz

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Posted 03 January 2014 - 02:54 PM

Thank you for the info! 

 

When I was at Costco the other night, a saleman tried to fast talk me into Direct TV, only $25/mo for a year with a $200 Costco cashback card. Sounds great, but of course I read the fine print, and a 24 month contract is required, cheapest price is $60/mo. 

 

I will check out the channelmaster instead.



#4 mac_convert

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Posted 03 January 2014 - 04:58 PM

I joined DishNetwork last February. I have two televisions connected for $30 a month. I pay an extra $5 for more sports channels. There is a package I can downgrade to for $26 when my first year is up. The $26 package is only for existing customers so you cannot start out with the package. My parents have had Dish for close to 20 years and have always been very happy.



#5 menicksmom

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Posted 04 January 2014 - 07:47 AM

Our household doesn't watch enough TV channels to warrant a whole DirecTV or Dish package. We watch 3, 10, 13, 40 all the time, so why pay for it if we can get it free.



#6 caligirlz

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Posted 04 January 2014 - 01:39 PM

Exactly. I even hate paying $7/mo for Netflix or HulaPlus...just because I don't watch TV that much. There are so many other fun things to do!



#7 mac_convert

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Posted 04 January 2014 - 11:53 PM

Our household doesn't watch enough TV channels to warrant a whole DirecTV or Dish package. We watch 3, 10, 13, 40 all the time, so why pay for it if we can get it free.

If you're a sports junkie you need cable or satellite. Dish Network just happens to be the most affordable for me. I did go without cable or satellite to get out of some credit card debt and the reason I went away from OTA is that the channels were sporadic and some channels rarely came in. I tried several different kinds of antennas, some of them referenced on this site, and I got tired of the hassle and looked for a good package that would meet my needs and not rob me!



#8 john

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Posted 05 January 2014 - 12:00 AM

How is it different from Roku?


#9 menicksmom

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Posted 06 January 2014 - 07:00 PM

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe a Roku (or appleTV box like I have) is for streaming netflix, amazon prime, hulu shows. You have to pay for those services monthly and can stream them through the Roku or Apple TV and then to your television. I purchased the AppleTV box (which also allows me to stream photos from my mac computer to my tv) for a flat $100. No monthly fee for that. I think Roku is a few bucks cheaper.  



#10 cw68

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Posted 07 January 2014 - 04:20 PM

What's the difference from Chromecast? My husband got one for Xmas.

#11 aztransplant

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Posted 20 December 2014 - 12:43 PM

BUMPING THIS UP, hoping for up-to-date reviews and suggestions for tv options that work in ARC South area.

 

Woke up this morning to DH informing me that we no longer have Comcast tv or digital voice because our latest bill just went up another $30+, bringing it to over $200/mo. We're keeping the internet for now since I need that for work. This latest bill was the beginning of our fifth year with Comcast. Each year it just kept going up and up and we never used the extra "free premium channels" they'd throw in "to make up for" the crappy customer service. This was the last straw for DH and he said he didn't even want to try and negotiate this time.

 

So, with one simple phone call, T-Mobile added international calling to our cell plan for only $10/mo. taking care of the only reason I used the digitial voice line. This is an even better deal than the Comcast digital voice that allowed me to make free calls to Canada. Now I can even make calls to Iceland for that $10/month (before I'd have to set a time for Iceland to call me and make sure I was near my digital voice phone so I could pick it up and talk at the appointed time; I couldn't call Iceland unless I wanted a whopper of a phone bill!).

 

SO, WHAT IS THE POINT HERE AZTRANSPLANT??? Okay! Okay! I'm getting to it! Now we need a solution to the tv situation. Living in ARC South we can't even get basic channels (maybe it isn't the location, but the fact we still have a 400-pound tv we received as a wedding gift in 2000??? But, I kind of doubt it since my cell phone reception is super-crappy here as well). ATT U-Verse tv doesn't yet service our area (I just checked). And, we really don't want to do another cable service anyway.

 

Any suggestions on antennae? What was the final verdict on this Channelmaster thing? DH would LIKE to watch NFL and NBA from home, but he can always go to a sports bar or friend's house. If we could get our basic channels and something like Netflix (or whatever -- I'm not up to speed on what's out there, which is why I'm posting here) that would probably do it.

 

THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE KICKED COMCAST/DISH/ETC. TO THE CURB, WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR TV (THAT WORKS)???



#12 New Girl

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Posted 20 December 2014 - 02:32 PM

We use a Roku box  and have Netflix and Hulu + an antennae for local channels.  Not in ARC though.  In the past we have had Uverse, Comcast, Dish and Direct.  Do not miss them at all - just hundreds of channels to trawl through before realizing there was nothing to watch!  We are stuck with Uverse for internet though but they have just bought the price down again so I guess I can't complain too much.



#13 cw68

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Posted 20 December 2014 - 03:22 PM

I so wish I could talk my husband out of cable but he insists he has to have it to watch the Giants. I miss not having cable. We watch so much more useless TV just because we can. When we just had the antenna, Netflix and Amazon Prime I was perfectly happy, just went to Buffalo Wild Wings more often for college football and listened to lots of Blackhawks radio.

#14 EAH

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Posted 20 December 2014 - 09:49 PM

BUMPING THIS UP, hoping for up-to-date reviews and suggestions for tv options that work in ARC South area.

 

Woke up this morning to DH informing me that we no longer have Comcast tv or digital voice because our latest bill just went up another $30+, bringing it to over $200/mo. We're keeping the internet for now since I need that for work. This latest bill was the beginning of our fifth year with Comcast. Each year it just kept going up and up and we never used the extra "free premium channels" they'd throw in "to make up for" the crappy customer service. This was the last straw for DH and he said he didn't even want to try and negotiate this time.

 

So, with one simple phone call, T-Mobile added international calling to our cell plan for only $10/mo. taking care of the only reason I used the digitial voice line. This is an even better deal than the Comcast digital voice that allowed me to make free calls to Canada. Now I can even make calls to Iceland for that $10/month (before I'd have to set a time for Iceland to call me and make sure I was near my digital voice phone so I could pick it up and talk at the appointed time; I couldn't call Iceland unless I wanted a whopper of a phone bill!).

 

 

 

AZ,

Gledileg Jol ( sorry, don't know Island keys),

Totally random, but are you a fellow Islandinger?? 

 

Beautiful country. I visited over a 3 month period back in 1983 just traveling around the country and staying with various relatives.

Ericka



#15 aztransplant

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Posted 22 December 2014 - 09:49 PM

New Girl, Thank you for the suggestion of the Roku box. We're not feeling a rush to do anything about this yet, so it is good to hear people's experiences.

 

cw68, Back when DH and I were dating I didn't even own a tv! He wasn't much of a fan of visiting me at my place (or, it could be because I skimped on a/c in my top-floor Phoenix-area apartment -- hah hah).

 

Ericka, My good friend Osk lives in Iceland and on average we speak weekly by phone. Currently, I am having fun hearing about her family's Christmas traditions. :)






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